Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead followed last week’s release of the game’s big update and premium Warbond with a new patch that applies a long list of fixes.
The highlight is a fix for the Spear support stratagem, which has suffered all sorts of issues since the PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter launched earlier this year. What should be a monstrous and reliable weapon has been inconsistent for so long, with its homing anti-tank missile failing to properly track locked targets.
According to the patch notes for update 1.000.402, there is a fix so that the Spear does not target multiple entities (generators, compound items, etc.). This should encourage more players to bring the Spear onto the battlefield.
And here’s another useful solution: Hellbombs are now called facing the player, rather than away from the player. Players have become accustomed to Hellbombs facing them, so there will be a bit of unlearning to do with this one.
Arrowhead also updated the list of known issues, outlining what the studio is working to fix with upcoming patches. Note: the Bile Titan sometimes does not take damage to its head, and the Charger’s butt does not take damage from explosions. What an asshole!
Last week was a big one for Helldivers 2 and Arrowhead, who recently revealed they were setting up the studio so it could “do more and better things” in the long term. In an introductory article on Redditthe new CEO Shams Jorjani, who recently replaced Arrowhead’s former CEO and now current Creative Director, Johan Pilestedtsaid the studio had to adapt to the huge success Helldivers 2 brought to the company.
Helldivers 2 is the best-selling PlayStation game of all time, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks since it went on sale earlier this year. Amid the huge revenue generated by Helldivers 2, Arrowhead itself has suffered a number of crises, including launch server issues and, most recently, a battle with Sony itself over the maker’s controversial attempt to consoles to force Steam players to link their account to the PlayStation Network.
Helldivers 2 Update 1.000.402 Patch Notes:
Preview
For this patch, we have made improvements and changes to the following areas:
- Quality of life improvements
- Crash fixes
- General bug fixes
Fixes
Crashes
- Fixed various crashes that sometimes occurred when changing settings.
- Fixed potential crash or corrupted font texture when switching languages
- Fixed a crash that could occur after exiting a mission.
- Fixed a crash that occurred when opening the social menu with more than 100 friends. As a result, we have also limited the visibility of the friends list to 100. You will remain friends with anyone over 100, but you may not be able to see them if they are offline.
- Fixed a crash when opening the social menu and blocking many players and/or friend requests.
- Fixed crash when minimizing after changing fullscreen mode.
- Fixed a rare crash that could occur when collecting equipment.
- Fixed a crash when a client interacts with a terminal in a waiting state after host migration.
- Fixed a crash related to minefields.
Various fixes
- Fix dodging and prone position issues.
- Fixed inability to stand up when wielding the ballistic shield.
- Fixed recoilless reload speed.
- Fixed an issue where users were unable to write a description on console when reporting a player.
- Fixed vehicle preview not disappearing in Warbonds when quickly scrolling through the catalog.
- Fixed Spear not targeting multiple entities (spawners, compound items, etc.).
- Sentinels have a higher destruction value, so most explosions do not destroy them instantly, regardless of the amount of damage.
- Fixed a bug where operation progress would be lost when kicked due to inactivity,
- The “Remove Friend” and “Block Player” buttons are now held for confirmation instead of a single click.
- Fixed bug where die was trying to enter ADS.
- Fix a soft lock if you receive an interact emote while holding a grenade.
- Fixed projectile inaccuracies in the reticle in ADS when the player is in different positions
- Fixed broken player model in the Career tab when on someone else’s ship.
- Adjudicator: Fixed incorrect recoil values.
- Fixed Armory Terminals losing functionality if the last client player who interacted with them leaves the host’s ship.
- Fixed missing localization for Flying Patrol operation modifiers.
- Fixed an issue where throwing knives could float in the air.
- Support for non-Latin fonts in the game installation folder path.
- Vehicle skins are now applied to all vehicle variants when equipped directly from Warbonds.
- Fixes flag objectives not correctly tracking the Helldiver’s position when on a Combat Walker.
- PH-202 Twigsnapper Helmet: Fixed missing description.
- Fixed issue where the shuttle would pass through Bile Titans and terrain during landing sequences.
- Improved performance on PS5 when CPU bound
- Fixes remaining effects when destroying Spore Spewer
- Make sure the visual boost effect stays on screen for the duration of the boost effect when the med kit bonus is present.
- Fix for emote players being able to use their weapons during the emote animation
- Hellbombs are now called facing the player, rather than away from the player.
Known issues
These are issues that were introduced by this hotfix and are being fixed, or that come from a previous release and have not yet been fixed.
- Sending friend requests via an in-game friend code currently does not work.
- Players may not be able to be joined or invited to the game.
- Players added to the “Recent Players” list will appear in the middle of the list.
- Players may experience delays in paying out medals and super credits.
- Available operations are generated again after reconnection after launching AFK.
- Bleeding enemies do not progress in Personal Orders and Eradication missions.
- Bow weapons sometimes behave inconsistently and sometimes misfire.
- Most weapons fire under the crosshairs when aiming down sights.
- Plasma Punisher is unable to fire from shield generators.
- The stratagem ray can attach to an enemy but it will deploy in its original location.
- The “Hand Carts” ship module does not reduce the cooldown of the Shield Generator Pack.
- Bile Titan sometimes does not take head damage.
- The magazine’s butt does not take damage from explosions.
- Players may get stuck loading when joining a game in progress.
- Reinforcement may not be available to players who join a game in progress.
- Planet Liberation reaches 100% at the end of each Defend mission.
- The “Raise the Flag of Super Earth” objective does not display a progress bar.
- The number of missions in the Career tab is reset to zero after each restart of the game.
- Descriptions for some weapons are outdated and do not reflect their current design.
Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.