Playing Helldivers 2 with fewer than four people is torment right now. Swarms of Terminids and Automatons come out of the woodwork, easily overwhelming you. The fewer of you there are the more patrols you’ll face, and while Arrowhead originally said this would be most noticeable for solo players, the team is now listening to feedback about how devastating the change can be.
Cranking Helldivers 2 up to the hardest difficulties does lead to a good time, as you and your fellow democracy defenders fight off waves of enemies while co-ordinating at the top of your game. But sometimes it’s too much. Right now, given the increased number of Terminid and Automaton patrols, if your lacking squadmates in the co-op game, you’re not going to be having a great time.
That may be about to change, however, as developer Arrowhead has heard our pleas about overeager enemy patrols and is looking into the problem. I’d guess this means squads of one to three players will be having an easier time soon, while the balance for full groups will remain the same.
“Don’t want to make this an announcement, [but] I just want to mention that we’ve conveyed to our esteemed colleagues some of the details and concerns on the state of patrols and spawn rate for missions with one to three players,” Helldivers 2 community manager Thomas ‘Twinbeard’ Petersson says.
They add that Arrowhead is aware some of us are saying “that they’re too hard, spawn rates are too high or bonked which leads to frustrating gameplay when playing in teams with fewer than four players at the moment. We know a lot of you feel they need some checking into.”
I’ve played with just one friend on multiple occasions and been hit by a constant stream of enemies on many maps, putting us on the back foot for so long that we’ve not been able to get anything done. It’s a balancing act, for sure, but when you can’t even complete a single objective that’s a major problem.
Helldivers 2 is better with a full squad of four, I won’t deny that, but sometimes you want to play with your friends without the addition of random players. As a live game though, Arrowhead has been really good about tweaking elements after player feedback, so I don’t doubt the right balance will be found soon enough.
While we wait to see if smaller squads will have an easier time against the relenting forces tearing democracy down, you’ll want to kit yourself out with the best Helldivers 2 weapons and Helldivers 2 stratagems.
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