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The cycles of buffs and nerfs in a game will often tilt players’ perceptions one way or the other. From the game becoming too hard after a series of nerfs, to too easy after buffs. It just goes to show that game balancing is a tricky act. Helldivers 2 is no stranger to this concept, with the latest patch providing players with even more buffs to their weapons arsenal. Yet despite that, some players feel like it was too much.
“The game is too easy now”
Every game will have a hardcore audience that blazes through content faster than most other players. It’s been a reality of gaming for decades and it’s not going anywhere. For such players in HD2, difficulties 9 and 10 are a breeze and got even easier after patch 01.001.104 dropped.
For instance, Sammy_Wammy491 on Reddit had an easy time on higher difficulties: “So after my gaming experience last night, I’ve kind of lost a lot of interest in the game. I quickplayed into a few D10 matches last night while pretty drunk and the entire time I felt like I was able to goof off and still carry my weight. I used to feel a sense of urgency and danger when I played that would make me lock-in, but that’s gone – and with it went my enjoyment of the game.[..]” The OP continues to explain their weapons choices as well as understanding that the community would be against walking back the recent buffs.
However, the post was met with criticism from all sides, with players completely disagreeing with this take. On the other hand, Gpheonix started their own thread to address the issue, stating: “I really don’t see where people are coming from with this whole discussion about the game being easy. I just did a bunch of ops and it’s not that the game is easier, there’s just literally [fewer] enemies now. Heavy nests will often have barely more than a dozen bugs. Mega nests will barely have more than heavy nests. I mean for crying out loud, the same medium nests in that mission will have more bugs than heavy nests. Extractions are more often than not completely quiet. I barely see patrols anywhere. The high-value target missions will only spawn a single round of breaches after each missile shot with maybe at most 50 bugs at a time. The eradication missions have the same problem as there will be like a solid half minute before another round of enemies spawn. It’s not easier, it’s broken. I don’t want it to be more challenging. I don’t care about difficulty 11 or 12. I just want there to be at least something to shoot at, but right now the game literally feels more like a walking simulator.”
This shows a completely different perspective of the game’s difficulty. Now, it’s quite possible that this is a bug affecting spawn rates. We haven’t encountered it during our missions, so it might be difficulty-dependant, or just plain random. But it’s something to think about. RV_2 points out that their main problem is that the big enemies die too quickly now: “My big thing isn’t really the individual difficulties themselves, but a lot of the big units themselves are just too easy now. I love being able to nail weak spots with the RR or whatever weapon, but I’m not a fan that you can chuck just about anything once or twice at anything and it dies. I want individual units to be more reliant on using the weak points and damage mechanics rather than the currently very easy spam whatever it is now. I can’t even remember the last time I felt the need to flank a tank.”
Enemy rework or even harder difficulties?
This is something we can agree with and are looking forward to Arrowhead addressing enemy mechanics, as they promised in the commentary that accompanied the patch notes. Apparently, the team is working on redesigning some enemies and the way they operate, with plans to make them “more difficult, but still fun to play against”.
Qwertyryo posted a nuanced thread that explains the disconnect between experience and difficulty, providing a few suggestions along the way: “ I don’t think it’s any question right now that the game is made significantly easier than it was before the 60-day roadmap. And a good deal of weapons and stratagems are made more viable, increasing loadout diversity to a better game state overall. The problem is, a coordinated squad of 4 Helldivers could already easily clear a Super Helldive before the buffs. Even in randoms, it’s easy to get a >90% win rate in Super Helldive, and the highest skill level of players could trivially solo Super Helldive on bots or bugs. If someone struggles to beat the higher difficulties, they have the option of going down to a lower difficulty and training, or go to one of many unofficial clans and get carried by stronger players.[…]”
The main issue here is, once again, game balance. If you’re a “casual” player, in some dives you’ll get carried, and at other times you’ll get hammered – all in the same difficulty. And let’s face it, most players are those same casual players who don’t engage in online discussion. Is it wrong that the game feels a bit better for them? Of course, the hardcore players are the ones expected to stay with the game through thick and thin, but they can be just as volatile – choosing to stop playing if they feel the game is too easy. So what’s the play here?
The OP addresses this after a fashion: “Originally, AH fixed this issue in the Escalation of Freedom update by adding a new difficulty for the hardcore players – Super Helldive – and adding deadlier enemies like the Barrage tank or Impaler. After the boycotting, the abuse and the death threats they got from the lower-skill level players who flocked to D10 and promptly died, I’m not so sure they’re willing to do that anymore. If you were Arrowhead, how would you address this issue for the hardcore players? I personally think new difficulties need to be locked behind harder “tests” than just “clear an operation of the previous difficulty”, especially since they can get carried easily through it. […]”
More diverse mission types for high-end players could certainly be the answer here. However, it’s up to Arrowhead to introduce this new concept, which again has to be developed and go through testing, so it won’t be a quick fix. The answer is murky and we feel that it lies somewhere in the middle. What is your take? Does the game feel too easy now or is it just right?