Helldivers 2 troopers in shambles after learning an unaddressed bug is likely halting them mid-sprint, not their controllers or keyboards giving out

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Your shift key is innocent

Helldivers 2 Viper Commandos
(Image credit: Sony)

Many Helldivers 2 troopers are only now realizing that their sprint is likely being impacted by someone using a stim - rather than their faulty keyboards or controllers.

The great Reddit post below chronicles the issue in full. A player using a Stim in Helldivers 2 will seemingly have their sprint temporarily interrupted, but the issue gets a lot worse when you realize all other nearby players are apparently interrupted as well - even though it's just the one player using the Stim.

Credit to /u/ebicat, who brought attention to the bug where stimming causes all allies to briefly slow as well. Examples in the gif: from r/Helldivers

There are some pretty cut-and-dry examples of ally sprints being interrupted for a brief second in the clips above. This might not sound like a huge deal, but it can potentially be life-changing when you've got a horde of Terminids on your tail, especially if they're Stalkers.

If you've never noticed yourself being impacted by this glitch, you're not alone - tons of other players are only now just realizing that they've been the victim of this error the entire time. The comments under the Reddit post above are awash with players relieved that it's not their controller or keyboard that's been giving out.

"Holy shit, I have been wondering about this; I regularly experience my sprint being interrupted, and I always thought I may have let go of the button for a split second. If this is actually what’s happening, that explains a lot," writes one player. "Woooooah, I actually believed for the longest time that my shift or W key was giving out..." adds another.

"I feel bad for my shift key, the past 250 hours of which I've randomly pressed slightly harder than I should so many times when I thought it wasn't registering," chimes in another saddened veteran player. That poor shift key - it didn't even do anything wrong.

It's a bit difficult to know if this is actually a glitch or bug because, at the time of writing, Arrowhead has yet to respond. The ever-present game director Johan Pilestedt hasn't weighed in on the supposed issue, but given this is a pretty popular talking point on the Helldivers 2 subreddit at the moment, hopefully, it won't be long until it's brought to Arrowhead's attention.

In a cruel switcheroo, Helldivers 2 sends players to "cleanse" bug babies right after we chose to save Super Earth children.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

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.