Helldivers 2 patch stops a deadly situation where troopers would "randomly one-shot themselves" with explosive shrapnel

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The Eruptor is now safe to use

Helldivers 2 Polar Patriots Warbond helldivers standing in snow
(Image credit: Sony)

A new Helldivers 2 patch finally stops players killing themselves with shrapnel from the Eruptor.

Last month, Helldivers 2 players were being slaughtered by what they suspected were rebounding rockets from Automaton enemies. Developer Arrowhead explained that no, players weren't being killed by rebounding rockets, but rather explosive shrapnel, which was just introduced earlier that very same week via a brand new patch for the shooter.

Now, Arrowhead is taking out that feature entirely. In the new patch for Helldivers 2, which launched today on May 7, the developer writes in the patch notes for the Eruptor that it has "Increased explosion damage by 40 and removed shrapnel from the explosion," adding that "This is to avoid cases in which players would randomly one-shot themselves or their teammates in a huge radius around the explosion."

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The entire case has been laid to rest: Players never were being killed by their own rockets rebounding from Automaton shields, even though the bots were buffed to repel certain firearms. The real culprit was a feature that, apparently, wasn't really working as intended, and causing players and their squad mates to get outright killed immediately.

Although the 'Overview' section of the patch notes indicates that multiple weapons were tweaked in the update, it's seemingly only the Eruptor that's been changed whatsoever. The Helldivers 2 patch notes don't highlight any other altered weapons, so perhaps there are some changes going on behind the scenes that Arrowhead isn't sharing right now.

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Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.