In Helldivers 2, a weapon was useless for a long time, now it is a strong choice to even flatten armored opponents

Patch Notes for Patch 01.001.100

The patch notes for patch 01.001.100 at a glance:

• Comprehensive overhaul of anti-tank weapons, tank penetration, as well as health and armor values
• Balancing of weapons and tactical equipment
• Enemy revisions
• Adjustments to Helldiver health and damage mechanics
• Rework of gas gameplay mechanics
• New feature for the Galactic War
• New emote wheel
• Crash and bug fixes

Balancing

General

• Previously, partial damage caused only 50% of the total damage, which turned out to be too low and significantly reduced effectiveness. This led to an excessive reliance on high-penetration weapons. To address this issue, we have increased the partial damage to 65% of the total damage.
• Helldivers now take less damage from headshots, which previously caused 100% additional damage, but now only inflict 50% additional damage. Damage from hits to other body parts has been slightly increased, depending on the hit area by 5% – 20%. This adjustment aims to reduce the overall damage taken without abolishing the division into different damage zones. High single damage is reduced, while damage from non-headshot hits is slightly increased.
• To maintain the intense, variable gameplay, we have increased the damage of most enemy attacks to offset the increased lethality of the Helldiver arsenal.

Primary Weapons

• Liberator & Liberator Carbine
  • Damage increased from 60 to 70.
  • Damage against robust parts increased from 14 to 17.
  • Recoil effect increased from 10 to 15.
  • Maximum reserve magazines increased from 7 to 8.
  • Starting reserve magazines increased from 5 to 6.

• Knight
  • Damage increased from 50 to 65.
  • Damage against robust parts increased from 5 to 7.
  • Magazines are now fully refilled when resupply is picked up.
  • Recoil reduced.

• Shaker Liberator
  • Now with drum magazine holding 60 rounds.
  • Max. magazines decreased from 10 to 6.
  • The number of magazines has been reduced due to the larger magazine capacity.

• Tenderizer
  • Number of cartridges in the magazine increased from 30 to 35.
  • Starting magazines increased from 4 to 5.

• Breaker
  • Now with an extended magazine with 16 rounds.
  • Flinch effect increased from 10 to 15.

• Spray&Pray
  • Now features a duckbill muzzle, making the spread very horizontal and less vertical.
  • Total damage increased from 192 to 240.

• Scythe
  • Cooldown reduced.
  • Adjustments made to the visual heat effects.
  • Changed scope to a lower power scope.
  • Recoil removed.
  • Ignites opponents faster.

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

• Burst
  • Set the number of shrapnel projectiles to 30.
  • Set shrapnel damage to 110.
  • Reduced explosion damage from 340 to 225.
  • The shrapnel is back! We heard your feedback and brought back the shrapnel. The original shrapnel has been replaced by the shrapnel from the fragment grenade so that Helldivers no longer die instantly except for occasional unfortunate headshots. Additionally, we increased the amount of shrapnel.
  • Explosion radius increased by 33% (17% for the inner radius and 50% for the outer radius).

• Defender
  • Damage increased from 70 to 75.
  • Damage against heavy parts increased from 7 to 8.

• Rebar Liberator
  • Damage increased from 45 to 60.

• Diligence
  • Damage increased from 125 to 165.
  • Damage against heavy parts increased from 32 to 42.

• Sniper Diligence
  • Damage increased from 140 to 200.
  • Damage against heavy parts increased from 14 to 50.
  • Stagger effect increased from 15 to 20.

• Blitzer
  • Now has a weak stunning effect that builds up with each shot on the targets.

• Torcher
  • Damage increased by 50%.
  • Flamethrower mechanics reset to the old version pre “Escalation of Freedom” update.
  • Armor penetration increased from 3 to 4.

Sidearms

• Peacemaker
  • Maximum reserve magazines increased from 5 to 6.

• Dagger
  • Heats up slower.
  • Recoil removed.
  • Damage increased from 200 to 250.
  • Sets opponents on fire faster.
  • Adjustments to the visual heat effects.

• Crisper
  • Damage increased by 50%.
  • Flamethrower mechanics reverted to the old version from before the “Escalation of Freedom” update.
  • Armor penetration increased from 3 to 4.

Support Weapons

• Special anti-tank weapons with rockets such as recoilless rifle, quasars, command, one-time anti-tank, spear, and patriot exosuit have all seen significant damage increases to enhance their effectiveness.
  • These weapons can generally be categorized into three types:
    • Strong and reliable: The recoilless rifle and spear can afford to be less precise when firing at armored targets since most hits eliminate enemies the size of a marauder.
    • Strong: The one-time anti-tank and quasars are extremely effective and often eliminate targets with a single hit to a weak spot. Otherwise, two decent shots are sufficient for a marauder or one shot for a Hulk.
    • Less strong: The rockets from command and patriot exosuit typically require 1 to 3 shots to take down a marauder or Hulk, depending on your target skill.

