The Breaker is one of Helldivers 2‘s original weapons and a favorite from the first game in the sci-fi series. The shotgun hit like a train and had excellent range, rate of fire, and magazine size. It was an all around great weapon for blowing up bugs and beating back automatons until Arrowhead Studios controversially nerfed it to give other weapons more play. Now the development team says the weapon will return to its former glory.
“Here goes the long awaited Breaker update!” the studio tweeted earlier today. “Now it comes with an extended magazine which holds 16 shells and stagger force increased from 10 to 15.” Creative director Johan Pilestedt added, “We’ve finally reverted the Breaker to what it was at launch.” It will be part of a number of weapon buffs coming in the next update on September 17.
The SG-225 Breaker quickly became the weapon of choice for many players shortly after Helldivers 2 launched in February. Many build specialists labeled it as a top-tier loadout choice for a range of situations, and by early March, Arrowhead had moved to try and lessen its grip on the meta, increasing the recoil and nerfing the magazine capacity. Players were pissed, and it became the first in a long line of calibrations to the game that seemed to sacrifice fun in the name of better design.
Arrowhead basically reverting those changes is part of a recent 60-day campaign to improve the overall experience of the game and win back player support as Helldivers hits the back half of its first year out in the wild. Railguns are getting big improvements too, as are flamethrowers. The game received a higher difficulty mode and new mission variants last month, but unexpected nerfs set off a firestorm in some corners of the community that pushed recent frustrations to the breaking point, especially with the game’s constant tweaks ahead of new battle passes arsenals.
Speaking of which, Arrowhead announced Helldivers 2‘s latest Chemical Agents Warbond will be toxin-themed and arrive on September 19. It includes a TX-41 Sterilizer chemical gas sprayer and a variant Guard Dog that can also douse enemies in chemtrails. It also includes a stimpack pistol players can use to shoot one another with heals. The new toys should go over easier with players now that their old ones are getting stronger as well.
