HELLDIVERS™ 2

Fellow Helldivers,

As we wrap up our 60-day community commitment, I want to take a moment to reflect on the journey we've taken together. Your feedback regarding the Escalation of Freedom update was both insightful and vital to our improvement process. We listened, we learned, and we took action.

Key developments:

• 
  There’s been a comprehensive balancing pass on over 70 weapons and stratagems, reworking armor penetration and adjusting enemy armor and health values
• 
  Several enemies have been overhauled to ensure they present a challenge while feeling rewarding to defeat. Notable changes include reducing armor values for heavy enemies like Hulks, Chargers, Impalers and Bile Titans, along with limiting the rocket fire from Devastators and Gunships
• 
  We took a deep dive into core systems like enemy spawning as well as targeting and vision for the Automatons

In terms of performance, we’ve made some big changes under the hood to ensure a more responsive and optimized experience as you bring freedom and justice to Super Earth:

• 
  We’ve refactored UI systems to render more efficiently and we’ve optimized fire effects and terrain deformation
• 
  We’ve improved our internal systems and teams—automated testing has gotten better and our Engine team has expanded to help us refine our processes for long-term stability and smoother gameplay

Our commitment to You moving forward:

As we keep building this game, we are committed to keeping the lines of communication open through regular player surveys, improved patch notes, and more frequent updates via blog posts and streams. We will also continue to expand our closed betas, to make sure we catch valuable feedback early.

On behalf of the team at Arrowhead, I want to thank you for your patience, your insights, and your passion for our game. We’ve genuinely enjoyed seeing your reactions to our latest updates, and we’re excited to continue developing the game while ensuring that it delivers on its core fantasy and remains a game we all love to play.

Together, we are shaping the future of Helldivers 2, and we can’t wait to show you what’s next for the core game experience and the next chapters of the Galactic War.

In solidarity,

Mikael E

Game Director

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Freedoms greetings citizens of Super Earth! Im your host Release Captain Carlberg bringing you the latest and greatest from high command. So without further ado let us dive in.

Overview
The final part of our 60 day commitment is here!
This patch marks the last set of changes we aimed to implement for the 60 day community commitment while also addressing issues we previously didn’t have time to fix.

So what does this patch contain?
We have made changes to the remaining weapons and stratagems we weren't able to finish for the patch on September 17th, ensuring they’re now more interesting and effective. We have also dedicated some time and we’ve looked over some key core systems like enemy spawning as well as targeting and vision for the Automatons. Based on your feedback, we’ve fine-tuned the Automaton experience to hopefully make them feel less frustrating to play against. Additionally, we have also adjusted the Helldivers durability to make your armor choices feel more impactful.

Finally, we've introduced new functionality to certain items to give players more depth in mastering their equipment. For example, the GR-8 Recoilless Rifle and the AC-8 Autocannon now have programmable ammunition, and drones that come with backpacks can be toggled on or off for added control.

We hope you enjoy these changes! The team at Arrowhead has been thrilled to work on this 60-day commitment for you, our community and players and seeing your reactions to the work we’ve done! Together, we aim to ensure Helldivers 2 delivers on its core fantasy and remains a game we all love to play.

Balancing
General changes
Additional Supply Items are now visible on the minimap

• Exosuits
  
• Support Stratagems

Removed ricochets from Orbital Stratagem projectiles, Eagle-1 bombs and FAF-14 Spear missiles

• They can no longer ricochet off of targets

Helldiver armor tweaks, both Heavy and Light armor are now more effective

Heavy armor reduces damage taken by 25%, up from 20%

• 5% more damage reduction

Light armor increases damage taken by 25%, down from 33%

• 8% less damage taken

Stratagems and Weapon tag description updates, they now show more information and are also categorized

• Armor penetration 2 is classified as Light armor penetrating
  
• Armor penetration 3 is classified as Medium armor penetrating
  
• Armor penetration 4 is classified as Heavy armor penetrating
  
• Armor penetration 5+ is classified as Anti tank

Primary Weapons
Plasma projectile behavior

• We’ve standardized the behavior of Plasma projectiles, which previously had varying characteristics in how they traveled through the air. Now, all Plasma projectiles experience high drag, causing them to slow down faster. However, each plasma weapon still fires projectiles at different speeds and calibers, so their effective ranges will remain distinct. For most weapons, this change won’t be very noticeable
  
• With the SG-8P Punisher Plasma you’ll see a less pronounced arc in its projectile path. Instead, it will start off faster and lose speed more rapidly, keeping its effective range about the same

PLAS-101 Purifier
Projectiles can now be charged up with a damage multiplier that scales

• Minimum charge of 0.1 sec gives a 50% damage multiplier
  
• Maximum charge of 1 sec gives a 100% damage multiplier
  
• Maximum charge projectile damage increased from 100 to 200
  
• Maximum charge projectile durable damage increased from 50 to 100
  
• Maximum charge explosion damage increased from 150 to 300
  
• The explosion doesn’t scale, but a fully charged shot has a different explosion effect:
  
• Minimum charge (0.1–0.99 sec): Inner radius 1m, outer radius 2m, explosion damage 75
  
• Maximum charge (1 sec): Inner radius 2.9m, outer radius 3m, explosion damage 300

PLAS-1 Scorcher

• New weapon function: Auto fire mode
  
• Fire rate increased from 250 to 350
  
• Magazine capacity increased from 15 to 20
  
• Spare magazines decreased from 6 to 5

SG-8P Punisher Plasma

• Reduced recoil
  
• Fire rate increased from 80 to 100

AR-23 Liberator

• Horizontal recoil reduced by 30%

AR-23P Liberator Penetrator

• Horizontal recoil reduced by 30%
  
• Increased magazine capacity from 30 to 45
  
• Spare magazines decreased from 10 to 7

AR-23A Liberator Carbine

• Horizontal recoil reduced by 30%
  
• Ergonomics increased from 65 to 70
  
• Reload duration decreased from 3 to 2.5 sec

BR-14 Adjudicator

• Horizontal recoil reduced by 30%
  
• Projectile damage increased from 80 to 90
  
• Projectile durable damage increased from 16 to 23
  
• Magazine capacity increased from 25 to 30

AR-61 Tenderizer

• New weapon function: 600/850 RPM

JAR-5 Dominator

• Moved from the Explosive weapon category to the Special weapon category

Sidearms
P-113 Verdict

• Armor penetration increased from 2 to 3
  
• Projectile durable damage increased from 13 to 32
  
• Stagger strength increased from 13 to 15

P-4 Senator

• Armor penetration increased from 3 to 4
  
• Projectile damage increased from 175 to 200
  
• Projectile durable damage increased from 35 to 70

P-11 Stim Pistol

• Spread decreased from 30 to 5
  
• Muzzle velocity increased from 80 to 200

Throwables
K-2 Throwing Knives

• Uses increased from 8 to 20

G-12 High Explosive Grenade

• Damage increased from 400 to 800

G-6 Frag Grenade

• Damage increased from 250 to 500

G-10 Incendiary Grenade

• Damage increased from 150 to 300

Stratagem Support Weapons
AC-8 Autocannon
New weapon function: Programmable ammunition now allows you to switch between normal and and flak projectiles

• Flak projectiles are proximity triggered shrapnel explosions with a larger explosion radius

GR-8 Recoilless Rifle
New weapon function: Programmable ammunition now allows you to switch between normal projectiles and High Explosive rounds

• High Explosive rounds have a larger explosion radius, deal more explosion damage, less projectile damage and are less effective against tanks

RL-77 Airburst Rocket Launcher

• Reload duration reduced from 7 to 5 sec

M-105 LMG Stalwart

• Ergonomics increased from 25 to 40

MG-43 Machine Gun

• Magazine capacity increased from 150 to 175
  
• Starting spare magazines increased from 1 to 2

MG-206 Heavy Machine Gun

• Magazine capacity increased from 75 to 100

Backpacks
LIFT-850 Jump Pack

• Cooldown reduced from 20 to 15 sec
  
• Stronger thrust force
  
• Thrust vector has been tweaked. Will have a slightly higher jump and more forward momentum

AX/AR-23 “Guard Dog”

• Switch from AR-23 Liberator rounds to AR-23P Liberator Penetrator rounds.
  
• Armor penetration increased from 2 to 3
  
• Damage decreased from 70 to 60
  
• Magazine capacity increased from 30 to 45

Drone Backpacks now has a new toggle drone function

• Activate: The drone leaves the backpack and starts to perform its tasks
  
• Deactivate: The drone returns to the backpack into a passive standby state

Stratagems
Eagle Strafing Run

• Explosion radius slightly increased
  
• Explosion damage increased from 250 to 350

Orbital Airburst Strike

• Salvoes increased from 3 to 4
  
• Duration between salvoes increased from 3 to 4 sec

A/MG-43 Machine Gun Sentry

• Magazine capacity increased from 125 to 175
  
• Cooldown reduced from 120 to 90 sec
  
• Life time reduced from 180 to 150 sec

A/G-16 Gatling Sentry

• Magazine capacity increased from 400 to 500
  
• Cooldown reduced from 180 to 150 sec
  
• Life time reduced from 180 to 150 sec

A/MLS-4X Rocket Sentry

• Cooldown reduced from 180 to 150 sec
  
• Life time reduced from 180 to 150 sec

A/AC-8 Autocannon Sentry

• Cooldown reduced from 180 to 150 sec
  
• Life time reduced from 180 to 150 sec

MD-17 Anti Tank Mines
We are working on changes to the Anti-Personnel and Incendiary Mines, however we are not yet happy with the fixes, as we feel they introduced too many new problems. We will continue working on these changes and include them in a future patch

• The mines are now only triggered by heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks
  
• Damage increased from 800 to 2000
  
• Explosion radius decreased

A/ARC-3 Tesla Tower

• Reduced charge-up shots cooldown from 3 to 1 sec
  
• Cooldown reduced from 150 to 120 sec
  
• Lifetime reduced from 180 to 150 sec

FX-12 Shield Generator Relay

• Removed charge delay between damage taken
  
• Increased charge rate from 300 to 400 health/sec
  
• Radius increased from 8 to 15m
  
• Once the shield is down, it will no longer regenerate

Gameplay
Patrol Spawning

• Previously, once the mission was completed but before extraction, we significantly increased patrol spawns across the entire map.
  Now, the increased patrol spawns are concentrated around the extraction site, with more patrols appearing the closer you are to it. This change should make patrol spawning feel more logical and reduce the penalty for players who complete the mission but still want to explore the map or collect samples. Please let us know if you still experience issues with the patrol spawning!

Terminids
Bile Spewers

• Legs health reduced from 300 to 200

Nursing Spewers

• Legs health reduced from 300 to 200

Hunters

• Have a short shared area cooldown for their pounce ability
  
• Can now totally blow up if affected with enough damage

Scavengers

• Can blow up if affected with enough damage

Automatons
Automaton Targeting

• Some enemies were able to shoot at you without needing proper line of sight, which caused them to fire into or through walls, track you even when hidden, and ignore smoke effects. We've addressed these issues, so now you should be able to use stealth more effectively against the Automatons, and they won’t be able to shoot through walls or see you when they shouldn’t. Please let us know if you still encounter issues like these!

