The latest Helldivers 2 patch has added some sweeping changes to the game’s sandbox, buffing a range of loadout weapons and Stratagems, as well as weakening and reworking a few enemy types that have proved to be especially irritating to fight. A few of the headline updates include the Railgun and Arc Thrower returning to their former glory, big buffs for lots of fire-based weapons, and a considerable nerf to Rocket Devastators – rejoice, Helldivers 2 players! To help you digest these patch notes, I’ve simplified the most significant changes in this Helldivers 2 patch below.

Helldivers 2 patch 1.001.100 notes

As mentioned, the latest Helldivers 2 patch has made some huge adjustments to the game’s weapon sandbox and enemies in an effort to increase player power and make certain enemies far less annoying to fight. As such, the patch hasn’t added anything new aside from a highly requested emote wheel, letting you equip up to four emotes at once, quadrupling your gesture-based communication options with your fellow Helldivers.

There are over 4000 words of notes to read here from Arrowhead Studios, including lots of bug and crash fixes, and nitty-gritty number changes, but I’ve condensed them down and focused on the important gameplay changes here. Arrowhead has also said it’s aware that the massive bump in weapon and Stratagem power, coupled with reductions in enemy armor values, may result in the hardest Helldivers 2 difficulty levels becoming much easier, but this will be monitored may lead to potential changes in a future patch.

Helldivers 2 weapon and Stratagem patch notes

I count changes for at least 32 Helldivers 2 weapons for your loadouts and Stratagems, most of them being some substantial buffs. Generally speaking, many of these weapons will feel a lot punchier against a wider range of enemies thanks largely to a global buff to partial damage and many improvements to the durable damage values (reduced damage specifically dealt to “durable” body parts on enemies) for individual weapons and Stratagems. But many weapons that have been in the game since launch have received some noticeable love.

Loadout weapon changes

Here’s a rundown of the most noteworthy weapon balance changes for primary, secondary, and grenade weapons:

• Massive buffs for the Eruptor and Crossbow: These Helldivers 2 Democratic Detonation weapons have received some major buffs to their explosive power. The Crossbow’s explosion damage has more than doubled and the explosion radius has increased by 50% while the Eruptor’s shots now explode in a larger area and spit out 30 shrapnel projectiles, though the explosion’s damage has been reduced to compensate. Note that Helldivers can only be one-shot by the Eruptor with a headshot, so it should be much less lethal when it comes to friendly fire.
• Substantial flame improvements for the Torcher and Crisper: The Helldivers 2 Freedom’s Flame weapons have had their flame mechanics reverted to how they were pre-Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom update – in short, they’re generally a lot better now and they’ve also received a 50% damage buff and slightly increased armor penetration.
• General improvements to the Liberator weapon family: The Liberator and its Carbine variant received small bumps to their damage, durable damage, stagger force, and ammo reserves. The Penetrator and Concussive variants instead got some significant buffs in only one area, with the former getting a 33% damage boost and the latter gaining new 60-round drum magazines.
• The Scythe and Dagger laser weapons are easier to use: Both weapons benefit from a total lack of recoil and the ability to set enemies on fire fast, but the Scythe specifically has a faster cooldown and lower scope zoom while the Dagger got a boost to its damage and now heats up slower.
• The Diligence weapons now deal a lot more damage: The Diligence marksman rifle has seen its damage go up by roughly one third while the damage and durable damage of the Counter Sniper has gone up significantly, which might make it a superb weapon for fighting Automatons.
• A slight rework for the Breaker Spray and Pray: The rapid-fire variant of the Breaker shotgun now deals more damage and has a new duckbill muzzle, changing the spread pattern to be mostly horizontal. Meanwhile, the regular Breaker has also had its stagger force increased and now has a 16-round magazine.
• Grenade buffs: High Explosive and Stuns are my go-to grenades but that could change as Frag grenades have been significantly buffed with increased shrapnel damage, a larger explosion, and you can carry up to five of them. Additionally, Thermite grenades now deal 20 times more damage when they explode and have a much shorter explosion and ignition fuse time, though you can carry only three of them now.

Support weapon Stratagem changes

The following are the most significant changes and weapons to watch out for when deciding your support weapon Stratagems for your next mission in Helldivers 2:

• Explosive anti-tank support weapons have all had their damage increased significantly: Unsurprisingly, this makes the Recoilless Rifle, Quasar Cannon, Commando, Expendable Anti-Tank, Spear, and even Patriot Exosuit rockets much more effective against heavily armored enemies. This doesn’t mean they’ll all be as good as each other, however, as anti-tank weapons that are easier to use or have more ammo immediately available are generally on the weaker side. As an example, the Spear can now frequently one-shot Chargers and other similarly sized enemies, but the Commando is more likely to kill with multiple hits.  
• The Flamethrower is even better than before: After getting nerfed hard in the Escalation of Freedom update, the Flamethrower has had its fire mechanics reverted to how they were before, and its damage has been increased by a third along with improved armor penetration.
• The Railgun might now be the best weapon for sturdy enemies: The Railgun has always been good but now it’s even better, specifically against durable body parts on enemies with a massive buff to its durable damage (the Anti-Materiel Rifle has also received a similar buff if you prefer using that). Additionally, fully overcharging the Railgun in unsafe mode now provides a 250% damage buff, up from 150% - a colossal improvement, so long as it doesn’t explode in your hands.
• The Arc Thrower can really throw with a massive range boost: Now capable of hitting enemies from 55 meters away and the ability to jump additional times, the Arc Thrower has been improved a lot. Furthermore, it can also build up and inflict a moderate stun effect on enemies by zapping them multiple times. Note that the Tesla Tower Stratagem also has this stunning effect and the Blitzer primary weapon can apply a weaker version.

