Helldivers 2 Patch 01.001.004 fixes flamethrower particles, refines Impaler and explosion radiuses

Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has pushed out Helldivers 2 Patch 01.001.004 this week to address feedback it received following the game’s Escalation of Freedom update. While the patch hits at least one point of player concern, it doesn’t even touch the weapon nerfs.

The patch notes for this update are short and concise. Among the most impactful changes is a fix for the explosions caused by the Impaler’s tentacles, which have been causing Helldivers 2 players to be thrown 100 meters into the sky of whatever world they’re on and furiously ragdoll before crashing back down and dying. The last update made flamethrowers far less effective, but this one fixes the particles that didn’t affect enemies alongside allowing all players to detonate mines when enemies get close to them with their weapons.

A stable Helldiver is a happy Helldiver

Helldivers 2 Patch 01.001.004 also includes fixes for various crashes, including those that hit you when being kicked from a mission, dropping onto a planet, or hosting a mission. One of the best fixes is as follows. “Fixed a bug where the Impaler’s tentacles could chase you indefinitely in some cases.” This never happened to me, but I imagine it was a nightmare because Impaler’s are absolutely no joke. Of course, this enemy was only recently added to the game, so it’s understandable that there were some kinks to work out with it, given that even Automaton Tanks can send you flying.

This patch is a first step in the right direction, but Arrowhead Game Studios still has a long way to go. It’s shown that it understands what players want from bug fixes and minor patches between updates by prioritizing the game’s stability, fire damage from Helldivers, and making fights against the enemy feel challenging but fair.

However, there’s still a long way to go. The Escalation of Freedom update ruffled a lot of feathers in the Helldivers 2 community, and Arrowhead Game Studios needs to focus on fixing the issues at the heart of the game instead of stemming the flow of chaos and negativity with flavor text and Major Orders.

The list of known issues in these patch notes shows that the developer is on the right path and working on the problems that annoy players and disrupt the game the most. We’re still well within the 60-day plan to bring the game up to standards that Arrowhead Game Studios set out, and things look promising based on what this patch does.