Helldivers 2 will revert enemy spawn rates after player outcry, but it's been "so hectic" that it'll take some time to fix
Helldivers 2 is reverting recent changes that had solo players overwhelmed by huge enemy hordes.
Last month, a Helldivers 2 patch tweaked enemy spawn rates for squads that had less than maximum players. The fewer players in a squad, the more enemy patrols would effectively appear, and at the time this appeared to be hugely punishing for solo players, and even squads where one player just happened to drop out.
Thankfully, Arrowhead has now addressed the unrest surrounding enemy spawn rates. "As many of you have noticed, something has been off with patrols and spawn rate for some time now. This primarily leads to more enemies rearing their ugly heads than they're supposed to, indirectly to players feeling overrun, kiting, and subsequently less fun gameplay," community manager Twinbeard writes in the shooter's official Discord.
This has actually been the case for all players, the community manager reveals, not just smaller teams and solo players. "We've been aware, but frankly, the past couple of weeks have been so hectic that we haven't been able to give this the TLC that it required," the community manager adds, probably referencing the whole debacle with the Sony-mandated account linking.
"We've concluded that it's not working as intended and we're changing it. There might be some minor tweaks, but overall we're reverting back to how patrols and spawn rate worked before the patch that changed them a few weeks ago. We believe that this is more or less how you currently want them to be," the message adds, which should be good news for basically all Helldivers 2 players.
However, the changes are going to take "some time" to implement, since Arrowhead wants to "do things and changes properly instead of rushing them." The developer wants to properly test and review the entire overhaul before implementing it, but this could mean that players are faced with "more bugs and bots than even the bravest of citizens would deem realistic for a while longer."
It sounds like Arrowhead will be diverting resources away from bug fixes and other live issues to put an emphasis on getting the enemy spawn rate changes adjusted and live in Helldivers 2. Hopefully this means the enemy spawn rates won't need adjusting again once the changes go live, which is undoubtedly what Arrowhead is hoping for.
