Arrowhead has released Helldivers 2 update 5.0.0, which makes big balance changes that actually raise weapon damage — but there’s also an incoming message from High Command that has the community worried.

Update 5.5.0 arrives alongside the jungle-themed Python Commandos Warbond, which adds a number of fan-requested weapons including a minigun.

But it’s the incoming message from High Command — an in-universe tease from Arrowhead to the Helldivers 2 community on what’s in store — that has raised eyebrows.

“Super Earth has detected strange signals from previously unmonitored worlds on the Galactic map,” the message reads. “The Ministry of Intelligence is investigating the source of the signals. Helldivers, be vigilant and hold the high ground.”

What does this mean? Players aren’t sure, although speculation is pointing to something Illuminate related, given the mention of “unmonitored worlds.”

As for the patch, it makes a number of fixes, including for audio issues, XP modifiers, and several crashes, as well as more optimizations and improvements. The balancing changes raise weapon damage, and there are much-needed fixes to weapon FOV. The patch notes, courtesy of Steam, are below.

In other Helldivers news, we finally have confirmation that Justin Lin is set to direct the upcoming Helldivers 2 movie. Lin is best known for his work on a number of Fast & Furious movies, and was the director of the series from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006 until Fast & Furious 6 in 2013.

Helldivers 2 Update 5.5.0 patch notes:

Balancing

General changes

Decreased ergonomics penalty on magnifying scopes weapon attachments

• The intent is to make magnifying scopes more a matter of preference by decreasing the penalty they impose on a weapon's ergonomics (low ergonomics makes the weapons muzzle follow the crosshair slower).

Some of the Pistol ammo balance update

• The intent with this change is to make some of the pistol rounds weapons more effective after the last pistol ammo re-balance that did make them more of a close range weapon.
• The pistol rounds re-balance general intent is to make them more effective at close range while not more effective at long range then for example assault or marksman rifles

2x Tube Red Dot

• Decreased ergonomic modifier from (-3) to (-1)

4x Combat Scope

• Decreased ergonomic modifier from (-6) to (-2)

10x Sniper Scope

• Decreased ergonomic modifier from (-9) to (-4)
• APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle is also effected by this change so it will get an increased ergonomics from 26 to 31

Primary weapons

SMG-37 Defender

• Increased damage from 100 to 110
• Increased durable damage from 20 to 22

SMG-32 Reprimand

• Increased damage from 135 to 140

M7S SMG

• Increased damage from 80 to 90
• Increased durable damage from 16 to 18

VG-70 Variable

• Increased durable damage 20 to 23

M90A Shotgun

• Increased durable damage 15 to 20

Sidearms weapons

P-2 Peacemaker

• Increased damage from 95 to 100
• Increased durable damage 30 to 32

P-113 Verdict

• Increased damage from 135 to 140

M6C/SOCOM Pistol

• Increased damage from 110 to 125
• Increased durable damage from 25 to 28

Enemies

War strider

• Decreased force strength on grenade explosion from 50 to 30

Bile Spewer

• Decreased force strength on artillery explosion from 50 to 30
• Decreased force impulse on artillery explosion from 60 to 40

Stalker

• Decreased force strength from 40 to 35 when a tongue attack hits the player

(Force strength is the value that decides if a player or enemy should stagger or ragdoll.)

Gameplay

Keybind options for quick weapon function:

• New, unbound keybind options have been added for quickly swapping weapon functions (like changing fire modes or ammo).
• The intent is to give players better ease of use, especially for weapons with multiple ammo types like the Halt, Autocannon, and the new "One Two" AR.