Automaton projectiles

• Normal small projectiles damage reduced from 40 to 35, used by enemies like the Devastators, Emplacements and Conscripts
  
• Heavy projectiles damage reduced from 65 to 60, used by enemies like the Heavy Emplacements and Scout Striders

Hulk Bruiser

• In response to their disapproval of a newly installed cannon on the Automaton Hulk Bruisers, Super Earth High Command sent a crack commando to sabotage their production facilities. The skilled operative promptly escaped into the shadows after completing their mission. Today, still wanted by the Automatons, they survive as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can enlist… John Helldiver
  
• As a result the Automatons had to revert back to using rocket launchers for their Hulk Bruisers

All Devastators

• Head armor decreased from 2 to 1
  
• Head health increased from 100 to 110

Berserkers

• Head health decreased from 125 to 110

Heavy Devastator

• The pause between their salvoes has been slightly increased, providing Helldivers with a better opportunity to counterattack

All Tanks

• Front armor reduced from 6 to 5, our previous tweak didn't have the intended effect on gameplay that we expected so we’ve reverted this back
  
• The rear weak spots of the Tank's body now have their own health pool, which matches the Tank's previous total health. Once this health pool is depleted, the Tank will be destroyed. Additionally, these weak spots also deal 150% damage to the Tank's main health

Annihilator Tank Turrets & Shredder Tank Turrets

• The rear weak spots of the Tank's body now have their own health pool, which matches the Tank's previous total health. Once this health pool is depleted, the Tank will be destroyed. Additionally, these weak spots also deal 200% damage to the Tank's main health

Barrager Tank Turret

• The Turret is now destroyed if the Tank body is destroyed

Fixes
Resolved Top Priority issues:

• Not enough enemies spawn to complete Eradicate missions
  
• Some enemies were able to shoot at you without needing proper line of sight, which caused them to fire into or through walls, track you even when hidden, and ignore smoke effects
  
• Patrol Spawning should now feel more logical and reduce the penalty for players who complete the mission but still want to explore the map or collect samples

Crash Fixes and Soft-locks:

• Fixed crash that could occur when getting knock backed while wearing the energy shield backpack
  
• Fixed potential crash when a peer leaves with unique armor customization
  
• Various crash fixes

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Fixed bug where helldivers wearing heavy armors would be immune to gas status effect
  
• General Brasch returns from holiday retreat in foggy hillside town

Known Issues
These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.
Top Priority:

• The hive breaker drill may be inaccessible when called in
  
• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform
  
• Terminals may lose functionality blocking completion of a mission
  
• Social menu is stuck on ‘Please Wait Democratically’ for some players
  
• Title may crash during intro cinematic or title screen
  
• Friends "Invite only" games can still be seen on the Galactic War Map but cannot be joined

Medium Priority:

• Players are unable to shoot properly while in the air using a jetpack
  
• Stratagem balls bounce unpredictably off cliffs and some spots
  
• Some Eagle Stratagems may not drop when deployed on a swamp planet
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Pelican-1 may sometimes be launched away if hit with an impaler tentacle
  
• Supply packs may be incorrectly used if pressing down on a controller while calling in a stratagem
  
• High damage weapons will not detonate hellbombs already present on the map
  
• Some enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions
  
• QWERTY keyboard numpad bindings does not save correctly after the Title restart

That is all for today! A democratic day to you
Release Captain Carlberg out

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Freedoms greetings. Small update incoming

Overview

• Crash fixes
  
• Miscellaneous fixes

Fixes
Crash Fixes

• Fixed a crash caused by unique stim pistol owners leaving the game
  
• Fixed crash when equipping any purchased hellpod skins on a fresh account

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Fixed bug where helldivers wearing heavy armors would be immune to gas status effect
  
• Can no longer call down multiple seismic probes and prospecting drills at the same time
  
• Bots will not get stuck shooting at walls as frequently during evacuate high-value asset missions
  
• The audio for all Bug and Bot enemies has been cleaned up and re-balanced recently. The focus has mostly been on their voices, but the movement has been looked at as well. The goal was to make enemy audio more balanced between each enemy type and to make enemies more audible in various situations. It will be subjective but please keep on the lookout for moments where you think the audio should have informed you about the enemy's presence but didn't
  
• General Brasch-issued Protection Order for pygmy hippos implemented (The Moo Deng Accord)

Known Issues
Top Priority:

• The hive breaker drill may be inaccessible when called in
  
• Not enough enemies spawn to complete Eradicate missions
  
• Enemies are sometimes capable of shooting through walls
  
• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform
  
• In High Value Asset defense missions, some enemies may prioritize the generators over the players
  
• Social menu is stuck on ‘Please Wait Democratically’ for some players
  
• Dead bodies of Chargers can launch the Helldiver into the air
  
• Title may crash during intro cinematic or title screen

Medium Priority:

• Stratagem balls bounce unpredictably off cliffs and some spots
  
• Terminals may lose functionality blocking completion of a mission
  
• Some Eagle Stratagems may not drop when deployed on a swamp planet
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Pelican-1 may sometimes be launched away if hit with an impaler tentacle
  
• Supply packs may be incorrectly used if pressing down on a controller while calling in a stratagem
  
• Friends "Invite only" games can still be seen on the Galactic War Map but cannot be joined
  
• High damage weapons will not detonate hellbombs already present on the map
  
• Some enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate mission
  
• QWERTY keyboard numpad bindings does not save correctly after the Title restart

End of transmission, Release Captain Carlberg out

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Freedoms greetings Helldivers
Small update coming your way!

Overview

• Crash fixes
  
• Shield backpack fixes
  
• Miscellaneous fixes

Fixes
Crash Fixes

• Fixed a rare crash caused by weapon reloads.
  
• Fixed a rare crash when opening chat on a mission.
  
• Resolved crash related to squad menu.
  
• Fix crash that might happen if host migration occurs during a bug breach.
  
• Fixed crash when opening the Armory or Ship management and Acquisitions menu at the same time when on someone else's ship.
  
• Fixed a UI crash where there could be more than 3 teammates at the same time.
  
• Fixed a crash which occurred after an early host migration and the former host having an unique skin in their hellpod.
  
• Fixed crash that could happen if a peer leaves a four player game.

Miscellaneous fixes

• The SH-32 Shield Generator Pack now properly transfers knockback to the wielder."
  
• Fixed Helldiver cardboard not spawning in the tutorial.
  
• Fixed a bug where Helldiver's arms would glitch when quickly picking up the same weapon type twice.
  
• Fixed owned stratagems number increasing for all categories when stratagem is purchased.
  
• Fixed issue with overlapping input for Rock Paper Scissor first option on the controller.
  
• Fixed the Expert Exterminator title being incorrectly available to some players.
  
• Fixed the issue where all the medals of a Warbond page would hide when scrolling.
  
• Scout walkers will now receive the gas confusion effect when damaged by gas. They will also properly take damage on their health zones when receiving damage from flamethrowing or gas weapons.
  
• Fixed name of the new host not showing anymore for clients when host migration happens.
  
• Fix backpack being hidden while in the HMG Emplacement.
  
• Resolved an issue where PS5 players became unjoinable after their console returned from rest mode.
  
• Fixed issue where a poor connection between a joining player and an existing player could cause the existing player to be disconnected from the session. For good measure, we also doubled the threshold for what is considered a poor connection. This should result in less instances of being randomly sent back to your ship without warning or reason.
  
• Fix a host migration issue for stratagem objectives that prevent their completion.
  
• Fix bug where sometimes prerequisite objectives would be shown above the primary objective in the HUD.
  
• Fixed tentacles throwing the player in the air when impaler recalled them.
  
• Fix bug in "EVACUATE HIGH-VALUE ASSETS" where enemies would stop spawning for a period of time when the host leaves.
  
• All Automaton Hulk types will now prioritize the player over the Power Generator in the Evacuate High-Value Assets mission.
  
• Fixed broken menus when opening the main menu right before entering the hellpod (when the Loadout menu opens).
  
• General Brasch was promoted to Super 10-Star General after the latest personal shield generator confusion.

Known Issues
Top Priority

• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform
  
• Enemies will try to shoot the generators through walls in the Rescue High-Value Assets mission
  
• Enemies are sometimes capable of shooting through walls
  
• Social menu is stuck on ‘Please Wait Democratically’ for some players
  
• Dead bodies of Chargers can launch the Helldiver into the air

Medium Priority

• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Pelican-1 may sometimes be launched away if hit with an impaler tentacle
  
• Supply packs may be incorrectly used if pressing down on a controller while calling in a stratagem
  
• Friends "Invite only" games can still be seen on the Galactic War Map but cannot be joined
  
• High damage weapons will not detonate hellbombs
  
• Some enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions

End of transmission

Continue reading...

 

Overview

• Fix for SH-32 Shield Generator Pack
  
• Crash fix

Fixes

• Fix for a crash during host migration when a new player joins.
  
• Helldivers were accidentally granted the SH-32 Shield Generator Packs from General Brasch´s personal stash. These are reserved for 10 star generals only. The workers at the distribution center have been sent to re-education camps and regular shields will resume distribution.

Known Issues (Same as last patch)
These are the highest priority issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed. This is not a comprehensive list.

Top Priority:

• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform
  
• Large units have no audio cues, allowing them to sneak up on players
  
• Enemies will try to shoot the generators through walls in the Rescue High-Value Assets mission
  
• Enemies are sometimes capable of shooting through walls
  
• Social menu is stuck on ‘Please Wait Democratically’ for some players
  
• Dead bodies of Chargers can launch the Helldiver into the air
  
• Stratagem balls bounce unpredictably off cliffs and some spots
  
• Players may sometimes be unable to join specific friends, or are returned to ship when joined

Medium Priority:

• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Mines may become invisible or may disappear in Multiplayer lobbies
  
• Pelican-1 may sometimes be launched away if hit with an impaler tentacle
  
• Supply packs may be incorrectly used if pressing down on a controller while calling in a stratagem
  
• Friends "Invite only" games can still be seen on the Galactic War Map but cannot be joined
  
• High damage weapons will not detonate hellbombs
  
• Some enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions

Continue reading...

 

Freedoms greetings Helldivers. Today is a big one so we will dive straight in.

Overview

• Major Overhaul of Anti-Tank, Armor Penetration, Health and Armor Values
  
• Weapon & Stratagem Balancing
  
• Enemy Reworks
  
• Helldiver Health and Damage Mechanics Tweaks
  
• Gas Gameplay Mechanic Rework
  
• New Galactic War feature
  
• Emote Wheel feature
  
• Crash & Bug Fixes

Major Updates
Helldivers,
Thank you for your valuable feedback. Many players have expressed feeling constrained in how they approach challenges, often relying on a limited set of tools while other options seem less effective. This has impacted your ability to play the game in a way that suits your preferences.
So, what’s changing? For all the bugdivers out there, many situations were previously either resolved with your primary weapon or anti-tank weapons, which haven’t always performed as expected. With the overwhelming presence of Bile Titans and Chargers, many weapon choices therefore became invalid.

