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New Helldivers 2 patch gets rid of the most annoying way to die

The new Helldivers 2 patch stops the bodies of dead Shriekers from crushing you, and provides a much needed update to extraction missions.

A man in black body armor stands holding a gun as planes fly above him in an orange sunset sky

Are you being one shotted by Shrieker corpses while trying to carry out your valiant quest for managed democracy? Well, fear these new flying foes no more: the new Helldivers 2 update nerfs the crush damage from Shrieker corpses, as well as providing some much-needed adjustments to the ever-frustrating retrieve essential personnel missions.

There are a lot of ways to go in Helldivers 2. Rogue friendly fire (guilty, as charged), a face full of acidic bug bile – the works. Following the multiplayer game‘s latest update, however, you can add ‘being crushed by flying insect corpse’ to that list; and man, is it disgusting.

Following the addition of the all-new Shriekers, players have complained about being one-shot by falling bodies, which will instantly kill you if you’re unfortunate enough to be beneath them. As part of patch 01.000.200, Arrowhead has confirmed that, while dead bugs will make a dent if they hit you, the damage they do has been “significantly” nerfed.

“Shriekers hitting you while they are dead now does significantly less damage,” reads the official note. Shriekers are also now unable to “create bug breaches,” so thankfully they won’t be spawning horde after horde of creepy bug friends to help them out.

A list of enemy adjustments on the latest Helldivers 2 patch

Elsewhere in the galaxy, the notoriously difficult Retrieve Essential Personnel missions have also been adjusted, with enemy spawns being moved further from the main objectives to allow you to set up a better defense.

Additionally, at higher levels, fewer personnel require your aid, meaning you’ll hopefully be able to focus on the onslaught of enemies instead of having to run around constantly extracting.

A rundown of the new Helldivers 2 patch discussing the retrieve essential personnel missions

Other highlights include the level cap increasing to 150, and some small nerfs to the Slugger’s stagger and damage. You can check out the full patch notes here.

If the addition of flying bugs has piqued your attention, we have a list of all the best Helldivers 2 weapons – trust me when I say you’ll need them. Or, if you’d rather blast your enemies from afar, we have a list of all the best Helldivers 2 stratagems, too.

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