Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.102 notes make Charger heads more receptive to anti-tank

Arrowhead Game Studios found the Charger 'leg meta' funny, but felt leg shots over headshots is a bit illogical.

Image via Arrowhead Game Studios
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Another patch has rolled out for Helldivers 2 this week, bringing changes to both the sheer overwhelming force of bugs at high difficulties and a certain meta which made little sense to the dev team. Patch 1.000.102 is out in the wild, and beyond those top topics, it also brings the latest bug fixes, changes, and balance shifts to the game. We’ve got the full notes here, so read on to find out more.

Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.102 notes

Helldivers 2 tweet about Patch 1.000.102's release
Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.102 reduces Bile and Charger spawn density at higher difficulties, as well as making Charger heads a little easier to blast with anti-tank weapons.
Source: Arrowhead Game Studios

Arrowhead Game Studios launched Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.102 and its accompanying patch notes this week. Some of the biggest changes include the concentration of Bile and Charger Titans on high difficulties. They should spawn a bit less at the trade of having other bugs spawn more. This should ensure you aren’t being flooded with acid goo or trampled by a ridiculous group of either. Arrowhead also addressed the “leg meta,” in which players were targeting the legs on Chargers instead of what the team felt should be an obvious weakspot in the head. The legs have been left alone, but those Charger noggins have been softened so that a Recoilless Rifle or EAT-17 [Expendable Anti-Tank] should be better equipped to take them out. You can read up on the rest of the changes and balances below:


Overview

Today's patch is dealing with the spawn rate of heavily armored Terminid enemies as well as the possible play against them. It also contains some fixes to UI elements and crash fixes.

Balancing

Enemies:

  • The amount of heavily armored targets that spawn on higher difficulties, especially for Terminids, have been a big discussion point online and internally. The intent is for groups to have to bring some form of anti-tank capability but not to the degree previously needed.
  • To that end we have reduced the spawn rate of Chargers and Bile Titans on difficulties 7 and up. In addition we have reduced the risk of spawn spikes of Chargers and Bile Titans.
  • Please note that we have changed the distribution of enemy types, not reduced difficulty. Expect other enemy types to appear in greater numbers instead.
  • We are humbled by the community's ability to find things like Chargers “leg meta” in our game, however spending your heavy anti tank weapons on legs instead of the obvious weak point seems counter to expectation.
  • We are not changing anything regarding the Charger’s legs, we are however lowering the health of the Charger’s head. It should now be at a point where a well placed shot from a Recoilless Rifle or EAT-17 instantly kills a charger.
  • Together with the unfortunately undocumented change of last patch that increased the armor penetration ability of less well placed shots for EAT-17s and Recoilless Rifle shots, Chargers should now be easier to handle by well equipped groups.

Gameplay

"Electronic Countermeasures" operation modifier, which had a chance of giving you a random stratagem instead of the one you input, has been removed in order to be reworked, and will be reintroduced in a future iteration. We found that this modifier wasn’t communicated clearly enough and overall caused more frustration than excitement with the way it was currently implemented. This change was made in 1.000.100 but was unintentionally omitted from the patch notes.

Fixes

  • Fixed missing text on several HUD / UI elements.
  • Fixed several subtitle / VO mismatches in the news videos.
  • Fixed various crashes that occurred mid-gameplay and when deploying to missions.

Known Issues

  • Game crashes when attempting to use a stim while inside an Exosuit.
  • Pink artifacts may appear in the sky when setting off large explosions.
  • Automaton Dropship seemingly disappears and slides in after being shot down.
  • Shots from arc-based weapons may not count towards kills in post-mission stats.
  • Players cannot unfriend other players befriended via friend code.
  • Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the friend requests tab.
  • Players may be unable to select loadout or return to ship when joining a multiplayer game session via PS5 Activity Card.
  • The Exosuit can destroy itself with rockets if it fires while turning.
  • Text chat box display is obstructed by the cinematic letterboxing during extraction.
  • Some people are unable to accept friend requests. This is mostly an issue cross platform

That covers the entirety of Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.102. Be sure to follow our Helldivers 2 topic for more news, features, and guides.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

From The Chatty
    • reply
      March 12, 2024 9:59 AM

      Aww. I actually liked the mechanic of killing chargers being a two step process of opening the leg with AT followed by shooting the leg. It was challenging and unique.

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        March 12, 2024 10:01 AM

        It essentially required the railgun though. I think it’s probably an easier target than the head too.

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          March 12, 2024 10:19 AM

          You can keep using the railgun if you want, I'll keep popping their butts with the autocannon.

          • reply
            March 12, 2024 10:20 AM

            Also the real charger meta was the flamethrower.

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              March 12, 2024 10:52 AM

              Even better now. Only 1/4 to 1/2 tank required versus 3/4 prior.

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          March 12, 2024 11:27 AM

          Nah it was never required. I have been running mainly EAT but also the recoilless since the beginning because I think they've always been better than the railgun vs bugs. Aiming 1 shot is better than aiming 2 shots. To me it's been bots that the railgun really shines, since the EAT and recoilless were inexplicably terrible vs the hulk and tank (haven't played bots since the patch but it sounds like this is better now?).

          People were just afraid to keep experimenting with loadouts once they got their hands on a straightforward gun that was "good enough". EAT + laser dog is a brokenly good setup (I think the laser dog is actually bugged op and will get fixed). Supply backpack is also very strong and I see 0 people running it.

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            March 12, 2024 3:29 PM

            Prior to this patch I was never able to get EAT or recoilless to work on chargers with any kind of reliability. Or at least I could never tell if it did anything, aside from blowing up their butt. Aside from their butt, there would be no visible difference or reaction no matter where I hit them. It was pretty frustrating, and I kinda hated fighting them (and bugs in general) as a result.

            Now at least they die if I rocket them in the face.

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              March 13, 2024 12:42 AM

              I always used the same leg tactic that people used with the rail gun, works like a charm.

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        March 12, 2024 10:52 AM

        It's great but the spawn rates are stupid. I was running level 8/ last night with 3-5 chargers spawning per breach.

        • reply
          March 12, 2024 11:58 AM

          If I remember correctly, you just need to git gud scrub

    • reply
      March 12, 2024 12:31 PM

      Interested to try this. I may have been in the minority but I liked the absolute chaos the highest couple of difficulties could sometimes result in. When 3 bile titans spawn out of nowhere and you're dodging hunters and a couple chargers I had a blast yelling into voice and running for my life trying to get some support

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