Helldivers 2 is currently recovering from its orbital bombardment due to negative reviews, with a new patch rolling out that aims to bring the game more into balance following its recent major balance update. Not all of the changes have been well-received, however, with one popular weapon causing a divide among players.
Helldivers 2 developers break silence on flame weapon balance!
The weapon in question is the R-36 Eruptor, a shotgun loaded with explosive rounds that used to spray a lot of shrapnel around, effectively killing any nearby bots or insects. The shrapnel mechanic was so strong that players were advised to shoot the ground around them rather than directly at enemies, as this would deal much more damage. However, a side effect of the shrapnel was that players would often find themselves in the blast radius and get killed in the process. Because it caused a lot of disruption in matches where players were spamming the Eruptor left and right, Arrowhead decided to remove the shrapnel altogether and buff its damage – a decision that some have said ruined the weapon.
Over the past day, several Reddit threads have appeared on the Helldivers subreddit arguing that Arrowhead should revert the changes made to the R-36 Eruptor. “Reddit killed one of the most fun weapons we’ve ever had in the game,” wrote one disgruntled player, blaming complaining players for pressuring Arrowhead to implement the change. They also argued that the extra damage isn’t enough to mitigate shard loss and “doesn’t keep the weapon at the same level” as before.
However, in another thread, a user posted messages exchanged between a player and Arrowhead developer Twinbeard, who claimed that the changes to the R-36 Eruptor are not working "as intended."
