The latest Major Order, Oshaune, in Helldivers 2 has forced players into cramped caves and chokepoints. Environments such as these should be a paradise for the flamethrowers, right?
No, that hasn’t been the case! Setting the hive guard ablaze doesn’t stop them; they march on, despite being on fire, and indulge in melee combat.
Flame weapons look cool, but lack the basic mechanics to make them useful. They are needed for close-quarters crowd control, but end up being more dangerous to the Helldiver than the bugs.
Helldivers 2’s Flame Weapons Have a Fatal Flaw
Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios
Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios
Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios
Igniting an enemy just doesn’t stop them in their tracks. They jump through the flames to continue with their attack. Since they’re ablaze, they set our Helldiver on fire, which suspiciously takes very little time.
The FLAM-40 Flamethrower has a laughably short range as well, which burdens its usage even more. Rather than resembling a continuous stream of napalm, it often splatters on the player’s feet, setting them ablaze instead.
It should not come as a surprise that players are abandoning flame weapons in the Oshaune major order campaign. Explosives are the go-to right now, since they actually stagger or kill the enemies.
Arrowhead Should Emulate Deep Rock Galactic to Fix Flame Weapons
It’s high time Arrowhead takes a serious look at the usability of their flame weapons. Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios
Let’s not forget that Arrowhead buffed flamethrowers in September 2024 in an attempt to fix them (via IGN). Flame damage increased by 33% along with increased armor penetration. However, that was not enough.
Arrowhead’s entire focus was on raw DPS and armor stripping while completely forgetting the actual utility of fire. High damage doesn’t matter if the enemy can still close the gap and kill us.
Helldivers 2 needs fundamental changes, such as a ‘Slow Effect’ where ignited enemies would slow down (20-30%), thereby making flamethrower an accurate crowd control weapon. The studio should take a leaf out of Deep Rock Galactic’s book on the implementation.
Deep Rock Galactic allows players to spec into sticky flames. These ignite the terrain, thereby affecting and controlling enemy pathing. If Arrowhead wants to set the gold standard for flame weapons, it needs to apply one or both of these things.
Game NameHelldivers 2DeveloperArrowhead Game StudiosPublisherSony Interactive EntertainmentRelease DateFebruary 8, 2024
Do you think Arrowhead will change its flame damage strategy? Do you have other suggestions to improve flame weapons in the current meta? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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