Highlights

  • Helldivers 2 constantly evolves with new gear and balancing updates that shape the meta and keep gameplay fresh and exciting.
  • Experimenting with different weapons, armor sets, and Stratagems is crucial, as balancing updates may impact even established meta gear in the game.
  • Rather than getting attached to a particular build or obsessing over the meta, Helldivers 2 players would be wise to constantly try new things to stay ahead of balance updates.

Months after the game’s initial release, Helldivers 2 has been going strong with several post-launch updates. These recent updates for Helldivers 2 have brought plenty of new content to the game, such as four new premium War Bonds, and several balancing and QOL updates that have drastically changed the game along the way.

Now, there’s a wide variety of gear that players can choose from in Helldivers 2, with more to come in future updates. Among the different loadouts that players can put together, a few weapons, armor sets, and Stratagems stand out as the meta in Helldivers 2, as they generally outperform other gear in most scenarios. While using these meta loadouts will give players the upper hand against the enemies of Super Earth, players should be cautious not to become too dependent on this gear.

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Helldivers 2’s Meta is Constantly Changing

Helldivers 2’s live-service approach has taken the route of equally prioritizing new content updates, balancing changes, and QOL improvements. Because of this, the game has come a long way in the short few months since its release, which has consequently reshaped the meta several times. This is mostly due to new weapons, armor sets, and stratagems being added to the game that quickly emerge as the new best-in-class, although balancing changes to preexisting gear also significantly influences the game’s current meta.

So far, these balancing changes for Helldivers 2 have proven to be quite controversial among the game’s community, with some players expressing their frustration over their favorite weapons getting nerfed. Despite how divisive these balancing updates can be, the development studio behind Helldivers 2 has shown no sign of these rebalancing updates coming to an end.

Helldivers 2 ’s weapon balancing updates have a habit of adjusting both new and old weapons, so just because a weapon was added a long time ago doesn’t mean it will go unaffected by balancing updates.

Consequently, players should arguably expect any gear that either underperforms or overperforms to get rebalanced in a future update for Helldivers 2, based on the game’s recent history of frequent balancing updates. This is ultimately good news for weapons that deserve a buff, but on the other hand, it’s bad news for any of the meta weapons, hence why Helldivers 2’s balancing updates are so controversial.

Truly ‘Bad’ Loadouts in Helldivers 2 are Scarce

In hindsight, players should consider diversifying their loadouts and becoming familiar with a broad variety of weapons, armor sets, and stratagems, to be better prepared and avoid frustration over upcoming balancing updates. Not to mention, trying out different gear can lead to players discovering surprisingly strong loadouts among some of the gear that often gets overlooked because it was previously underwhelming.

While the pressure to stick to the meta loadouts in Helldivers 2 is inevitable, especially on higher-difficulty missions, players shouldn’t let the game’s ever-changing meta prevent them from finding what gear works best for them. Ultimately, every weapon, armor set, and Stratagem can be useful in its own way depending on the mission type and difficulty, so there are arguably no bad loadouts in the game, some are just better suited for certain scenarios than others.

As new gear gets added to the game and existing gear gets rebalanced, staying up-to-date with the meta in Helldivers 2 is a never-ending task. Consequently, players shouldn’t get too attached to a one-size-fits-all loadout, as it will likely get nerfed. Instead, players should consider experimenting with new gear often, as weapon balancing changes are only a matter of time, and some gear can only be judged by testing it out firsthand in a mission.