u/DeeJayDelicious

As a veteran Helldiver, I always knew that explosions were powerful. Talk about the "explosive meta" was common back in the day, although I always assumed it referred to weapons like the Eruptor and Crossbow.

I knew explosion had compunding effects that made them more effective than their actual damage suggests. But it wasn't until the recent patch that I really understood (although I still not 100% confident about the maths) just how busted explosion damage calculations are on most enemies.

For those who don't know, explosions, assuming they are large enough, deal damage to the main health pool of an enemy for every body part they hit. Yes, even the ones with 100% ExDR (counterintuitively).

If the limb does have less than 100% ExDR, the damage is reduced accordingly, and then again multiplied by the "damage transfer to main health" (not 100% confident on that though).

What it essentially boils down to:

1. If an enemy has limbs with 100% ExDR or 100% transfer to main, explosive damage is essentially multiplied for for every limb hit.

That's how a simple Grenade Launcher with 400 damage can take out a Crusher with 4 shot. Because each GL shot is actually dealing >1600 damage to the main health pool.

It's no wonder explosive weapons feel so random at times. Because their damage is.

Who came up with a system in which the number of limbs amplifies the damage taken by an enemy?

What a busted system that is impossible to balance.

Hi, ich werde bald zum Gammelfleisch (Ü40) und frage mich welche medizinischen Untersuchungen und Maßnahmen damit anstehen?

Muss ich auf etwas bestimmtes achten?

Gibt es irgendwelche Vorsorgeuntersuchungen an die ich denken muss?

Wann und was ist ggf. sinnvoll?

Irgendwelche Tipps oder Empfehlungen?

I am wondering if there is a correlation bewteen the the two. I.e. chewing finger nails and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

I got this from another discussion and figured it's worth it's own discussion:

But essentially, my case is that Heavy armor in Helldivers 2 is overly punishing. I.e. the trade-offs aren't favorable.

Here's my case:

Going from Light armor (50 armor) to Heavy armor (150 armor) reduces incoming damage by roughly half (125% down to 75%). Effective health is increased by over 2/3 (albeit not doubled as we might assume).

So, depending on the metric, going from Light armor to Heavy armor almost doubles our survivability.

Yet, main cost we pay is in speed. This comes in two forms:

• Light armor can sprint at almost 6 m/s for just about 30 seconds on a full stamina bar.
• Medium armor can sprint at roughly 5 m/s for roughly 24 seconds on a full stamina bar.
• Heavy armor can sprint at roughly 4,5 m/s for barely 16 seconds on a full stamina bar.

So, we run about 25% slower than Light armor AND for just over half the time. These effects compound with each other, allowing Heavy armor to cover less than half the distance of light armor when sprinting.

We trade ~50% less damage taken for 60% loss in sprint distance.

I know the numbers can be twisted to argue either way. But at the end of the day, Heavy armor feels bad to play.

For those of you complaining about spawn rates and the lack of challenge, try partaking in the current strategic opportunity.

It might be what you're looking for.

Just prepare to spend half of you play-time kiting half a dozen Spore Titans across the map because they always know where you are and will chase you relentlessly.

You'll also be dealing with 2/3 bug breaches.....so yeah.

What are your thoughts on this?

Logic-wise, it doesn't make sense to summon a soldier, only to extract. On the other hand, it does add to player cohesion, ensuring that players can play together until then end.

Then again, it also makes extraction a lot less exciting knowing you can always reinforce (assuming sufficient reinforcements).

Some of the most exciting moments in the game came from games where the reinforcements were exhausted and a player made a clutch move to extraction.

Making such a change would create more of them.

Technically, there are two versions:

1. No more reinforcements once extraction is called.

2. No more reinforcements once Pelican 1 has landed.

Which would lead to a more engaging game?

Hi all, I know the Eruptor has historically been one of the most popular primaries in Helldivers 2. Especially for the first year, until it was displaced by the Coyote.

Now while I think the Coyote's case is pretty cut and dry, just by looking at the stats, the Eruptor is a much more unique weapon.

On the upside:

• It deals, by far, the most damage per shot of any primary weapon, against AV3 or less targets.
• It has no drag
• It has a good ammo economy
• It has large AoE damage
• It can close spawners

On the downside:

• Much of the damage is lost in most practical situations
• It's slow to fire and reload
• It requires an additional 0.5 seconds of aim for it to be reliably accurate.
• The round travels slowly (180m/s).
• It can easily hurt allies and kill the wielder

Today's achievement inspired me to use it again after a long time. And I must say, I am torn on wether it's really OP or not. It handles some enemies, like Fleshmobs, exceptionally well. At the same time, it handles like a slow-firing Grenade Launcher with unpredictable damage in most practical situations. The downsides are also real, albeit not massive.

What are your thoughts on the Eruptor?

If it's OP, what specifically?

