The Daily Populous Monday May 13rd, 2024 day edition
Authored by gamesradar.com and submitted by Darth_Vaper883

Helmets in Helldivers 2 used to have way more influence on how you play the game, but alas, the idea was scrapped as developer Arrowhead Game Studios needed to actually ship the dang game.

That comes from Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who has been taking fan questions on the game's official Discord server. One such question was whether the developers had plans to add traits to helmets or capes. The latter are key for those with a passion for fashion while spreading democracy, though they remain largely cosmetic for now. While capes will likely stay that way, we've been offered more hope for helmets.

"Not to capes, but I know there's a conversation on helmets," Pilestedt says. Originally, each helmet was going to have a unique 'HUD' – so medics would be able to see health, recon would get enemy outlines, etc. But we unfortunately had to cut it due to... Well, having to ship the game."

That's not to say we're getting the cut feature for sure, but who knows what the future holds. Pilestedt talks elsewhere about other potential plans like melee weapons – he may have seen concepts for a "ceremonial saber and bayonet somewhere," though he doesn't know if they are in the game's actual plans.

Another fan brought up previous comments relating to VRR and 40fps on quality mode, to which Pilestedt says: "With the success of the game and with everything that has happened, a lot of our plans have been put on the back foot. We are still always pursuing technical variability to provide the best experiences. But so much is added to our 'to-do pile' that we have to reprioritize constantly. Eventually, I hope we'll be able to get there."

That seems to be the general tone regarding new content. While Helldivers 2 does get new goodies through Battle Pass-like Warbonds, the team is mainly focusing on improving the game experience right now.

The Helldivers 2 director is still talking to PlayStation and Valve about relisting the shooter "everywhere" after the PSN mandate saw the game pulled in over 170 countries.

thechikeninyourbutt on May 13rd, 2024 at 00:38 UTC »

I wish this got implemented. I love the armor system! I was disappointed they removed the hidden stamina boost from the recon helmet.

KegelsForYourHealth on May 12nd, 2024 at 23:54 UTC »

Good. I hate the gameplay being tied to the cosmetics. They should rework armor to break the perks out into a separate slot and let me look how I want to look while I play how I want to play.

People looking a certain way to communicate gameplay is a pointless constraint in this game:

it's coop, so there's no competitive benefit to readability on an opponent

I see what my teammates are equipping ahead of time most of the time, so there's limited occasion to have to draw conclusions while in a session

what my teammates are wearing/using armor-wise matters zero to me; it doesn't change my decisions

I never look at my teammates anyway; I'm focused on enemies 99% of the time

the armors are so constrained (size, silhouette, materials) that whatever fantasy that could be communicated visually is so undersold it might as well be nonexistent

even if it was appreciable, the visuals they choose often have nothing to do with the perks (e.g. "drone master" having extra grenades)

it limits player expression because instead of just buying and choosing armors based on how I want to look, mixing and matching helmets and armors liberally, i'm constrained only to the armors that contain the gameplay I want

overall I buy and unlock fewer armors because even though I might love the way an armor looks if it doesn't have the perks that I prefer then I skip it

It's an ill-advised, poorly designed feature and they should move away from it completely.