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

Arrowhead has released the first significant update of 2025 for Helldivers 2, introducing a range of crucial modifications to enhance gameplay. Patch 01.002.101 is now live and brings several important changes, including an increase in the duration of the gas status effect from spray weapons, the return of emoting capabilities while flying or ragdolling, and numerous balance adjustments and bug fixes.

As Helldivers 2 approaches its first anniversary, the introduction of the Illuminate enemy faction has revitalized the game, sparking curiosity among players about future developments in the Galactic War's ongoing narrative. Some fans speculate that this hefty 5GB update might include new content alongside the announced balance changes and fixes.

One particularly intriguing fix addresses a visual issue with the Stalker’s tongue, humorously noted for its challenging resolution.

Here are the detailed patch notes for Helldivers 2 update 01.002.101:

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 them from blocking paths in colonies.

Helldiver

• The Ministry of Humanity has updated its Principles of Correct Posture for Safe Lifting, now permitting 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.
• Improved FRV handling for smoother cornering experiences.

Sidearms

• Starting magazines increased from 2 to 3.
• Spare magazines increased from 4 to 5.

Stratagem Support Weapons

• TX-41 Sterilizer
  • Removed crosshair drift recoil.
  • Decreased 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 provides extra ammo to all magazine-based weapons instead of just primaries, will remain unfixed. The Armory description will be updated accordingly, but further evaluation is underway to check for additional unforeseen issues.

Backpacks

• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath
  • Reworked to enhance effectiveness and maintain its unique gas-based mechanics.
  • Now conserves ammo by targeting only enemies unaffected by the gas status effect.
  • Targeting logic has been updated to prevent excessive roaming, with targeting originating from the Helldiver's position rather than the drone itself.
  • 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 reduce the risk of 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 reduce the risk of 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 sufficient damage.

Fixes

Resolved Top Priority Issues:

• Emoting while falling or ragdolling is now possible again, without reducing fall damage.
• Fixed Illuminate spawner ship shields not taking impact grenade damage.
• Addressed collision gaps inside the Illuminate spawner ship, allowing grenades thrown near the door to destroy the ships.
• 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, quickly switching emotes, fires, end of drop-in sequences, returning to the ship while reloading, soft-locking during drop-in, changing armor pieces, finishing the tutorial, during extraction, under heavy projectile fire, when a player leaves during an encounter, changing text language, and reloading the SG-20 Halt.

Social Issues & Matchmaking

• Improved matchmaking to better connect players from nearby regions and match them with similar difficulty lobbies.
• Fixed chat history clearing when going to and returning from missions.

Weapons and Stratagems

• Addressed issues with emplacements, Arc weapons, the E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement, stratagem turrets, heat weapons, melee weapons, the B-1 Supply Pack, and the E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement's ammunition.

FRV

• Reinforced FRVs to prevent catastrophic explosions from minor parking mishaps.
• Improved FRV camera and reduced the chance of it getting stuck underground.
• Reduced the likelihood of FRVs being dropped on rooftops.
• Fixed FRV movement key bindings for non-QWERTY keyboards.
• Addressed issues with enemies being launched too far when hit by the FRV.

Helldiver

• Fixed issues with ragdolling into the FRV, climbing over civilian cars, sliding after ragdolling, stuck animations in shallow water, and missing sample pick-up animations.

Enemies

• Fixed a visual bug with the Stalker’s tongue.
• Addressed enemy reactions to missed shots from projectiles or melee attacks.

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Fixed audio issues for clients waiting for the host, Helldivers exiting the hellpod prematurely, civilians being blocked during Emergency Evacuation missions, reduced encounters with purple question marks, floating head issues with the AC-2 Obedient armor, and a bug causing misleading damage feedback.

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 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.
• The "This is Democracy" emote on the ship might send fellow Helldivers on unauthorized spacewalks.
• AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog” Dog Breath does not show when out of ammo.
• The 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 firing faster than the RPM limit.