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  1. Games
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As the first big Helldivers 2 patch of Arrowhead's 60-day plan wins back divers, the shooter's creative director agrees that "nerfing is an unimaginative way of tweaking a game"

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By Iain Harris published 18 September 2024

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Two Helldivers pull a classic fart gag
(Image credit: Arrowhead)
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Helldivers 2's first grand onslaught of buffs to make the game fun again is here, forming just part of developer Arrowhead's 60-day plan to return to the third-person shooter to surer footing. Now that the dust on the warmly received Helldivers 2 patch is settling, creative director Johan Pilestedt agrees that, when it comes to damage, "nerfing is an unimaginative way of tweaking a game."

Following the patch's launch, Pilestedt has taken to Twitter to see what fans are making of the new state of the game. One fan says this should have come four months ago, to which Pilestedt agrees. That prompted another to humbly request that Arrowhead doesn't nerf the goodness they've just returned to the game.

"Agree," he replies. "Especially when it comes to damage; nerfing is an unimaginative way of tweaking a game."

Article continues below
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  • Cropped Helldivers 2 art from the official 'Save Cyberstan' poster. Helldivers 2 devs "underinvested" in the game's engine, Arrowhead CEO admits, who pledges "things can/will get better"
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While most people are delighted about the game's current state, some are seeking a greater challenge than their array of buffed weapons and weaker enemies. Arrowhead has mentioned a new difficulty a few times but has reiterated that it's on the way for those who feel this way.

"It's because it just didn't feel enjoyable or believable to hit a Charger with an RR and it brushing it off," Pilestedt says. "We are going to look at the challenge of the game for those high-tier players, it's in the pipe."

So far, so good for Helldivers 2's recovery efforts. Divers have been given a new major order to let those new weapons rip in while Arrowhead cooks up what's next, which isn't far away. In the patch notes revealed the other day, the developer revealed that we're getting another balance patch as part of the studio's 60-day plan. It would appear, then, that this is only the start.

By the way, the early hero of Helldivers 2's big September 17 update is the Thermite Grenade, which Arrowhead buffed from 100 to 2,000 democracy-delivering explosion damage.

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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.

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