You get a Helldivers 2 buff, and you get a Helldivers 2 buff. It’s upgrades galore in the latest Helldivers 2 update as developer Arrowhead releases a wealth of improvements across some of the most popular weapons and stratagems in the co-op game. With a huge list of tweaks across the board and basically all of them positive, it’s almost certain that at least one of your favorite loadout items just got better, so keep reading for an overview of all the changes.
Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt thanks the Helldivers 2 community “for clearly voicing your opinions and concerns for the balance and fun of the game.” As such, the new patch includes a whole heap of upgrades that could mean we’re in for a fresh assessment of the best Helldivers 2 weapons and stratagems across the breakout hit co-op game.
“With these balance changes we wanted to buff up some of the weaker stratagems to make them more viable and add more opportunity for variety in loadouts,” Pilestedt explains. “We also changed a few to make them more consistent, but the goal was to keep a similar or higher power level. We are looking into the stratagems more to see if there are any other stratagems that might need some buffs or changes to make them more viable.”
So what’s changed? Let’s kick things off with the Helldivers 2 stratagems that have seen adjustments. Defensive options are given a lot of love – all sentry turrets are now more resistant to small arms fire, with the Rocket Sentry given better ammo economy to make it more consistent against larger foes and the Machine Gun Sentry getting its cooldown reduced to make it a viable alternative to the Gatling Sentry if you like to stay on the move.
The mounted HMG Emplacement sees its rotation speed significantly improved – while it’s a powerful tool, the requirement for a player to use it combined with its agonizing mobility has made it a somewhat unpopular choice, but now its sheer DPS may make it a worthwhile addition to your loadout. The Anti-Personnel and Incendiary Mines both get damage upgrades, although Pilestedt says future improvements are in the works to make them better at actually blocking off paths while they’re active.
The classic Orbital Precision Strike now has a lower cooldown and call-in time, making it easier to use against moving targets and more competitive with the availability of Eagle stratagems. The Orbital Gatling Barrage will saturate its target area better and should now soften up heavily armored targets a bit more, and both it and the Orbital Airburst Strike also see their cooldowns reduced to encourage more use.
The Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods might be one of the most reliable answers to Automaton Tanks but they’re a little inconsistent on heavily armored targets that move about more. That should be improved now, although Pilestedt notes that while you should always see some impact from the stratagem, “it will still not be a surefire way of outright killing them.”
Onto the support weapon stratagems. The Grenade Launcher gets a beefier explosion to help clear crowds. The Heavy Machine Gun’s fire rate is lowered but with increased damage and stagger, making it punchier and more ammo effective. The standard Machine Gun gets a shorter reload time and an extra magazine to help compensate for its awkward downtime. Damage has also been bumped up a touch for 8mm machine guns (that includes the MG-43 and its sentry equivalent, the Gatling Sentry, and the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit).
Over on the weapon side of things, rifle bullets have been made slightly more effective against durable enemy body parts. Pilestedt explains, “In general, the higher your caliber of weapon the better the effect is against durable body parts. Explosions also have very high effectiveness against durable body parts as shockwaves ripple through whatever you are hitting. Some weapons are more effective than others or have special exceptions, though this should follow the same logic as above.”
A few weapons also get specific tweaks. The Adjudicator assault rifle is given increased magazine capacity to offer a bit more room for error. The Tenderizer assault rifle has been brought “back to its intended design” with heavy-hitting but low-penetration rounds that reward accurate shots.
The Purifier’s armor penetration has been improved, and its explosion damage falloff has been reduced, making it “an exotic option” for those capable of handling its charge times. The Explosive Crossbow sees similar changes, and will now penetrate medium armor to improve its consistency at dealing with groups. Finally, damage on the Eruptor has been boosted to compensate for the recent removal of its unpredictable shrapnel mechanic.
There’s one final change of note – recoil modifiers have been tweaked slightly. This means you should see slightly more consistent performance when crouching or prone, with an extra boost to the recoil reduction you’ll see when prone as a trade-off for the reduced mobility. Remember to lie down for that coordinated ambush attack, then, and you’ll see much more effective results.
“I want to end this by saying that we are not done,” Pilestedt concludes. “We will continue to refine and improve the play experience to keep the game fresh! On behalf of the team, we appreciate your feedback and hope that you’ll have an exciting time checking these adjustments out.”
The next Helldivers 2 Warbond also arrives today, Thursday June 13, so keep an eye out for the arrival of the Viper Commandos gear very soon. We’ve also got a roundup of the best Helldivers 2 armor to ensure you and your team extract intact.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.