Helldivers 2's Flashiest Weapon Is Finally Worth Using

has a variety of weapons that are exciting to use, but the thrill factor doesn't always correspond directly to actual utility in the fight against Terminids and Automatons. Rather than experimenting with some of the more flavorful options, many soldiers have ended up sticking to tried and true basics like the SG-225 Breaker, a shotgun with a track record of getting the job done. This hasn't been an ideal balance for the game, but new changes have shifted things around enough for some weapons that weren't viable before to look like reasonable options.

One choice that's been something of a disappointment in the past is the FLAM-40 Flamethrower, a weapon capable of spitting fire at enemies in a manner that looks like it would leave them burnt to a crisp. In reality, however, the Flamethrower proved to only be situationally useful, generally relying on highly specialized builds to gain relevance that wasn't already covered by other options. The Flamethrower has always been at its best against Chargers, but the more widely effective Railgun is also capable of tackling that particular challenge.

received a wide array of tweaks in Minor Patch 01.000.100, all of which can be viewed in the patch notes available on Steam. Among a variety of balance changes to weapons, strategems, and missions, the patch includes a major change to the utility of the Flamethrower.

Flamethrower: Increased damage per second by 50%

While most other weapon changes deal with lesser fundamentals like magazine capacity or more minor tweaks to damage, the Flamethrower's update significantly boosts its efficacy in any situation. It's much easier to justify equipping the Flamethrower than ever before, and its capability to beat Chargers in is now genuinely impressive.

The changes to the Flamethrower look even better against alternatives thanks to some key nerfs to the Breaker and Railgun, which were quickly becoming the default options for much of the community.The most relevant change might be the