On August 6, the largest update for Helldivers 2 was released, “Escalation of Freedom.” The developers introduced a whole range of innovations to the game, but also a few nerfs – one of which is already causing discussions in the community and stealing the spotlight from the new features.
What’s new in Helldivers 2? The “Escalation of Freedom” update has brought some innovations to the shooter:
- A new difficulty level
- New mission objectives and larger enemy outposts
- New environmental hazards
- New enemies, both bugs and robots
- A new swamp planet
- A new system that saves your loot
Helldivers nerfs flamethrowers against armored enemies
What kind of nerf is this? The update introduced a nerf for all flamethrowers and weapons that are fire-based. In the Patch Notes for “Escalation of Freedom”, it states: “The behavior of flame effects has been made more realistic. The effect no longer penetrates various bodies/objects where one would expect a bounce, such as armor and static objects.”
Because of this change, the chargers can no longer be killed with the flamethrower. Chargers are the heavy armored bugs that all Helldivers love.
Before the change, it was possible to hold the flamethrower on a charger and roast it until it stopped attacking you.
Change aims to make fire more realistic, but players complain
What do the players say? Players criticize the nerf. One player writes on Reddit, “Really, Arrowhead?!” and posts a meme of a man with the Arrowhead logo on his head yelling, “Stop having fun.” Next to the man are other people seen gaming on a screen. A photo of the flamethrower has been inserted on this screen.
The meme clearly criticizes the change. For the post, the Reddit user received almost 6,900 upvotes within just 6 hours and gathered 1,100 comments (as of August 6, 6:30 PM).
You can see the Reddit post here:
In the comments on the post, there is further criticism. One player notes that enemy fire even goes through solid objects. Other players criticize the timing of the change, especially since on August 8 the new war bond “Flame of Freedom” is launching, which brings 3 new flamethrowers.
Additionally, some players say that the change makes the effect of fire seem more unrealistic. It does not care how effective an armor is, and the bug should be cooked in its armor: “When I grill a charger, its organs should melt under the armor, no matter how thick it is.”
The meme post is currently the largest contribution that has appeared regarding the update. A second post on Reddit that also addresses the flamethrower nerf is also among the largest contributions and has over 5,000 upvotes and more than 1,300 comments.
If you want to take a look at the upcoming content from the war bond “Flame of Freedom” despite the fire nerf, you can see an overview on MeinMMO: Helldivers 2 is finally bringing the armor that the community has long wished for with the new war bond “Flame of Freedom”
