We hope you’re excited for the latest additions and updates to the biggest Helldivers 2’s update yet, Escalation of Freedom!
We believe that a game thrives when it evolves alongside its player base, and your ideas and suggestions are a critical component of that evolution, allowing us to make adjustments that we believe will enhance the overall fun factor of the game. Our goal is to create a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience that remains challenging yet fair, rewarding your strategic thinking and teamwork.
Today, we would like to provide you with some context and reasoning behind the latest weapon balance changes!
SG-8S Slugger:
By increasing the stagger force of the Slugger, we hope to restore its identity that was lost after the previous change back in patch 01.000.200. The increased spread and drag should compensate for the improved stopping power and enhance the fantasy of a powerful shotgun firing large caliber rounds, while limiting its viability beyond medium range.
SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary:
After multiple changes to the fire damage, the Incendiary Breaker quickly became one of the most powerful weapons in the game, as it absolutely dominated the Terminid frontline and is a bit too reliable when facing the bugs, overshadowing the other weapons. By increasing the recoil and reducing the maximum number of magazines we intend to make Incendiary Breaker more demanding for good ammo economy, while keeping its immense power intact.
GP-31 Grenade Pistol:
The original version of the Grenade Pistol was quite inconsistent compared to other weapons. It essentially tripled the amount of grenades available to the player, but required 4 ammo boxes to be fully refilled. By reducing it ammo capacity we want the choice of the Grenade Pistol to be more deliberate, and we think that restoring more grenades from a single box will compensate for the loss of ammo and will make the Grenade Pistol more reliable for any mission type.
CB-9 Exploding Crossbow:
Since the last patch, the Exploding Crossbow still struggles to find its own niche as it has to compete with more reliable weapons. By making the crossbow a one-handed weapon, we hope to increase its versatility and offer new and interesting uses that will help it stand out from other options.
MLS-4X Commando:
The ability of Commando's missiles to destroy Automaton fabricator buildings from any angle was unintended behavior. However, the community clearly voiced their enjoyment of this particular bug. We do plan on fixing this but have decided to take some time to think this through and not make any rash decisions on how best to rebalance this weapon.
AX/AR-23 Guard Dog:
Since release, the Guard Dog has been outclassed by its laser counterpart due to the fact that it ran out of ammo too quickly and could not be refilled from ammo boxes found on the map. We believe that increased ammo capacity along with the fix to the ammo crates will improve its viability as a support companion.
Orbital Walking Barrage:
Originally, the Walking Barrage was intended to suppress enemies during an advance. However, given the chaotic nature of orbital barrages, the Walking Barrage had no definite application as it felt too unreliable at times. The increased duration of the bombardment in combination with reduced movement speed should make the Walking Barrage saturate the area better, while covering about the same distance as before.
Orbital 120mm HE Barrage:
Similarly to the Walking Barrage, the 120mm HE Barrage felt too random at times if salvoes missed the target or hit the same spot multiple times. With decreased cooldown, the 120mm HE Barrage will be accessible more often and should make randomness less punishing.