Weapons in Helldivers 2: The Hidden Stats
Arrowhead Game Studios’ CEO Johan Pilestedt recently shared insights into the complexity of stats in Helldivers 2. While the game interface showcases only four visible stats for each weapon – Damage, Capacity, Recoil, and Fire Rate, the reality is far more intricate. Pilestedt revealed that there are actually 50 stats in total, with many of them pertaining to the weapon’s ammunition rather than the gun itself.
This was an earlier version of it. It had a second page that showed the actual ammo stats (as the ammunition is what defines most of the weapon stats). pic.twitter.com/P3lzGkXHy9
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) March 1, 2024
Additionally, Helldivers 2 features a hidden Ergonomics score for each weapon, influencing aspects like aim-down-sights speed and handling. The game’s stats screen initially included a second page with details on Reload Time, Fire Modes, Magazines, Muzzle Velocity, and a graphic illustrating how Recoil impacts bullet spread. However, Pilestedt pointed out that Recoil is determined by a combination of 14 concealed values.
Armor pen is a value between 0 and 10 – if the AP is equal to the enemies armor value the damage is 50% if the AP beats the armor you do 100%. If AP is less than the AV the bullet ricochets.
I don’t know what the light ap condition is. I think it might be if AP is 2 or less. But…— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) March 1, 2024
Pilestedt also shed light on the mechanics of Armor Penetration in Helldivers 2, explaining its impact on damage based on enemy armor values. Describing the challenge of balancing clarity with complexity, he admitted that the game may have erred on the side of being too intricate. “It just becomes overwhelming at some point,” Pilestedt remarked in a tweet.
Yeah in retrospect it might have been a bad call. It was deemed too complex for players ?
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) March 1, 2024
Reflecting on the design decisions of Helldivers 2, Pilestedt acknowledged the fine line between providing detailed information and overwhelming players with data. Despite efforts to strike a balance, he accepted that the game’s stats system may have overcomplicated things for some players.