Arrowhead Game Studios is now a decent chunk of the way into its 60-day plan to get its co-op shooter Helldivers 2 back on track. While it soared to dizzying heights early in the year, it’s now in something of a slump, but here’s one small but significant piece of news about its upcoming balancing update that might tempt ex-Helldivers to come out of retirement. Flame weapons are receiving a generous buff, and they may even become better than they were before Helldivers 2’s controversial Escalation of Freedom update.
For those unaware, next week will usher in a sizable update for Helldivers 2 that rebalances dozens of weapons, stratagems, and systems to bring back an enjoyable, marauding meta as part of its 60-day recovery plan. However, in the build-up to this update, Arrowhead is drip-feeding players with an exciting change within the patch notes each day until it drops. For its first teaser, it touches on the flamethrower, one of co-op game’s most fun weapons that was recently butchered by some unpopular balance changes.
In an announcement within the game’s official Discord server, Arrowhead says: “We’ve heard you loud and clear and Flamethrower damage is increased by 33%! Flamer mechanics will be reverted to the state before the Escalation of Freedom update and flame-based weapons can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers and Hulks.”
The message also comes with a short video featuring creative director Johan Pilestedt and design director Niklas Malmborg. In it, Pilestedt jokes: “I thought we couldn’t revert [the flame weapon nerfs]?” To which Malmorg responds: “Life finds a way. There was some stuff to go through, but it was the right thing to do.”
Pilestedt also confirms that flame weapons now have increased armor penetrations, hence why they can take on big beasts like Chargers out on the battlefield. Man, I can’t wait to barbecue some bugs once again.
The flame weapon changes will arrive in Helldivers 2’s next big update on Tuesday, September 17.
While this update should bring the Helldivers 2 experience much closer to what it used to be, here are some other awesome space games and multiplayer games you can try while you wait.
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