The 30 shrapnel / shot or the large AoE?

Hi guys and gal,

I was looking to compile a list of weapons that have illogical and/or incosistent drag values attachet to them that either don't make sense or don't fit with the established rules.

And I swear both the Commando and the Spear had 30% drag before. Commisar Kai's recent video about the Spear even references it. And yet now the Wiki says they have no drag after all.

Isn't the wiki fed by data-mined values?

I understand no reward system is perfect. And HD2 doesn't need to be.

But this is dumb.

Walking in circles on a planet on D1 for about 10 minutes, killing no enemies myself vs. participating in the campaign over at least 5 Operations on D10.

I was thinking what small change would have the most noticable impact on the meta.

And I believe that reducing the AP of both the Quasar and RR would have some of the most beneficial effects:

Here's my reasoning:

• Both weapons are the default choice for dedicated Anti-Tank.
• They can hurt and kill all AV5 enemies. Mostly in a single shot.
• You carry both around with you. So they're always available*.
• The Quasar frees up the backpack, but can only be fired every ~20 seconds or so.
• The RR demands a backpack, but the manual reloads are faster. It also deals (a lot) more damage.

In contrast, the EAT, Spear and Commando are much more limited with no real advantages over the Quasar and RR in practical settings. Yes, I know they have their fans. But there are very few niche scenarios where taking an EAT over a Quasar makes a lot of sense.

If both weapons were AP5, they'd lose the ability to one-tap Fabricators from a distance. A huge convenience in the current meta, that does contribute to the game being quite easy.

They'd still be able to take on most common Heavies unchanged, as they're all AV4.

But against AV5 enemies (Factory Striders, Tanks etc.) they'd need to aim for weak-spots if they want to deal full damage.

It would also give the other AT options, namingly EATs, Commando and Spear more room to shine, since they'd retain their AP6/AP7 qualities.

PS: The damage / shot of the RR would still need a nerf for it to make sense (to something like 2500 AP5).

Here's a thought: Would the game be better without weapon customization?

The main arguments I put forward are the following:

Business argument: Arrowhead makes most of its ongoing money from selling warbonds. And one of the main appeal of warbonds are new weapons. Most of which are variations on existing weapons. Like the Hyena being a DCS with incendiary ammo or the Gallant being a Knight with AP3 ammo.

Extensive weapon customization (especially if it included the much-requested ammo) just undermines the potential of new weapons. If I can get the same outcome by changing the ammo type on an existing weapon, why would I buy a new one? In a way, weapon customization hurts AH's business model.

Powercreep argument: Most primaries are designed with distinct strengths and weaknesses in mind. Weaknesses might include slow reloads, small clips, high-recoil, low-ergonomics etc. However, thanks to weapon customization, we can simply bypass a lot of these intended weaknesses. Is Ergo too low? Just add a few attachments. Is the recoil too high? Just compensate it with a grip. Small clips? Just add a drum mag. Over time, customization allows us to bypass and effectively ignore most weapon's weaknesses. Which indirectly leads to power creep. Yes, technically you can argume players are still making trade-offs when chosing their attachments. But in practice, the choices are mostly very straight-forward.

Let me preface this that I don't think Helldivers 2 is built (or would be much fun) as a hardcore, sweaty shooter with people coordinating (non-exitant) support skill on voice-com.

In it's lore and DNA, it is fundamentally a casual, co-op horde shooter with (at best) superficial team-support skills and synergies.

That said, while most of the dicussions around difficulty evolve around either:

• Spawn-rates being too low (especially on vanilla factions) or
• Weapons/Stratagems being too powerful

I think a more fundamental issue is how hard it is to fail in HD2. The rate at which missions actually fail, is probably 5%, even on D10. Things have to seriously go wrong for that to happen.

And I believe that is a more fundamental issue than any individual balance discussion or spawn-dynamic.

Specifically:

• A reasonably smooth large D10 mission will take ~25 minutes (incl. extraction) to complete. That's 60% of the total mission timer. Meaning we have massive amounts of slack built-in.

• Ammo and supplies are limited. But there is so much spare ammo and supplies spread throughout most maps, it's practially difficult to run dry. It does happen, but rarely for more than 60 seconds.

• You still win, even if you "fail". I.e. we only need to complete the main objective. Extraction is optional, side-objectives are optinal. And while this supports the narrative and lore (us being expendable), it further adds to the lacking failure state. That said, I do believe this is a big part of the casual appeal of HD2.

• 20 Reinforcements is a lot. Even on large missions. But especially on smaller ones like Blitz missions (let alone EHVT or Exterminate). Someone could die every ~30 seconds and we'd still come out on top.

My point is, no amount of spawn-rate increase or nerf/buff will change the fact that HD2, by design, is just very forgiving.

And until AH addresses that, we won't see any fundamental changes to the overall "challenge" of the game.