To address this, we've reworked armor penetration, anti-tank weapons, enemy armor and health values. Our goal is to improve the effectiveness of weapons such as the Autocannon, Heavy Machine Gun, Flamethrower, and Anti-Materiel Rifle against heavily armored enemies. Although they may not be as effective as specialized anti-tank weapons, they are now more viable choices making your loadouts more versatile, fostering better team collaboration and planning.

On the Bot front, Hulks have also had their armor reduced, making them more vulnerable to a wider range of weapons. Additionally, to improve the gameplay experience, the Devastator and Gunship will now have a limited supply of rockets, and those rockets won’t hit as frequently as before. This comes alongside the previously updated smaller impact radius for rockets, reducing excessive ragdolling.
We’ve also made improvements to many primary weapons, bringing them closer in effectiveness to the most popular choices. This should offer more variety and flavor during your play sessions.
We are adjusting damage mechanics to make the damage Helldivers receive more consistent over time by reducing 100% extra headshot damage to 50%. To maintain the overall challenge of the game, we've slightly increased the damage taken to other parts of the body. Our intent is to preserve the intensity of the gameplay while minimizing frustrating situations where sudden headshots cause large damage spikes.

With these changes, along with an upgraded Helldiver arsenal, enemy adjustments, and more consistent damage, the overall difficulty may slightly decrease. We'll be monitoring this closely and will listen to the community on how you think it feels.

We want to assure you that your feedback remains essential to us. Please share your thoughts on these updates, as we are actively listening. We plan to conduct another balance pass by Day 60 of our commitment to ensure we’re aligning with what you need for the best possible experience and to address any concerns or adjustments required. Your insights will be invaluable in refining these changes and making sure the game remains engaging and enjoyable for everyone.

Balancing
General

• Previously, partial damage dealt 50% of full damage, which we found to be overly punishing and reduced effectiveness too much, leading to an excessive reliance on high armor penetration weapons. We’ve now increased partial damage to 65% of full damage to address this issue.
  
• The Helldiver now takes less damage from headshots, which previously dealt 100% extra damage but now inflict only 50% extra damage. Damage from hits to other body parts has been slightly increased depending on the area hit. This adjustment aims to normalize overall damage while maintaining detailed damage zones, reducing spike damage.

Primary Weapons

Liberator & Liberator Carbine

• Damage is increased from 60 to 70
  
• Durable damage increased from 14 to 17
  
• Stagger force increased from 10 to 15
  
• Max spare magazines increased from 7 to 8
  
• Starting spare magazines increased from 5 to 6

Knight

• Damage is increased from 50 to 65
  
• Durable damage increased from 5 to 7
  
• Magazines now fully refill when picking up resupply
  
• Reduced recoil

Liberator Concussive

• Now comes with a drum magazine which holds 60 rounds
  
• Number of mags reduced from 10 to 6. The number of mags have been reduced due to larger magazine capacity

Tenderizer

• Number of rounds in its magazine increased from 30 to 35
  
• Starting magazines increased from 4 to 5

Breaker

• Now comes with an extended magazine which holds 16 shells
  
• Stagger force increased from 10 to 15

Spray and Pray

• Now has a duckbill muzzle making its spread very horizontal but less vertical
  
• Total Damage increased from 192 to 240

Scythe

• Cooldown is faster
  
• Adjustments to the heat VFX
  
• Scope changed to a low powered scope
  
• Removed recoil
  
• Sets enemies on fire faster

Crossbow

• Explosion radius increased by 50%
  
• Explosion damage increased from 150 to 350

Eruptor
Shrapnel is back! We heard your feedback and re-introduced the shrapnel. We have replaced the original shrapnel with the Frag Grenade shrapnel to no longer instantly one-shot Helldivers with the exception of the occasional unlucky headshot.

• Shrapnel projectiles amount are set to 30
  
• Shrapnel damage is set to 110
  
• Explosion damage decreased from 340 to 225
  
• We also increased the amount of shrapnel
  
• Explosion radius increased by 33% (17% for inner radius and 50% for outer radius)

Defender

• Damage increased from 70 to 75
  
• Durable damage increased from 7 to 8

Liberator Penetrator

• Damage increased from 45 to 60

Diligence

• Damage increased from 125 to 165
  
• Durable damage increased from 32 to 42

Counter Sniper

• Damage increased from 140 to 200
  
• Durable damage increased from 14 to 50
  
• Stagger force increased from 15 to 20

Blitzer

• Now has a weak stun effect that builds up per shot on its targets

Torcher

• Damage increased by 50%
  
• Flamer mechanics reverted to before the Escalation of Freedom update
  
• Increased AP from 3 to 4

Sidearms
Peacemaker

• Increased max spare magazines from 5 to 6

Dagger

• Gains heat more slowly
  
• Removed recoil
  
• Damage increased from 200 to 250
  
• Sets enemies on fire faster
  
• Adjustments to the heat VFX

Crisper

• Damage increased by 50%
  
• Flamer mechanics reverted to before the Escalation of Freedom update
  
• Increased AP from 3 to 4

Support Weapons
Dedicated anti-tank weapons like the Recoilless Rifle, Quasar, Commando, Expendable Anti-Tank, SPEAR, and Patriot Exosuit rockets have all received significant damage boosts to enhance their effectiveness.

These weapons generally fall into three categories:
Strong and Reliable: The Recoilless Rifle and SPEAR can afford to be less accurate when firing at armored targets since most hits will eliminate enemies the size of a Charger

Strong: The Expendable Anti-Tank and Quasar are highly effective, often killing targets with a single hit to a weak spot; otherwise, two solid shots will handle a Charger, or one shot for a Hulk

Less Strong: The Commando and Patriot Exosuit Rockets typically require 1-3 shots to take down a Charger or Hulk, depending on your aim

Grenade Launcher

• Starting spare magazines increased from 1 to 2
  
• Max spare magazines increased from 2 to 3
  
• Explosion radius slightly increased

Laser Cannon

• Cooldown is slightly faster
  
• Removed recoil
  
• Sets enemies on fire faster
  
• Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks
  
• Adjustments to the heat VFX

Arc Thrower

• Range increased from 35 to 55
  
• Now has a moderate stun effect that builds up on its targets
  
• Jumps additional times
  
• Durable damage increased from 50 to 100

Railgun

• Durable damage increased from 60 to 225
  
• Fully overcharging damage increased from 150% to 250%

Stalwart

• Damage is increased from 60 to 70
  
• Durable damage increased from 14 to 17
  
• Stagger force increased from 10 to 15

Machine Gun

• Stagger force increased from 15 to 20

Anti-Materiel Rifle

• Durable damage increased from 135 to 180
  
• Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks
  
• Stagger force increased from 20 to 25

Heavy Machine Gun

• Stagger force increased from 20 to 25
  
• Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks

Commando

• Demolition strength against structures has been reduced; it can no longer destroy Automaton Fabricators in a single shot. However, since the fabricators now have health, it can still take them out with two shots

Flamethrower

• Damage increased by 33%
  
• Flamer mechanics reverted to before the Escalation of Freedom update
  
• Increased armor penetration from 3 to 4
  
• Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks

Autocannon

• Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks

Grenades
Frag Grenade

• Shrapnel damage increased by roughly 50%
  
• Max amount increased from 4 to 5
  
• Refill increased from 2 to 3
  
• Explosion radius increased

Thermite Grenade

• Explosion damage increased from 100 to 2000
  
• Shorter time until it ignites the thermite
  
• Time until it explodes slightly reduced
  
• Max number decreased from 4 to 3

Stratagems
Every Stratagem capable of damaging heavily armored enemies has had their damage increased to account for the increased health of heavier enemies. The goal with this change is to have the Stratagems on a similar or higher power level than before. In addition to that, we have made the following changes as well.

Eagle 500kg bomb

• Explosion radius increased to match visuals better

Eagle Rockets

• Damage slightly increased

Gatling Sentry

• Stagger force increased from 15 to 20

Machine Gun Sentry

• Stagger force increased from 15 to 20

Tesla Tower

• Increased stagger force to match other Arc weapons
  
• Now has a moderate stun effect that builds up per hit on its targets

Heavy Machine Gun Emplacement

• Stagger force increased from 20 to 25
  
• Can now damage heavier enemies like Chargers, Bile Titans, Impalers, Hulks

Patriot Exosuit

• Gatling stagger force increased from 15 to 20

Emancipator Exosuit

• Autocannon durable damage increased from 60 to 150
  
• Rate of fire on its weapons increased from 125 to 175
  
• Ammo increased from 75 to 100 per arm

Orbital Laser

• Damage slightly increased

Orbital Railcannon

• Damage slightly increased

Orbital Gas Strike

• We are reworking the gas gameplay mechanics to become more crowd control focused in preparation for the Chemical Agents Warbond
  
• The gas effect has been reworked to cause blindness and confuse enemies and Helldivers alike at the expense of reduced damage over time

Gameplay
General
New Galactic War Feature

• The Galactic War map can now display the location of strategically important assets. This will make it much easier for the Helldivers to take them into consideration when deciding on their next move.

Emote Wheel feature

• Players can now equip up to four emotes in the armory and access them using the new Emote Wheel feature by holding the Emote button. Additional separate key binding options are available for the Emote Wheel in the settings.

• Added Dolby Atmos support on PS5

Enemies
Automaton Fabricators

• Automaton Fabricators now have health and armor in addition to their existing destruction system. This means that while many high armor penetration weapons can still destroy them, it may take multiple hits to do so, depending on the weapon used
  
• Added effects to clearer showcase their health state

Hulks (All versions)

• Armor reduced from 5 to 4
  
• Back weak spot slightly more durable
  
• Back weak spot health decreased from 1000 to 800

Hulk Bruiser

• Replaced the rocket launcher for an energy based cannon
  
• Increased how frequently the Hulk Bruiser shoots

Tank

• Front armor increased from 5 to 6

Berserker

• Head health reduced from 150 to 125
  
• Main health reduced from 1000 to 750
  
• Abdomen is now a weak spot
  
• Chainsaw damage increased

Devastators (All versions)

• Main health reduced from 800 to 750
  
• Devastators now flinch when hit, causing their aim to worsen, similar to the Conscripts. The intent is to make them easier to manage if you keep applying damage

Rocket Devastators

• Now has a limited number of rockets, and you can see them disappear when they are spent
  
• Added a reload mechanic from their backpack to replenish their rockets once
  
• Rocket physics collision is smaller, making them easier to avoid

Gunships

• Gunships now have a limited amount of rockets
  
• Rocket physics collision is smaller, making them easier to avoid

Charger (All versions)

• Armor reduced from 5 to 4
  
• The butt weak spot health is decreased from 1100 to 950
  
• The butt weak spot is slightly less durable
  
• The belly armor reduced from 4 to 2
  
• A damage multiplier has been added to the Charger's exposed flesh of the main body, now dealing 300% damage
  
