Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
The latest Helldivers 2 01.000.300 update nerfed and buffed many weapons in the game, with some being much needed while others have been less popular with the community. There were also some gameplay changes made, and one of them hasn’t been a hit with players so far, especially solo players who choose to dive alone rather than with a team.
In the latest Helldivers 2 01.000.300 update, one of the changes made stated that,
“Patrol spawning has been increased when there are fewer than 4 players. The fewer the players the bigger the change. For 4-player missions, there will be no change compared to before. The biggest noticeable change will be for solo players at higher difficulties.”
This change hasn’t gone over well with other players, as it seems like Arrowhead Game Studios is punishing players that don’t play in the way the developers intended, which is a four-player co-op. With the amount of patrols increasing with fewer players in the missions, this means that the game will become more difficult and more time will have to be spent fighting random patrols than fighting enemies at objectives. Another thing to note is that the more enemies that are left on the map the harder extraction is as more enemies will appear during the countdown.
Players have taken to the Helldivers 2 sub-Reddit to express their disappointment with this change. U/tuan3451 questioned why this change has been made saying,
“Why punish players who prefer to play alone or with some friends? I understand this is a co-op game, and you want everyone to play together. However, there are several ways to encourage players to play with additional people rather than FORCING them to do so or face a penalty. I hope you reconsider this because Helldiver 2’s success relies on player enjoyment; if you force anyone, they’ll just quit.”
This is a good point, if the missions become less fun playing solo, some players will likely just quit the game rather than have less fun. Other players replied to the post, with U/Main-Glove-1497 saying, “I had to read that specific part of the patch notes 4 times to even comprehend wtf they were saying.”
Some players don’t see this change as being a bad thing, with it now providing less time without engagements which will keep the pace of the missions more in line with what you expect from a four-player mission, with U/Thomas_JCG noting that,
“It increases patrols in lower difficulties, where the small amount of outposts severely limits the number of engagements a player can experience. The main goal of that patch is to keep low-level players on their toes and prepare for high-level missions, which already have a high number of patrols by default, and periods without engagement are pretty low.”
Only time will tell as to whether this is a knee-jerk reaction by the community or whether it is a valid criticism and this change should be reverted. But, with a higher number of engagements to deal with, you’re going to need to be suitably equipped to take on more Automatons and Terminids. We highly recommend checking out our Helldivers 2 best weapons guide and best armor guide.