The Speargun is arguably my favorite Support weapon in the game.

It offers so much utility and venues for skill expression:

• You can close spawners, occasionally even shooting through enemies (useful when the bug hole is spawning Hiveguards).

• You can use the small Gas explosion to CC enemies for a few seconds.

• You can Stagger enemies to cancel their attacks or lock them in place for an Airstrike to hit.

• It has enough Demolition Force to destory certain side-objectives.

It really is arguably the most versatile support weapon in the game.

The only thing it sucks at, is actually killing (heavy) enemies.

Sure, it can take an Alpha Commanders head right off. But then again, so can most support weapons. It can also kill a Hulk with a single shot to the eye. But again, so can most support weapons.

But anything heavier or without explicit weak-spots becomes a real drag.

• Bile Titans take >5 shots to the head.
• Charger Behemoths ~ 6 (5 if Gas damage contributes).

That's a lot for a support weapon with such limited ammo supply. In both cases you're blowing through 50% of your ammo to kill very common heavies. Even war Strider hip joints take 4 shots to destroy and aren't exactly easy to hit.

And to an extent, that's fine. Not all weapons need to be equally good at all things. But I think, when it comes to killing power, the Speargun is too limited, even accounting for all its utility.

Now what are the core issues:

The most obvious comparison is the Railgun, a weapon with almost twice the ammo capacity, a faster RoF and at least the potential to deal ~ 1500 damage / shot. All firing a quasi instant projectile with minimal drag.

Looking at the Speargun's stats, these numbers stand out:

• Relatively low durable damage: With only roughly ~40% of it's regular damage translated to durable damage, that puts it at the lower end of durable damage typcially assiged to support weapons. While it's similar to the Railgun, it compare poorly to more explosive weapons like the Autocannon (roughly 66% durable damage) or even AMR (50% durable damage).

• Low rate of fire: While the stats look fairly close to similar weapons, they always ignore the much lower rate of fire and much more limited ammo capacity of the Speargun. So even if 275 durable damage / shot looks "fine". Once you translate it to DPS, it's awful.

• Massive drag: Afaik, the Speargun has the most drag of all weapons in Helldivers 2, at 400%. While I don't know the exact maths behind drag, it should translate to roughly 90% damage loss at 50m! (100% drag = 90% damage loss at 200m). Which is pretty rediculous, meaning the Speargun doesn't really deal damage at even moderate combat distances.

My personal wish list to mitigate these issues are quite simple:

• Increase the durable damage ratio: As mention, I don't think the ~40% ratio is justified, as that ratio is usually limited to projectile-based support weapons. The Speargun, imo, belongs more into the ~50-60% durable damage ratio, alongside the AMRs and slightly more "explosive" weapons like the Autocannon. Even just 350 durable damage would be enough to reduce the headshot requirements listed above by 1. Personally though, I'd argue for ~400 durable damage / shot.

• The low rate of fire feels justified, considering the broad range of utility the weapons offers. It will never win a DPS contest. But with a damage increase, at least firing the shots will feel more impactful.

• Regarding drag: I really don't see any justification for such a high drag ratio. While the maths is opague, any reduction here would go a long way towards improving the weapons viability. I understand the need for elevated drag, as it is firing a large projectile not designed for long-range combat. But even 200% drag would achieve that without butchering the weapon.

Anyway, that's all I have to say: Buff the Speargun!

For me, stratagem jammers are one of the most engaging ways to spike the difficulty of a mission in Helldivers 2. Assaulting them is always one of the highlights of a mission, because it can be completely random or a complete suckfest.

But it's (mostly) fair and offers a few different approaches.

1. You can usually spot the Jammer from a distance. So you know when you're assaulting it and what the impact will be.

2. It requires a little bit of forward thinking, like calling in supplies before you assault or having your eagles rearm.

3. Dying during the assault on the Stratagem Jammer is actually meaningful because you can't be immediately resummoned.

4. If the Jammer is well defended, deactivating it can be really exciting and moments heroes are made.

5. Despite that, the Jammer still interacts consistently with Hellbomb Backpacks and SEAF artillery, allowing you to bypass most of the hassle. This elevates these otherwise more niche stratagems.

6. It (can) reward stealthy game-play or abusing distractions to get to the Terminal.

TL;DR: The jammer does a lot right and I wish we had more such sideobjective in the game. Especially on other factions, The Detector Tower has some similar qualities, but can be so easily tapped with popular stratagems that it's rarely as exciting.

Some ideas might be:

Illuminate: A giant shield generator that covers a large part of the map, preventing Orbital attacks (but not Eagles). Find it, hack it and destroy it.

Terminid: Once you get close, you have ~60 seconds to find a hidden Dragonraoch Egg and prevent it from hatching. If not, it does (and you subsequently have to fight it).