• Now turn slightly slower, when charging and moving normally
  
• Now charge less often
  
• Charge damage increased by 50%
  
• Sideattack damage increased by 50%

Charger Behemoth

• The butt weak spot health is decreased from 1200 to 950

Hunter

• Health is reduced from 175 to 160

Scavengers

• Health is reduced from 80 to 60

Bile Titan

• Armor reduced from 5 to 4
  
• We have reworked the Bile Titan’s belly gameplay
  
• Belly armor reduced from 4 to 2
  
• Introduced a separate belly health pool once the outer belly layer has been destroyed
  
• Destroying the exposed belly health pool kills the Bile Titan

Impaler

• Armor reduced from 5 to 4
  
• Previously the Impaler could only retract its tentacles once during its entire lifetime when threatened, now it can do it several times
  
• Its tentacles pursue you over a shorter distance from the impaler and prioritize players nearer to the impaler
  
• If the impaler can’t see an enemy it will retract its tentacles after a brief period

Impaler Tentacles

• Tentacle damage is increased
  
• Reduced camera shake of the tentacle attack
  
• The tentacles require less damage inflicted on them to retract

Planets and Modifiers

• The Intense Heat and Extreme Cold modifiers are no longer static throughout the entire mission, and may now change based on time of day or different weather conditions
  
• Some desert planets will now only have the Intense Heat modifier active during the day. This means that during night the planet will either have no modifier, or in some cases have the Extreme Cold modifier
  
• Arid planets (similar to the Hellmire planet) will now only have the Intense Heat modifier active during fire tornado storms

Fixes

• Fixed per weapon aim mode not saving correctly - NOTE: This patch will clear all the saved aim modes but everything should work correctly afterwards

Crash Fixes and Soft-locks:

• Fixed a crash that could occur if shutting down the game during boot
  
• Fixed a crash caused by players with unique skins timing out
  
• Fixed a crash when vehicle skins are not properly synced
  
• Fixed a crash caused by players leaving the game shortly after being reinforced while using unique hellpod skins
  
• Fixed a rare crash produced by Bile Spewers attacks
  
• Fixed a crash when interacting with the galactic war hologram
  
• Fixed a crash when joining another super destroyer
  
• Fixed a crash that could happen when you were participating in a secondary objective
  
• Fixes crash when booting the game on PS5 with an unsupported systems language (such as French-Canadian)
  
• Fixed a potential crash when new players hotjoin
  
• Fixed a potential crash when other players were leaving the game
  
• Fixed a rare crash when using the Hologram map and looking at the operations
  
• You should no longer crash when interacting with the Galactic War Map when an update is required
  
• Fixed a rare crash which could occur when joining a game session which has cycled through at least 32 unique players
  
• Fixed an issue where objective stratagems cannot be completed if host migration happens
  
• Fixed an issue where already joined players would be getting kicked when other players join the game
  
• Fixed a bug where closing Steam overlay in the middle of the super credits purchase would stay in a broken state for any purchase after that (it previously needed a game restart to work again)
  
• Fixed inaccessible shuttles after hosts leaving the game right before its landing
  
• Fixed soft-lock during mission summary if the host left the game
  
• Fixed an issue where emotes would not exit properly if you canceled them using sprint

Social Menu Fixes

• Fixes to PS5 friends list

Miscellaneous fixes:

Evacuate High-Value Assets Objective

• Fixed issue where enemies would spawn on top of the extraction
  
• Enemies can no longer shoot generators from spawn points or from far away
  
• Fixed enemy pathing where they would sometimes try to enter the base from the mountain on the side
  
• Added more protection for the generators to prevent enemies shooting them from far away
  
• Heavy and flying enemies now prioritize attacking the player before the generators and the gates
  
• Fixed an issue where enemies would stop spawning for a period of time when the host leaves the mission

Conduct Geological Survey Objective

• Fixed issue in “Conduct Geological Survey” mission in which the Seismic Probe could become inoperable if a player called it in and left the game or disconnected
  
• Tweaked enemy spawns

Impaler

• Fixed a bug where Impalers didn't receive explosive damage in their exposed weak areas
  
• Fixed Impaler's tentacles not being pingable

The three following instances have been largely resolved, and the issues are now mostly fixed. Although rare occurrences may still happen with the Impaler in exceptional cases, they should be significantly less common.

• Fixed a bug where standing near the Impaler's head during the tentacle retraction could cause Helldivers to be launched high into the air
  
• Fixed a bug where tentacles spawning beneath players could occasionally launch Helldivers into the air
  
• Fixed a bug where the Impaler’s tentacles could sometimes launch the Exosuits into the air when the player was inside

• Fixed enemies not receiving damage properly when more than 10m away from the player
  
• Fixed issue where Bile Titans may sometimes not take damage to the head
  
• Fixed issue causing most weapons to shoot below the crosshair when using aim down sight
  
• Fixed cases where the Hive Breaker drill might become inaccessible after being called in
  
• Fixed issue where first-person view was misaligned with weapon sights when using the Ballistics Shield Stratagem
  
• HMG scope is no longer misaligned
  
• Fixed lens cutting issues in scopes
  
• Fixed bug where multiple confidential data pickups could spawn in the same stronghold when only one is intended
  
• Fixed two-person emotes getting players stuck in an animation lock
  
• Fixed intro cinematic missing audio in German
  
• Fixed an instance of Automatons shooting through walls
  
• Fixed a bug where sometimes prerequisite objectives would be shown above the primary objective in the HUD
  
• Fixed broken menus when opening the main menu right before entering the Hellpod (when the Loadout menu opens)
  
• Fixed weapon preview in loadout not being visible right after inspecting armors/helmets/capes
  
• Fixed Eagle payloads sometimes not blowing up in swamp biome
  
• Fixed stronghold outposts giving (only visually) 0 rewards on the mission summary objectives screen
  
• Fixed time-outed players still visible on the UI with the white player color
  
• Fixed long player title names text now scrolling instead of overlapping with other texts
  
• Fixed Reinforced Scout Strider showing the wrong name
  
• Removed the deprecated Orbital Flare Stratagem from Stratagem hero
  
• Fixed a bug where some of the stratagems did not have data being shown in the Loadout
  
• Fixed reinforcements called and stratagems used numbers on mission end
  
• Fixed issue of drill objective floating in air when hot joining an ongoing 'Nuke Nursery' mission
  
• Disabled invite/join functionality when players are playing in a different game version
  
• Fixed player names not showing on ship after a mission
  
• Fixed a desync issue in how many civilians have been extracted in "Emergency Evacuation" mission
  
• Fixed unexploded Hellbombs on the terrain not being pingable
  
• Fixed not seeing teammates equipment when hot-joining a mission
  
• Fixed 'Failed to Extract' text incorrectly shown when extracting with the shuttle scene
  
• Solved the issue where the player will not unlock the new difficulties after fulfilling the requirements for it
  
• Binding Stratagem inputs to other buttons should not block terminal inputs
  
• Fixed other players helldivers showing over the weapons/armors when they are joining and the player is selecting equipment selection in Loadout
  
• Fixed a bug when starting the mission even if exiting loadout. Going back to the briefing screen will now unready the player
  
• Fixed the issue where the players can click on entries through the tabs on the bindings menu
  
• Pinged enemies and objects now display correctly after changing language
  
• Fixed stratagem canceling purchase experience where moving mouse up and releasing the mouse button would not stop filling the button and the purchase process
  
• Fixed an issue in our ragdoll optimizations where the wrong collision filters were used for some physics actors, leading to queries hitting unintended shapes
  
• Fixed a bug in our ragdoll optimization code which caused some explosion types to deal incorrect damage
  
• An incorrect message about removing a friend will no longer be displayed in the player information popup
  
• Fixed multiline text sometimes being misaligned
  
• Fixed issue where it scrolled down/up 2 Warbonds in the Acquisitions menu when scrolling with the left controller stick
  
• Fixed motion controls while aiming when the "Motion Sensor Enable Mode" option is set to "Aiming" regardless of Aim input type
  
• Fixed a bug where the player can change tabs while changing the ship's name
  
• Fixed no final ready up sound played when rejoining a mission
  
• Map markers on objectives will follow the objective if it changes position, as in the case of SSSD drives
  
• Fixed issue where the player can throw an unlimited amount of grenades/throwing knives after diving into shallow water while holding and then throwing the last throwable
  
• Fixed another issue where players could be stuck holding the stratagem ball if they open the stratagem menu directly after the previous action
  
• Now the game client displays a proper error message with useful information when the PlayFab login fails
  
• Fixed ADS projectile misalignments
  
• Fixed aim block raycast issues in ADS
  
• Fixed aim position misalignments that happen from repeatedly entering and exiting ADS
  
• Fixed displayed incendiary mines icon and anti-tank mine label when the mine racks for these stratagems were marked/pinged
  
• Fixed issue when changing tab in Armory while scrolling clears the scroll view
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to bypass heat build-up for both the Scythe and Sickle when switching weapons during their reload animations
  
• Fixed an issue where the 500kg bomb impact explosion was not being triggered
  
• Fixed an issue where you could find several Confidential Data assets in Fortress locations
  
• Increased the red zone size during drop select for Fortress locations
  
• Improved error reporting on the splash screen to provide better support
  
• Enemies now spawn during "Spread Democracy" objectives
  
• Added another visual effect to the orbital cannon
  
• Fixed Automaton projectiles clipping through assets
  
• Fixed an issue where the Combat Walker bumping into a big building would destroy it
  
• Fixed some assets bouncing flamethrower flames back
  
• Fixed an issue where incorrect SFX audio for weapons with custom fire modes were being played
  
• Fixed extraction timer not showing in landing beacon when mission time is over
  
• Fixed health not synced correctly after the duration of stim heal (especially in friendly fire situations)
  
• Fixed audio SFX cutouts when switching between weapons

Known Issues
These are the highest priority issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed. This is not a comprehensive list.

Top Priority:

• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform
  
• Large units have no audio cues, allowing them to sneak up on players
  
• Enemies will try to shoot the generators through walls in the Rescue High-Value Assets mission
  
• Enemies are sometimes capable of shooting through walls
  
• Social menu is stuck on ‘Please Wait Democratically’ for some players
  
• Dead bodies of Chargers can launch the Helldiver into the air
  
• Stratagem balls bounce unpredictably off cliffs and some spots
  
• Players may sometimes be unable to join specific friends, or are returned to ship when joined

Medium Priority:

• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Mines may become invisible or may disappear in Multiplayer lobbies
  
• Pelican-1 may sometimes be launched away if hit with an impaler tentacle
  
• Supply packs may be incorrectly used if pressing down on a controller while calling in a stratagem
  
• Friends "Invite only" games can still be seen on the Galactic War Map but cannot be joined
  
• High damage weapons will not detonate hellbombs
  
• Some enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions

If you made it this far this is Release Captain Carlberg, Vice Admiral Ayre and Chief Correctional officer Baskin signing off.
May Liberty guide your path

Continue reading...

 

Helldivers, when you’re on the warfront, emptying magazines into hordes of Terminids, do you ever feel like you’re a space bug exterminator? I know I do and that’s why I’m really excited to tell you about our next Warbond*: Chemical Agents! This one has some seriously deadly toys.

The Helldivers are getting toxic.

