Helldivers 2’s First Big Update of 2025 Lets You Emote While Ragdolling Once Again, Tweaks Balance, and More

Helldivers 2's substantial 2025 update, patch 01.002.101, introduces significant gameplay adjustments and bug fixes. This over 5GB patch, released now, extends the gas duration from spray weapons, reinstates emoting during flight or ragdoll states, and implements numerous balance tweaks.

With Helldivers 2 approaching its first anniversary and the Illuminate faction injecting fresh challenges, players anticipate the next chapter in the Galactic War's evolving narrative. The update's considerable size hints at potential unannounced content additions beyond the documented changes.

A noteworthy, albeit bizarre, fix deserves mention:

Fixed a small visual bug with the Stalker’s tongue (you don’t want to know what it took to fix it)

Helldivers 2 Patch 01.002.101 Notes:

Balancing:

• General Changes: Increased spray weapon gas effect duration to 10 seconds (from 6). Implemented a despawn timer for Illuminate dropship wreckage to prevent path obstructions.
• Helldiver: Jogging while carrying two-handed items (barrels, SEAF Artillery Rounds) is now permitted.
• FRV: Grenade and stratagem deployment authorized while leaning from the FRV. FRV handling improved for cornering.
• Sidearms: Increased starting magazines to 3 (from 2), spare magazines to 5 (from 4).
• Stratagem Support Weapons (TX-41 Sterilizer): Removed crosshair drift recoil, decreased camera climb recoil. Increased spray weapon gas effect duration to 10 seconds (from 6).
• Armor Passives (Siege Ready): A bug granting extra ammo to all weapons (not just primaries as intended) remains unfixed for now, pending further evaluation. Armory description will be updated later.
• Backpacks (AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog”): Reworked for improved effectiveness, focusing on gas-based mechanics. Ammo preservation by prioritizing non-gassed enemies. Targeting logic refined to prevent excessive roaming, originating from the Helldiver's position (not the drone). Targeting range increased to 20m (from 10m). Increased spray weapon gas effect duration to 10 seconds (from 6).
• Stratagems (MD-6 Anti-Personnel Minefield, MD-I4 Incendiary Mines, MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines): Cooldown reduced to 120 seconds (from 180). Damage increased. Deployment spread increased by 20% to reduce chain explosions.
• SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack: Now blocks melee attacks until destroyed.

Fixes:

• Top Priority: Emoting during falls/ragdolling restored (without fall damage reduction). Illuminate spawner ship shields now vulnerable to impact grenades. Collision gaps in Illuminate spawner ships fixed. Health packs fully restore stims. High-damage weapons detonate spawned Hellbombs.
• Crash Fixes: Numerous crash fixes related to mission aborts, hot-joining, emotes, fires, drop-in sequences, reloading, armor changes, tutorial completion, extraction, projectile fire, carrying objectives, text language changes, and SG-20 Halt reloading.
• Social & Matchmaking: Improved matchmaking for regional proximity. Matching with similar difficulty lobbies improved. Chat history persistence fixed.
• Weapons & Stratagems: Emplacement retention while using text chat. Arc weapon accuracy against Impaler tentacles improved. E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement armor penetration tag corrected. Stratagem turrets no longer target Illuminate Tesla Towers. Fixed visual heat weapon counter bug. Melee weapon physics adjusted. B-1 Supply Pack stim sharing restored.
• FRV: FRV reinforcement to prevent minor impact explosions. FRV camera improvements for visual appeal and underground avoidance. Reduced rooftop drops on FRV call-in. FRV keybindings now support non-QWERTY keyboards. Enemy launch distance from FRV impact adjusted.
• Helldiver: Fixed FRV ragdoll yeeting. Civilian car vaulting/climbing restored. Ragdoll ground sliding fixed. Fixed stuck prone gliding animation in shallow water. Sample pick-up animations restored.
• Enemies: Fixed Stalker's tongue visual bug. Enemy reaction to missed shots improved.
• Miscellaneous: Various audio, Hellpod exit, civilian pathing, purple question mark frequency, floating head syndrome (AC-2 Obedient armor), and low armor penetration damage fixes.

Known Issues:

• Top Priority: Black box terminal clipping, DSSP pathfinding, Evacuate Colonists Illuminate mission pathfinding, Dolby Atmos on PS5.
• Medium Priority: Pelican-1 ramp sticking, explosive ragdolling, cape display issues, unintended spacewalks from emotes, Guard Dog ammo display, Barrager Tank stats, LAS-5 Scythe zoom, charge-up weapon firing rate issues.