Helldivers 2’s Ammo Nerf is a Tough Pill to Swallow After Xbox’s Honeymoon Phase

Getting to witness a new batch of players join the ranks of PC and PlayStation 5’s democratic soldiers in Helldivers 2 is fascinating. For one, I haven’t noticed an alarming disparity in the success of missions, and it isn’t always transparent to me if a player is new unless their level is low, or they explicitly say so in Helldivers 2’s in-game chat. Secondly, it’s neat knowing that these new players are being introduced to everything the game has to offer without the same experience or familiarity as me or anyone else who’s been playing Helldivers 2 since launch on February 8, 2024.

For instance, the state of Helldivers 2’s current Major Order is depressingly dire, to be sure, but the disappointment of an impending Major Order failure isn’t anything that veteran players won’t be thoroughly versed in. Helldivers recently enjoyed the success of the fabled triple Major Order against all three enemy factions, and with players enjoying so much content since Xbox’s recruits arrived, it may be a bit of a sting to see this Major Order fail so spectacularly. Plus, the cherry on top of it all is that Arrowhead has devilishly decided to add salt to the wound by cutting available ammunition supplies in half.

Helldivers 2’s Hive World Major Order Has Been a Disaster… or Maybe Forgotten?

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Perhaps either purposefully or mistakenly masking the Major Order it was ascribed to, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if Helldivers 2’s Into the Unjust update being as fantastical and engaging as it has had a role to play in the Major Order progressing at a snail’s pace, seemingly with no chance to complete it in the scant 10 hours that are remaining. Indeed, everyone was probably embracing all the new Hive World content, such as its subterranean level design and Terminid enemy units, including Rupture strain bugs, Dragonroaches, and Hive Lords, disregarding samples for the thrill of frying bigger fish.

I’m guilty of that, too; I’ve been enamored by the sheer scale of Hive Lords, enjoying maneuvering cavernous depths by blasting every bug in my dimly lit path with the EXO-49 Emancipator Exosuit’s dual autocannons, and learning the ins and outs of new mission types.

Meanwhile, all we’ve needed to do is extract with as many common and rare samples as we could. Based on the completion percentage of the Major Order at the time of this writing, that was obviously not high on anyone’s list of priorities:

Operation Righteous Reclamation has entered its second stage. The Helldivers must help research the Hive World, while defending Outpost Alpha.
- Successfully extract with 191,981,973/350,000,000 (54.9%) common samples on Oshaune.
- Successfully extract with 94,051,803/200,000,000 (47.0%) rare samples on Oshaune.
- Hold Hellmire when the order expires: 🗹

Numbers in the millions may initially sound like an unfathomable amount, especially if you’re new and not accustomed to what Helldivers are capable of achieving, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility in the slightest that players could’ve achieved 100% on both sample types. To make matters worse, Arrowhead has more or less planted the final nail in the coffin of this Major Order by enacting the following dispatch:

Gloom Interference

Due to adverse spore conditions, logistical support on Oshaune has been greatly limited. Ammunition pickups on this planet yield 50% less ammo.

Thus, every time players acquire a supply box or ammo pickup, the ammo they receive will be half of what they’re ordinarily given. This nerf may not affect everyone the same way; for example, if the LAS-16 Sickle and LAS-16 Double-Edge Sickle were still my main Helldivers 2 primary weapons, I’d have no reason to be concerned unless I blew a heat sink reserve, which I’d simply be more mindful of.

Now, this has been crucially devastating as I’ve permanently swapped to Helldivers 2’s R-36 Eruptor, arguably the strongest meta primary in the game, and my shots have counted more than ever. This dispatch is particularly cruel, though, because it is arriving in the Major Order’s twilight hours, as I don’t think it would have made a difference even if Arrowhead decided to unlock infinite ammo until it expires. Fortunately, as all Boxdivers will soon realize, one failed Major Order doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve handed the victory of the Galactic War to an enemy faction on a silver plate.