• Grenade Launcher
• – Starter reserve magazines increased from 1 to 2.
• – Maximum reserve magazines increased from 2 to 3.
• – Explosion radius slightly increased.

• Laser Cannon
  • Cooldown slightly reduced.
  • Recoil removed.
  • Sets enemies on fire faster.
  • Can now damage stronger enemies such as Chargers, Acid Titans, Spikes, and Hulks.
  • Adjustments to the visual heat effects.

• Bow Launcher
  • Range increased from 35 to 55.
  • Now has a moderate stun effect that builds on targets.
  • Jumps over further times.
  • Damage against sturdy parts increased from 50 to 100.

• Railgun
  • Damage against sturdy parts increased from 60 to 225.
  • Damage at full overload increased from 150% to 250%.

• Stalwart
  • Damage increased from 60 to 70.
  • Damage against sturdy parts increased from 14 to 17.
  • Stagger effect increased from 10 to 15.

• Machine Gun
  • Stagger effect increased from 15 to 20.
  • Anti-Matter Rifle
  • Damage against sturdy parts increased from 135 to 180.
  • Can now damage stronger enemies such as Chargers, Acid Titans, Spikes, and Hulks.
  • Stagger effect increased from 20 to 25.

• Heavy Machine Gun
  • Flinch effect increased from 20 to 25.
  • Can now deal damage to stronger enemies such as Charges, Acid Titans, Stakes, and Hulks.

• Commando
  • Destructive power against structures reduced – Manufacturers can no longer be destroyed with a single shot. However, since Manufacturers now have health, they can still be taken out with two shots.

• Flamethrower
  • Damage increased by 33%.
  • Flamethrower mechanics reverted to the old version from before the “Escalation of Freedom” update.
  • Armor penetration increased from 3 to 4.
  • Can now deal damage to stronger enemies such as Charges, Acid Titans, Stakes, and Hulks.

• Autocannon
  • Can now deal damage to stronger enemies such as Charges, Acid Titans, Stakes, and Hulks.

Grenades

• Fragmentation Grenade
  • Shrapnel damage increased by approximately 50%.
  • Max amount increased from 4 to 5.
  • Refill amount increased from 2 to 3.
  • Explosion radius increased.

• Thermite Grenade
  • Explosion damage increased from 100 to 2,000.
  • Time until thermite ignites shortened.
  • Time until explosion slightly reduced.
  • Max number decreased from 4 to 3.

Tactical Equipments

• The damage of each tactical equipment that can injure heavily armored enemies has been increased to account for the increased health of stronger opponents. The aim of this change is to keep the performance level of tactical equipments similar to or higher than before. Additionally, we have made the following changes:

• Hawk – 500 kg bomb
  • Explosion radius increased to better match the visual effect.
• Hawk rockets
  • Damage slightly increased.
• Gatling gun
  • Recoil increased from 15 to 20.
• MG turret
  • Recoil increased from 15 to 20.
• Tesla tower
  • Recoil increased to the level of other lightning weapons.
  • Now has a moderate stun effect that builds up with each hit on targets.
• Heavy MG position
  • Recoil increased from 20 to 25.
  • Can now deal damage to stronger enemies like Raiders, Acid Titans, Pikes, and Hulks.
• Patriot exosuit
  • Gatling recoil increased from 15 to 20.
• Emancipator exosuit
  • Damage of the automatic cannon against robust parts increased from 60 to 150.
  • Rate of fire of the weapons increased from 125 to 175.
  • Amount of ammunition per arm increased from 75 to 100.
• Orbital laser
  • Damage slightly increased.
• Orbital railgun
  • Damage slightly increased.
• Orbital gas attack
  • In preparation for the war bond “Chemical Offensive,” we are revising the gas gameplay mechanics to focus more on crowd control.
  • The gas effect has been revised to blind and confuse enemies and Helldivers now, though at the cost of damage over time.

Gameplay

General

• New feature for the Galactic War
  • The galactic map now shows the position of strategically important locations. This allows the Hell Divers to consider them more easily when planning their next moves.

• New emote wheel
• Players can now equip up to four emotes in the armory and select them using the new emote wheel by holding down the emote button. Additional separate key mappings for the emote wheel are possible in the settings.

• Support for Dolby Atmos on PS5 added.

