Helldivers 2 devs respond to controversial nerf and release “emergency hotfix”

It’s been a busy February for the Helldivers 2 community. In celebration of HD2’s one year anniversary, Arrowhead released update 01.002.101, and also delivered the Servants of Freedom Warbond. Then, on February 11^th, Arrowhead released another update full of more balance changes. In the wake of this new update, Arrowhead has responded to a controversial Helldivers 2 nerf, while also releasing an “emergency hotfix”.

Helldivers 2 devs respond to Ultimatum nerf

In update 01.002.103, Arrowhead delivered the following changes to the GP-31 Ultimatum in Helldivers 2:

• We have seen a lot of mixed player feedback for this weapon and how certain players feel it trivializes some of the harder content whilst others feel it plays just fine and is a great addition to the game. We have carefully opted for an approach where we’d like to reduce the ease of access to additional ammunition while maintaining the weapon’s core identity as a powerhouse. This means players will need to put in more effort and strategy to maximize its effectiveness at the cost of some armor and booster synergy for this specific weapon.
• We will continue to monitor these changes so please keep providing us more feedback!
• The GP-31 Ultimatum is no longer influenced by the Hellpod Optimization Booster or the Siege Ready armor passive

Since this update, there has been some controversy over the nerf. Most of the division online seems to stem from the fact that the secondary weapon was only just recently released as part of the Premium Servants of Freedom Warbond.

On Reddit, there is a feeling that the nerf is bizarre. One user pointed out that no one is going to be happy with the nerf as it doesn’t prevent the weapon from one-shotting a jammer for people who didn’t like the Ultimatum, meanwhile, people who liked the GP-31 are now frustrated with the ammo restrictions.

One user commented, “Removing Optimization, or Siege would be fine, but to take both away felt excessive”. Another comment says, “stupid nerf, should have kept the gun the way it was and change the damage resistance to side objectives”.

Through Discord, Arrowhead has briefly responded to some negative feedback. One user commented, “I understand guns are going to need to be balanced at the end of the day, but I hope y’all reverse the Hellpod Space Optimization nerf for the Ultimatium”. To this, community manager, Baskinator, said, “I saw mainly complaints about ultimatum being too OP so I think it’s a healthy change”.

Arrowhead CEO, Shams Jorjani, also responded to some negative feedback about the Ultimatum. A user said, “If you ask me, ultimatum nerf was necessary but poorly executed (should’ve just been changed to not be able to destroy objectives) and sets a bad precedent for the future. While the sickle nerf was entirely unnecessary”. To this, Jorjani replied, “balancing stuff in warbonds is tricky”.

The GP-31 appears to be the most controversial change from the update, so hopefully in the future Arrrowhead will implement a good middle ground.

HD2 emergency hotfix

Following the release of update 01.002.103 on February 11^th, a lot of players reported frequent crashes for Helldivers 2. It appears to have been for PC only, and, while the exact cause isn’t known, BVits said Arrowhead think it is “caused by something that happens during the process of upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11”.

Fortunately, Arrowhead has now released “emergency hotfix” update 01.002.104. This only has one patch note:

• Fixed a common crash which could occur when dropping into a mission.

For more Helldivers 2, a leak has uncovered a melee weapon seemingly from Warhammer 40K. Make sure to check out our guide to the best warbonds ranked, along with the best stratagems and best throwables. We also have 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.