Helldivers 2 bought its largest replace in months right now: the Escalation of Freedom patch provides a brand new highest problem (Stage 10), a swamp planet biome, new enemy varieties, and missions. It is a terrific day to return to what’s nonetheless simply my sport of the yr to date, however within the loudest corners of the Helldivers 2 neighborhood, dialog round right now’s replace has been dominated by two bullet factors within the patch notes. The fan-favorite flamethrower bought nerfed, and the subreddit has gone nuclear over it:
- Adjusted flame results to work extra realistically.
- It would not undergo varied our bodies/objects the place bounce off can be the anticipated conduct, like on armors and static objects.
What this implies is that the flamethrower’s flames now not penetrate the thick armor plating on Chargers. That is a disgrace, as a result of the flamethrower’s penchant for melting Chargers in seconds was thought-about top-of-the-line causes to convey it as your assist weapon—its energy justified the chance of burning your self and teammates within the course of.
The nerf is already very unpopular on the Helldivers 2 subreddit and on Twitter, the place Arrowhead’s CEO Shams Jorjani has been fielding suggestions from followers all day.
“Phrases can not categorical how upset and offended I really feel proper now. MORE NERFS? REALLY?” wrote Reddit person Gn0meKr.
It is value noting that this reception is not what I normally anticipate from a single change to a gun in a videogame—individuals aren’t simply aggravated about this, they’re livid in a approach that is disproportionate to the offense. The flamethrower is not pretty much as good anymore, and I believe Arrowhead ought to most likely reverse this bizarre change, however some persons are utilizing this as a leaping pad to declare that Arrowhead is as soon as once more out of contact with its followers, would not really play its personal sport, or simply enjoys being the enjoyable police.
It looks like these individuals aren’t that mad in regards to the flamethrower, a weapon I infrequently see Divers utilizing within the wild, however are offended that Arrowhead has the gall to contemplate extra nerfs after that complete dust-up over steadiness in June. That controversy resulted in a well-received patch that buffed weapons and stratagems throughout the board, however as we’re seeing now, it additionally created an uncommon sensitivity to the very concept of nerfs in Helldivers 2.
Flamethrower DOES nonetheless work on chargers, it looks like you need to place your self proper although from r/Helldivers
“You and @Pilestedt lied to us, promised us the moon however NOTHING modified, you simply maintain nerfing stuff for no purpose, shit on participant suggestions and don’t have any clue about precise balancing,” one significantly perturbed reply to Jorjani reads. “Do not be stunned should you’re reviewbombed once more.”
Jorjani, in the meantime, is preserving a cool head about it. He hasn’t made any direct assertion about right now’s nerfs to the flamethrower and Breaker Incendiary shotgun, however is extra typically reminding gamers that steadiness is a course of, and he’ll be passing this suggestions onto Arrowhead’s balancing group.
“One factor to remember is that it is a always evolving factor. Add one gun or enemy to the combo then every part wants a tweak move,” Jorjani replied to 1 fan. “One thing that felt [overpowered] final week would possibly really feel nerfed the opposite. We do not need ‘fixed nerfing’ and can maintain at it.”
What Jorjani may be getting at is the brand new Warbond coming to Helldivers 2 on Thursday, Freedom’s Flame. The $10 premium bond will add two new flamethrowers to the sport, one within the main slot and one secondary, in addition to armor that negates most fireplace injury. A main flamethrower that may burn straight by means of Charger armor does sound so probably highly effective that it makes all different primaries out of date, so I can perceive why Chargers are actually largely fireproof. However what of the assist flamethrower? That one is supposed to be essentially the most highly effective weapon you are carrying—perhaps it was caught within the crossfire of modifications meant for these smaller flamethrower choices.
Scorched earth
It might be disingenuous to border the Escalation of Freedom patch as a sequence of nerfs. As typical, Arrowhead has largely buffed underperforming weapons and stratagems, together with the SG-8S Slugger, the Exploding Crossbow, Guard Canine, and Orbital Strolling Barrage.
Jorjani made one other touch upon steadiness that I discover fascinating: What we see from the surface is not indicative of the entire Helldivers 2 neighborhood, and in reality, not everybody is consistently asking for ‘no nerfs, solely buffs.’
“Some are going ‘buff every part!!’ Others are saying ‘it is too simple!’ Most are in-game—simply enjoying.”
It is pure to affix a united entrance on Reddit or in a Discord server and consider you signify a whole fandom, however it’s by no means that easy. Jorjani would not say this to absolve Arrowhead of balancing selections it could decide have been too far and reverse, however to softly push again on the notion that Arrowhead is making issues much less enjoyable on function.
Jorjani goes on: “Each new large replace requires a little bit of playtime earlier than we all know which route to nice tune issues. Recognize the persistence!”
I jumped into a number of missions with the brand new flamethrower and, yep, preventing Chargers ain’t what it was. They’re almost impervious to fireside from the entrance (it appears you may sneak some flame injury into their joints should you intention fastidiously), so your finest guess is to stun them first and goal their large ol’ butt. The excellent news is the flamethrower continues to be remarkably good at coping with each smaller tier of Terminid. It is nonetheless so good that I wager most people leaping again into Helldivers 2 right now have not seen the distinction.
However I actually do hope they let the large flamethrower chew by means of Chargers once more, as a result of I have been dreaming of a fireplace knight construct the place every part I contact burns to ash.
