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, introduces significant gameplay adjustments and bug fixes. Now available, this over 5GB patch extends spray weapon gas durations, reinstates emoting during flight or ragdoll states, and implements numerous balance tweaks.

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

A noteworthy, and oddly specific, fix:

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

Helldivers 2 Update 01.002.101 Patch Notes:

Balancing:

• General: Spray weapon gas effects now last 10 seconds (up from 6). A timer prevents persistent Illuminate dropship wreckage obstruction.
• Helldiver: Jogging is now permitted while carrying two-handed items (barrels, SEAF Artillery Rounds).
• FRV: Grenade and stratagem deployment authorized while leaning from the FRV. FRV handling improved for cornering.
• Sidearms: Increased starting magazines to 3 (from 2), and spare magazines to 5 (from 4).
• Stratagem Support Weapons (TX-41 Sterilizer): Eliminated crosshair drift and reduced camera climb recoil. Gas effect duration increased to 10 seconds.
• Armor Passives (Siege Ready): A bug granting extra ammo to all weapons (not just primaries as intended) remains unfixed for further evaluation. Armory descriptions will be updated accordingly.
• Backpacks (AX/TX-13 “Guard Dog”): Reworked for improved effectiveness, prioritizing gas-unaffected enemies. Targeting logic refined, range increased to 20m (from 10m). Gas effect duration increased to 10 seconds.
• Stratagems (MD-6, MD-I4, MD-17): Cooldown reduced to 120 seconds (from 180), damage increased, and mine deployment spread widened to reduce chain explosions. (Specific damage increases detailed in original notes).
• SH-20 Ballistic Shield Backpack: Now blocks melee attacks until destroyed.

Fixes:

• Top Priority: Emoting is again possible while falling or ragdolling (without fall damage reduction). Illuminate spawner ship shields now take impact grenade damage. Collision gaps in Illuminate ships fixed. Health packs fully restore stims. High-damage weapons detonate Hellbombs.
• Crash Fixes: Numerous crash fixes addressed, including those related to mission aborts, hot-joining, emotes, fires, drop-in sequences, reloading, armor changes, tutorial completion, extraction, projectile fire, carryable objectives, text language changes, and SG-20 Halt reloading.
• Social & Matchmaking: Improved matchmaking for regional proximity. Difficulty lobby matching enhanced. Chat history preservation fixed.
• Weapons & Stratagems: Emplacement retention during text chat. Arc weapon accuracy improved against Impaler tentacles. E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement armor penetration tag corrected. Stratagem turrets no longer target Illuminate Tesla Towers. Melee weapon physics adjusted. B-1 Supply Pack stim functionality restored.
• FRV: FRV reinforcement to prevent minor impact explosions. Camera improvements and reduced rooftop drops. Non-QWERTY keyboard input support added. Enemy launch distance adjusted.
• Helldiver: Resolved FRV ragdoll yeeting. Civilian car vaulting fixed. Ragdoll ground sliding and water animation glitches corrected.
• Enemies: Stalker tongue visual bug fixed. Enemy reaction to missed shots improved.
• Miscellaneous: Various audio, civilian pathing, visual (floating heads), and damage calculation 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 unintended consequence, Guard Dog ammo indicator, Barrager Tank stats, LAS-5 Scythe zoom, charge-up weapon firing rate.

This update significantly enhances Helldivers 2's gameplay and stability.