Helldivers 2's Most Hated Planet Desperately Needs To Be Fixed
The Automatons were briefly the main focus of the ongoing war in "Helldivers 2," but recent Major Orders have pitted players against both them and the Terminids. To be fair, however, "Helldivers" players don't really care which of the game's factions they're tasked with fighting for the sake of Freedom, Liberty, and Managed Democracy — but they are beginning to care about where all that fighting takes place. And recently, players have been forced into fighting on the worst planet in the entire galaxy. Appropriately called Hellmire, the planet is a desolate wasteland covered in fiery storms, and it's been in and out of Terminid control since the game launched. The bugs are once again hiding out on Hellmire, and they might be able to stay there for quite some time, because players are considering letting them have the planet.
The problem with Hellmire isn't just that there's nothing worth saving on the surface, nor the fact that the constantly erupting firestorms make building an infrastructure a fool's errand. The real issue is that fire damage in "Helldivers 2" as a whole is out of control, so any mission on Hellmire becomes nearly impossible for all the wrong reasons. The devs say they are on the case, but if they don't hurry, then Helldivers across the galaxy might start openly ignoring orders from High Command.
Send in the fire extinguishers
In a best case scenario, Hellmire would still be a miserable planet to battle on. Terminids can come crawling and flying out of every hole in the ground, and it's difficult to keep them in your sights because of how stormy the planet is. Those storms are unpredictable and literally on fire, so when you get caught in the superheated winds, you're going to be taking as much damage from the planet itself as from your enemies, if not more.
Adding to the misery, Hellmire missions are a particularly bad slog because fire damage in "Helldivers 2" is horribly unbalanced at the moment. The devs are aware of this and gave fans a heads up on an incoming fix via the game's official Discord server. "We're going through 'fire as a whole' at the moment," wrote community manager Twinbeard.
Arrowhead isn't taking the issue lightly, either. The fix won't be a simple damage nerf. Twinbeard wrote that Arrowhead is looking into "DPS, DOT, the host thingie, not dying in two seconds from just touching it etc. Probably introducing fixes in parts, but we're on it like Donkey Kong on barrels!"
Move over, Creekers
The upcoming fire damage overhaul is sure to make fighting on Hellmire a better experience, but let's be honest, people still aren't going to be excited about it. At this point, too many Helldivers have been traumatized by their past experiences on the planet and are ready to move on.
Much like Malevelon Creek, Hellmire has become a kind of mythological place for Helldivers. Oddly enough, whereas the victory at Malevelon Creek tore the community apart, all the hatred for Hellmire seems to be bringing people together. Everyone acknowledges that the out-of-control fire damage is far from the planet's only problem.
Arguably, the bigger issue is that Super Earth just can't seem to hold onto the planet. Helldivers have "liberated" it more than half a dozen times now, but the bugs keep coming back. This could mean, as some players have theorized, that the Terminids have a deeper connection to Hellmire than we realize. Some believe those fire storms are actually weapons of war. If the Terminids can actually control the fire, that would certainly explain why it has become nearly impossible to avoid. Whatever's really happening on the planet's surface, it needs to change soon, or Helldivers everywhere might turn against High Command and abandon the world to Super Earth's enemies.