UPDATE: Wahey, Helldivers 2's latest patch takes aim at "excessive ragdolling", ineffective flamethrowers, and inescapable tentacles
Yep, you read that last one right.
UPDATE (21/08/24, 12:55 PM BST): Arrowhead has just issued another patch for Helldivers 2, this time aiming to rectify just one issue: "a common crash that occurs when killing the Impaler inside a Stronghold". "This patch is an emergency hot fix addressing the Impaler crash. We deemed it worth bringing this one crash fix in now in an attempt to minimize the crashes during the weekend. Thank you for your understanding," the studio wrote.
Good news, people who’ve been unhappy about the state of Helldivers 2 since the deployment of the Escalation of Freedom update, there’s a fresh patch out and it very much looks to be the first step on Arrowhead’s road to addressing all of the complaints.
If you’re out of the loop, the studio’s previously outlined a 60-day plan of changes to help get the game back where it thinks the majority of players want it to be, and at a glance, this update is definitely a step in the right direction.
As outlined in the notes for patch 01.001.004, the biggest fixes it offers are all aimed at improving the situations of several mechanics vocal players have taken issue with recently.
For example, Arrowhead has “reduced the explosion radius of tentacles stabbing ability and light rockets.” “This should alleviate the excessive ragdolling caused by the Impaler and Automaton enemies using light rockets,” it explained, “We are still working on improving the ragdoll behaviour overall.”
Another tweak that’ll likely be popular is a fix that should stop flamethrower particles ignoring enemies, hopefully allowing you to more effectively get your bug barbecuing on, even if Arrowhead’s still working on a fix for chain fences blocking flamer fire.
Then there’s the rectifying of “a bug where the Impaler's tentacles could chase you indefinitely in some cases”, which sounds as terrifying as it does hilarious, as well as a bunch of crash scenarios. Also, you can now shoot at mines to blow them up if they’re “near a dangerous object”.
Finally, as usual, Arrowhead mentioned a bunch of issues it’s still working on fixing, with that list including the likes of enemies that bleed out not contributing to progress in Personal Orders and eradicate missions, and bile titans sometimes not taking any headshot damage.
Do you plan to drop back into Helldivers 2 now this patch has dropped? Let us know below, and make sure to check out the latest goings-on in the Galactic War.