Första stora uppdateringen till Helldivers II anländer om två veckor

Sedan det utmärkta Helldivers II släpptes har det från vissa håll klagats på att uppdateringarna rullar ut i för långsam takt, men snart är det alltså dags för det första stora tillägget kallat Escalation of Freedom. Det här är vad som ingår:

En tionde svårighetsgrad och större uppdragsvariation

Something that continues to amaze us is our players' insatiable desire for more bugs, more bots, more liberation, and more destruction. We thought nine levels of Helldiving difficulties would be enough, but in the Escalation of Freedom we're turning it up to 10... Combat Rating 10 that is.

CR 10: Super Helldive is our most challenging, most relentless dive difficulty level yet, and we hope that this is going to give players the intensity they're looking for on the battlefield. And with a great challenge comes greater rewards.

But a new difficulty level isn't the only thing the community wanted. We've also heard your desire for mission variation, which is why we're bringing you new mission objectives and bigger enemy outposts for both bots and bugs that offer brand new Super Sample rewards. These outposts will be heavily fortified, and require players to coordinate and strategize in order to take them out.

And if you're new to Helldivers 2, you don't have to worry about missing out on all the fun until you unlock Super Helldive, because many of our new mission objectives will be playable on other difficulty levels.

Nya fiender och biomer (träsk!)

Escalation of Freedom is unleashing some new threats to our liberty that will take some serious strategizing from the Helldivers to take down.

Back by popular demand: the Impaler! This big guy from the original Helldivers creates some new challenges. No longer can you run from the bugs when the Impaler is around-big, imposing, and destructive, it demands to be dealt with.

Also new among the Terminid ranks is the Spore Charger. As if the regular old Charger wasn't scary enough, the Spore Charger is shrouded in fog to obscure its location until it's right up on you, Helldiver.

Lastly, the Terminid Alpha Commander, which is a supercharged Brood Commander that's bigger, meaner, and doesn't hesitate to call in other bugs for backup.
Don't think we forgot about the Automatons. Their ranks are growing, too, with the addition of the formidable Rocket Tank, as well as some other bot surprises we'll be throwing your way.

Explore the swamps but not as you know them, with rolling fog and the untamed flora, the blackened trees obscure the light and the air itself feels haunted. Keep your flashlight handy, as visibility is limited and light is key. The enemy could be hiding anywhere amongst the undergrowth.

Generella fixar och motarbetning av "grief kicking"

The last addition I want to highlight about the Escalation of Freedom update is that we're making changes to mitigate the problem of grief kicking in Helldivers 2. While it's our hope that players engage with the game in good faith and sportsmanship, we do recognize that some players are using the team kicking to grief others.

To help improve this we have implemented a system where if a player is kicked, they will spawn into a new session as the host with all of the team's loot from their previous session. All items can now be picked up by the player before extraction. The squad doing the kicking will see a message in the chat widget that a player has been kicked, yet their loot remains unchanged.

With these changes, all players have the opportunity to leave with all loot collected on mission, with no one Helldiver losing out. We're committed to making changes that will improve the player experience and encourage healthy, cooperative gameplay.

Along with this, we're also releasing other quality of life upgrades with Escalation of Freedom, including major fixes to the social menu to make diving with your friends easier.

Vi kan se fram emot Escalation of Freedom den 6 augusti, och för den som undrar är hela paketet - förutsatt att du äger grundspelet - alldeles gratis. Ses vi i helvetet?