Enemies

• Robot Manufacturers
  • Robot Manufacturers now have health and armor in addition to their existing destruction system. This means that many weapons with high armor penetration can still destroy them, but this may require multiple hits depending on the weapon used.
  • Effects have been added to clarify their health status.

• Hulk, Stalker, Acid Titan, Stake Driver
  • Armor reduced from 5 to 4.

• Hulks (all versions)
  • Armor reduced from 5 to 4.
  • Weak point at the back is a bit sturdier.
  • Health of the weak point at the back reduced from 1,000 to 800.

• Hulk Fragments
  • Rocket launcher replaced with an energy-based cannon.
  • Firing frequency of the Hulk Fragments increased.

• Tank
  • Front armor increased from 5 to 6.

• Berserker
  • Head health reduced from 150 to 125.
  • Main health reduced from 1,000 to 750.
  • Stomach is now a weak point.
  • Chainsaw damage increased.

• Destroyer (all versions)
  • Main health reduced from 800 to 750.
  • Destroyers now flinch when hit, reducing their accuracy similar to conscripts. The intent is to keep them at bay when sustained damage is dealt.

• Rocket Destroyer
  • The number of rockets is now limited and they disappear when used.
  • Reload mechanic from the backpack added to refill their rockets once.
  • The physics collisions of the rockets are smaller, making them easier to dodge.

• Gunship
  • Gunships now have a limited number of rockets.
  • The physics collisions of the rockets are smaller, making them easier to dodge.

• Attacker (all versions)
  • Armor reduced from 5 to 4.
  • Weak point health at the rear reduced from 1,100 to 950.
  • The weak point at the rear is slightly less robust.
  • Armor at the stomach reduced from 4 to 2.
  • Damage multiplier to the exposed weak point on the back of the attacker added, now dealing 300% damage.
  • Normal storming and movement are slightly slower during turns.
  • Now storms less frequently.
  • Storm attack damage increased by 50%.
  • Side attack damage increased by 50%.

• Attacker Colossus
  • Weak point health at the rear reduced from 1,200 to 950.

• Hunters
  • Health reduced from 175 to 160.

• Pillagers
  • Health reduced from 80 to 60.

• Acid Titan
  • Armor reduced from 5 to 4.
  • Gameplay concerning the belly of the Acid Titan revamped.
  • Armor on the belly reduced from 4 to 2.
  • Separate health introduced for the belly once the outer belly layer has been destroyed.
  • If the health of the exposed belly reaches 0, the Acid Titan dies.

• Piercers
  • Armor reduced from 5 to 4.
  • Previously, the Piercer could retract its tentacles only once when threatened. Now it can do this multiple times.
  • Its tentacles no longer pursue you as far when you move away from the Piercer, prioritizing players who are closer to the Piercer.
  • If the Piercer sees no opponent, it retracts its tentacles after a short time.

• Piercer Tentacles
  • Tentacle damage increased.
  • Camera shake during tentacle attacks reduced.
  • Tentacles must take less damage before retracting.

Planets and Modifiers

• The modifiers “Strong Heat” and “Extreme Cold” no longer apply statically for the entire mission. Instead, they can change depending on the time of day or weather.
• On some desert planets, the “Strong Heat” modifier is now only active during the day. This means that the planet has either no modifier at night or, in some cases, the “Extreme Cold” modifier.
• On dry planets (like Hellmire), the “Strong Heat” modifier is now only active during fire tornado storms.

Bug Fixes

• A problem has been fixed that prevented the target mode from being saved correctly for each weapon. NOTE: This patch will delete all saved target modes, but everything should function correctly afterwards.

Crash fixes and softlocks:

• A crash has been fixed that could occur when the game was exited during the startup sequence.
• A crash has been fixed that occurred when players with unique skins were removed due to inactivity.
• A crash has been fixed that occurred when vehicle skins were not synchronized correctly.
• A crash has been fixed that occurred when players with a unique Hellpod skin left the game shortly after being called in as reinforcements.
• A rare crash has been fixed that was triggered by acid spitter attacks.
• A crash when interacting with the galactic map has been fixed.
• A crash has been fixed that occurred when joining another super destroyer.
• A crash has been fixed that could occur while completing a secondary objective.
• A crash has been fixed that occurred when the game was started on PS5 with an unsupported system language (such as Canadian French).
• A potential crash when new players joined an ongoing game has been fixed.
• A potential crash has been fixed that could occur when other players left the game.
• A rare crash has been fixed that occurred when using the galactic map and viewing operations.
• There should no longer be a crash when interacting with the galactic map and an update is required.
• A rare crash has been fixed that could occur when joining a game session that had switched at least 32 different players.
• A bug has been fixed that prevented mission objective tactical equipment from being completed after host migration.
• A bug has been fixed that caused players who had already joined to be kicked from the game when other players joined.
• A bug has been fixed that caused the closing of the Steam overlay during the purchase of over-credits to result in incorrect display on subsequent purchases (previously required a game restart to work again).
• A bug has been fixed that prevented shuttles from being used when the host left the game shortly before their landing.
• A softlock has been fixed that could occur in the mission summary when the host left the game.
• A bug has been fixed that caused emotes to not be properly finalized when interrupted by sprinting.

