Helldivers 2 update 1.000.102 patch notes: Less Chargers and Bile Titans

Arrowhead heeds player feedback regarding armored enemies

Enemies with tough armor were a central point of complaint in the community during the recent Helldivers 2 balance debate, which followed a controversial update to the game that nerfed a few popular weapons. Developer Arrowhead, which at first stood its ground, has since then given in to player demands and has now pushed changes to address some of the concerns.

Patch 1.000.102 for Helldivers 2 reduced the spawn rate of heavily armored enemies like the Chargers and Bile Titans starting with Difficulty 7. Arrowhead stated that the intent for these enemy types is generally to soak up damage and force squads to bring some anti-tank arms, though previous spawn rates may have slightly overshot that target.

You should have an easier time with some alien threats now / Arrowhead Games

The developer emphasized that change is not going to be a flat-out difficulty reduction, as other enemy types will fill the void left by the armored variants and will appear more often instead.

Chargers are now more vulnerable to headshots, making it easier for weapons like the EAT-17 or Recoilless Rifle to deal with them.

Find the full Helldivers 2 update 1.000.102 patch notes below.

Helldivers 2 update 1.000.102: patch notes

Enemies

• The amount of heavily armored targets that spawn on higher difficulties, especially for Terminids, have been a big discussion point online and internally. The intent is for groups to have to bring some form of anti-tank capability but not to the degree previously needed.
• To that end we have reduced the spawn rate of Chargers and Bile Titans on difficulties 7 and up. In addition we have reduced the risk of spawn spikes of Chargers and Bile Titans.
• Please note that we have changed the distribution of enemy types, not reduced difficulty. Expect other enemy types to appear in greater numbers instead.
• We are humbled by the community's ability to find things like Chargers “leg meta” in our game, however spending your heavy anti tank weapons on legs instead of the obvious weak point seems counter to expectation.
• We are not changing anything regarding the Charger’s legs, we are however lowering the health of the Charger’s head. It should now be at a point where a well placed shot from a Recoilless Rifle or EAT-17 instantly kills a charger.
• Together with the unfortunately undocumented change of last patch that increased the armor penetration ability of less well placed shots for EAT-17s and Recoilless Rifle shots, Chargers should now be easier to handle by well equipped groups.

Gameplay

• "Electronic Countermeasures" operation modifier, which had a chance of giving you a random stratagem instead of the one you input, has been removed in order to be reworked, and will be reintroduced in a future iteration. We found that this modifier wasn’t communicated clearly enough and overall caused more frustration than excitement with the way it was currently implemented. This change was made in 1.000.100 but was unintentionally omitted from the patch notes.

Fixes

• Fixed missing text on several HUD / UI elements.
• Fixed several subtitle / VO mismatches in the news videos.
• Fixed various crashes that occurred mid-gameplay and when deploying to missions.

Known Issues

• Game crashes when attempting to use a stim while inside an Exosuit.
• Pink artifacts may appear in the sky when setting off large explosions.
• Automaton Dropship seemingly disappears and slides in after being shot down.
• Shots from arc-based weapons may not count towards kills in post-mission stats.
• Players cannot unfriend other players befriended via friend code.
• Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the friend requests tab.
• Players may be unable to select loadout or return to ship when joining a multiplayer game session via PS5 Activity Card.
• The Exosuit can destroy itself with rockets if it fires while turning.
• Text chat box display is obstructed by the cinematic letterboxing during extraction.
• Some people are unable to accept friend requests. This is mostly an issue cross platform.

Playable Helldivers 2 mechs are a thing after community challenge