Helldivers 2 Items

Although Helldivers 2 hasn't introduced much new playable content since Machinery of Oppression, aside from the latest Warbonds, the development team remains committed to addressing the issues that have caused player dissatisfaction.

Patch 6.2.2, released on April 28, introduced balance adjustments to various weapons and enemies; however, the results failed to satisfy the player base. Consequently, the development team quickly responded by releasing Patch 6.2.3 on May 6 at 9:00 AM UTC.

Below, we will outline the key contents of this patch and analyze their effectiveness.

Reverting changes to Hive Guard

Hive Guard is a medium-sized Terminid enemy that was added to Helldivers 2 last year. They are relatively agile, capable of vaulting over obstacles, and will attack you with their sharp claws at close range.

Defensively, this enemy adopts a crouching stance when under fire to protect its vulnerable body, as only its front side is equipped with medium armor.

In the previous Patch 6.2.2, the development team upgraded the armor rating on Hive Guard's head and legs from Medium to Heavy, while simultaneously reducing the armor values for its torso and claws.

Although the enemy's maximum health was also reduced, the introduction of heavy armor meant that players could only defeat Hive Guards using a select few weapons capable of penetrating heavy plating. Without the appropriate gear, the enemy's reduced health pool made little difference.

Consequently, in response to strong player backlash, Helldivers 2 has used Patch 6.2.3 to revert the armor buffs previously applied to Hive Guard.

More specifically, the armor rating for Hive Guard's front legs and head has been reverted to the medium penetration tier, while the armor value for its claws has been further reduced. As a result, the entire front section of Hive Guard now serves as a weak point.

However, as a balancing measure, the armor value for Hive Guard's main torso has been reverted from 300 back to 500, and the torso's armor rating has been increased.

This means that, much like in the early days of the game, you must now concentrate your fire on the main torso to successfully take down a Hive Guard.

Aside from rendering medium-penetration weapons useless against Hive Guards, the very concept of buffing this enemy type in the first place seemed somewhat baffling. After all, prior to this, they hardly qualified as particularly formidable foes.

Fortunately, Patch 6.2.3 delivered a timely rollback; Hive Guard has now returned to its intended state, and it feels absolutely perfect. Barring any unforeseen issues, they likely won't require any further balance adjustments going forward.

That said, if you want to easily take down Hive Guards at this stage, a reliable medium-penetration weapon remains indispensable. If you don't have one, it's best to buy Helldivers 2 Super Credits on IGGM to unlock one via Exo Experts Warbond.

The addition of the beach biome

Based on their previously released roadmap for the first half of the year, Helldivers 2 announced that Update 6.2 would introduce new biomes. Now, one of those has finally arrived: the beach biome!

In Helldivers 2, you can simply think of a biome as a large-scale map environment. It dictates a planet's terrain layout, vegetation types, and potential environmental hazards, all of which are inextricably linked to your combat experience.

Accordingly, the beach biome is characterized by sandy shores, crystal-clear waters, and tropical flora. You'll encounter sun-drenched coastal regions, a stark contrast to the predominantly dark and gloomy aesthetic found in most of the game's previous biomes.

While that sounds appealing, this new content doesn't seem to have been particularly well-received by Helldivers 2 community.

This isn't because the new biome itself is poor quality, but rather because players feel that, right now, Helldivers 2 should be prioritizing the fixing of urgent bugs over the introduction of new content.

Player concerns

It must be said that since its launch, the public reception of Helldivers 2 has been somewhat volatile. Over the past month in particular, the game has faced heavy criticism for a persistent influx of bugs that have gone unaddressed for too long.

Consequently, after Patch 6.2.2 failed to truly satisfy the player base, you might have pinned your hopes on 6.2.3. However, aside from the rollback regarding Hive Guard, this patch offered little in the way of substantial new content or meaningful bug fixes.

Given Helldivers 2 team's consistent track record of delayed responses, you might assume they will eventually release more patches to slowly chip away at the long-standing bugs the community has been discussing.

However, it appears the development team maintains a long-standing tradition of taking summer vacations. The development team's annual leave is typically scheduled for mid-July.

Although a skeleton crew may remain on duty during this period, both the game itself and the player community currently face a significant backlog of issues that require urgent attention.

Consequently, if the development team fails to properly address these matters before their leave begins, players planning to dive into Helldivers 2 this summer may find themselves facing a rather difficult phase.

Based on the currently published Helldivers 2 development roadmap, the team's immediate focus appears to remain on introducing new biomes and the next Warbond update.

