Irrespective of which aspect you fought for within the chatroom wars over Arrowhead’s balancing decisions, I hope we are able to all agree on one factor: Helldivers 2 air strikes could be actually underwhelming. I am unable to inform you what number of instances I’ve referred to as in a stratagem with an intimidating-sounding title like “500kg Bomb,” “Orbital Airburst Strike,” or “Strolling Barrage” just for the following payload to overlook nearly each bug in its neighborhood, depart Terminid nests undisturbed, or fail to make a dent in a Charger that charged proper by way of the blast. I am glad to report that is lastly altering.
Since its first massive blowup with followers about nerfs, Arrowhead has been inconsistent with its mission to make the arsenal extra highly effective with out sacrificing problem. Final month’s Escalation of Freedom replace was a constructive step with a lot of buffs, however it additionally launched extra unpopular nerfs.
Arrowhead is steadily strolling again these adjustments by revealing “one buff a day” till its subsequent balancing patch releases September 17, however I would argue we’re already seeing what the way forward for Helldivers 2 steadiness appears to be like like with a stratagem deployed by Tremendous Earth Command at this time: the Orbital Napalm Barrage.
The phrase “indulgent” got here to thoughts as I watched the Napalm Barrage work its magic on a Terminid bug breach. Missiles set ablaze with freedom peppered a large space for 20 seconds, barbequing each bug that dared emerge from its gap lengthy earlier than it posed a risk to me or squadmates. The Napalm Barrage feels instantly extra highly effective than its non-fire cousin—the 380mm Barrage—and a whole lot of that comes right down to the hearth that is left behind. I threw a second Napalm Strike at a big Terminid nest and missed the mark by a strong ~15 meters, however although the preliminary barrage barely destroyed something, the aggroed bugs scurried towards the lingering hearth, burning up in seconds and turning my whiffed air strike right into a 25+ killstreak.
Helldivers 2 – Napalm Barrage”
Watching the Napalm Barrage do its soiled work, I noticed this was the primary time the visible splendor of a Helldivers 2 air strike truly matched up with its lethality. The hearth plumes are monumental, plentiful, and successfully delete any and all residing issues in its wake. I assume bigger enemies like Bile Titans and Chargers can survive the blast, however that is immediately the simplest device for clearing nests and halting bug breaches on the cross.
I am unable to take any credit score for unlocking this magnificence. Whereas I used to be away from helldiving, the neighborhood confirmed up in numbers to liberate planets Mastia and Tarsh for the most recent Main Order, unshackling the Napalm Barrage after gamers failed to complete a earlier kill objective. The Napalm Barrage is now accessible for anybody with 10,000 Req factors to spend. Belief me, it is well worth the scratch.
The uncooked energy of the Napalm Barrage will get me excited for the upcoming 500kg Bomb buff, which inventive director Johan Pilestedt particularly identified will now match the visible destruction of the explosion. That promise, plus the nice first impression of the brand new barrage counsel to me that orbital strikes will lastly be helpful sufficient that my buddies will not really feel obligated to convey an Orbital Laser on each single mission simply to take care of Bile Titans and Hulks. Whereas I nonetheless imagine the loudest, most-online gamers have gotten weirdly poisonous and entitled concerning the design course of Helldivers 2, Arrowhead is taking good notes.
Helldivers 2’s subsequent balancing patch releases tomorrow, September 17. The subsequent warbond, Chemical Brokers, comes a couple of days in a while September 19.