Stratagem patch notes

Many Helldivers 2 stratagems have received some small balancing changes and buffs in this patch to bolster their power and make them a bit more viable at all difficulties, and even the most powerful Stratagems should feel like they have a bit more oomph, such as the Orbital Laser and Railcannon. These are the biggest changes:

• The Eagle 500kg Bomb is even bigger now: The explosion effect for this bomb is huge and now the blast radius should match is, making it much more lethal against enemy bases and huge groups.
• The Emancipator Exosuit has been improved a lot: To help the Emancipator out a bit, it now has 100 shots per autocannon instead of 75, and it can fire faster and deals more durable damage, making it great against armored foes.
• Gas has been reworked to focus on crowd control: Dealing less damage over time, the Orbital Gas Strike Stratagem now blinds and confuses enemies (and Helldivers) too. This rework also affects the Stratagems in the Helldivers 2 Chemical Agents Warbond.

Helldivers 2 enemy patch notes

Certain Helldivers 2 enemies have long been big pain points (I’m looking at you, Rocket Devastators), but this patch has addressed several issues, particularly regarding certain Automatons and the overall power of the biggest Terminids.

Automaton changes

The Helldivers 2 Automatons and their love of rocket weapons and heavy armor has made them especially difficult to fight, but these changes in the latest patch for Helldivers 2 should make them much more manageable:

• Automaton Fabricators now have health and armor: You can still chuck a grenade into the roof vents, but Fabricators can also be destroyed just by shooting them enough with the right weapons – as an example, it takes two Commando rockets to blow up a Fabricator now.
• Rocket Devastators and Gunships no longer obliterate you: Finally, the rocket ragdolling can calm down a bit. Rocket Devastators now have visible rockets, letting you see how many they’ve fired, and they must also reload their rocket pods when they’re empty, giving you a chance to more easily fight back. Similarly, Gunships also have a limited supply of rockets but no ability to reload, so once they’re out, they’re out. To round out the end of rocket hell, the rockets these enemies fire now have smaller collision zones, making them easier to dodge.
• Hulks, Devastators, and Berserkers are much easier to kill: A good chunk of the Automaton’s forces have been weakened, notably Hulks. These massive machines now have weaker armor and the Bruiser variant now has an energy cannon instead of a rocket launcher. All Devastators also have slightly less health and flinch when hit, and Berserkers are also much easier to kill with a new abdomen weak spot and reduced health, though their chainsaw arms deal more damage.

Terminid changes

Similarly, the Helldivers 2 Terminids present their own problems, mainly due to the extremes in their forces – small and extremely weak bugs next to hulking monstrosities with tough carapace armor. Luckily, a lot of them have been reined with these big changes:

• The Terminids are generally much easier to kill: The tiny Scavengers and Hunters have had their health reduced while Chargers, Bile Titans, and Impalers have slightly weaker armor. Chargers have seen the biggest changes however, with all variants having weaker butt weak points, lower armor on their bellies, a 300% damage multiplier when hitting exposed body flesh, and slower turning capabilities. They also charge less often, but this is balanced by increased damage from their attacks, so don’t get knocked over!
• When fighting Bile Titans, aim for the belly: Bile Titans now have significantly weaker underbellies thanks to further reduced armor. As before shooting the belly until it effectively bursts does a lot of damage to the Titan, but now the exposed fleshy belly has its own health pool and destroying that kills the Titan, giving you another way to deal with them without bringing anti-tank weapons.
• Impalers should be more manageable: Impalers are quite complicated enemies with their thrashing tentacles, but they’ve been adjusted in this Helldivers 2 patch to make them a bit easier to fight. The big bug’s tentacles can’t travel as far to reach players, should no longer launch you unexpectedly, and they’ll generally prioritize those that are near the Impaler itself. However, an Impaler’s tentacles also deal more damage and can be retracted more often.

Other Helldivers 2 patch notes and balancing changes

• Helldivers take less damage from headshots, but more damage everywhere else: Getting hit in the head used to cause the attack to deal double damage to players, but now it’s only 50% more damage, preventing quick deaths or sudden health losses from a couple of good hits. To counter this, other body parts now take slightly more damage.
• Intense Heat and Extreme Cold planet modifiers now vary: Previously, these modifiers applied during an entire mission, but now they can activate and deactivate based on time of day and other weather conditions. Some desert planets may have Intense Heat during the day and no modifier, or even Extreme Cold, at night. Meanwhile, planets where fire tornadoes can form will only have Intense Heat active when those firestorms are active.

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