Helldivers 2 has received its first balance update. The mechanics are still on the way, but you won't be able to sniff this payload, especially since it adds one major feature to the game: meteors are a major concern for the hardworking patriots of Super Earth in this "Starship Troopers"-inspired game. Nothing bad will happen to Buenos Aires, though.

"Additional environmental challenges have been added on many planets, ranging from fire tornadoes to meteor showers that appear randomly during deployment," the patch notes state. There was already a fire tornado on the planet Hellmire in Helldiver 2, but as far as I know it was just a background dressing. Until now.

Eradication missions, previously used as farms for XP, medals, and needed supplies, have also doubled in duration." The time to complete a mission used to be shorter than intended, but now it should usually take twice as long." This should ideally stop players from simply lurking and defeating some of the bots and bug waves, interrupting and repeating the rest of the mission, which could affect the ongoing galactic war.

Another wave of adjustments has been made to fan favorite guns such as the SG-225 Breaker, RS-422 Railgun, and Shield Generator Pack. The patch notes were not initially detailed, but have since been updated, and Arrowhead developer Alex Kravchenko has also shared more information via the game's official Discord.

Fixes to bugs and problems have also been included. Most notably, Arrowhead has "fixed armor ratings not reducing damage as intended. Previously, heavy armor did not do much to reduce damage, just a burly suit that looked like it belonged adjacent to a Space Marine gathering dust in the cargo hold. Now they are eager to use their weight to stomp bugs.

A full list of patch notes can be found below.

New Patch Notes Helldivers!

Major Updates

Balance Adjustments

Eradication Missions

Primary, Secondary, and Support Weapons

Strategem

Fixes

Known Issues

These are issues introduced by this patch that are either currently being worked on or were in previous versions and have not yet been fixed.