Helldivers 2 gets its first rebalance patch

Helldivers 2‘s neatly titled update 01.000.100 doesn’t introduce mechs to the game, but it sure does come with a suite of nerfs that are bound to be unpopular in the community. Indeed, rebalancing certain weapons and Stratagems was on the docket for Arrowhead, for better or for worse.

While the nerfs aren’t quite so serious as to become a genuine traitor to Super Earth, many will be sorry to hear that the game’s most potent small arms and gear – the Railgun, the Breaker, and the Personal Shield – have all been nerfed. That’s the bad news, yes, but lots of goodies await as part of Helldivers 2‘s first rebalancing update, even though it may leave Helldivers with very few ways of dealing with heavily armored enemies.

Screenshot by Destructoid.

Helldivers 2 Update 01.000.100 is now out

As posted on the main Helldivers 2 subreddit, the game’s update 01.000.100 is relatively small and focused, but may well make big waves on the game’s current meta. In short order, here are some of the most important changes and tweaks:

• Introduced “environmental challenges” to certain planets, including fire tornadoes, meteor showers, and more.
• Eradicate objectives now require more kills, with enemies spawning in more often; mission completion timer has been doubled.
• SG-225 Breaker: decreased mag capacity from 16 to 13 rounds, effectively doubled felt recoil.
• SG-8 Punisher: increased total ammo pool from 40 to 60 rounds, improved stopping power and damage (from 40 to 45).
• SG-225 Breaker Spray & Pray: increased armor penetration, 10% buff to fire rate, more pellets fired per shot, decreased magazine size from 32 to 26 rounds.
• RS-422 Railgun: decreased armor penetration in Safe Mode, decreased damage against durable enemy body parts.
• FLAM-40 Flamethrower: increased DPS by 50%.
• LAS-98 Laser Cannon: increased damage against durable enemy body parts, increased armor penetration, improved handling.
• Shield Generator Pack: longer recharge delay.
• 120MM HE Barrage Stratagem: increased duration, decreased spread
• 380MM HE Barrage Stratagem: increased duration, decreased spread.
• Resolved the problem with armor rating values not reducing damage.
• Improved flashlight efficiency.
• Improved visibility during the sand rain weather on Erata Prime.
• Helldivers standing close to ICBMs during the launch sequence will burn.

This is, of course, just a list of highlights, with the full list of changes being a fair bit longer. Sadly, the problem with certain items becoming unusable on missions (e.g. Super Credit drops, Requisition Slips, Medals, etc.) is still there, with no fix on the horizon just yet.

On the topic of the Breaker shotgun, the Railgun, and the personal Shield Generator items suffering heavy nerfs, Helldivers 2 designer Alex K. has shared the team’s reasoning for the changes: “All three of those were quite strong with too little downsides, overshadowing all other options on higher difficulty levels. So with this patch, they’re getting significant downsides to balance their power. However, we strongly believe that the changes won’t ruin this build, but rather help the affected items find their place among the other options and stay effective in capable hands,” they explained. “I implore you not to compare a changed item with its older version, but to evaluate the existing one as it is and see if it still has a place in your heart.”

It’s not a particularly thrilling development, really, though it’ll be interesting to see how the game’s meta develops now that the strongest ways of dealing with particularly annoying enemies, such as the Charger, are effectively neutered. At least the community can’t be angry with Joel this time around.

On the flip side of things, the buffs that did drop in are very welcome indeed, and depending on testing, the 380MM HE Stratagem may well make its way onto our list of must-have unlocks in Helldivers 2. We’ll see how that pans out!