Automatons beware: The next major Helldivers 2 patch will overhaul armor penetration later this month

Helldivers 2 Discord header image - four Helldivers celebrating side by side on a large rock — (Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

I love me some Helldivers 2, but I don't love me some automatons. From day one, it's been a bit of a bummer whenever the current Major Order wasn't targeting terminids, and there's a simple reason for that: It feels bad to shoot at a killer android without achieving anything. Because the automatons have so many armored enemies and the Helldivers have so few tools to reliably punch through them, the loadouts that feel worthwhile to bring along have gradually grown pretty slim. Luckily, Arrowhead's looking to change that later this month.

In a Steam news post published earlier today, Arrowhead detailed its plans for sweeping combat balance changes that are scheduled to go live on September 17, 2024. As part of its 60-day update plan, Arrowhead has kicked off "in-depth reviews and adjustment of various systems, from weapon balancing and enemy behavior to overall game mechanics." The first overhaul on the docket: armor penetration.

The September 17 patch will feature an "initial balancing pass" adjusting the armor penetration values of "over 30 weapons and stratagems" with the aim of ensuring Helldivers can bring more loadouts into the field without ending up frantically retreating from a charging wave of robots because their anti-armor stratagems are on cooldown. "Weapons such as the Autocannon, Heavy Machine Gun, and Anti-Material Rifle will be more effective, providing greater loadout versatility," Arrowhead said. Flamethrower weapon improvements are also in the works.

In addition to retuning weapons, Arrowhead is also adjusting the enemies that'll be on the receiving end. Enemy automaton armor values will be reduced across the board, meaning you won't need the heaviest possible firepower to handle Hulks. Rocket-launching enemies won't fire quite as many missiles, hopefully meaning I'll be able to spend more time fighting robots on my feet and less getting launched across the map. Armored bugs like chargers, impalers, and bile titans are also getting their armor values softened.

"We are fully committed to ensuring Helldivers 2 meet the high standards we all expect," Arrowhead said, noting throughout the news post that its changes are rooted directly in player feedback. "We see the steam reviews and we hear you loud and clear."

The patch also marks Helldivers 2's first foray into pre-patch beta tests. Over the last two weekends, Arrowhead's been conducting closed beta tests for the upcoming changes. From the sounds of it, the studio's hoping to broaden its playtests for following patches. "We're starting small to ensure everything runs smoothly before expanding," Arrowhead said. "They have been a testbed for the program and we intend to expand it in the future and invite a wider variety of testers to playtest our upcoming updates."

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.