"Helldivers 2's 2025 Update: Emote During Ragdolling, Balance Tweaks"

Arrowhead Studios has kicked off 2025 with a significant update to Helldivers 2, introducing a variety of changes and enhancements to the gameplay experience. Patch 01.002.101, now available, not only tweaks the mechanics but also adds an intriguing twist to the game's ongoing narrative.

As Helldivers 2 approaches its first anniversary, the introduction of the Illuminate enemy faction has injected fresh excitement into the game. This update, weighing in at over 5GB, has sparked speculation among the community about the inclusion of new content alongside the listed balance changes and fixes.

One particularly noteworthy change is the fix for a visual bug involving the Stalker's tongue—a detail that's as amusing as it is unsettling.

Here's a detailed look at the patch notes for Helldivers 2 update 01.002.101:

Balancing

General Changes

• The duration of the gas status effect from spray weapons has been increased from 6 to 10 seconds.
• Implemented a timer for Illuminate dropship wreckages to despawn, preventing them from obstructing paths in the colonies.

Helldiver

• The Ministry of Humanity has updated its Principles of Correct Posture for Safe Lifting, now allowing Helldivers to jog while carrying two-handed items like barrels and SEAF Artillery Rounds.

FRV

• Helldivers can now deploy grenades and stratagems while leaning out from the FRV.
• Tuned FRV handling for a smoother driving experience when cornering.

Sidearms

• Starting magazines increased from 2 to 3.
• Spare magazines increased from 4 to 5.

Stratagem Support Weapons

TX-41 Sterilizer

• Removed the crosshair drift recoil.
• Decreased the camera climb recoil.
• The duration of the gas status effect from spray weapons has been increased from 6 to 10 seconds.

Armor Passives

• After player feedback, the decision was made not to fix a bug with the Siege Ready Armor Passive, which gives more ammo to all magazine-based weapons, not just primary weapons as described. The Armory description will be updated, but the team is monitoring for any additional issues.

Backpacks

AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath

• Reworked to increase effectiveness and maintain its unique gas-based mechanics.
• Will now preserve ammo by only targeting enemies unaffected by the gas status effect.
• Targeting logic has been reworked to prevent the drone from roaming too far, starting from the Helldiver's position.
• Targeting range increased from 10 to 20 meters.
• The duration of the gas status effect from spray weapons has been increased from 6 to 10 seconds.

Stratagems

MD-6 Anti-Personnel Minefield

• Cooldown decreased from 180 to 120 seconds.
• Damage increased from 350 to 700.
• Deployment spread of mines increased by 20% to minimize the risk of chain explosions.

MD-I4 Incendiary Mines

• Cooldown decreased from 180 to 120 seconds.
• Damage increased from 210 to 300.
• Deployment spread of mines increased by 20% to minimize the risk of chain explosions.

MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines

• Cooldown decreased from 180 to 120 seconds.

SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack

• Now blocks melee attacks until it breaks from taking enough damage.

Fixes

Resolved Top Priority issues:

• You can once again emote while falling or ragdolling! It won't reduce fall damage, but you can express yourself as you fall.
• Fixed Illuminate spawner ship shields not taking impact grenade damage.
• Fixed collision gaps inside the Illuminate spawner ship, allowing grenades thrown near the door to destroy the ships.
• Health packs now fully restore all of the Helldiver's stims.
• High damage weapons now detonate spawned Hellbombs on the map.

Crash Fixes, Hangs and Soft-locks:

• Fixed a crash when aborting missions with the Democracy Space Station effects active.
• Fixed a crash when hot-joining a mission on a planet with the Democracy Space Station.
• Fixed a crash caused by quickly switching between different emotes.
• Reduced the chance for crashes caused by fires.
• Fixed a rare crash at the end of the drop-in sequence when hot-joining a game.
• Fixed a crash when returning to the ship while reloading the primary weapon.
• Fixed a soft-lock during drop-in when the host leaves or disconnects right after loadout.
• Fixed a crash when repeatedly changing armor pieces in the armory.
• Fixed a crash after finishing the tutorial and naming your Destroyer.
• Fixed a crash during extraction.
• Fixed a crash when returning to the ship during heavy projectile fire.
• Fixed a crash for clients when the host was holding a carryable objective and quit the game.
• Fixed a crash when a player left the game during an encounter.
• Fixed a crash when changing text language.
• Fixed a crash when reloading the SG-20 Halt.

