All the biggest changes in the Galactic Emergency Helldivers 2 update patch notes

The latest Helldivers 2 update is a Galactic Emergency as the Illuminate have brought new forces to the fight and inch closer to Super Earth. However, the Helldivers are nothing if not prepared for such a large-scale invasion, with an entirely new weapon attachment system now deployed and improvements to many loadout weapons with a fresh list of patch notes.

The most notable Helldivers 2 changes in this patch are to the bullet spread, bullet drag, and weapon sway on close-range weapons, making them punchy and accurate up close but more unwieldy at longer ranges. Melee weapons now also tire out your Helldiver far less easily, letting you get stabby against the squids for longer. There’s also a whole host of smaller changes, including nerfs to Automaton gunships and bunker turrets, but I’ve covered the highlights of this Helldivers 2 update below, including what’s new and what the important patch notes are.

New Illuminate enemy types

The high-tech alien forces of the Illuminate made their debut in the Helldivers 2 Omens of Tyranny update but have now received some much-needed reinforcements in the form of new enemy units in this update:

• Fleshmob: A large and highly durable Voteless abomination that can charge and batter Helldivers.
• Interloper/Stingray: A fragile but powerful aircraft unit that performs devastating strafing runs before blasting off to line up for the next one.
• Crescent Overseer: A new type of Overseer enemy that fires volleys of energy bolts up into the air, raining down on Helldivers like a mortar weapon.

New weapon attachment system

Almost all primary weapons for your loadouts can now be fitted with Helldivers 2 weapon attachments, altering their stats and sights to better fit your playstyle. When you’re on any player’s carrier and access the armory to set your loadout, you can press L3 while looking at a primary weapon (Helldivers 2 Killzone crossover weapons are excluded from this system) to open its attachment menu.

However, you won’t have many attachments unlocked for any of your weapons as you must level them up first. Complete missions and you’ll be awarded XP for your primary weapon upon your return to a carrier, hopefully increasing its level and potentially unlocking new optics, camo patterns and more depending on the weapon.

Weapon and Stratagem patch notes

This Helldivers 2 update has brought some substantial improvements and changes to many of the game’s weapons, both for loadouts and Stratagems. Some of the best Helldivers 2 weapons have been affected too.

The changes are quite extensive, so you can read the full patch notes here, but I’ve listed the highlights below:

• Spread (the degree to which bullets deviate from your point of aim when fired) has been reduced for many weapons, make them a bit more accurate.
  • SMGs and pistols, such as the Defender, Pummeler, Reprimand, Pacemaker, Redeemer, and Verdict, have all received substantial spread reductions.
  • The Liberator Concussive, Tenderizer, Eruptor, and Railgun have also all had spread reductions.
• Many weapons have also received tweaks to their drag (this is essentially damage falloff from decreasing bullet velocity) and sway (the amount your gun moves while aiming, affected by your stance and movement among other things).
  • To compensate for the improved accuracy, most SMGs and pistols now have more sway and drag to make them less effective at longer ranges.
  • Conversely, precision weapons, such as the JAR-5 Dominator, Diligence Counter Sniper, and Eruptor have had their sway reduced, making them easier to aim with.
• All melee weapons now consume substantially less stamina when attacking.
• Shrapnel now flies out in all directions from shrapnel explosions but also has slightly worse armor penetration when hitting at certain angles.
  • This change affects the Eruptor, Autocannon, and Frag Grenade, though the latter two now also spawn five more shrapnel projectiles from their explosions.
• Burn damage from fire weapons now scales with an enemy’s maximum health. This means smaller enemies will take less damage while larger enemies take more damage, but they are also harder to ignite to get the burn damage started.
  • Helldivers also take longer to ignite but burn damage is unchanged and the Torcher and Flamethrower have had their fuel tank capacities increased by 25%.
• The Eruptor has improved ergonomics (ADS) and a faster fire rate, but a reload exploit has also been patched out. These changes are on top of improvements to its spread and sway.
• The Ultimatum grenade launcher sidearm now has a more powerful and slightly larger explosion but a far less powerful projectile. Its demolition strength has also been reduced so it can’t destroy larger structures and ships as easily.

Make sure you read up on the Helldivers 2 Illuminate now that they’re back in full force, and be sure to pack one of the best Helldivers 2 loadouts and the best Helldivers 2 Stratagems with you when dropping in.

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