Helldivers 2's 2025 Update: Emote While Ragdolling, Balance Tweaks

Arrowhead has just rolled out the first major update of 2025 for *Helldivers 2*, introducing a host of significant changes that are sure to shake up gameplay. The latest patch, 01.002.101, is now available and includes an increase in the duration of the gas status effect from spray weapons, the return of emoting while flying or ragdolling, and a plethora of other balance adjustments and bug fixes.

As *Helldivers 2* approaches its first anniversary, the addition of the Illuminate enemy faction has injected fresh energy into the game. Players are eagerly anticipating what lies ahead in the ongoing Galactic War narrative. Given the update's hefty 5GB size, there's speculation that new content might have been subtly included alongside the announced changes.

One particularly notable change is the fix for a visual bug with the Stalker's tongue, humorously described as a challenging fix by the developers.

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, preventing path obstruction in colonies.

Helldiver

• The Ministry of Humanity has updated the Principles of Correct Posture for Safe Lifting, now allowing Helldivers to jog while carrying two-handed items like 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.

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 gives more ammo to all magazine-based weapons, will not be fixed. The Armory description will be updated eventually, but the team is evaluating potential unforeseen bugs.

Backpacks

• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath
  • Reworked to increase effectiveness and maintain uniqueness, focusing on gas-based mechanics.
  • Will now preserve ammo by targeting only enemies unaffected by the gas status effect.
  • Targeting logic updated to prevent roaming too far, with the origin now from the Helldiver’s position.
  • 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 minimize 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 minimize 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 damage.

Fixes

Resolved Top Priority Issues:

• Emoting while falling or ragdolling is back! It won't reduce fall damage, but you can express yourself freely.
• Fixed Illuminate spawner ship shields not taking impact grenade damage.
• Resolved collision gaps inside the Illuminate spawner ship, allowing grenades to destroy ships when thrown near the door.
• Health packs now fully restore all of the Helldiver's stims.
• High damage weapons now detonate spawned Hellbombs on the map.

Crash Fixes, Hangs, and Soft-locks:

• Fixed crashes related to aborting missions with active Democracy Space Station effects, hot-joining missions, switching emotes, and various other scenarios.
• Reduced the chance for crashes caused by fires.
• Fixed soft-locks during drop-in when the host leaves or disconnects.

Social Issues & Matchmaking

• Improved matchmaking logic to better match players with nearby regions and selected difficulty levels.
• Fixed an issue where chat history was cleared when entering and exiting missions.

Weapons and Stratagems

• Fixed various issues with weapons, stratagems, and emplacements, including Arc weapons targeting, E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement armor penetration, and B-1 Supply Pack stim sharing.

FRV

• Reinforced FRVs to prevent catastrophic explosions from minor mishaps.
• Improved FRV camera and reduced the chance of FRVs landing on rooftops.
• Fixed FRV movement key bindings for non-QWERTY keyboards and resolved issues with enemies being launched too far when hit by the FRV.

Helldiver

• Fixed issues with ragdolling into the FRV, climbing over civilian cars, and sliding after being blasted.

Enemies

• Fixed a small visual bug with the Stalker’s tongue.
• Resolved an issue where enemies didn't react to missed shots from projectiles or melee attacks.

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Addressed various issues related to audio, hellpod exits, civilian behavior, 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 needed 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.
• Players using the “This is Democracy” emote on their ship might send others on unscheduled spacewalks.
• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath does not show when out of ammo.
• 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 fired faster than the RPM limit.