Helldivers 2's first balance patch is coming, dev responds to meta-weary fans tired of "underperforming" guns and stratagems

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

To the dismay of bugs and bots everywhere, it sounds like the weakest weapons in Helldivers 2 are due for a buff in an upcoming balance patch.

As the Helldivers 2 meta settles around the likes of the railgun and 500kg bomb, community manager Baskinator of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead recently fielded requests for a balance patch that can inject some more variety into endgame arsenals.

Over on the game's official Discord, one user asked: "Hey, do you know when we will get a balance patch or if the team is working on it currently? Most weapons and many stratagems are very underperforming and need a big buff."

It's a fair question, and one that's being asked more and more as players unlock higher-level gear and take on higher-difficulty operations. As the screws tighten, for-funsies weapon picks can start to feel less viable. Several weapons have been called outright unusable, with the SG-225SP Breaker Spray & Pray deemed about as effective as hurling harsh language at the enemy.

Fortunately, Baskinator was quick to respond with good news: "We are working on that for an update, yes."

The scope and arrival time for this impending balance patch remains to be seen, but if I were a gambling man, I'd wager it'll be pretty sizable as Helldivers 2's first real swing at post-launch tuning. Arrowhead will have a lot more user data to work with, for one, providing a holistic picture of what players are using and why (read: the railgun, and as for why, because it rails). Players aren't exactly steamrolling the hardest missions even with top loadouts, so let's hope for a focus on big buffs to the weakest weapons and, at the absolute most, minor nerfs to the current best-performing options.

After several weeks of patches focusing on bugs and stability out of necessity, which have now gotten the game to a pretty good spot on a technical level, a new lease on life for overlooked but cool equipment would be welcome. In the meantime, here are our picks for Helldivers 2's best weapons.

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Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.