I’ll start with everyone’s favorite part of a Warbond: the offensive gear. The first thing a Terminid exterminator needs is a good, high-pressure sprayer. The TX-41 Sterilizer is the tool of the trade, ready to spray down the threat with chemical gas.

A literal spray and pray with the TX-41 Sterilizer.

And in case the bugs got behind you, don’t worry–your gassy little pal the AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath won’t let them get the drop on you before it hoses them down with its corrosive gas sprayer. If there’s still some standing after the stratagems are done, hit ‘em with the G-4 Gas grenade. Cover the whole area in a cloud of noxious fumes, Helldiver!

The AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath gassed up and ready to go.

Adding stratagem variants to Warbonds is new with Chemical Agents, but our designers felt that since gas is a crowd control tool, it made more sense to release stratagems and let Helldivers choose the primary weapons they love the most. Not only that, but this is bringing some serious variety to Chemical Agents that we hope players will enjoy.

Breathe easy in the AF-02 Haz-Master armor.

Now let’s talk drip. The exterminators of Super Earth have access to some killer threads in Chemical Agents. Firstly, these armors have the Advanced Filtration passive, which gives the player resistance to the gas clouds they’ll be generating with their new toys, including the toxic cloud put off by the Orbital Gas Strike stratagem. The AF-50 Noxious Ranger is a lightweight armor, best paired with the Standard of Safe Distance cape. If you really want to go full on with your protective gear, you’ve got the medium AF-02 Haz-Master and the matching Patient Zero’s Remembrance cape. Each set also has a coordinating player card to match the capes.

The AF-50 Noxious Ranger can survive in the fumes.

Our players have been asking for more emotes, and the ones included with Chemical Agents are some of our best yet. Want to know how to tell a joke in Helldivers 2 with your microphone off? Use the co-emote “Natural Gas Extraction” of course. See if you can convince your whole squad to pull your finger. And once you all get back to your ship, they can express their disgust with the “Ew” victory pose.

I said pull my finger, Helldiver!

We’re adding another set of patterns for your Hellpods, Pelican-1, and exosuit in Mustard–not the kind that goes on a hot dog either–this is the deadly kind. If at any point your squad wanders into your toxic cloud, you can use the new utility P-11 Stim Pistol to give them a minor heal from a safe distance.

The friendliest of friendly fire: the P-11 Stim Pistol.

Finally, if you want to really lean into the role, Chemical Agents includes a new player title–Expert Exterminator.

That’s everything, Helldivers. This could be a whole new theme for your squad as the galaxy’s elite peacekeepers and pest destroyers. Gas up for Chemical Agents, releasing September 19th!

Continue reading...

 

It’s been a couple of weeks since we committed to our 60-day plan, and our team has been hard at work refining the gameplay experience, addressing your concerns by doing in-depth reviews and adjustment of various systems, from weapon balancing and enemy behavior to the overall game mechanics. We are fully committed to ensuring Helldivers 2 meets the high standards we all expect. We see the steam reviews and we hear you loud and clear.

We’re excited to share more details about our upcoming update, which will include significant changes aimed at refining and improving your experience in Helldivers 2. This includes:

• We are reworking Armor Penetration, Anti-Tank weapons and enemy armor and health values. As a key part of the rework we have done an initial balancing pass on over 30 weapons and stratagems.
  
• We are overhauling a number of different enemies to make them feel more rewarding to kill when you use the proper tools to handle them but ensure they still feel formidable. Enemy bots, including Hulks, will have lower armor, and the number of rockets fired by enemies like the Devastator and Gunship will be limited, making combat more balanced. The armor values of particularly tough bug enemies like the Charger, Impaler, and Bile Titan will also be reduced.
  
• Weapons such as the Autocannon, Heavy Machine Gun, and Anti-Material Rifle will be more effective, providing greater loadout versatility. We are also working towards additional improvements for the flamethrower weapons.
  
• We’re taking this opportunity to consider new player fantasies and design goals for these weapons and stratagems based on the feedback we’ve received and the trends we’re observing during gameplay.

Our next update, containing all these changes and more details, is scheduled to go live on September 17th.

We value your feedback and are always looking for ways to improve our community engagement. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks as we work together to make Helldivers 2 the best it can be. We’ll be back on the 17th of September with more details.

FAQ:
Q: But what does a balancing pass entail, and how are you conducting it?
Our design team led by our Chief Creative Officer, Johan Pilestedt, analyzes player feedback, internal and external playtests, gameplay data, and the original design goals for each weapon and stratagem. This process allows us to identify discrepancies—such as weapons that are underperforming or overperforming—and make precise adjustments. The goal is to ensure that each weapon and stratagem feels powerful, responsive, and fun to use, while also fitting into the broader gameplay ecosystem.

Q. What about the beta testing you mentioned previously?
We have conducted closed beta tests for the last two weekends. We’re starting small to ensure everything runs smoothly before expanding. They have been a testbed for the program and we intend to expand it in the future and invite a wider variety of testers to playtest our upcoming updates. It will take some time to get the infrastructure in order, but the intent is that these tests will find issues and missteps before we release them to the player base at large, providing a better experience for all players.

Q: When do we actually see this stuff go up?
Our next update, containing all these changes and more details, is scheduled to go live on September 17th.

Continue reading...

 

Fix
This patch is an emergency hot fix addressing the Impaler crash. We deemed it worth bringing this one crash fix in now in an attempt to minimize the crashes during the weekend. Thank you for your understanding.

• Fixed a common crash that occurs when killing the Impaler inside a Stronghold

Known Issues (unchanged from previous list)

• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform.
  
• "Invite only" games created by a friend can still be seen on the Galactic War map but cannot be joined.
  
• “Conduct Geological Survey” mission may become incompletable if a player calls in “Seismic Probe” and immediately leaves the game or disconnects.
  
• Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to the head.
  
• Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.
  
• Most weapons shoot below the crosshair when aiming down the sights.
  
• Chain-link fences block flamethrowers’ fire.
  
• Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
  
• “Guard Dog Rover” does not overheat when firing continuously.
  
• Players are able to pick up empty expendable weapons like EAT-17 or MLS-4X.
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress.
  
• The Service Technician on the ship cannot be interacted with.

Continue reading...

 

Auspicious day fellow citizens!
Another hot fix rolling out this fine Tuesday.

Overview

• Crash Fixes
  
• Weapon & Stratagem fixes
  
• Fixes to the Impaler & explosion radius
  
• Soft lock fix

Fixes
Crash Fixes

• Fixed a crash when dropping into a game joined by invite while previously hosting.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur after being kick for being AFK
  
• Fixed a crash that could happen when dropping down into a mission.
  
• Fixed crash that could occur if shutting down the game during boot.

General Weapon and Stratagem fixes:

• Fixed an issue where flamethrower particles would ignore enemies.
  
• Mines can now be shot and blown up while near a dangerous object.

Enemy fixes:

• • Reduced the explosion radius of Tentacles Stabbing ability and Light Rockets. This should alleviate the excessive ragdolling caused by the Impaler and Automaton enemies using light rockets. We are still working on improving the ragdoll behavior overall.
    
  • Fixed a bug where the Impaler's tentacles could chase you indefinitely in some cases.
  Miscellaneous fixes:
  • Fixed an issue that could cause soft-lock during drop-in after the host left.
  Known Issues
  • Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform.
    
  • "Invite only" games created by a friend can still be seen on the Galactic War map but cannot be joined.
    
  • “Conduct Geological Survey” mission may become incompletable if a player calls in “Seismic Probe” and immediately leaves the game or disconnects.
    
  • Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to the head.
    
  • Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.
    
  • Most weapons shoot below the crosshair when aiming down the sights.
    
  • Chain-link fences block flamethrowers’ fire.
    
  • Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
    
  • “Guard Dog Rover” does not overheat when firing continuously.
    
  • Players are able to pick up empty expendable weapons like EAT-17 or MLS-4X.
    
  • Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress.
    
  • Service Technician on the ship cannot be interacted with - they complained they were bothered too much and could not do their work efficiently.
  End of transmissionRelease Captain Carlberg out

Continue reading...

 

Fellow Helldivers,

I want to directly address the feedback you've raised about the Escalation of Freedom update. We’ve spent the last week listening to feedback, reflecting about the path ahead for Helldivers 2 and how we want to continue developing the game. In short, we didn’t hit our target with the latest update. Some things we just didn’t get right - and other more fundamental inconsistencies in our approach to game balance and game direction.

All of that is on us and we are going to own that. As many of you have pointed out, and we agree, what matters most now is action. Not talk.

To that end, here's what we intend to do in the upcoming updates.

Our aim within the next 60 days:

• Continue to re-examine our approach to balance. Our intention is that balance should be fun, not “balanced” for the sake of balance.
  
• Update how the fire damage mechanic works to tweak how the flamethrower serves as a close range support weapon. (A quick straight revert won’t work, as it would break other things)
  
• Rework gameplay to prevent excessive ragdolling
  
• Re-think our design approach to primary weapons and create a plan for making combat more engaging
  
• Re-prioritize bug fixes so that the more immediate gameplay-impacting bugs are prioritized.
  
• Improve game performance (frame rate is a focus)
  
• Rework Chargers

Additionally, from a bigger picture perspective we will be:

• Exploring creation of an opt-in beta-test environment to improve our testing processes and we consider this a high-priority.
  
• Post regular player surveys to gather more insights and feedback from the community.
  
• Improve our process for patch/release notes - providing more context and reasoning behind changes.
  
• More blog posts and streams where we expand on these topics for those interested.
  
• We also want to thank you for your patience. We're grateful that so many of you provided constructive feedback and suggestions on the latest update.

Mikael E
Game Director & Arrowhead Game Studios

Continue reading...

 

Hot fix incoming from High Command

Overview

• Performance
  
• Crash Fixes
  
• General Weapon and stratagem fixes
  
• Social menu
  
• Miscellaneous fixes

Fixes
Crash Fixes

• Fixed crash that would occur when you or another player selects a new weapon while on the ship.
  
• Fixed crash when booting the game after saved monitor was disconnected.

General Weapon and Stratagem Fixes

• Thermite grenades no longer make the orbital cannon objective incompletable.
  
• Mines can now be shot and blown up while near a dangerous object.
  
• Fixed a bug where flamethrower weapons bounce off energy shields, making them useless when firing within shield generator relay domes.

Social Menu Fixes

• Even more social menu fixes

Miscellaneous Fixes

• General performance improvements. Some pertaining to fighting large swarms of bots.
  
• Fix bug where "Evacuate High-Value Assets" mission stops working then the host leaves.
  
• Fixed infinitely loading thumbnails on low Texture Quality setting.

Known Issues

• Game may display an infinite loading screen if a player disconnects during the deployment cutscene.
  
• Players may not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform.
  
• "Invite only" games created by a friend can still be seen on the Galactic War map but cannot be joined.
  
• “Conduct Geological Survey” mission may become incompletable if a player calls in “Seismic Probe” and immediately leaves the game or disconnects.
  
• Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to the head.
  
• Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.
  
• Most weapons shoot below the crosshair when aiming down the sights..
  
• Chain-link fences block flamethrowers’ fire.
  
• Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
  
• “Guard Dog Rover” does not overheat when firing continuously.
  
