Recent Helldivers 2 orders revive criticism over continued weakness of 500KG Bomb Strategem

The Eagle 500KG Bomb Stratagem is one of the least liked in Helldivers 2, primarily due to how its splash and animation do not reflect its damage. Now, the criticism has ramped up with a recent order asking players to use the 500KG Bomb to strike down 200 enemies.

“The Personal Order yesterday was a painful reminder on the bomb needing a far larger damage radius,” reads the title of a July 14 Reddit thread which goes into detail on how the troubled Stratagem functions, and criticizes its low damage radius and long call-in time that allows enemies to move outside of the blast. The 500KG Bomb is supposed to be the creme de la creme of Eagle Stratagems, but is often shunned in favor of the much more popular Eagle Airstrike that can be used several times in quick succession.

The thread’s creator continued in the comments, where they said the Stratagem also suffers from its massive explosion that makes it difficult to figure out who survived and who died until the explosion cloud clears. Its programming causes enemies that are seemingly right next to each other to be impacted differently as well due to the very precise and limited damage cone.

“Animations should sync with the AOE,” another player said, adding that “if the blast animation catches [them], they should take damage.” One player claimed the bomb killed four enemies on average and that it took spamming lower difficulty missions to grind out the order.

The Eagle 500KG Bomb Strategem remains a controversial tool in Helldivers 2 with a massive explosion that doesn’t amount to anything. Arrowhead has been making efforts to rebalance the game and make it more fun and approachable for players, though it appears the studio has forgotten about this one Stratagem which pales in comparison to its Eagle brethren.