"Helldivers 2 Update 2025: Emote While Ragdolling, Balance Tweaks"

Arrowhead has rolled out the first major update of 2025 for Helldivers 2, introducing a variety of significant enhancements to enrich the gaming experience. Patch 01.002.101, now available, extends the duration of the gas status effect from spray weapons, reintroduces the ability to emote while flying or ragdolling, and includes a host of balance adjustments and bug fixes.

As Helldivers 2 approaches its first anniversary, the addition of the Illuminate enemy faction has injected fresh excitement into the game. This update, weighing over 5GB, has sparked speculation among players about potential hidden content alongside the announced changes. The ongoing Galactic War's meta narrative continues to captivate fans, who eagerly anticipate what's next.

One particularly noteworthy, albeit unsettling, fix in this update addresses a visual glitch involving the Stalker's tongue. You might not want to delve into the details of what it took to resolve this issue!

Helldivers 2 Update 01.002.101 Patch Notes:

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 the Illuminate dropship wreckages to despawn, ensuring they don't obstruct paths in the colonies.

Helldiver

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

FRV

• Helldivers can now deploy grenades and stratagems while leaning out from the FRV.
• Enhanced FRV handling for smoother cornering experiences.

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

• Following player feedback, the bug with the Siege Ready Armor Passive, which provides more ammo to all magazine-based weapons instead of just primary weapons, will not be fixed. The Armory description will be updated, and we're monitoring for any additional issues this might cause.

Backpacks

• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath
  • Reworked to enhance effectiveness and maintain its unique gas-based mechanics.
  • Will now conserve ammo by targeting only enemies not affected by the gas status effect.
  • Targeting logic adjusted to prevent excessive roaming, using the Helldiver's position as the origin.
  • 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 reduce 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 reduce 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 sufficient damage.

Fixes

Resolved Top Priority Issues:

• Emoting while falling or ragdolling is now possible again, though it no longer reduces fall damage.
• Illuminate spawner ship shields now correctly take 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 will now detonate spawned Hellbombs on the map.

Crash Fixes, Hangs, and Soft-locks:

• Fixed crashes when aborting missions with Democracy Space Station effects active, hot-joining missions with the Democracy Space Station present, quickly switching emotes, fires, during drop-in sequences, returning to the ship while reloading, during extraction, and various other scenarios.
• Resolved soft-locks during drop-in when the host leaves or disconnects, and when changing armor pieces in the armory.

Social Issues & Matchmaking

• Improved matchmaking to better connect players with others from nearby regions and similar difficulty lobbies.
• Fixed chat history clearing when entering and exiting missions.

Weapons and Stratagems

• Addressed issues with emplacements, Arc weapons, stratagem turrets, heat weapon visuals, melee weapon physics, B-1 Supply Pack stim sharing, and various other gameplay elements.

FRV

• Reinforced FRVs to prevent explosions from minor collisions.
• Improved FRV camera functionality and reduced instances of getting stuck underground.
• Reduced the chance of FRVs landing on rooftops when called in.
• Fixed non-QWERTY keyboard input issues and enemy launch distance when hit by the FRV.

Helldiver

• Resolved issues with ragdolling into the FRV, climbing over civilian cars, sliding after blasts, and animations in shallow water.

Enemies

• Fixed a visual bug with the Stalker’s tongue.
• Ensured enemies react to missed shots from projectiles or melee attacks.

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Corrected various audio, mission transition, civilian pathfinding, and visual bugs.

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 in the Armory tab.
• Using the “This is Democracy” emote on the ship might send fellow Helldivers on unauthorized spacewalks.
• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath does not show when 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.