Automaton Gunships in Helldivers 2 have become the poster child for what happens when Super Earth’s finest demand nerfs without considering who’s implementing them.
A recent Reddit post showcases the absurdity perfectly: Gunships swarming a stationary Helldiver while their lasers paint abstract art everywhere except the target. The community’s now asking for accuracy buffs on the same enemy they once desperately wanted nerfed. Classic:
For the love of Cyberstan, these things literally do nothing but throw lasers in random directions, their accuracy deserves a buff.
Gunships launched as apocalyptic nightmares that genuinely overwhelmed bot divers. Now they’re target practice dummies that can’t hit democracy’s slowest practitioners.
Arrowhead’s Balancing Philosophy Has Two Settings: Overkill and Useless
When Gunships first dropped into Helldivers 2, they absolutely terrorized anyone brave enough to set foot on Automaton worlds. The screams for nerfs were deafening, and Arrowhead listened. Unfortunately, as we can all see now, they listened too well:
Another commenter nailed it: simple spawn limits would’ve addressed the swarm issues without turning them into flying punchlines. But that’s not how the studio operates:
This pattern isn’t isolated to Gunships. War Striders currently have players screaming for nerfs due to forcing anti-tank loadouts while their “weak spots” do absolutely nothing. The Illuminate Fleshmobs face similar complaints due to their buggy mechanics and bullet-sponge gameplay.
The problem here is that everyone demanding these nerfs should first take a look at Gunships and ask themselves if they really want Arrowhead’s “solution.” After all, the studio has proven time and again they only know two settings: overwhelming or worthless.
Rupture Strain Terminids are the latest in a line of many cautionary tales. These bugs were so broken with their underground attacks and almost zero counterplay that Arrowhead pulled them entirely.
Now they’re offline for weeks getting reworked, but given the track record, they’ll probably return as the most pathetic Terminid variant in the game.
When Enemy Accuracy Feels Like Rolling D&D Dice
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Helldivers 2‘s combat is its inconsistency, not its overt difficulty. Gunships are a perfect example of this, but they are not alone. Flying Overseers (the jetpack squids everyone also loves to hate) have identical behavior patterns.
This randomness breeds the worst kind of frustration. Watching enemies spray bullets in comically wrong directions creates complacency, then suddenly one decides today’s the day to perfect its aim and burn through a reinforcement.
The running theory among veterans? The accuracy system works like a dice roll: low numbers mean random dispersion, high rolls mean perfect tracking.
That’s the problem right there. Players shouldn’t need to gamble on whether an enemy remembers how to shoot. Enemies should present consistent, predictable threats that reward your skill, not lottery tickets that occasionally cash in for instant death.
The lesson in all this? We need to be extremely careful what we wish for when demanding Arrowhead fix anything. Their track record suggests the solution might leave you nostalgic for the original problem.
What balance issues frustrate you most in spreading managed democracy across the galaxy in Helldivers 2? Let us know in the comments below!
