Update: A patch released today on March 26th makes it so that Helldivers 2 no longer freezes when using the Arc Thrower, Arc Shotgun, and Tesla Tower.
Original: Helldivers 2 got another update this week which addressed several problems the community raised concerns about, but it also seems to have introduced a new problem. Arrowhead Game Studios acknowledged a surge in crashes and players’ games freezing up on Wednesday not long after the update went live, but it wasn’t until Thursday when the problem was narrowed down two different Stratagems and one weapon which appear to be causing all these crashes. The problematic Stratagems and weapon in question are the Arc Thrower Stratagem, the Tesla Tower Stratagem, and the Arc Shotgun primary weapon, but unfortunately for Helldivers 2 players, it doesn’t look like a fix will be implemented until next week.
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The problems with the crashes were first acknowledged over in the game’s Discord server with Arrowhead community manager Twinbeard agreeing that players were experiencing “a lot of crashes” which were likely tied to the update released on Wednesday. For those not in the Discord who want to make sure it’s not just them experiencing lots of crashes, here’s what was said:
“We know that many of you are experience a lot of crashes at the moment (seemingly linked to the patch deployed earlier today, which at least resolved the persistent friend request issue for a lot of players),” Twinbeard said. “Our team is deep down in the trenches digging into the issue as we speak. We are on alert ready to update on any changes here. We’re very sorry @everyone for not being able to supply you with the glorious feeling of bug and bot stomping and hope to have the game more stable as soon as possible.”
And on Thursday, fellow Arrowhead community manager Baskinator followed up with another response indicating that the problem had been identified. That was the good news — that the issue was narrowed down to the Arc Thrower, Tesla Tower, and Arc Shotgun — but the bad news was that there wouldn’t be a fix ready to be released until next week. In the meantime, Helldivers 2 players have simply been advised to avoid using those three armaments entirely, at least until the issues can be resolved.
“We have identified the cause of the freezes many players have been experiencing, and we’re in the process of building a patch to fix it that should be ready to deploy early next week,” Baskinator said in the game’s Discord server. “In the meantime, we advise against using the Arc Thrower, Arc Shotgun, and Tesla Tower as those appear to be linked to the issue. Thank you for your continued patience!”
Some Helldivers 2 players have long been endorsers of the lightning-based weapons like the Arc Thrower and Tesla Tower Stratagems, and those players likely advocated for the Arc Shotgun from the new Warbond, too, even if it turned out to be somewhat underwhelming. These types of weapons were never super popular, however, due to the nature of the lightning arcs which can easily hurt teammates as well as the fact that their effects are not quite as visually impactful as something like a shot from the Autocannon. They experienced a surge in popularity from the new Warbond though given that it included armor sets which were resistant to that type of damage, a perk that largely took care of the friendly fire downside. With more people using them now, these crashes apparently resulting from the last update became all too common.
A fix for them should be out next week, but until then, Helldivers 2 players are advised to bring something else in their loadouts besides these three weapons.
