Every major change to Escalation of Freedom in Helldivers 2 explained

Highlights

Helldivers 2’s live service approach has led to controversial updates, such as the recent nerfing of popular weapons, which sparked heated reactions from players.
Five new enemies in Escalation of Freedom increase the intensity of the game and make the fight even more challenging for players.
Despite controversial changes, future plans aim to incorporate player feedback and provide Helldivers 2 fans with exciting new content.

Helldivers 2 is one of the most discussed games of the year. Until its release, the third-person shooter remained under the radar of many players, but Helldivers 2 was a huge success upon its release. The game was praised by critics and players as a good example of how to handle live service titles, but it wasn’t all rosy.

Since Helldivers 2 follows a live service approach, the game has received a number of updates. These updates are intended to improve gameplay, but do not always go according to plan. Helldivers 2‘s latest update, Escalation of Freedom, went live on August 6th and has proven to be an update that divides players. Two popular weapons, the SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary and the FLAM-40 Flamethrower, have been significantly nerfed, causing some players to review bombs. Helldivers 2Despite the nerf issues that have upset some players, Escalation of Freedom still offers a ton of great content.

Helldivers 2: How to get the TR-40 Gold Eagle armor

Wondering why some players wear gold armor in Helldivers 2? You can too. It’s called TR-40 Gold Eagle and here’s how to get it.

Explanation of the changes to “Escalation of Freedom” in Helldivers 2

New enemies

Impaler (Terminid)
Spore Loader (Terminid)
Terminid Alpha Commander (Terminid)
Missile Tank (Automatic)
Rocket Scout Strider (Automatic)

So far, five new enemies have found their way into Helldivers 2making the game’s already intense battles even more exciting. The Spore Charger is one of the most terrifying additions to the game, as regular Chargers were already a force to be reckoned with. With each new enemy added to the battlefield, the game becomes more challenging and the new difficulty level turns up the heat.

An even harder level of difficulty

Helldivers 2 offers a comical number of difficulty levels for players to choose from, and the brand new Super Helldive option gives players a tenth option that is insanely challenging. It can easily happen that missions in Helldivers 2and the increase in difficulty with Super Helldive is for the players in the community who really love to be put to the test.

New goals and missions

There are two new secondary objective types. For Terminids, players can capture baby bugs. Additionally, a new mission type tasks players with hunting down Impalers, which is no easy task. The next secondary objective involves the Automatons, as players can attack human processing facilities.

To prevent players from being kicked from games, a new grief-kicking feature has been added that will make the kicked player spawn in a new session as the host with all the loot from the previous team.

Balancing weapons and stratagems

This is the most controversial of the changes to Helldivers 2. The aforementioned weapons, which have led to poor reviews of the game among some players, are a blemish on Escalation of Freedom. In addition to these nerfs, the CB-9 Exploding Crossbow is now a one-handed weapon, while the maximum ammo for the GP-31 Grenade Pistol has been reduced. On the plus side, stratagems like the Shield Generator Pack and Shield Generator Relay can now block the effects of blizzards and sandstorms.

Honorable Mentions

Swamp biome
Larger enemy outposts
UI and social menu upgrades

The new swamp biome makes the terrain of Helldivers 2 more varied and treacherous. In addition, the larger enemy outposts contain valuable Super Samples to entice players to use strategy and skill to penetrate the more challenging structures. Finally, the changes to the user interface and social menu have simply Helldivers 2 overall easier to understand.

Despite the recent controversy Helldivers 2 has big plans for the future that will hopefully please some frustrated players. It seems like developer Arrowhead is taking player feedback into account, which hopefully means fewer unnecessary nerfs in the future. Until then, at least there is plenty of exciting new content to experience in Helldivers 2 This largely makes up for the controversial weapon changes in the game.