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Helldivers 2 isn’t a game that holds your hand. Like Souls games, Arrowhead Game Studios’ latest release is designed to give you a hard time and you are at risk of failure and death for the entire mission. This makes it incredibly fun and a large part of why hundreds of thousands of Helldivers are jumping into the game at any one time to spread democracy to the galaxy. Unfortunately, not all of its mechanics bring the same level of excitement, with some, such as slow, just adding a level of frustration to the game.
U/Perfect_Track_3647 took to Reddit to discuss the slow debuff, which as the name suggests, slows your movement down and it can be an annoying hindrance, and many players also agree. The Reddit user called for the slow debuff to be removed saying,
“Hunters slow you, little green bastards slow you, big green bastards slow you, bushes slow you, mud slows you, tremors slow you no matter what you do, the stupid god damn blue plant slows you to a crawl. It feels like every little thing gives you a slow debuff and it’s AWFUL. The amount of times I’ve died because something hit me with a slow debuff and I had no way out is insane. You get punished for not paying attention, sure. But you also get punished for just existing. The best is when you get blindsided by a charger you can’t hear, who knocks you into a blue plant that slows you to basically a stand still, which then allows you to get absolutely mobbed by hunters who continue to apply slow to you.”
Other players agreed with U/Perfect_Track_3647, with u/Allegionaire saying “I feel like the worst part is getting slowed by bile bugs (of any kind) even though they clearly didn’t hit you. Absolutely infuriating to completely dodge an attack and still get struck with the debuff for some reason.”
U/BobR969 discussed how its effect can make the controls frustrating, something I have noticed and often wondered if it was my own mechanics that were causing it and not the game itself. “Usually, if you dive and end up prone, pressing sprint gets you back on your feet. Sorta like most games with a prone. Except if you’re slowed, sprint doesn’t work, so pressing the sprint button doesn’t make you stand up. It’s a tedious thing and doesn’t need to exist.”
u/alpacawrangler16 wrapped things up by saying “Wait, you don’t enjoy being slowed by the bug that just lept at you from 40 yards away that ALSO headshots you for 3/4 of your health and then kills you with its tongue follow up? I always thought that was a really fun and engaging mechanic from a well designed enemy.”
When it comes to status effects in Helldivers 2, slow has to be the most annoying behind fire damage. The game also features a tremor effect on some planets which also causes slowness, but this also affects enemies and at times it can be the saving grace needed to escape a situation or be able to regroup while your enemies are at a standstill.
It is unlikely that Arrowhead Game Studios will remove this mechanic, however, it should be nerfed as some enemies such as the Hunters can easily take you out by causing the slow effect so you’re unable to defend yourself. But for now, all we can do is equip ourselves as best as we can to fight the Automatons and Terminids. To do this, we highly recommend checking out our Helldivers 2 best weapons guide and best armor guide so you and your squad can have the best loadout possible.
