If you’re a massive nerd, Helldivers 2’s developers have made a big effort to reassure you about the nerfs included in the game’s latest patch. How? Well, by giving you spreadsheet lovers a bit of info on the studio’s current approach to balancing weapons – complete with the exact numbers for this latest round of gun tweaks.
So yeah, you can stop asking Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt why the game isn’t serving you up nine million different stats to help you decide exactly which of the two shotguns you’re trying to choose between – like Mr Burns with the ketchup in that Simpsons episode – is marginally better. Congrats, dweebs.
If you’re too much of smartpants for your own good, you’ll want to head over to the official Helldivers 2 Discord server, where designer Alex K has had a go at outlining what the studio’s current approach to weapon balancing is and what it’s designed to achieve. “Our goal is to give you a wide range of weapon choices, where each gun has its purpose and none is strictly better than another,” the dev outlined.
“Sure, you will have your own favourite, but it should come from your personal preference, not from the universally agreed knowledge of which gun is the strongest,” they continued, “Generally, we balance each item according to its quirks, so if a weapon is very effective at what it does, it should come with significant disadvantages to balance its power.”
You want examples? Alex had ‘em, explaining: “The AC-8 Autocannon is a good example of a well-balanced weapon: it packs a powerful punch, has a very good range, but requires you to carry an ammo backpack or have a friend assist you. The GL-21 Grenade Launcher is the opposite example. It’s a good general purpose weapon that gives you so much flexibility, it obviously can’t deal too much damage without becoming overpowered.”
Basically, what they’re saying is this: “Powerful weapons can’t be too versatile, versatile weapons can’t be too powerful.” So that’s why the Breaker, Railgun and Shield Generator Backpack have all been nerfed as part of this latest patch.
“We strongly believe that the changes won’t ruin this build, but rather help the affected items find their place among the other options and stay effective in capable hands,” Alex says. They finished by adding: “I know that having your favourite toy nerfed absolutely sucks.” That said, they hope that, after evaluating the new versions of each weapon, you’ll still find them worth using.
For uber-nerds, the devs also shared some extra notes on how the Railgun specifically has been changed, as well as detailing the exact changes that’ve been made to some weapons – complete with numbers, just in case words don’t do as much for you as concrete damage values and percentages.
So there you go, and by the way, make sure to check out the rest of the changes that’ve arrived with this latest Helldivers 2 patch, such as some terrifying-sounding environmental hazards.