Fans are so frustrated with recent Helldivers 2 updates that Arrowhead Studios has promised a new roadmap to address complaints, including the nerfed flamethrower.
In the last week, developer Arrowhead Studios has released new updates and patches, for Helldivers 2, that have left fans far from impressed. Many have complained about weapons being nerfed too much, making the live service shooter harder and less fun to play.
The Helldivers 2 team has addressed similar complaints in the past, admitting they have gone too far with weapon nerfs, and now they’re doing it again by responding to recent backlash with a new update roadmap.
Arrowhead promises to ‘re-examine our approach to balance’ with new updates in the next 60 days, including reworking the flamethrower, but fans are sceptical.
In a Reddit post, Helldivers 2 game director Mikael Eriksson says the team understands fans’ frustration with last week’s Escalation Of Freedom update, which nerfed the popular flamethrower and, according to its player base, didn’t fix enough bugs.
‘In short, we didn’t hit our target with the latest update. Some things we just didn’t get right – and other more fundamental inconsistencies in our approach to game balance and game direction,’ Eriksson says.
To make things right Arrowhead promises a host of changes in the next couple of months, including making sure that ‘balance should be fun, not ‘balanced’ for the sake of balance’.
Arrowhead also wants to address the nerfed flamethrower, saying, they want to ‘tweak how the flamethrower serves as a close range support weapon’.
Other promised changes include creating a plan to make combat more engaging and rework the Chargers – a type of enemy that has become more powerful because of the nerfed flamethrower.
Arrowhead are also planning to create an ‘opt-in beta-test environment’ to improve the testing processes, and post more surveys to gather insight from fans going forward.
The new plan is being met with scepticism, however, with Ledgend saying, ’60 days for a Charger and ragdoll rework. Here’s hoping.’
Helldivers 2 has seen a huge drop in its player base since it peaked six months ago and, although there are still up to 50,000 fans playing it in a single day, pleasing its declining fan base is essential so that more don’t abandon ship.
Arrowhead’s new roadmap addresses many of the key issues fans have mentioned, but it’s not the first time the developer has had to promise a rethink about balancing its game.
A productive 60 days could help appease fans and maybe even bring back some who have left, but only time will tell.
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