The Hullcracker, a fan-favorite Arc Raiders weapon, got nerfed in the latest patch from Embark Studios. Players are already missing the gun so much that they've taken to mourning what once was, while discussing replacement strategies for its firepower.
An grenade launcher, the Hullcracker packs a serious punch in the right circumstances. That used to mean taking on a Bastion, the six-legged monstrosity, but now it's nowhere near as effective thanks to the explosive damage taking a dent in a recent Arc Raiders patch, forcing some ingenuity.
"I had to spend 20 mins trying to kill one Bastion to get nothing out of it," one player writes on Reddit. "It took so long that I had to kill one dude trying to rat me, go back and continue shooting it, only to get completely shredded in my back by ANOTHER guy who decided to wait until I killed and started to loot the Bastion."
They state that while there were always other ways to take out a Bastion, the Hullcracker has gone from "being a top option with risk to an almost non-viable option in solos." Others share in the disappointment.
"The change to explosive damage ruined the Hullcracker against enemies you actually want to use it against, really sad adjustment," another user adds. In a separate thread, a player questions the thought process since this was one of the gen guns that seemed specifically tuned for taking out Arcs instead of people.
"Couldn't use it against other players, was strong but still took accuracy and multiple shots to down any Arc other than a Wasp. No idea why they'd do this," writes a Redditor, who brings up a nerf to Venator that didn’t change that gun much at all. The Hullcracker seems to have been disproportionately toned down compared to how other weapons are changed.
Embark mentioned in the patch notes that the idea was to make it less effective in scenarios against Arcs. "We noticed that explosives dealt damage to more parts at once than intended, allowing weapons like the Hullcracker to kill larger drones too quickly," the post reads. "We've adjusted explosive damage to make it more consistent across the board, and we’ve re-balanced the damage of the Hullcracker to account for that change."
There's always a chance the Hullcracker's damage will be turned back up slightly. But in the meantime, find other ways of handling Arcs if you're playing on your own.
