Helldivers 2’s Escalation of Freedom update is finally here bringing new features and improvements.
Helldivers 2’s Escalation of Freedom update is finally here, bringing new features and improvements.
Escalation of Freedom, or Version 1.001.002, is the biggest update yet for the popular multiplayer shooter and brings with it a ton of new content. Some of the main highlights of the patch notes include a brand new difficulty Level 10 called Super Helldive, which Arrowhead Game Studios describes as “a new, extreme difficulty level designed for the most experienced and skilled Helldivers, featuring formidable new enemies and intense challenges.”
With the Super Helldive level, new Terminid strongholds and Automaton fortresses will be available that will offer bigger challenges for better rewards. The update also introduces two new, secondary mission objects that will have players assaulting Automaton human processing plants to destroy their evil Bio-Processor, as well as venturing into Terminid territory to extract a living larva sample.
Alongside the return of The Impaler, new enemies have joined the fight, including the Rocket Tank, fitted with heavy armor and “devastating firepower”, the Reinforced Scout Strider, which now boasts two rockets on each side for greater firepower, and the Spore Charger that will attack through acidic fog, accompanied by an Alpha Commander.
Helldivers can also get ready to deploy to a brand new swamp planet and also encounter new environmental hazards, namely Acid Storms.
The latest update also comes with plenty of quality-of-life improvements in the form of balance fixes for numerous weapons, as well as some gameplay tweaks. For instance, the operation modifier Atmospheric Interference has now been removed, corrosive acid planets no longer have the ‘Intense Heat’ environment modifier, and Gunship Engines are now less durable.
You can check out the full list of changes and bug fixes in the patch notes below.
Helldivers 2: Escalation of Freedom – Version 1.001.002 – patch notes:
Major Updates
Difficulty Level 10: Super Helldive – A new, extreme difficulty level designed for the most experienced and skilled Helldivers, featuring formidable new enemies and intense challenges.
New mission objectives – Two new, faction specific secondary objectives
Bigger enemy outposts
New Bugs and Bots
New swamp planet
New environmental hazards: Acid Storms – Temporarily lowers armor for enemies and the player. Make use of this but stay on high alert Helldivers.
Balancing
SG-8S Slugger
Increased stagger force
Increased spread
Increased drag
SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary
Decreased number of magazines from 6 to 4
Increased recoil from 28 to 41
GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Decreased ammo capacity from 8 to 6
Increased the number of rounds replenished from an ammo box from 2 to 4
CB-9 Exploding Crossbow
Is now one-handed
AX/AR-23 Guard Dog
Increased number of magazines from 6 to 8
Orbital Walking Barrage
Increased number of salvos 3 to 5
Decreased movement speed by 40%
Orbital 120mm HE Barrage
Decreased cooldown from 240s to 180s
Reduced time between salvoes
Gameplay
The operation modifier Atmospheric Interference has been removed,
Additionally for the automatons we added the modifier “Poor Intel” which makes objectives on the map to get a search radius just like most Eliminate objectives already has.
Corrosive acid planets no longer have the Intense Heat environment modifier.
Gunship Patrols are now less frequent and the amount of ships are reduced.
Gunship Engines are less durable now.
Improved armory weapon preview controls.
Updated orders UI.
Energy shields such as the Shield Generator Pack and Shield Generator Relay now block snowstorms as well as sandstorms.
A new grief protection system has been added that allows kicked players to continue in their own mission. This allows players to complete the mission and get full rewards despite being kicked.
Fixes
Crash Fixes
Decreased the chance of crashing when pressing alt+tab while using exclusive fullscreen window mode. (Windows)
Fixed rare crash which could occur while browsing Warbonds.
Fixed rare crash which could occur when switching tabs in the loadout.