Bug fixes in the social menu:

• Issues with the PS5 friends list have been fixed.

Various bug fixes:

• Mission: Evacuate valuable goods
  • A bug has been fixed that allowed enemies to spawn directly on the evacuation zone.
  • Enemies can no longer shoot generators from their spawn point or from far away.
  • A problem with enemy pathfinding has been fixed, where they sometimes tried to enter the base from the side over the hill.
  • The generators are now better protected to prevent enemies from shooting them from far away.
  • Heavy and flying enemies now attack players first before targeting generators and gates.
  • A bug has been fixed that prevented enemies from spawning for a certain time when the host left the mission.
• Mission: Conduct geostudy
  • A bug in the mission “Conduct geostudy” has been fixed that made the ground probe unusable if a player requested it and then left the game or lost connection.
  • Enemy spawns have been adjusted.
• Stake
  • A bug has been fixed that caused stakes not to take explosion damage at their exposed weak spots.
  • A bug has been fixed that prevented the tentacles of the stake from being pinged.
• The following three cases have mostly been fixed, and the bugs should occur much less frequently now. Although there may still be unusual issues with the stake under certain circumstances, they should now occur significantly less often.

• A bug was fixed that caused Helldivers to be thrown high into the air when standing close to the pole’s head while retracting a tentacle.
• A bug was fixed that caused Helldivers to sometimes be thrown into the air when tentacles spawned underneath them.
• A bug was fixed that caused the pole’s tentacles to sometimes launch exo-suits into the air when the player was inside them.
• A bug was fixed that caused enemies not to take the correct damage when they were more than 10 m away from the player.
• A bug was fixed that caused acid titans to sometimes not take damage to the head.
• A bug was fixed that caused most weapons to shoot under the crosshair when aiming with a scope.
• Issues were fixed that made the swarm breaker drill inaccessible after being requested.
• A bug was fixed that caused the first-person view not to align with the weapon scope when using the ballistic shield.
  The heavy machine gun scope is now properly aligned.
• Issues with clipped lenses on scopes were fixed.
• A bug was fixed that allowed multiple confidential data to appear in the same outpost, although only one was intended.
• Emotes with two people no longer cause players to get stuck in the animation.
• The missing German voiceover in the intro cutscene has been fixed.
• A problem was fixed that allowed robots to shoot through walls in a certain case.
• A bug was fixed that sometimes displayed required objectives above the primary objective in the HUD.
• Problematic menus were fixed that occurred when the main menu was opened right before entering the Hellpods (while the equipment menu was opening).
• A bug was fixed that caused the weapon preview in the equipment menu to be invisible right after viewing armors/helmets/cloaks.
• A bug was fixed that caused eagle explosives in the swamp biome to sometimes not explode.
• A bug was fixed that caused support points in the mission summary to sometimes give 0 rewards (this was a purely visual error).
• A bug was fixed that caused players removed for inactivity to still be displayed in white on the user interface.
• Long player titles now wrap instead of overlapping with other text.
• A bug was fixed that displayed the wrong name for the reinforced scout.
• The unused “Orbital Beacon” tactical equipment has been removed from Gear Hero.
• A bug was fixed that caused no data to be displayed for some tactical equipment in the Gear menu.
• The number of requested reinforcements and used tactical equipment at the end of the mission has been corrected.
• A bug was fixed that caused the drill target to float in the air when joining a running “blow up breeding station” mission.
• The invite/join feature is now disabled when players are using a different game version.
• A bug was fixed that caused player names not to be displayed on the ship after a mission.
• A synchronization issue with the number of evacuated civilians in the “Emergency Evacuation” mission was fixed.
• A bug was fixed that prevented untriggered hell bombs from being pinged on the map.
• A bug was fixed that caused team member equipment to not display when joining a running mission.
• A bug was fixed that incorrectly displayed the “Evacuation Failed” text during shuttle evacuation.
• A bug was fixed that prevented players from unlocking new difficulty levels even after meeting the requirements.
• Assigning tactical equipment inputs to other keys no longer blocks inputs at terminals.
• A bug was fixed that displayed other players’ Helldivers over the weapons/armor when they joined and the player selected their gear in the gear menu.
• A bug was fixed that started a mission even after leaving the gear menu. When the player now returns to the mission briefing screen, the ready status is deactivated.
• A bug was fixed that allowed players to click entries in the key mapping menu through the tabs.
