An enormous Helldivers 2 patch is here, overhauling the Major Order experience, adding a new biome, buffing Exo Suits, and much more.
Helldivers 2 Machinery of Oppression 6.3.0 is out now, and it finally adds some of those long-awaited "core" improvements that Arrowhead teased back in May. Specifically, Galactic Campaigns are here – Arrowhead previously described these as "the next evolution of Major Orders," which will each last one to three weeks and make current progress and potential outcomes clearer than before.
To assist in that aim, loyal Helldivers have now been given access to the Control Center terminal, found opposite your armory in your Super Destroyer. "Now Helldivers will be able to get more context to the ongoing Campaigns and their subsequent Major Orders," Arrowhead explains in the patch notes. "Each Campaign will come with its own potential reward, should the Helldivers be victorious in a majority of the Major Orders within it. The terminal will also feature an archive (to be populated as the first campaign concludes) so that new and returning Helldivers can read up on the twists and turns of previous campaigns."
Beyond that, and the new Fall-themed forest biome, there's a lot of rebalancing to dig into. Vehicles have been given "more accurate Armor values," with the Bastion tank appropriately "tankier" with its heavy armor, Exo Suits now able to better withstand medium and heavy attacks thanks to a health increase, with a similar health boost to the FRV to increase its survivability and make it more resistant to heavy attacks. The Ballistic Shield should also now be able to handle medium attacks better than before, and feel like it can ignore small attacks."
In another buff for Exo Suits, the cooldown has been reduced from 10 minutes to eight in the hopes of allowing "more time with fun stratagems."
Otherwise, reloading has been tweaked to make it feel "more responsive." Arrowhead explains: "Part of this is allowing reloading while dodge diving, also remembering the reload state better so if you're ragdolled while reloading you will continue it when regaining control." Delayed reloads have been introduced as part of this: "If you try to trigger a reload while the player is not allowed to do so, the reload will be delayed until the player is able to reload with a maximum of 1.2s delay from when the reload input was pressed."
Meanwhile, Orbital stratagems have been adjusted, with larger projectile explosions like the 120mm and 380mm "increased to make close hits more effective vs larger enemies like Chargers." Arrowhead adds: "Compared to explosions like the Ultimatum these will have less damage at the center, but also less damage fall off so it will have a more consistent damage over its total area."
There are many, many more adjustments and bug fixes in the full patch notes, so many that we'd be here all day if we went through them here – I'd recommend reading the full blog if you're interested. What's nice to see, though, is Arrowhead's commitment to making Helldivers 2 a better experience.
"Helldivers, we are committed to making the necessary upgrades to keep you in the fight," the patch notes read. "Because you have never given up on Managed Democracy, we will never give up on making it easier for you to spread."
The next Helldivers 2 Legendary Warbond is Warhammer 40,000, which is kind of perfect.
