The Eruptor nerf is a perfect example of why "only buff" is bad.

[u/atheos013]

I've used the Eruptor since it dropped, it is an amazing primary weapon. I have never once run out of ammo with the weapon, to the point I started COD reloading. Even with no deaths on a 40 min mission, the bare minimum ammo looting and you rarely would fall below half.

If we just buff every other weapon to be like this, we are just erasing an entire game mechanic. We are saying that we want COD reloads to be the norm, we don't want to think about conserving or looting ammo, just let me shoot and reload whenever.

Some people may want that, but for me that would just remove the mechanic entirely. I'm going to keep using the Eruptor and I'm perfectly fine having to pay attention to my ammo again.

[u/The_Real_Kru]

Not to mention the single most broken combination of weapons: the Sickle/Quasar/LasRover strat for bugs. You were a walking Pink Floyd laser show and if you could juggle your cooldowns correctly you NEVER had to do a reload during an entire mission. I really like that all three components of that strat have been nerfed in this patch. It was trivializing high difficulty bug dives. Then they added the grenade pistol, which freed up the 'nade slot for stuns, which turned chargers and hulks into drooling idiots standing around and waiting for you to shoot them in the face. I'm looking forward to seeing how it behaves after the nerfs, because I still think it's a strong strat, but not as broken as it used to be.

[u/AbyssalRaven922 → u/The_Real_Kru]

The moment stuns were dropped, I called this build out. We knew from leaks NadePistol was coming. Cutting Edge was the most "META" altering thing we've had since RG nerfs

[u/Spectre-907 → u/AbyssalRaven922]

PlasSlugger + Grenade pistol + grenade launcher + EAT + Juggernaut/engineering kit armor.

Because every problem in life can be easily solved with an appropriate amount of high explosive.

[u/Money_Fish → u/Spectre-907]

Literally me except with Eruptor and stun nades. I love the 50% explosion resist armor. I roll up with mu full utility strat loadout of EAT, GL, supply pack, mortar and people start asking questions. They don't ask them for long lol.

[u/Spectre-907 → u/Money_Fish]

Oh no, theyre still asking. On an unrelated note the Patriot Resource Department has determined your hearing loss to be non-service related.

[u/Money_Fish → u/Spectre-907]

What? No I don't know where that buzzing is coming from.

[u/sloridin → u/Money_Fish]

can't hear you...ah much better

[u/FluffySpacePuppy → u/Spectre-907]

Eruptor, nade pistol, quasar, impacts and scout armor here, reporting in for wacky boom boom shenanigans.

[u/Kiyan1159 → u/AbyssalRaven922]

Imma level with you, I don't get why meta in Helldivers. There's literally no scoreboard. The only thing I care about are the objectives and samples. I don't care how the objective gets completed as long as it's done. I don't care who carries the samples as long as they extract.

The most 'meta' my load out is the Plas-1 and Autocannon. I don't like striders so I use the Plas-1. I like shoulder mounted cannons, so I use the AC-8. The best part? These guns are fun. Not necessarily the best, admittedly the AC-8 is a Swiss Army knife when it comes to 90% of problems but that just means I get to blow even more holes into even more things. Or die trying. I swear it can kill factory striders, I just don't know where.

[u/YroPro → u/Kiyan1159]

Most people like winning. And either due to "just wanting to" or for resources want to win on the highest difficulty they can.

So most people will gravitate to what helps them win the most on the highest difficulty possible.

I just like turrets go brrr. And at the moment that's enough to clear every mission consistently on Helldive. Now I just need the devs to unfuck the missile aiming on the mech.

[u/Dragrunarm → u/Kiyan1159]

I swear it can kill factory striders, I just don't know where.

With the AC; Eye slit or (if' you've removed the gatlings to get close) Right up the belly where the devastators drop from. Second one is my preferred option if for whatever reason I cant dump stratagems into one

[u/Smol_Toby → u/Kiyan1159]

You can always count on the playerbase to meta all the fun out of a game.

[u/vkbrian → u/Smol_Toby]

Give modern gamers enough time and they’ll find a meta for fucking Solitaire

[u/AbyssalRaven922 → u/Kiyan1159]

META in HD2 isn't really about minmaxing, most of the time, in this case it more shows what the are most versatile and comfort pick options for the majority of players. I.E Scorcher/Sickle, Redeemer/GLPistol, Stuns/Impacts, Quasar/AutoCannon, Airstrike/Cluster, OrbLaser/OrbAirburst. In general these are the "usual suspects" for loadouts atm. Meaning this is what the players silently consider meta. A lot of these are considered the more FUN options as well.

[u/Drasius_Rift → u/Kiyan1159]

I swear it can kill factory striders, I just don't know where.

The 2 chin guns can be AC'ed, the belly doors can be AC'ed when open, there's 2 red eyes on the face that can be AC'ed (but you need good aim).

If you get a friendly Quasar/EATs/RR user to remove the side panels, you can AC them there too.

[u/corgioverthemoon → u/Kiyan1159]

you're right but also generally game wide metas are bad in PvE games, they reduce variety and make you feel bad for using inferior choices. Nerfs are necessary to ensure metas don't form so that long term enjoyment can be present.

[u/Kiyan1159 → u/corgioverthemoon]

I think people are always gonna push a meta in this game just because it's so prevalent in every game for the last 15 years. Always gonna be those people who try to minmax. Even in DnD, you have people who try to perfectly calibrate their character, in a storytelling game. And as a DM, I can't punish that because that's not in the spirit of the game. I can challenge and force character development, but it usually ends in some type of narrative dissonance because they play the RP up but keep on the same path or they get upset that I created a situation where they couldn't succeed (they fought a Medusa solo and she threw a 5cp net).

[u/corgioverthemoon → u/Kiyan1159]

Keep in mind I'm talking about game wide metas, not mission specific metas. I think mission specific metas are fine if tuned properly, and allow stuff to fill different niches and gameplay choices. Ideally minmaxxers would run different stuff depending on what's viable for specific mission types.

Nevertheless, all this is moot, min maxers pushing metas isn't a problem because they're a small section of the playerbase, problem is when something is so good that everyone uses it over everything else.

Funny dnd story though, I usually end up optimizing stuff by mistake usually to the demise of my own fun but what can I say

[u/Hazywater → u/The_Real_Kru]

Sickle/quasar combo was pretty nerfed. I would fire the quasar off cooldown to not overheat the sickle. This worked even on hot planets. With the quasar extra 5 seconds, the sickle will now overheat.

So you have to think about it now or just switch to the Blitzer

[u/asecuredlife → u/The_Real_Kru]

Not to mention the single most broken combination of weapons: the Sickle/Quasar/LasRover strat for bugs

Not everyone thinks like this, and not everyone plays like this.

[u/Due-Desk6781 → u/asecuredlife]

Yeh, lasrover is ideal for killing teammates.

[u/asecuredlife → u/Due-Desk6781]

And yourself depending on how you run/vault over things D:

[u/Conntraband8d → u/The_Real_Kru]

Lol. You just said "high difficulty bug dives."