'The guns weren't doing what it says on the box': Johan Pilestedt reflects on Helldivers 2 balance changes that disrupted the positive vibes

When I think about the first year of Helldivers 2, I think about the 150+ hours of fun I had closing bug holes and scrapping Automatons with friends, and how Arrowhead put the "live" back in live service by never telling us what was coming next. But if you stuck with Helldivers 2 throughout 2024, you'll also remember a rough patch: Arrowhead implemented a streak of controversial balancing changes that ruffled the feathers of the game's loudest fans.

There was the big Railgun nerf, the unfortunate flamethrower changes, and the rework of the overtuned Eruptor. Arrowhead wanted to maintain Helldivers 2's difficulty and encourage loadout variety by dialing back overpowered guns, but some argued that "don't nerf, only buff" was the way to go in a purely PvE game.

Calm feedback was eventually outpaced by frustration, review bombing, and outright toxicity toward Arrowhead developers for not tweaking the numbers the way some players would prefer. In a recent interview with PC Gamer before the surprise Omens of Tyranny update, chief creative officer Johan Pilestedt reflected on this turbulent chapter of Helldivers' debut year.

"One of the controversies when it comes to the balancing changes we did was that players felt like this doesn't make sense anymore," he said. "It feels like the guns aren't doing what it says on the box."

Arrowhead's response was a 60-day make-good plan that included multiple sweeping patches that buffed pretty much everything. By the end of the plan, damage numbers had shot through the roof, enemy armor had been reduced so that more weapons could reliably kill even the biggest threats, and "overpowered" became the new baseline for support weapons and stratagems.

Helldivers 2 was more fun once guns, cannons, and gargantuan airstrikes were as deadly as they always looked like they should be, but the rising power curve also made the game significantly easier by turning its biggest enemies into pushovers. Pilestedt said this trend doesn't concern him.

"We of course want to create a game where you are a Helldiver and have a destroyer in orbit that can call down awesome firepower," he said. "At that point, some of the more challenging enemies, yea, they're maybe not as challenging anymore, but at least they react appropriately to what it would be like to be hit by a 380-millimeter barrage.

"That's sort of what's at the heart of balancing for Helldivers. Of course, we know that there are a lot of players that want that challenge. The Illuminates are a step in that direction, and playing a high-difficulty Illuminate mission is going to be a tremendous challenge for even the most experienced players, I hope."

But the book is not closed on Helldivers 2's approach to balance or its relationship with difficulty.

"That's something that we're continuously looking at long term: How can we create different experiences within Helldivers for those that play more socially versus those that play for mastery and really want that skill factor."