Social Issues & Matchmaking

• Improved matchmaking logic to better match players with nearby regions.
• Players are more likely to get matched with the same difficulty lobbies as selected.
• Fixed an issue where chat history was cleared when going to and returning from a mission.

Weapons and Stratagems

• Opening and closing the text chat while in an emplacement now keeps the player in the emplacement.
• Fixed Arc weapons not reliably hitting the Impaler's tentacles when aimed at the lower parts.
• The E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement now has the correct armor penetration tag in the ship menu.
• Stratagem turrets no longer target Illuminate Tesla Towers.
• Fixed a visual bug where heat weapons showed numbers over the progress bar in the weapon wheel menu.
• Melee weapons no longer send civilian cars and objects flying long distances.
• B-1 Supply Pack now provides stims to other players.
• Fixed a bug where players could get stuck in the E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement after depleting all ammunition.

FRV

• Reinforced all FRVs to prevent minor parking mishaps from causing explosions.
• General improvements to the FRV camera to prevent it from getting stuck underground when driving downhill.
• Reduced the chance FRVs get dropped on rooftops when called in.
• FRV movement key bindings now accept non-QWERTY keyboard inputs.
• Fixed a bug where some enemies, like the Brood Commander, were launched further than intended when hit by the FRV.

Helldiver

• Fixed an issue where ragdolling into the FRV caused the vehicle to be launched into space.
• Fixed an issue preventing Helldivers from climbing and vaulting over civilian cars.
• Helldivers no longer slide around on the ground after ragdolling from a blast.
• Fixed an issue where ragdolling into shallow water caused a stuck prone gliding animation.
• Fixed an issue where the Helldiver was not playing the sample pick-up animations.

Enemies

• Fixed a small visual bug with the Stalker’s tongue.
• Fixed an issue where enemies wouldn’t react to missed shots from projectiles or melee attacks near them.

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Fixed an issue where clients triggered the wrong audio when waiting for the host to join the loadout.
• Fixed an issue of Helldivers exiting the hellpod right after readying up and before transitioning to the loading screen.
• Fixed an issue of civilians being blocked from finding the shuttle door during Emergency Evacuation missions.
• Purple question marks should be encountered less frequently during Illuminate missions on Sandy and Arctic planets.
• Fixed the floating head syndrome affecting Helldivers wearing the AC-2 Obedient armor with certain helmets.
• Fixed a bug where weapons with lower armor penetration than the target’s armor dealt one damage instead of zero, resulting in misleading visual feedback.
• Enemies now start sinking into the ground when killed near terminals or the extraction point.

Known Issues

Top Priority:

• Black box mission terminal may be unusable if it spawns clipped into the ground.
• Stratagem balls bounce unpredictably off cliffs and some spots.
• Balancing and functionality adjustments for DSS.
• Pathfinding issues in Evacuate Colonists Illuminate missions.
• Dolby Atmos does not work on PS5.

Medium Priority:

• Players can get stuck on Pelican-1’s ramp during extraction.
• Explosives can cause Helldivers hidden behind terrain to ragdoll.
• Currently equipped capes don't display properly and show a blank grey cape in the Armory tab.
• Players using the “This is Democracy” emote on their ship might unintentionally send fellow Helldivers on unauthorized spacewalks.
• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath does not show when it is out of ammo.
• The Barrager Tanks turret has armor 0 and no weak spots.
• Higher zoom functions do not zoom the camera in through the scope on the LAS-5 Scythe.
• Weapons with a Charge-up mechanic can exhibit unintended behavior when firing faster than the RPM limit.