Helldivers 2’s hail Mary patch has brought players back in droves

Helldivers 2 is a “lifeless sport”; lengthy stay Helldivers 2. The motion co-op shooter pitting the forces of Tremendous Earth towards countless waves of murderous Automatons or terrifying Terminids had a large launch in February, however faltered over the summer time months. A current patch from developer Arrowhead has led to a resurgence of gamers returning to the struggle or choosing up the sport for the primary time, together with tons of optimistic reception on social media — however all the brand new fixes deliver a number of remaining issues into sharp reduction.

The patch, launched on Sept. 17, rolled again nerfs that had accrued over the course of steadiness patches to many common weapons, just like the railgun and flamethrower, and buffed many different weapons within the Helldivers arsenal. The one new nerf that has impacted my play expertise is one to the Commando; it may beforehand one-shot an Automaton Fabricator from any angle. Now, it takes two pictures. That appears truthful to me, and the remainder of the buffs definitely make up for it — just like the Thermal Grenade’s injury rocketing from 150 to 2000.

Gamers have been beforehand fenced right into a metagame of utilizing a number of preferrred weapons and stratagems; the replace has added a extra versatile arsenal. The Recoilless Rifle is a brand new fan favourite, particularly since it may possibly take out dropships and their contents in a single well-aimed shot. The Spear has emerged as a strong siege weapon, and the Flamethrower takes out Chargers in a snap.

The buffs make every particular person mission way more enjoyable and versatile, however the better battle nonetheless has some points. Contemplate, if you’ll, the Automaton presence. The bots have slowly crept nearer to Tremendous Earth, whereas the Terminids are continuously battled again. A large chunk of Helldivers merely is not going to abandon the bug entrance, not for orders from Tremendous Earth nor for cool rewards. It may be irritating to throw your self on the warfront of a Main Order, solely to inevitably fail whereas hundreds of gamers are having a blast preventing bugs on Hellmire.

As Helldivers 2 continues to evolve, Arrowhead should think about how gamers coordinate for the battle — enormous occasions just like the Terminid supercolony on Meridia, which Helldivers needed to assault in a suicide mission as a way to create a black gap. As soon as the extremely anticipated third faction from the primary sport, the Illuminate, present up within the galaxy issues will solely get extra difficult. Arrowhead has resolved many in-game frustrations, nevertheless it’s price looking on the broader map to see what else may be ironed out.