• Players are able to pick up empty expendable weapons like EAT-17 or MLS-4X
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress.
  
• Wrong decal displayed for the B-27 Fortified commando. We have a fix and plant to implement it soon
  
• Service Technician on the ship cannot be interacted with - they complained they were bothered too much and could not do their work efficiently

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We hope you’re excited for the latest additions and updates to the biggest Helldivers 2’s update yet, Escalation of Freedom!

We believe that a game thrives when it evolves alongside its player base, and your ideas and suggestions are a critical component of that evolution, allowing us to make adjustments that we believe will enhance the overall fun factor of the game. Our goal is to create a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience that remains challenging yet fair, rewarding your strategic thinking and teamwork.

Today, we would like to provide you with some context and reasoning behind the latest weapon balance changes!

SG-8S Slugger:
By increasing the stagger force of the Slugger, we hope to restore its identity that was lost after the previous change back in patch 01.000.200. The increased spread and drag should compensate for the improved stopping power and enhance the fantasy of a powerful shotgun firing large caliber rounds, while limiting its viability beyond medium range.

SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary:
After multiple changes to the fire damage, the Incendiary Breaker quickly became one of the most powerful weapons in the game, as it absolutely dominated the Terminid frontline and is a bit too reliable when facing the bugs, overshadowing the other weapons. By increasing the recoil and reducing the maximum number of magazines we intend to make Incendiary Breaker more demanding for good ammo economy, while keeping its immense power intact.

GP-31 Grenade Pistol:
The original version of the Grenade Pistol was quite inconsistent compared to other weapons. It essentially tripled the amount of grenades available to the player, but required 4 ammo boxes to be fully refilled. By reducing it ammo capacity we want the choice of the Grenade Pistol to be more deliberate, and we think that restoring more grenades from a single box will compensate for the loss of ammo and will make the Grenade Pistol more reliable for any mission type.

CB-9 Exploding Crossbow:
Since the last patch, the Exploding Crossbow still struggles to find its own niche as it has to compete with more reliable weapons. By making the crossbow a one-handed weapon, we hope to increase its versatility and offer new and interesting uses that will help it stand out from other options.

MLS-4X Commando:
The ability of Commando's missiles to destroy Automaton fabricator buildings from any angle was unintended behavior. However, the community clearly voiced their enjoyment of this particular bug. We do plan on fixing this but have decided to take some time to think this through and not make any rash decisions on how best to rebalance this weapon.

AX/AR-23 Guard Dog:
Since release, the Guard Dog has been outclassed by its laser counterpart due to the fact that it ran out of ammo too quickly and could not be refilled from ammo boxes found on the map. We believe that increased ammo capacity along with the fix to the ammo crates will improve its viability as a support companion.

Orbital Walking Barrage:
Originally, the Walking Barrage was intended to suppress enemies during an advance. However, given the chaotic nature of orbital barrages, the Walking Barrage had no definite application as it felt too unreliable at times. The increased duration of the bombardment in combination with reduced movement speed should make the Walking Barrage saturate the area better, while covering about the same distance as before.

Orbital 120mm HE Barrage:
Similarly to the Walking Barrage, the 120mm HE Barrage felt too random at times if salvoes missed the target or hit the same spot multiple times. With decreased cooldown, the 120mm HE Barrage will be accessible more often and should make randomness less punishing.

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Helldivers,

Our latest update, Escalation of Freedom, is landing tomorrow and we would like to invite you to join us and our friends over at PlayStation Access to come check it out!

Check out our full blog post here here.

During the stream, our devs will be covering the major details from our biggest update to date. Learn more about the new enemy types, environments, our latest Warbond Freedom’s Flame, and all the big changes coming to the game. Note that the stream will be pre-recorded, but we encourage you to dive into our Discord server to discuss the latest additions.

Also, any Steam players who tune in, you will receive 48 hours early access to the latest armor Super Earth has to offer the “TR-40 Golden Eagle” set. The general rollout will then begin on Thursday August 8th at 10am BST / 2am PT to all players, across all platforms.

Join us here on Steam from 10am BST / 2am PT on August 6th for our 24-hour livestream event! And until then, may your day be Super, Citizens!

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Freedoms greetings Helldivers.
We have a lot to cover in this democratic update so without further ado here are the patch notes for
Patch 1.001.002 Escalation of Freedom

Overview

• Difficulty Level 10 - Super Helldive
  
• New mission objectives
  
• Bigger enemy outposts
  
• New Bugs and Bots
  
• New environmental hazards
  
• New swamp world
  
• Crash fixes
  
• Social menu fixes. We have fixed several issues and still have things to improve but know that we are aware and working tirelessly on this, we thank you for your patience and understanding.
  
• Balance work
  
• Miscellaneous fixes

Major Updates
Difficulty Level 10 - Super Helldive
A new, extreme difficulty level designed for the most experienced and skilled Helldivers, featuring formidable new enemies and intense challenges.

New mission objectives
Two new secondary objectives will soon be active on a planet near you! These faction-specific optional objectives will have you assaulting Automaton human processing plants to destroy their evil Bio-Processor, and venturing deep into Terminid territory to extract with a living larva sample that the bugs will do anything to get back!

Bigger enemy outposts
Assault Terminid strongholds and Automaton fortresses in the new difficulty Super Helldive.
The challenge will be great but the rewards even greater. Search the conquered outposts thoroughly for the confidential data and make sure to extract with it. May liberty guide your path.

New Bugs and Bots
New and enhanced threats to freedom emerge.
Guess who’s back to bug you again? The Impaler returns, burrowing its head and popping tentacles from the ground to catch you off guard. Watch out for its lethal limbs, but don’t miss its weak spot when it digs in - it seems like self-preservation still isn’t its strong suit!

The Impaler however is not all.
Prepare for the rest of the formidable foes! The Rocket Tank rolls in with heavy armor and devastating firepower. The Reinforced Scout Strider now has its previously vulnerable spot fortified and boasts two rockets on each side for greater firepower! The Spore Charger fearlessly invades through the thick acidic fog, accompanied by an Alpha Commander, watch out for its friends!

New swamp planet
Prepare to dive down into an eerie and foggy version of the swamp planet. Keep your wits about you and do not let fear take hold.

New environmental hazards
Acid Storms - Temporarily lowers armor for enemies and the player. Make use of this but stay on high alert Helldivers.

Balancing
SG-8S Slugger

• Increased stagger force
  
• Increased spread
  
• Increased drag

SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary

• Decreased number of magazines from 6 to 4
  
• Increased recoil from 28 to 41

GP-31 Grenade Pistol

• Decreased ammo capacity from 8 to 6
  
• Increased the number of rounds replenished from an ammo box from 2 to 4

CB-9 Exploding Crossbow

• Is now one-handed

AX/AR-23 Guard Dog

• Increased number of magazines from 6 to 8

Orbital Walking Barrage

• Increased number of salvos 3 to 5
  
• Decreased movement speed by 40%

Orbital 120mm HE Barrage

• Decreased cooldown from 240s to 180s
  
• Reduced time between salvoes

Gameplay

• The operation modifier Atmospheric Interference has been removed,
  
• Additionally for the automatons we added the modifier "Poor Intel" which makes objectives on the map to get a search radius just like most Eliminate objectives already has.
  
• Corrosive acid planets no longer have the Intense Heat environment modifier.
  
• Gunship Patrols are now less frequent and the amount of ships are reduced.
  
• Gunship Engines are less durable now.
  
• Improved armory weapon preview controls.
  
• Updated orders UI.
  
• Energy shields such as the Shield Generator Pack and Shield Generator Relay now block snowstorms as well as sandstorms.
  
• A new grief protection system has been added that allows kicked players to continue in their own mission. This allows players to complete the mission and get full rewards despite being kicked.

Fixes
Crash Fixes

• Decreased the chance of crashing when pressing alt+tab while using exclusive fullscreen window mode. (Windows)
  
• Fixed rare crash which could occur while browsing Warbonds.
  
• Fixed rare crash which could occur when switching tabs in the loadout.
  
• Fixed rare crash which could occur when inviting PSN friends to a session. (PS5)
  
• Fixed rare crash which could occur when selecting a booster in the loadout.
  
• Fixed crash which could occur when browsing the acquisition center menus and alt-tabbing. (Windows)
  
• Fixed rare crash which could occur in the loadout after joining a game.
  
• Fixed crash which could occur when ragdolling into barbed wire.
  
• Fixed crash which could occur when joining a mission with active vehicle skins from disconnected players.
  
• Fixed crash which could occur when peers with unique skins would get kicked or disconnected.

Weapon & Stratagem Fixes

FS-55 Devastator armor

• Fixed incorrect description.

ARC-12 Blitzer

• You can now hold the fire button to shoot continuously.

ARC-12 Blitzer, Plasma Punisher

• Added missing armor penetration tags.

GP-31 Grenade Pistol, LAS-7 Dagger, SG-22 Bushwacker

• Moved into a Special sidearm category.

LAS-16 SIckle

• Fixed incorrect fire limit value in the weapon stats.

SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack

• No longer blocks the enemies line of sight.
  
• No longer collides with the combat walker.
  
• Fixed a bug where picking up an SSSD drive would cause ballistic shields to be dropped.
  
• Fixed ballistic shield to not collide with player as long as wielded.

AX/AR-23 Guard Dog

• Can now be refilled from ammo boxes found on the map

Misc weapon fixes

• Fixed a bug where weapons would be held sideways after interrupting a stratagem with a stim heal.
  
• Fixed arc weapons not shooting out any bolts when line of sight to enemy is blocked by an obstacle. Bolts will now fire but they will hit the obstacle. The misfires did not give the player sufficient feedback. We hope this makes the weapon operation clearer.
  
• Fixed arc weapons misfiring when shooting enemies quickly that are aligned horizontally.
  
• Added in missing haptics when firing the AR-61 Tenderizer.

Social Menu fixes

• General improvements to the social menu systems.
  
• Resolved some issues related to inconsistent social menu options.
  
• Fixed issues regarding squad menu block button.
  
• Fixed Various UI issues in the social menu.
  
• The “Block menu” now more accurately shows blocked players.
  
• Improvements to recent players tab.
  
• Improved reliability of social menu options.
  
• Resolved issues related to friend code generation.
  
• Reduced occurrences of ‘please wait democratically’.
  
• Players should find it easier to join one anothers games.
  
• Players should find it easier to send/accept/decline friend requests.
  
• Improved UX for ‘dangerous’ actions (kick/block/unfriend).

Miscellaneous fixes

• Fixed a game soft lock where the extraction shuttle would sink into the ground preventing players from extracting.
  
• Fixed being able to click hidden items (ie- items that have scrolled out of view) in the settings and bindings menus.
  
• Game no longer hangs on quit after changing the crossplay setting.
  
• Fixed hellpods not destroying trees in the swamp biome.
  
• Weapons supporting auto reload retries could reload twice if interrupted in the final stage and firing occurred before resuming. Auto reload retries can now be canceled by pressing reload.
  
• Resolved an issue where transitions into jog and sprint animations would be delayed if spammed.
  