• Pinging enemies and objects now displays correctly after changing the language.
• A problem with cancelling the purchase of tactical equipment was fixed, where moving the mouse up and releasing the mouse button did not interrupt the purchase process and the button continued to fill.
• A bug with our ragdoll optimizations was fixed, where incorrect collision filters were used for some physics actors, leading to requests hitting unintended shapes.
• A bug in our ragdoll optimization code was fixed that caused some types of explosions to deal incorrect damage.
• An incorrect message about removing a friend is no longer displayed in the player information pop-up.
• A bug was fixed that caused multi-line text to be sometimes displayed incorrectly.
• A bug was fixed that caused two war bonds in the acquisition menu to scroll down/up when scrolling with the left controller stick.
• A bug with the movement controls while aiming has been fixed that occurred when the “Enable motion sensor aim mode” option was set to “Aim”, regardless of the aiming input type.
• A bug has been fixed that allowed the player to switch tabs while changing the ship’s name.
• A bug has been fixed that prevented the final “Ready” sound from playing when rejoining a mission.
• Map markers on targets now follow the target when it changes its position, such as in the case of SSSD drives.
• A bug has been fixed that allowed a player to throw unlimited grenades/throwing knives after jumping into shallow water while holding the last thrown weapon and then throwing it.
• Another bug has been fixed that caused the tactical equipment ball to get stuck in players’ hands when they opened the tactical equipment menu immediately after the previous action.
• The game client now displays a correct error message with helpful information when signing in to PlayFab fails.
• Misalignments of projectiles in aiming mode have been fixed.
• A problem with blocked raycasts while aiming in aiming mode has been fixed.
• Misaligned aim positions due to repeatedly turning the aiming mode on and off have been fixed.
• The representation of the incendiary mine symbol and the anti-tank mine name has been fixed when the mine stands for these tactical equipments were marked/pinged.
• A bug has been fixed that removed the scroll view when switching tabs in the armory while scrolling.
• A bug has been fixed that allowed players to bypass overheating for both the Scythe and the Sickle when switching weapons during the reload animations.
• A bug has been fixed that prevented the impact explosion of the 500 kg bomb from triggering.
• A bug has been fixed that allowed multiple copies of the confidential data to be found in strongholds.
• The red zone when selecting the drop point around strongholds has been enlarged.
• Error messages on the startup screen have been improved for better support.
• Enemies now spawn during “Spreading Democracy” missions.
• Another visual effect has been added to the orbital cannon.
• A bug has been fixed that caused projectiles from robots to clip through assets.
• A bug has been fixed that destroyed the combat walker when it bumped into a large building.
• A bug has been fixed that caused some assets to reflect the flames of the flamethrower.
• A bug has been fixed that played incorrect sound effects for weapons with custom fire modes.
• A bug has been fixed that caused the evacuation timer in the landing beacon not to be displayed when the mission time had expired.
• A bug has been fixed that did not correctly synchronize health after the duration of syringe healing (especially in friendly fire situations).
• A problem with cut-off sound effects during weapon switching has been fixed.

Known Issues

• These are the highest priority issues, either introduced with this patch and currently being worked on, or stemming from a previous version and still unresolved. This is not a complete list.

Top Priority:

• Players may not receive friend requests from another platform.
• Large units make no noise, allowing them to sneak up on players.
• In the mission “Evacuate Valuable Goods,” enemies attempt to shoot through walls at the generators.
• Enemies can sometimes shoot through walls.
• The social menu hangs for some players at “Please wait in a democratic manner!”
• The corpses of assaulters can launch Helldivers into the air.
• Tactical equipment balls bounce unpredictably off cliffs and some other spots.
• Sometimes players cannot join certain friends or return to the ship after they have joined.

Medium Priority:

• Reinforcements may sometimes be unavailable for players joining an ongoing game.
• Mines may become invisible or disappear in multiplayer lobbies.
• Pelican 1 can sometimes be thrown away when hit by a pike tentacle.
• Supply packages can be erroneously consumed when pressing the down button on a controller while requesting tactical equipment.

The patch is expected to turn the meta of Helldivers 2 upside down due to the numerous changes. Suddenly, weapons that were previously useless or heavily nerfed are strong. If you haven’t unlocked all weapons yet, you can find out how to get each weapon on MeinMMO: Helldivers 2: All Weapons and How to Unlock Them