Updated First Person View (FPV)

• We updated how First Person View (FPV) works with the intention of improving the aiming experience across different FOV settings (Field of view).
• The intent is that the size and distance of the scope will be more consistent with different FOV settings.
• We also updated how ergonomics works in FPV with the intent to make it more responsive.
• Fixed instances of flickering textures in various city locations

Fixes

Crash Fixes & Softlocks

• Fixed a rare crash that would occur when combat music would start
• Fixed a rare crash that could occur during 'Nuke Nursery' mission
• Fixed crash after hotjoining a game that just started where the existing players are using certain stratagems
• Fixed a rare crash when enemies would fall through the ground
• Fix rare crash on mission load

Weapons & Stratagem Fixes

• Fixed an issue with the BR-14 Adjudicator, when aiming with the 10x scope on 200 m setting which would cause the model to disappear
• Fixed a visual issue on VG-70 Variable during the reload animation when aiming down sights
• Fixed a torso clipping issue with the CE-07 Demolition Specialist armor
• Fixed pump-shotguns sometimes not showing a new shell being inserted on reload
• PLAS-45 Epoch now correctly zooms in ADS mode, just like any other support weapon
• Fixed display related to no ammo being shown for Infinite Ammo weapons
• Fixed the VO (Voice Over) line for “no ammo” being played after pressing reload whilst using Infinite Ammo weapons
• Fixed a small bug where supply packs were giving ammo without consuming a charge when dropped
• Fixed a bug that locks stratagems after drowning while holding that stratagem ball
• Fixed the red glow that would happen if the player would empty one or two magazines with MG-206 Heavy Machine Gun, M-105 Stalwart or MG-43 Machine Gun

Enemies

• Factory Striders will no longer be launched to sky erratically when dying
• Hellpods that hit Factory Striders will no longer remain in the air after the enemy dies
• War Striders now detonate mines
• Enemy presence around Cognitive Disruptor Towers is now cleared from the mini-map when the objective is completed
• Chargers no longer speed up when exiting charge
• Fixed Rupture Warriors getting stuck below Sentries
• Added a medium-armored weak spot to the vents on the backside of the Bunker, AA, and Mortar emplacements. This was done so these structures behave similarly to other comparable defenses..

Miscellaneous Fixes

• Fixed the terrain not being affected by explosions and the Entrenchment Tool (PS5 only)
• Fixed a bug where the lights were missing/flickering on the Orbital Gatling
• Fixed a thumbnail glitch in the Acquisition Center menu
• Cryo-pods no longer clip into the Engineering Bay when playing the ship arrival cutscene
• Fixed an armor gap affecting CE-27 Ground Beaker and CW-9 White Wolf whilst using the 'Draw!' emote
• The UI will no longer show inaccurate objective info on the Mission Summary screen if the host has left the game
• Fixed a bug whilst joining a non-host in a cross-play lobby.
• Fixed the NPC technician’s neck sticking through their shirt
• Mini-map fog of war effect while exploring caves no longer persists between missions
• Soon-to-be Helldivers will no longer be stopped from progressing the tutorial if they die in the flag room
• Fixed issue where the automaton grinder sludge would be affected by weathering even though it's sealed behind glass
• Fixed an issue where a missile inside the Destroyer’s hangar was misaligned. This dangerous act of asymmetry has been corrected. The undemocratic ship operator responsible for this disgraceful display of inefficiency has been promptly re-educated in a high-orbit correctional facility. Glory to the Office of Corrective Deployment!
• Helldivers will no longer be locked out of the GATER when trying to get into the driver's seat simultaneously
• Fixed a bug with missing haptics when a controller disconnects or reconnects
• Fixed an issue on a command bunker where there was a lack of collision

Optimizations

• Optimized lights on Automaton VFX
• Optimized physics of rock assets throughout the game to improve performance
• Improved the way environmental effects such as sandstorms, blizzards, and acid storms apply their status effects for reduced impact on performance
• Improved ADS weapon placement and behavior
• Reduced the amount of camera clipping on weapons
• Fixed texture details used for weapons while aiming down sights
• Improved depth of field when ADS and whilst scopes are zoomed in
• Fix for textures sometimes appearing low resolution even when memory is available (PC only)

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].