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In addition to the Control Group Warbond that has just come out, Arrowhead recently released update 01.003.200. This provided a slew of buffs, balance changes, and fixes, and it also introduced bot cities as well as the new War Strider enemy. However, following a couple of days reflection on the update, Helldivers 2 players have discovered that a reported buff is actually a big nerf.
New Helldivers 2 buff is actually a nerf
In the Helldivers 2 update 01.003.200 patch notes, Arrowhead listed the following stun buffs:
AR-32 Pacifier
- Stun duration increased from 1.5 to 3 sec
- Starting magazines increased from 5 to 6
- Max amount of magazines increased from 7 to 8
- Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
SMG-72 Pummeler
- Stun duration increased from 1.5 to 3 sec
- Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
ARC-12 Blitzer
- Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
However, in a PSA shared to the community on the game’s subreddit, these buffs are actually a nerf. As stated by user lyndonguitar, before this update, there was a bug that resulted in “stun effects from weapons and stratagems applying far more stun value than intended (multiplied by amount of players, so around ~300% max iirc)”.
Seeing as update 01.003.200 fixed this bug, this means the “stun effect got effectively nerfed” for squad sessions, which is what most people play. This is because Arrowhead’s increase of 20% is a massive step down from 300% when playing with a full squad.
The OP further states that “If stun weapons were already struggling to find a place in the meta when they were performing at a 300% bugged effectiveness, their utility has been almost completely nullified now that they are operating at a fraction of that power”.
As for how the 20% buff works for solo players, the OP states that “It isn’t enough to reduce the the number of shots required to achieve a stun, which remains the same for most enemies”. YouTuber ThiccFilA shows that it remains 4-6 shots in order to stun.
Because of this nerf, there’s again the consensus that stunning enemies is pointless so players should always just kill. In the replies, there are lot of people pointing out that, in four-man squads, the Arc Thrower is no longer able to stun Hulks in on-shot, and others have commented that now “there’s just no good reason to use the Pacifier nor Pummeler since it’s just better to kill things outright”.
For more Helldivers 2, check out our guide to the best warbonds ranked, along with the best stratagems and best throwables. We have also a guide to the best weapons, and, if you’re coming back to HD2 for the first time in a long while, we have a bunch of tips and tricks to help you get reaccustomed to the battlefield.
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