In Helldivers 2, the developers nerfed a weapon, which angered quite a few players. Now, one developer is defending against the accusations, stating that the damage was due to an exploit.
Which weapon was nerfed? The R-36 Eruptor was recently weakened because the weapon was responsible for many team kills and self-kills. The area damage likely caused too much frustration. To stop this, the developers removed the shrapnel from the weapon, significantly reducing its damage.
As compensation, the weapon now deals a consistent 40 damage; however, players are still complaining that the weapon has become too weak. One developer has now spoken out, revealing that the weapon was not meant to be as strong as it was.
Here you can see the latest war bond “Polar Patriots”:
An exploit made the weapon strong
What exactly made the weapon strong? Developer Alexus provided insights into the changes of the weapon. On Discord, he wrote that by removing the shrapnel, an exploit that many players used to deal more damage was also removed.
With the exploit, players shot in front of opponents on the ground so that the shrapnel would cause more area damage. Now that the shrapnel is gone, that no longer works, and the weapon seems doubly weak for the Helldivers.
What does the developer say about the current state of the weapon? The developer finds the weapon to be fine. The team is currently looking at the impact of the changes on the weak points of medium-armored enemies, as something might have changed here.
However, the developer does not want to promise a buff: the weapon is not too weak, but they will continue to monitor the situation.
How do the Helldivers react to the developer’s comments? On Discord, the developer responded to messages from users after his statement. The developer responded to one user that on average, players would need the same number of shots on an opponent as before. This is likely due to the buff of the explosion damage.
On Reddit, users still find the nerfs really annoying. Several posts with over 5,000 positive ratings complain about the nerfs to the R-36 Eruptor.
In Helldivers 2, there has been frequent criticism of the balance changes. The developers made it clear from the beginning that there would not only be buffs, but also nerfs. You can read more about the balance changes from the last patch here: Helldivers 2: Update 01.000.300 changes 24 weapons and stratagems – All patch notes
