The recent Helldivers 2 patch saw the nerf of the most popular weapons and loadouts, including the massively overpowered Railgun and Shield Backpack. However, the developers also silently spiked spawn rates, which, alongside the nerfs, made the game impossibly difficult. Helldivers 2 devs are now looking to scale back.
Patch 01.000.100 has become Helldivers 2‘s first big controversy, with players and developers having a back-and-forth. It culminated with some developers outright arguing with players, prompting Arrowhead Game Studios’ chief executive to apologize to the player base. It didn’t end there, as apart from the weaponry, a new issue has become a focal point in the Helldivers 2 community: spawn rates, especially of elite and heavy enemies. With weakened weapons, players are finding it incredibly difficult to oppose several simultaneously spawned Bile Titans and Chargers, and the developers have now pledged to scale back elite enemies to balance things out.
Arrowhead’s community manager Spitz spoke on Discord (first reported by IGN) regarding the issue of elite enemies absolutely swarming players, particularly on higher difficulties. They said the studio is carefully listening to community feedback and is aware of the issues currently plaguing the game. “As we’ve said before, our teams are always taking in player feedback and looking at how we can tweak the game to ensure that it is fair, enjoyable, and provides the best experience for everyone,” Spitz wrote on Discord.
They then pledged that the Helldivers 2 developers are looking at how to make “changes to the spawn rates and health pools of heavy enemies,” aiming to make them more “spread out” so elite enemies don’t spawn simultaneously in larger numbers and are easier to kill. Spitz said these changes are planned for the next hotfix patch, though they could not share an official release date.
Spitz further added that Arrowhead buffed two Strategem weapons and forgot to mention them in the Patch 01.000.100 notes. The weapons in question are the Explosive Anti-Tank rocket launcher and the Recoilless Rifle, both of which are fantastic tools against Bile Titans, Chargers, and other heavy and elite enemies. “The EAT-17 and Recoilless Rifle no longer suffer from a 50% damage decrease when hitting an armored enemy at a ‘glance angle’ that deflects the shot,” Spitz explained.
In conclusion, Spitz said that with the upcoming changes and these silent buffs to the rocket launcher Strategems, players should be able to take down even the largest of enemies with a “single well-placed shot.” Patch 01.000.100 has been the source of several controversies, but it’s good to hear the devs are aware of the mounting issues, particularly on difficulty level seven and above.
