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https://store.steampowered.com/news/?emclan=103582791473678397&emgid=4339866697736692015
Fellow Helldivers,
I want to directly address the feedback you've raised about the Escalation of Freedom update. We’ve spent the last week listening to feedback, reflecting about the path ahead for Helldivers 2 and how we want to continue developing the game. In short, we didn’t hit our target with the latest update. Some things we just didn’t get right - and other more fundamental inconsistencies in our approach to game balance and game direction.
All of that is on us and we are going to own that. As many of you have pointed out, and we agree, what matters most now is action. Not talk.
To that end, here's what we intend to do in the upcoming updates.
Our aim within the next 60 days: Continue to re-examine our approach to balance. Our intention is that balance should be fun, not “balanced” for the sake of balance. Update how the fire damage mechanic works to tweak how the flamethrower serves as a close range support weapon. (A quick straight revert won’t work, as it would break other things) Rework gameplay to prevent excessive ragdolling Re-think our design approach to primary weapons and create a plan for making combat more engaging Re-prioritize bug fixes so that the more immediate gameplay-impacting bugs are prioritized. Improve game performance (frame rate is a focus) Rework Chargers
Additionally, from a bigger picture perspective we will be: Exploring creation of an opt-in beta-test environment to improve our testing processes and we consider this a high-priority. Post regular player surveys to gather more insights and feedback from the community. Improve our process for patch/release notes - providing more context and reasoning behind changes. More blog posts and streams where we expand on these topics for those interested. We also want to thank you for your patience. We're grateful that so many of you provided constructive feedback and suggestions on the latest update.
Mikael E Game Director & Arrowhead Game Studios
So much outrage over what could be a simple fix(es).
The flame thrower is a support short range weapon with limited scope. Giving it heavy armor penetration wouldn't change much about how and when it's used. It would allow the new primary and secondary to still be balanced with the others in their class, and keep the flamethrower support as a fan favorite.
The nerfing of the incindiary breaker was short sighted at best. I personally was ok with it until I learned they only did it because it was a popular weapon. Look at fucking why it's popular especially against bugs. Wide and medium range burn damage that is excellent at shooting into a grouping, bug hole, patrol, and chase line of little guys and decimating the group with a few shots and little to no needed accuracy. They made a longer range but weaker flamethrower and didn't expect it to shine a head and shoulders above the rest of the primaries when it comes to tightly grouped pack opponents? Knee jerk nerfs without any kind of insight on why something is being used is something I'm familiar with thanks to warframe, but it still feels bad.
This has been my belief too. You can't just look at the numbers provided by metrics and make decisions based solely on those, you have to use your metrics to understand the underlying reasons for why those numbers are happening.
Frankly I'm shocked the breaker was ONLY 30% of bug games. It deals with basically everything under a charger very effectively, allowing you to go full anti tank loadout with little risk.
And since the recent changes it'll even kill chargers now. You can destroy their abdomen from behind with like half a mag. Pretty sure this is new as I know I've helplessly mag dumped into them before with no significant damage.
I'm positive the Breaker nerf was due to the Cookout being included in the war bond. They probably tested it and said "so... it's a worse version of the Breaker?" And then panic-nerfed the Breaker.
Nah, the cookout might not have the damage or pellets, but it has that stagger. I love the damned thing so much. Anything smaller than a charger almost turns around when I hit em and it's great.
The stagger is nice but I find the damage lacking. Killing hive guards and commanders feels like I'm shooting a flaming BB gun at them.
I just pop em and keep it moving. As long as I can interrupt their actions I don't really need them dead. But yes. It does NOT kill anything other than weenies without concerted effort.
On the extreme plus side, it stunlocks stalkers.