Arrowhead CEO says Helldivers 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far' recently: 'It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed'

GamesThird Person ShooterHelldivers 2Arrowhead CEO says Helldivers 2 balancing patches have ‘gone too far’ recently: ‘It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

helldivers 2

But there’s an argument to be made thatbalancing shouldn’t be taken so seriouslyin a purely PvE shooter like Helldivers 2, and that it’s ok if one gun is dealing more damage than the rest. Replying to a player on Twitter who said recent patches have made the game “unplayable,” Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt conceded that he’s not satisfied with his studio’s current balancing approach.

“Hey, yeah I think we’ve gone too far in some areas. Will talk to the team about the approach to balance,” hewrote. “It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed.”

In a followup tweet, Pilestedt says he’s seeing “a bit too much balancing using damage instead of other measures such as recoil, reload speeds, accuracy, projectile speeds and equip speeds. Just tweaking damage numbers is a blunt tool.”

The exchange was not in reference to any specific nerfs, so it’s hard to pin down exactly what Pilestedt has in mind here. The lastsweeping balancing patchdeployed in late April could be described as ‘too many damage tweaks,’ but many guns also received non-damage alterations like magazine size, recoil, and recharge time.

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

The Eruptor of it all

It’s possible Pilestedt is thinking about the main subject of yesterday’s1.000.302 patch, the Eruptor rifle. What’s interesting about the Eruptor, a new primary rifle, is that it was nerfed because it was too dangerous for everyone around it. The patch notes read:

Let’s zoom out for some context: TheEruptoris a primary gun added in last month’s Democratic Detonation warbond. It doesn’t fire bullets, but rather micro missiles that deal AoE explosive damage on impact. Until yesterday, impacts would also shoot out waves of “shrapnel” in random directions that dealt additional damage. It’s these shrapnel waves, which had a tendency of bouncing toward and instantly killing helldivers, that Arrowhead has removed and replaced with more direct explosive damage.

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While Helldivers 2 players are accustomed to wielding power guns capable of backfiring when used improperly, the Eruptor’s shrapnel crossed a line of inconsistency for Arrowhead—its unpredictable behavior was causing frustrating deaths that, for a few days, had the community convinced there was alarger problem with ricochetingrockets.

(Image credit: Arrowhead)

To the credit of Arrowhead’s balancing squad, they’re listening to feedback on the updated Eruptor.

Just tweaking damage numbers is a blunt tool.Johan Pilestedt, Arrowhead CEO

Just tweaking damage numbers is a blunt tool.

“We can’t bring the shrapnel back the way it was,” wrote senior game designer Alexus Kravchenko on Discord yesterday. “We don’t want it to one-shot chargers, and we don’t want it to have a chance to kill you or your teammates (we have a cluster eagle for that). I still strongly believe that the Eruptor benefits from dealing less damage more consistently. So: it’s a net minus if you’re lucky or are using an exploit, and net plus otherwise.”

(That “exploit” Kravchenko is referring to was an unintended consequence of the shrapnel damage that’d allow players to aim Eruptor shots under large enemies like Chargers and Spewers, centralize all the shrapnel damage in one place, and kill them instantly.)

“However we’re still investigating if this change has affected any breakpoints against medium enemies, and we will look into that. I won’t promise that it will definitely be buffed, as the weapon in its current state is still absolutely viable. But it’s always on our radar.”

A new batch of guns to scrutinize is set to arrive soon in thePolar Patriotspremium warbond, but in an unexpected move, Pilestedt isletting the community voteon delaying the release to put more distance between the whole PSN account linking controversy and asking for $10 from players.

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The Eruptor of it all#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The Eruptor of it all

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals