Helldivers 2 developer defends unpopular nerfs as players go wild

The Escalation of Freedom Update for Helldivers 2 weakened flames and the SG-225IE Breaker. The community did not take the changes lightly and Arrowhead Game Studios joined the discussion to address the feedback.

Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Shams Jorjani responded to player reactions to the latest Helldivers 2 patch in a series of X posts on Aug. 6. “Every new major update requires some playtime before we know in which direction we should fine-tune things. Appreciate the patience!” wrote Jorjani. There has been a lot of feedback from various player communities, and the developer promises tweaks and improvements in the future.

Jorjani also explained the reasoning behind the SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary nerfs on Discord: “The incidental breaker was at one point like 30% of all terminid sessions. Really a meta gun. Is that a problem? Yeah. Is it a big problem? I don’t know. We’ll discuss it.”

However, this is not exactly reassuring. Helldivers 2 Players on Reddit agreed that 30 percent isn’t high in a game with “such horrible primaries.” Others pointed out that the developer promised to change its approach to weapon balancing in May, but that such nerfs still happen.

The Escalation of Freedom update reduced the SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary’s magazine count and increased its recoil, making it less effective in high-difficulty missions. At the same time, the patch changed the flaming behavior, preventing it from penetrating enemy armor, including the Chargers’ legs.

The update brought many players back to Helldivers 2with concurrent peaks hovering just above 60,000, though it’s unclear how long this will last given the balance changes. The next Warbond, titled Freedom’s Flame, is set to release on August 8th and should do something to reignite the flames on the battlefield.