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After weeks of hype and high expectations, the reportedly biggest Helldivers 2 update so far dropped on August 6. As you are probably aware, the devs presented it as a literal game-changer. Unfortunately, when the day came, Helldivers 2 players were left wanting more as the Escalation of Freedom update was riddled with issues, both intentional and unintentional.
Escalation of Freedom Introduces New Nerfs to Popular Weapons
If you look at the patch notes, you’ll see that both the SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary and the FLAM-40 Flamethrower received massive nerfs. As expected, the players didn’t like these changes at all. The community thought they’d get some new content, a new level of difficulty, and hopefully some buffs.
The devs decided to go in another direction and nerf the most popular weapons in the game. This came as a surprise, as the former CEO, now CCO, acknowledged the game was becoming less fun. He even made some positive changes in the first month or so. The players had high hopes for his reign as the CCO, just to be let down by more nerfs.
One player, DeeaDok, explained what was frustrating them the most. This player noted: “Mistakes happen, you learn from them and move on. But for some reason, the same mistakes happen over and over again, it becomes systematic, symptomatic of something being very wrong at the core”.
Reasonable-Crew6883 pointed out that balancing is more than just nerfing the best weapons in the game. They stated: “Balance patch- if the game is supposed to be balanced then why haven’t they touched the LibPen/LibConcussiv/Purifier just to name a few? This one step forward two steps back is just pissing off the community now. AH get your s**t together”.
Another player, jokingjames2, expressed their shock over the balancing decisions. This Redditor said: “It is wild to me that they released their biggest single update for the game yet, and didn’t consider that maybe this is the one time they should maybe push out a patch without nerfs in it purely for optics alone. This was a huge opportunity to bring back old players who fell off and even draw in new players”.
Many Helldivers 2 Are on the Edge of Quitting as More Issues Emerge
Aside from the nerfs, many players reported getting a “Network Connectivity” error and being unable to even enter the game. This further frustrated the already annoyed players. Even though this issue seems to have been fixed in the meantime, for many players it was the last drop.
No one was expecting the Escalation of Freedom update to be without issues but for some Helldivers 2 players the combination of issues and nerfs was too much. Several players admitted they had uninstalled the game or were thinking of quitting.
Kiko890 noted: “I think I’m done with this game. The bugs and constant nerfs have made the game feel like a chore. I don’t understand how the devs can see how the player base has responded to the constant nerfs and decide that they need to do more of that”.
Several other players reported they had already uninstalled the game. Some returned from taking a break, only to immediately leave again. One player, illiterateboii, stated: “I just came back like last month to check it out again, and yeah… I’ve checked out again”. RedCell21 joked with the name of the update. They said: “Escalation of my interest in other games”.
Now, we would usually advise the players to give the game another opportunity and stick to it. That still stands, we all need time to adapt to changes, especially since there are some good ones in this update. On the other hand, if the game is too frustrating, and you aren’t enjoying it anymore, take a break, no one enjoys burnout. Come back in a couple of weeks when they fix the issues, we’re sure the community will welcome you with open hands.