It seems highly unlikely that they will pivot in the near future to concentrate on fixing progression systems or other core-level mechanics.

We therefore anticipate that Helldivers 2 will most likely release this new content first, and then immediately transition into its summer vacation mode.

Which bugs are the most pressing?

If we were to list them one by one, there are actually numerous weapon-related issues in Helldivers 2 that are in dire need of fixing.

Here, we will highlight just a few examples that have generated significant discussion within the community (though, in all likelihood, none of them will see any improvement anytime soon!).

First is an issue that has already been officially acknowledged: the muzzle flash on MGX42 Bullet Storm may not be properly aligned with the weapon's 3D model. Fortunately, however, this bug does not appear to have any major impact on actual gameplay.

Another issue concerns A/FLAM-40 Flame Sentry and EXO-51 Lumberer mech. Within a range of 9 to 10 meters, flame attacks fail to inflict damage on any enemies surrounding you, unless you back away to a distance greater than 10 meters.

The final bug worth mentioning occurs when you equip Exo Suit and go on a rampage, trampling enemies in your path; you may find that enemies vanish into thin air without any warning.

More specifically, the game sometimes grabs a single enemy, or even multiple enemies, and completely wipes them from existence, significantly detracting from the overall gameplay experience.

In summary, while the content introduced in Patch 6.2.3 is commendable in its own right, the update as a whole simply lacks substance.

We hope that Helldivers 2 will become more responsive to player requests in the future, rather than rigidly adhering to its predetermined schedule; otherwise, the game risks suffering another significant drop in player numbers once summer comes to an end!

Helldivers 2 released Patch 6.2.2 of Machinery of Oppression update on April 28. This update drew significant backlash from players because it substantially increased the durable damage of many enemies, making combat more tedious and sluggish.

We should also acknowledge that this update does contain some enhancements that genuinely improve gameplay and the overall experience. However, since Patch 6.2.2 is a very large patch, we cannot analyze every single change in exhaustive detail. Therefore, we will only look at the parts that have the greatest impact on gameplay and see how players can adapt to these changes.

Balance Adjustments

Exo Suits Rebalance

Because players generally felt that Exo suits could take too little damage and were too easily destroyed - especially against Automaton  - the development team made substantial balance adjustments to improve their durability:

• Main health pool increased from 850 to 1,600. An Exo suit is only completely destroyed when its main health pool is depleted.
• Vulnerability to acid attacks increased by 50%.
• Exo suit arm health increased from 350 to 600. Arms now also share the main body's 50% explosive damage resistance.
• Removed the constitution and bleedout mechanics from Exo suit arms.
• When both legs are destroyed, Exo suit no longer loses all mobility.
• Exo suits can now be staggered (stagger intensity 45), but this does not affect their ability to fire.
• Removed cosmetic parts that do not affect the main health pool to improve performance; these parts can no longer be damaged.

The health and explosive resistance buffs for Exo suits are excellent and have been needed for a long time. That said, it is hard not to suspect that the developers fixed these issues right before releasing a Warbond that includes two new Exo Suits. The timing makes players question whether the fix was meant to promote the latest Warbond. And these were not complicated problems - just a matter of tweaking some variables.

Gas Effects

Gas now also slows confused enemies by 25%. Naturally, the slow effect also applies to you. Large enemies that are immune to the confusion effect from gas - such as Bile Titans and Factory Striders - are also immune to the slow.

While this change helps TX-41 Sterilizer stand out more, it also makes gas grenades and Dog Breath excessively strong. Take a gas drone or gas grenades into a Terminid mission, and you will see your kill count skyrocket.

Weapon Changes

CQC-30 Stun Baton

• Changes: Stamina consumption reduced from 5% to 3%. Damage increased from 75 to 120. Durable damage increased from 38 to 60.

This change addresses Stun Baton's damage issues. Another problem remains: when you hit an enemy, it not only stuns them but also causes knockback. This forces you to step forward after each swing to land the next hit, preventing you from fully utilizing the baton's fast swing speed for sustained output.

CQC-9 Defoliation Tool

• Changes: Hitbox enlarged to make it easier to land hits. Effective hit window extended. Armor penetration speed doubled. Movement speed reduced when dealing damage to enemies. Stamina consumption reduced from 10% to 5%.

These changes make Defoliation Tool feel much better to use. Doubled armor penetration might cut your time-to-kill in half, especially against enemies like Chargers.

SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack

• Changes: Health increased from 600 to 1,000.

