As Helldivers 2 gets the first of "a never-ending series of balance changes," devs say they know "having your favorite toy nerfed absolutely sucks"

Helldivers 2
(Image credit: Sony)

With 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Helldivers 2's first balance patch upon us with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询ﷺ:nerfs for some of the democracy 'em ups best gear, the deve🔥lopers behind it all have taken a moment to talk weapon philosophy.&nbﷺsp;

Designer Alex K explains on the game's dedicated Discord that this patch is "the first round in a never-ending series of balance changes" and that the team wants to be transparent regarding their approach to game balance, "especially when it 🎐comes to weapons and stratagems that you have strong opinions about."

"Our goal is to give you a wiওde range of weapon choices, where each gun has its purpose and none is strictly better than another," they say. "Sure, you will have your own favorite, but it should co💛me from your personal preference, not from the universally agreed knowledge of which gun is the strongest. 

"Generally, we bala♎nce each item according to its quirks, so if a weapon is very effective at what it does, it should come with significant disadvantages to balance its power."

The developer points to the AC-8 Autocannon as a good example of the team's philosophy working as intended – the gun packs a powerful punch and works well at range but requires friendly assistance or an ammo backpack to balance it out. What the team doesn't want, though, are weapons that become a "no-brainer choice" during the selection phase as they're both power♈ful and versatile. 

"It robs you of your own agency, as stale 'meta' builds force you to make aꦑn unfair choice between a fun weapon and an effective one," they say.🎉 "In short: Powerful weapons can't be too versatile, versatile weapons can't be too powerful."

With all that in mind, the team considered the player data and found the SG-225 Breaker, RS-422 Railgun, and SH-32 Shield Generator Backpack to be the "biggest offenders of that principle." As such, they've each been tweaked to ensure that selecting one is a considered choice, one where you look at the downsides and say that using the weapon is still worth it as it compliments your g🍷ameplay approach. 

"On a more personal note, I know that having your favorite toy nerfed absolutely sucks," Alex K says. "Investing countless hours into mastering a weapon is an incredible dedication from you. which is the main reas𝓡on we're making this game in the first place. And then having that weapon weakened feels like a punishment for being too good at the game.

"But I implore you not to compare a changed item with its older versio♏ꦰn, but to evaluate the existing one as it is and see if it still has a place in your heart."

When you consider that the Helldivers 2 director has also shut down rumors that the studio has been acquired by Sony, it's been a busy day.

Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG ꧟of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.