Helldivers 2 devs took fan outcry to heart and made the new Napalm Barrage an absolute monstrosity

No matter which side you fought for in the chatroom wars over Arrowhead's balancing choices, I hope we can all agree on one thing: Helldivers 2 air strikes can be really underwhelming. I can't tell you how many times I've called in a stratagem with an intimidating-sounding name like «500kg Bomb,» «Orbital Airburst Strike,» or «Walking Barrage» only for the ensuing payload to miss almost every bug in its vicinity, leave Terminid nests undisturbed, or fail to make a dent in a Charger that charged right through the blast. I'm glad to report that's finally changing.

Since its first big blowup with fans about nerfs, Arrowhead has been inconsistent with its mission to make the arsenal more powerful without sacrificing challenge. Last month's Escalation of Freedom update was a positive step with lots of buffs, but it also introduced more unpopular nerfs.

Arrowhead is gradually walking back those changes by revealing «one buff a day» until its next balancing patch releases September 17, but I'd argue we're already seeing what the future of Helldivers 2 balance looks like with a stratagem deployed by Super Earth Command today: the Orbital Napalm Barrage.

The word «indulgent» came to mind as I watched the Napalm Barrage work its magic on a Terminid bug breach. Missiles set ablaze with freedom peppered a wide area for 20 seconds, barbequing every bug that dared emerge from its hole long before it posed a threat to me or squadmates. The Napalm Barrage feels immediately more powerful than its non-fire cousin—the 380mm Barrage—and a lot of that comes down to the fire that's left behind. I threw a second Napalm Strike at a large Terminid nest and missed the mark by a solid ~15 meters, but even though the initial barrage barely destroyed anything, the aggroed bugs scurried toward the lingering fire, burning up in seconds and turning my whiffed air strike into a 25+ killstreak.

Watching the Napalm Barrage do its dirty work, I realized this was the first time the visual splendor of a