What seems perfect from the outside often has flaws that remain unseen to the world. Helldivers 2 is arguably one of the best co-op titles ever released in this decade. Still, by ruining the flamethrower experience for every single player, fans wonder if the flame mechanics of the game will ever get a rework.
The current version of the flamethrower suffers from some of the most inconsistent results out of any weapon in the game, which, when bundled with other issues such as damaging oneself while using it, makes players question if it is even worth having the flamethrower in their arsenal anymore.
Why Flamethrowers Have the Most Inconsistent Mechanics in Helldivers 2
The main problems with flamethrowers in Helldivers 2 are inconsistent fire mechanics, combined with the risk of setting yourself on fire and the underwhelming effectiveness against certain enemy types.
To be clearer, fire often fails to penetrate through multiple enemies, making crowd control inefficient compared to how players expect the flamethrowers to work. Furthermore, divers also frequently set themselves on fire when using the weapon at close range or when flames bounce back.
This issue could not be better described than this fan-art that was originally posted 7 months ago, and is recently making rounds again in the official r/Helldivers subreddit:
The worst part about Flamethrowers is how they are unreliable across the board, especially against armored targets and larger enemies, unless the player is aiming at specific weak points. This takes away the AOE damage one would expect while spitting out fire from their gun.
How Helldivers 2 Can Make Fire Actually Worth Using
In Helldivers 2’s history, there have been several patches attempting to balance the flamethrower, including reverting nerfs and improving the damage for heavy-type enemies after player complaints. However, despite these improvements, the weapon remains slow to handle, making it one of the least likely weapons to be picked by a diver unless they have mastered it fully.
Luckily, Arrowhead Game Studios can potentially make the flamethrower worth using again, which can be done by improving how fire damage scales and reducing the self-harm potential for players in-game.
Furthermore, the direct fire damage and burning-over-time mechanics can be more fine-tuned to be balanced across the board. This would make it so players are rewarded for consistently applying pressure with their flamethrowers rather than being limited by low damage-over-time.
Would you like to see the flamethrowers in Helldivers 2 potentially making a comeback? Make sure to share your thoughts below!
