Helldivers 2’s First Big Update of 2025 Lets You Emote While Ragdolling Once Again, Tweaks Balance, and More

Helldivers 2's substantial 2025 update, patch 01.002.101, is now live, introducing significant gameplay adjustments and bug fixes. This over 5GB patch enhances spray weapon gas duration to 10 seconds (up from 6), restores emoting during flight or ragdoll states, and implements numerous balance tweaks.

Approaching its first anniversary, Helldivers 2 continues its engaging Galactic War narrative with the recent Illuminate faction addition. The update's considerable size fuels speculation about potential unannounced content beyond the documented changes.

A noteworthy, albeit peculiar, fix deserves mention:

Resolved a visual glitch affecting the Stalker's tongue (details withheld).

Helldivers 2 Update 01.002.101 Patch Notes:

Balancing:

• General: Spray weapon gas duration increased to 10 seconds. A timer prevents Illuminate dropship wreckage from permanently obstructing paths.
• Helldiver: Jogging while carrying two-handed items (barrels, SEAF Artillery Rounds) is now permitted.
• FRV: Grenade and stratagem deployment while leaning from the FRV is enabled. FRV handling improved for better cornering.
• Sidearms: Starting magazines increased to 3 (from 2); spare magazines increased to 5 (from 4).
• Stratagem Support Weapons (TX-41 Sterilizer): Crosshair drift and camera climb recoil reduced. Spray weapon gas duration increased to 10 seconds.
• Armor Passives (Siege Ready): A bug granting extra ammo to all weapons (not just primaries as intended) remains unfixed, pending further evaluation. The Armory description will be updated accordingly.
• Backpacks (AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog”): Reworked for improved effectiveness, focusing on gas-based mechanics. Ammo preservation now prioritizes non-gassed enemies. Targeting logic refined to prevent excessive roaming, originating from the Helldiver's position (not the drone). Targeting range increased to 20m (from 10m). Spray weapon gas duration increased to 10 seconds.
• Stratagems (MD-6, MD-I4, MD-17 Anti-Personnel/Incendiary/Tank Mines): Cooldown reduced to 120 seconds (from 180 seconds). Damage increased. Mine deployment spread increased to minimize chain explosions.
• SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack: Now blocks melee attacks until destroyed.

Fixes:

• Top Priority: Emoting restored during falls/ragdolls (without fall damage reduction). Illuminate spawner ship shields now take impact grenade damage. Collision gaps within Illuminate spawner ships fixed. Health packs fully restore stims. High-damage weapons detonate spawned Hellbombs.
• Crash Fixes: Numerous crash fixes addressing various scenarios (mission abort, hot-joining, emote switching, fire, drop-in, reloading, armor changes, tutorial completion, extraction, projectile fire, objective carrying, language changes, SG-20 Halt reloading).
• Social & Matchmaking: Improved matchmaking for regional proximity. Matching with similar difficulty lobbies improved. Chat history persistence fixed.
• Weapons & Stratagems: Emplacement retention during text chat fixed. Arc weapon accuracy against Impaler tentacles improved. E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement armor penetration tag corrected. Stratagem turrets no longer target Illuminate Tesla Towers. Heat weapon visual bug fixed. Melee weapon physics adjusted. B-1 Supply Pack stim sharing restored.
• FRV: FRV reinforcement to prevent minor impact explosions. FRV camera improvements. Reduced rooftop FRV drops. FRV keybindings support non-QWERTY keyboards. Enemy launch distance from FRV impacts adjusted.
• Helldiver: Ragdolling into FRV no longer launches the vehicle. Civilian car climbing/vaulting fixed. Post-ragdoll sliding fixed. Stuck prone gliding animation fixed. Missing pickup animations added.
• Enemies: Stalker tongue visual bug fixed. Enemy reaction to missed shots improved.
• Miscellaneous: Various audio, civilian pathing, visual (floating heads), and damage feedback fixes.

Known Issues:

• Top Priority: Black box terminal clipping, DSSPathfinding, Evacuate Colonists mission pathfinding, Dolby Atmos on PS5.
• Medium Priority: Pelican-1 extraction issues, explosive ragdolling, cape display, "This is Democracy" emote issue, Guard Dog ammo indicator, Barrage Tank stats, LAS-5 Scythe zoom, charge-up weapon firing.

This update significantly enhances the Helldivers 2 experience, addressing critical issues and introducing welcome gameplay adjustments.