• Reduced the intensity of the Experimental Infusion booster visual effect.
  
• Fixed missing description from Experimental Infusion booster
  
• Fix Helldivers's prone rotation being reset after dodging while aiming.
  
• Fixed stamina bar not respecting the stamina visibility HUD setting.
  
• Fixed section number of owned stratagems not updating on purchase.
  
• Fixed Hologram map preview not showing extraction point.
  
• Improved performance of terrain destruction.
  
• Fix stuck helldivers in cryo chambers after cutscene interruptions triggered by the host.
  
• Improvements to the physics of the Ballistic Shield Stratagem as well as some bugs related to physics.
  
• Fixed effects tab top title not showing correctly in Portuguese.
  
• Fixed discarding when changing settings menu after changing resolution, render scale or screen device without applying.
  
• Fixed special characters not showing in player names when picking up items.
  
• Fixed the issue where players couldn't press ESC to discard resolution changes on the popup.
  
• Fixed naming of Shrieker nests as Bug holes when pinging.
  
• Hive Breaker Drill now does damage when dropped in Nuke Nursery Chamber missions.
  
• Fixed weapon aim modes (both global and per weapon) not being remembered between closing and re-opening the game.
  
• Fixed progress bar not showing for Raise the flag objective.
  
• Adjusted flame effects to work more realistically.
  
• It doesn't go through various bodies/objects where bounce off would be the expected behavior, like on armors and static objects.
  
• Fixed issue where minimap would allow interactions during ion storms.
  
• Changing text language in-game will no longer cause terminals to appear blank.
  
• Fixed a bug where equipping a skin from the Warbond's purchase confirmation menu would reset the player's armor selection.
  
• Hellpod skins are now visible on ships; initial hellpod drops from host ships will share the host's skin selection, while subsequent reinforcements will use individual skin selections.
  
• Samples are transferred to the shuttle when boarding, dying inside the shuttle won't drop samples.
  
• Reverting to default settings on a tab will no longer overwrite settings in other tabs.
  
• The minimap now closes, if open, when exiting an Exo-Suit.
  
• Loadout menu call-in times now include transportation time, aligning with in-game values.
  
• Hellbomb stratagem will now be visible on the HUD when you are near an objective where it can be called down.
  
• Applied fix to avoid that multiple stratagems - SOS beacon, sentries, resupply pod - would deploy inside of the Escape Pod.
  
• Added graphics settings preset for Steam Deck.
  
• Helldivers may now use stims while at full health for their other democratic effects.
  
• “Kill x amount of enemies by guard dogs" personal orders can now be completed.
  
• The latest warbond released will now appear at the top of the warbonds list.
  
• Fix "[0/0]" being displayed in assassinate missions.
  
• Fixed bug causing equipment previews to load indefinitely.
  
• Fixed teammates picking up an item not showing the name in their color.
  
• Fixed text chat cursor not working.
  
• Implemented a more informative Quickplay toggle button.
  
• Fixed effects tab sometimes showing scrambled.
  
• Fixed mines being invisible for hot-joining players.
  
• Additionally, fixed a bug causing recently deployed mines to become invisible.
  
• Mines will no longer detonate if they are shot through a Shield Generator Relay bubble from the exterior or situated behind a solid obstacle and shot at.
  
• Display hit markers for all weapons.
  
• Fixed mute icon not showing when player muted.
  
• Fixed bug when using a stim which canceled other players' sprint.
  
• Fixed stimming animation while holding an Expendable AT.
  
• Gone in 360 seconds trophy now awarded on difficulties greater than or equal to 6 rather than only on difficulty 6.
  
• If a hellbomb is destroyed while it's armed and the timer is active it will explode.
  
• Fixed issue where the player can throw an unlimited amount of grenades/throwing knives after diving off of a ledge while holding and then throwing the last throwable.
  
• Fixed another issue where the player would hold an invisible grenade/throwing knife if they still had any left after hitting the ground in the same way.
  
• Added TOGGLE MICROPHONE option to toggle the microphone activity for voice chat.
  
• Sentries now won't try and attack certain buildings, and bullet sentries don't waste ammo on dropships.
  
• Fixed HUD Info feed visibility setting not working correctly.
  
• Fixed HUD Stratagem Visibility setting showing stratagems UI when set to hidden and opening the map.
  
• Fixed UI sometimes showing the wrong amount of bug holes destroyed.
  
• Patriot Exosuit missiles no longer self inflict damage.
  
• Fix explosions not working from far distances against armored enemies.
  
• Fixed issue when not being able to text chat when in loadout and the rest of the team is on the mission.
  
• Fixed issues with Mission Control Radio voiceover not triggering.
  
• Fixed a bug where changing VO language could take a very long time (sometimes forever) to apply.
  
• Fixed issue that was leading the account linking menu to close automatically if it's being accessed through the in-game settings and the user's account was already linked.
  
• Defend event progress now properly shown in mission end sequence.
  
• Fixed effects tab sometimes showing scrambled text.

Known Issues

• We are aware and currently investigating some performance issues with difficulty 10, we have begun working on a fix
  
• Game may display an infinite loading screen if a player disconnects during the deployment cutscene.
  
• Players may sometimes not receive Friend Requests sent from another platform.
  
• "Invite only" games created by a Friend can still be seen on the Galactic War map but cannot be joined.
  
• “Conduct Geological Survey” mission may become incompletable if a player calls in “Seismic Probe” and immediately leaves the game or disconnects.
  
• Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to the head.
  
• Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.
  
• Dead massive enemies may sometimes launch the helldiver into the air.
  
• Most weapons shoot below the crosshair when aiming down the sights.
  
• Flamethrowers fired from inside the Shield Generator Relay cannot damage enemies.
  
• Chain-link fences block flamethrowers’ fire.
  
• Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
  
• “Guard Dog Rover” does not overheat when firing continuously.
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress.
  
• Service Technician on the ship cannot be interacted with - they complained they were bothered too much and could not do their work efficiently.
  
• Enemies can sometimes shoot through obstacles

Now go forth, spread the sweet word of democracy.
Release Captain Carlberg out

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Welcome to another community update for the month of July! We’re back again to give you an update on the Galactic War happenings, some of our favorite moments, and a development spotlight for Helldivers 2!

The War Report
Our last war update took us through the destruction of Meridia. After that, the Helldivers turned their attention to the Automatons and Database One – a stronghold of bot information, hidden deep in Automaton territory on the planet Wasat and protected by super strong encryption. With the help of complementary FX-12 Shield Generator Relays (thanks to our Ministry of Defense!), our troops successfully captured Database One, extracted the info, and liberated Wasat from the Automaton forces.

But then the Automatons did the unthinkable. They came after two of our greatest resources: raw ingredients used to create the MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines and the precious children of Super Citizen Anne’s Hospital for Very Sick Children on Vernen Wells. Due to the unfortunate timing of these distress calls, our Helldivers were forced to make a choice – save the mines, or save the children. The Helldivers wisely chose the children.

The Ministries of Truth, Defense, Humanity, Expansion, Science, Unity, and Prosperity have authorized us to thank our Helldivers for their decision to rescue the children of Super Citizen Anne’s. We are proud of our soldiers, diving and fighting for all those little lives on Vernen Wells.

The victory was sweet, but the war continued on the Terminid front. The Supercolony might be gone, but Terminid population levels were still too high, particularly in the Mirin and Draco sectors. The Ministry of Defense granted Helldivers the temporary use of the Hive Breaker Drill (modified from the Tectonic Drill) to successfully destroy underground Terminid nurseries, eliminating the vile bugs before they matured into full grown terrors.

The Helldivers continued to jump back and forth, agilely holding the Automaton front and the Terminid front as both made advances. In the Xzar sector, Automaton forces were attempting to reactivate their defunct factories and reclaim territory, but the Helldivers held their ground and prevented another bot uprising, assisted by a short-term authorization for use of the AC-8 Autocannon.

After the victory on Mirin and Draco, the Terminids spread their vile legions to Falstaff and Jin Xi, both sectors reserved by the Ministry of Expansion’s colonization efforts, and the Helldivers were once again called in to reduce their numbers.

The Automatons rose up while Helldivers were distracted and mounted an attack on X-45, the site of the Advanced Weapons Lab from the First Galactic War, to steal plans for a powerful interplanetary battle station. But the Helldivers again emerged victorious, holding X-45, securing the battle station plans, and gaining access to the MLS-4X Commando stratagem.

An opportunity to test the Helldivers’ ever-expanding arsenal arrived in the form of an order to kill one hundred million Terminids. For our troops, this was child’s play, with the Helldivers completing the major order well ahead of schedule.

The War Table
Game Master Joel and the community team have really only one major highlight for this month because we’re all still reeling from how it unfolded.

Solving the Trolley Problem
Helldivers proved us wrong in the most wonderful way possible when they chose to save the children of Super Citizen Anne’s instead of saving the raw materials to make Anti-Tank Mines. Some did it for laughs, of course, but regardless it was inspiring to watch the community come together to do something wholesome. As a result, our Supreme Leader and Chief Creative Officer, Johan Pilestedt, donated $4,311 to Save The Children to make your in-game kindness a reality.

Game Master Joel’s office wall with a new addition from the children of Super Citizen Anne’s.

In truth, I think we thought players would pick the mines. We’re well aware of the in-joke that not picking the mines has created (as in, “it’s funnier to keep missing them”), but this seemed like an easy victory to grant the community the missing stratagem.

Instead, this was one of those truly incredible moments where the community surprised and delighted us. It felt like the perfect moment for us to live up to your grand example.

We’re also grateful for the continued donations made to Save The Children, again showing us that you go above and beyond as a community. You are truly amazing, Helldivers.

Research & Development
Developer Spotlight: Vidar Rapp
One of the things we’d like to tackle in this section of our updates is introducing our community to our developers, and showcasing their talents and creations.

For this month, we talked with one of our character artists, Vidar Rapp!

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for Arrowhead Game Studios.
A: I'm a Character Artist here at Arrowhead. I've been in the games industry for almost 20 years, starting out at Avalanche Studios back in 2005 and spending my longest stretch working for MachineGames on the Wolfenstein reboot. I joined Arrowhead rather recently, a few months ahead of launch! It's been quite a ride and I'm very excited about all the things we'll be bringing players to enjoy and encounter in the game. When I'm not working on cool art for Helldivers 2, I enjoy cooking, making traditional art, painting sneakers and hanging out with my family & friends!

Q: What’s your favorite thing you’ve contributed to Helldivers 2?
A: My favorite thing I've worked on isn't yet released live, but of the things that are out there in the galaxy, I think the Factory Striders were my favorite contribution as it was one of the first full units I got to tackle since coming aboard. Going online and seeing the first reactions to them from streamers and fans alike was very satisfying!

Vidar’s Factory Strider

Q: That’s quite the tease! Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on right now?
A: I'm currently working on a planetary modifier that will see new lethal variants of some of our existing bugs spawn. I'm pleased with how they are turning out and I think they will present a unique challenge for the Helldivers. Another enemy I've worked on is the Impaler, which I will not say more about at this point - though returning Helldivers will recall this name with a certain amount of trepidation.