Not many players took Ballistic Shield because it broke easily and had a long cooldown. The developers have already reduced its cooldown several times, and now they have finally increased its health, which should encourage more players to give it a try.

FAF-14 Spear

• Changes: Backpack ammunition increased from 3 to 4 rockets.

Spear's main issue has always been its limited ammo. One extra rocket will not let it replace the recoilless rifle, but it makes Spear a better option - one that no longer feels like a burden to your team.

A/FLAM-40 Flame Sentry

• Changes: Range increased from 20 meters to 34 meters. Damage increased by 50%. Panic effect on enemies triggers faster.

This is undoubtedly a very solid buff. The sentry no longer lasts only a dozen or so seconds. While it might still blow up if left alone against a full swarm, if you stand nearby and help clear enemies, it can easily survive a Terminid breach or an Illuminate assault wave.

TX-41 Sterilizer

• Changes: Updated the visual effects of the gas spray to make the range easier to see. Gas now lingers longer and covers a wider area.

Previously, the problem with Sterilizer was that enemies hit by the gas could still charge at you. With the slow effect, you now have more room to dodge attacks. Thanks to the buffs to gas effects and Sterilizer's own changes, this weapon will become viable as well.

Enemy Changes

Bile Titan

• Changes: Spray explosion radius reduced to match the visual effects - inner radius decreased from 2.25 to 1, outer radius decreased from 3.5 to 2.2.

This should make it easier to dodge its spit attack by diving, and you will likely avoid taking damage altogether. The improved visual effects are also welcome. An excellent change that prevents you from taking damage for no apparent reason.

Hive Guard

• Changes: Armor on the head and legs increased (from medium to heavy). Armor on the body and claws reduced (from light to none). Body health pool reduced from 500 to 375.

This is the most controversial part of the update, as it forces the player base to rely on a very small set of weapons that can deal with this common enemy (which now has heavy armor). Previously, if you brought a light-penetration weapon, the enemies left standing after a bug breach were often Hive Guards, because you had no medium penetration or explosives.

Now, even with a medium-penetration weapon, you will still see swarms of Hive Guards. The problem is not that they become too difficult to handle, raising the challenge - they are not fast, and you can easily run away. But you have to circle them repeatedly to take them down, which is extremely time-consuming.

Durable Damage Increases

The developers increased the durable damage of the following enemies:

• Bile Spewers
• Stalkers
• Shriekers
• Scavenger
• All Warrior variants
• Hive Lord
• Charger
• Impaler
• Dragon Roach
• Berserker
• Devastator
• Raider
• War Strider

In short, this change means your turrets, fortifications, and vehicles will be destroyed much faster. No player will enjoy this adjustment. The developers' decision only forces players to rely on the few stratagems that can still get the job done, making the game unfun if you choose anything else.

Tank

All tanks received the following changes to their main body:

• Health pool increased from 3,000 to 4,000
• Rear vent health increased from 750 to 1,500
• Rear vent armor changed from medium to heavy
• Removed the track destruction zone (damage no longer transfers when the zone is destroyed)
• Removed the damage cap transferred from tracks to main body health
• Track durable resistance reduced from 1.0 to 0.7
• Reduced overlapping damage areas while moving to match visuals; damage lowered

Tanks were never really a threat to begin with - they are slow and have a low rate of fire. Even after these buffs, dealing with one is not particularly difficult. However, removing the weak point on the rear vent armor takes away an efficient way to handle them. This is a terrible change.

Heavy Devastators

• Changes: Shields can now be destroyed and will drop when broken. Shields have heavy armor, 800 health, and 0.7 durable.

This is a good change. Previously, hitting the shield would show a ricochet marker, making you feel like your attacks did nothing. Now, even if you cannot fully penetrate the shield, you can still damage it and potentially break it.

War Strider

• Changes: Leg hip joint armor reduced from heavy to medium.

They now have a weak point that medium-penetration weapons can exploit. For over a month, players have been complaining that War Striders lacked a weak point suitable for medium weapons. The developers have finally addressed this issue.

Taken as a whole, Patch 6.2.2 provides far greater buffs to enemies than to players. This forces players to pick only the strongest and most efficient weapons to face the challenges ahead, reducing player choice. For the future of Helldivers 2, that is not a healthy sign.

Enemies are now more difficult to deal with, and it seems Exo Suits are about to enter a strong phase. If you need to increase damage and acquire stronger Stratagems, you can buy cheap Helldivers 2 Super Credits at IGGM to get the latest Exo Experts Warbond.