Helldivers 2's substantial 2025 update, patch 01.002.101, is now live, introducing significant gameplay adjustments and bug fixes. This over 5GB patch boasts a range of improvements, fueling speculation about potential unannounced content additions.
Key changes include extended gas duration from spray weapons, the reinstatement of emoting during flight or ragdoll states, and numerous balance tweaks. One particularly noteworthy (and oddly worded) fix addresses a visual glitch with the Stalker's tongue.
Here's a breakdown of the patch notes:
Balancing:
- General: Increased spray weapon gas duration to 10 seconds from 6. Implemented a despawn timer for Illuminate dropship wreckage to improve navigation.
- Helldiver: Jogging while carrying two-handed items (barrels, SEAF Artillery Rounds) is now permitted.
- FRV: Grenade and stratagem deployment while leaning from the FRV is enabled. FRV handling, particularly cornering, has been refined.
- Sidearms: Starting magazines increased to 3 (from 2), spare magazines to 5 (from 4).
- Stratagem Support Weapons (TX-41 Sterilizer): Crosshair drift and camera climb recoil reduced. Gas duration increased to 10 seconds.
- Armor Passives (Siege Ready): A bug granting extra ammo to all weapons (not just primaries as intended) remains unfixed for now, pending further evaluation.
- Backpacks (AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog”): Reworked for improved effectiveness, focusing on gas-based mechanics. Ammo conservation implemented by prioritizing non-gassed enemies. Targeting logic refined to prevent excessive roaming; range increased to 20m. Gas duration increased to 10 seconds.
- Stratagems (MD-6, MD-I4, MD-17): Cooldowns reduced to 120 seconds (from 180). Damage significantly increased. Mine deployment spread widened to reduce chain explosions.
- SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack: Now blocks melee attacks until destroyed.
Fixes:
- Top Priority: Emoting during falls/ragdolls restored. Illuminate spawner ship shields now vulnerable to impact grenades. Collision gaps in Illuminate ships fixed. Health packs fully restore stims. High-damage weapons now detonate Hellbombs.
- Crash Fixes: Numerous crash fixes addressing various scenarios (mission abort, hot-joining, emote switching, fire, drop-in, reloading, armory changes, tutorial completion, extraction, projectile fire, objective carrying, language changes, SG-20 Halt reloading).
- Social/Matchmaking: Matchmaking improved for regional proximity. Difficulty lobby matching enhanced. Chat history preservation fixed.
- Weapons/Stratagems: Emplacement retention during chat fixed. Arc weapon accuracy against Impaler tentacles improved. E/AT-12 armor penetration tag corrected. Stratagem turret targeting of Tesla Towers fixed. Melee weapon physics adjusted. B-1 stim sharing restored.
- FRV: FRV durability increased. Camera improvements implemented. Rooftop drops reduced. Non-QWERTY keyboard support added. Enemy launch distance adjusted.
- Helldiver: Ragdolling into FRV fixed. Civilian car traversal improved. Ragdoll ground sliding reduced. Stuck prone animation fixed. Pickup animations restored.
- Enemies: Stalker tongue visual bug fixed. Enemy reaction to missed shots improved.
- Miscellaneous: Various audio, civilian blocking, purple question mark, floating head, armor penetration damage, and enemy sinking fixes.
Known Issues:
- Top Priority: Black box terminal clipping, DSSPathfinding, Evacuate Colonists mission pathfinding, Dolby Atmos on PS5.
- Medium Priority: Pelican-1 extraction issues, explosive ragdolls, cape display, "This is Democracy" emote, Guard Dog ammo indicator, Barrager Tank stats, LAS-5 scope zoom, charge-up weapon firing.
This update significantly enhances Helldivers 2's gameplay and stability, addressing many player concerns. However, several known issues remain to be addressed in future patches.