Check out Vidar’s art portfolio here. https://www.artstation.com/vidarrapp
The Mess Hall
And finally, we would like to introduce our long-awaited community team section!
The first order of business is to highlight a few of the incredible fan creations we’ve seen. We are continually amazed by our community’s creativity and talent across so many different mediums. Keep it coming!

First up, we have this stunning piece by LevaSoj which was shared with us in Discord:

@LevaSoj / @levasoj_

Next we have these three stellar pencil sketches from WisdomThumbs, also on Discord:

Finally, check out this incredible Airsoft Liberator build by Shirley Productions!

We’re excited to shine a spotlight on your creations. If we want to feature you, we will reach out via DM, so be on the lookout, artists!

That’s a wrap for this month, Helldivers, but we’ll be back with more from the front lines in August!

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They say you can’t start a fire without a spark…

Well Helldivers, we’re about to spark a galactic-scale inferno.

Your new Premium Warbond is deploying to all active patriots on 8th August – codename
Freedom’s Flame.*

Incinerate everything standing in your path with new weaponry almost too hot to handle; survive the heat of battle with lifesaving armour; and burn brightly across the cosmos with fresh emotes, capes, and skins.

Right now, swarms of disgusting bugs and packs of mechanized monstrosities are invading in-nocent worlds.

Stop them… destroy them… cremate them.

Let’s cook, Helldivers. Light it up in the name of liberty!

FIREPOWER

PRIMARY:
SG-451 Cookout
Burn, baby, burn! A pump action shotgun that unleashes a burst of incendiary phosphorus pellets at your helpless enemies.

FLAM-66 Torcher
A lightweight flamethrower shooting pressurized fuel through a nozzle into a roaring, open flame. Sounds safe. It isn’t. Watch where you’re standing.

SECONDARY:
P-72 Crisper
A flamethrower that fits in your pocket for the Helldiver on the go! What will those guys think of next? This lovely compact handgun projects a jet of freedom flames over short distances.

BOOSTER
Fiery Drop – Firebomb Hellpods
Scorch the earth (and anything else) below as you touch down with attitude and ignite the drop-site.

ARMOUR
I-09 Heatseeker
Proudly display the burnished blood-red plates that were forged in righteous fire, like the heroes they were wrought to protect. A true vision of democracy.

I-102 Draconaught
Ah, there’s nothing quite like those satisfying screeches as the enemies of freedom burn. Enjoy it all in this 14-cm sheathed silica fibre foam armour, with exclusive tube-to-ear feature.

Armour Passive
Inflammable! Enjoy 75% damage resistance to fire as you run head-first into danger like the un-stoppable legend your mum said you’d be.

TITLE
Fire Safety Officer
You can now call yourself Fire Safety Officer. Doesn’t come with a certificate.

SKIN
Safety Orange
Repaint your Shuttle, Hellpod, and exosuit in striking Safety Orange.

CAPES & CARDS
Purifying Eclipse
A heartfelt tribute to the Liberation of Choepessa IV in the First Galactic War, in which so much orbital ordnance was detonated that its sun was occluded by ash for an entire lunar cycle.

The Breach
The final mission of the 361st Freedom’s Flame saw this storied unit deploy into the heart of a Supervolcano in a mission of heroic sacrifice. Triggering a huge eruption, this act of incredible bravery wiped out a massive Terminid swarm.
As documented in the bestselling graphic novel ‘The Breach’ – available at all good book shops on Super Earth.

EMOTES
Big Stretch, Deep Reflection, and Thoracic Collision Exultation Manoeuvre Co-emote
If you’re going to win. Win in style.

Freedom’s Flame is rolling out to your Destroyer’s Acquisitions panel on 8th August.

So ramp up the temperature to fry up some tasty justice, served with a side order of delicious grilled democracy.

Tonight we dine – and dive – in hell.

See you planetside.

*Requires base game, paid purchase of Super Credits, and game progression to unlock.

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Welcome to the Escalation of Freedom, Helldivers. We’ve taken the time to gather feedback from our players on the front lines, and we’re bringing greater variety to our content. From missions and objectives to enemies and planets, we’re delivering a ton of new content for both our veteran players and brand-new Helldivers on the battlefield. Get ready for our biggest update yet!

Our community continues to show us how strong we all are when united against the mindless Automatons and the scourge of the Terminid. As we stand here, on the eve of the Escalation of Freedom, we reflect on the 6 months since launch. We could never have predicted how far this game would go and how many Citizens would answer Super Earth's call to arms!

We’ve watched our forces expertly handle every conflict and challenge we’ve thrown their way, from flying enemies to the Terminid Control System, to saving the children of Super Citizen Anne’s Hospital. Now for this major update, it’s time for us to give back something big to the community and welcome in even more players to the Helldivers universe.

Helldivers, this is escalating quickly.

Go on a Super Helldive

Go up against the new supersized bot fortresses.

Something that continues to amaze us is our players’ insatiable desire for more bugs, more bots, more liberation, and more destruction. We thought nine levels of Helldiving difficulties would be enough, but in the Escalation of Freedom we’re turning it up to 10… Combat Rating 10 that is.

CR 10: Super Helldive is our most challenging, most relentless dive difficulty level yet, and we hope that this is going to give players the intensity they’re looking for on the battlefield. And with a great challenge comes greater rewards.

The larva retrieval mission has the Helldivers babysitting a bug.

But a new difficulty level isn’t the only thing the community wanted. We’ve also heard your desire for mission variation, which is why we’re bringing you new mission objectives and bigger enemy outposts for both bots and bugs that offer brand new Super Sample rewards. These outposts will be heavily fortified, and require players to coordinate and strategize in order to take them out.

And if you’re new to HELLDIVERS 2, you don’t have to worry about missing out on all the fun until you unlock Super Helldive, because many of our new mission objectives will be playable on other difficulty levels.

New Enemies & Dangerous Swamps

The Impaler returns!

Escalation of Freedom is unleashing some new threats to our liberty that will take some serious strategizing from the Helldivers to take down.

Back by popular demand: the Impaler! This big guy from the original HELLDIVERS creates some new challenges. No longer can you run from the bugs when the Impaler is around–big, imposing, and destructive, it demands to be dealt with.

Also new among the Terminid ranks is the Spore Charger. As if the regular old Charger wasn’t scary enough, the Spore Charger is shrouded in fog to obscure its location until it’s right up on you, Helldiver.

The new Spore Charger in the fog.

Lastly, the Terminid Alpha Commander, which is a supercharged Brood Commander that’s bigger, meaner, and doesn’t hesitate to call in other bugs for backup.

You thought the regular old Brood Commander was bad? Think again.

Don’t think we forgot about the Automatons. Their ranks are growing, too, with the addition of the formidable Rocket Tank, as well as some other bot surprises we’ll be throwing your way.

The Automaton uprising continues.

Explore the swamps but not as you know them, with rolling fog and the untamed flora, the blackened trees obscure the light and the air itself feels haunted. Keep your flashlight handy, as visibility is limited and light is key. The enemy could be hiding anywhere amongst the undergrowth.

Get spooked, Helldivers.

Under the Hood
The last addition I want to highlight about the Escalation of Freedom update is that we’re making changes to mitigate the problem of grief kicking in HELLDIVERS 2. While it’s our hope that players engage with the game in good faith and sportsmanship, we do recognize that some players are using the team kicking to grief others.

To help improve this we have implemented a system where if a player is kicked, they will spawn into a new session as the host with all of the teams loot from their previous session. All items can now be picked up by the player before extraction. The squad doing the kicking will see a message in the chat widget that a player has been kicked, yet their loot remains unchanged.
With these changes, all players have the opportunity to leave with all loot collected on mission, with no one Helldiver losing out. We’re committed to making changes that will improve the player experience and encourage healthy, cooperative gameplay.

Along with this, we’re also releasing other quality of life upgrades with Escalation of Freedom, including major fixes to the social menu to make diving with your friends easier.

Overall, we think this escalation is going to be packed full of awesome additions, long-awaited improvements, and a ton of surprises to discover! HELLDIVERS 2: Escalation of Freedom is launching on August 6th!

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We have a hotfix to again address the problem of players stuck in the infinite drop-in.

Overview
This hotfix aims to reduce the number of people stuck in the hellpod drop-in loading screen.

Fixes

• Reduced instances of being stuck waiting in infinite drop-in

Known Issues

• Sending friend requests via friend code in game currently does not work
  
• Various issues to do with unintended Ballstics Shield behavior.
  
• Players may be unable to be joined or invited to the game
  
• Players added to the Recent Players list will appear in the middle of the list
  
• Players may experience delays in Medals and Super Credits payouts
  
• Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions
  
• Deployed mines may sometimes become invisible (but remain active)
  
• Arc weapons sometimes behave inconsistently and sometimes misfire
  
• Most weapons shoot below the crosshair when aiming down the sights
  
• Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but will deploy to its original location
  
• Hand Carts ship module does not reduce Shield Generator Pack's cooldown
  
• Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to the head
  
• Players may become stuck in the Loadout when joining a game in progress
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Planet liberation reaches 100 % at the end of every Defend mission
  
• Raise Flag of Super Earth objective does not show a progress bar
  
• Mission count in the Career tab is being reset to zero after every game restart
  
• Some weapons’ descriptions are out-of-date and don’t reflect their current design
  
• Personal orders may not display correctly. (Kill 5.)

Happy Helldiving!

- Democracy Officer Baskin, filling in for Captain Carlberg

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We have a hotfix coming from High Command!

Overview
This hotfix aims to resolve crashes and to reduce the number of people stuck in the hellpod drop-in loading screen.

Fixes

• Fixed the 'Superior Packing Methodology' ship module upgrade (technically this was fixed on the server side and has been working since July 1st).
  
• Fixed crashes and glitches occurring when dropping into a mission.
  
• Fixed instances of players becoming stuck in the hellpod loading screen.
  
• Fixed a crash that occurs after changing settings (this should be fixed for real this time, the last fix didn’t stick the landing and we have sent the responsible engineer to a Super Earth re-education camp).

Known Issues
These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.

• Sending friend requests via friend code in game currently does not work
  
• Players may be unable to be joined or invited to the game
  
• Players added to the Recent Players list will appear in the middle of the list
  
• Players may experience delays in Medals and Super Credits payouts
  
• Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions
  
• Deployed mines may sometimes become invisible (but remain active)
  
• Arc weapons sometimes behave inconsistently and sometimes misfire
  
• Most weapons shoot below the crosshair when aiming down the sights
  
• Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but will deploy to its original location
  
• Hand Carts ship module does not reduce Shield Generator Pack's cooldown
  
• Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to the head
  
• Players may become stuck in the Loadout when joining a game in progress
  
• Reinforcement may not be available for players who join a game in progress
  
• Planet liberation reaches 100 % at the end of every Defend mission
  
• Raise Flag of Super Earth objective does not show a progress bar
  
• Mission count in the Career tab is being reset to zero after every game restart
  
• Some weapons’ descriptions are out-of-date and don’t reflect their current design
  
• Personal orders may not display correctly. (Kill 5!)

We have also activated new ship modules, Helldivers. Get in there and upgrade those super destroyers!

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