Helldivers 2’s ‘best sniper rifle’—which was actually a shotgun—just got destroyed by nerfs

Patch 1.000.200 was a big win for Hell Divers everywhere, both in terms of weapon buffs and enemy nerfs. However, one weapon died so all others could fly—the M-105 Slugger, a fan-favorite slug shotgun in Helldivers 2. And according to the devs, this was a necessary demolishing.

The most recent large patch for Helldivers 2, patch 1.000.200, provided wide swaths of buffs to underappreciated weapons—and armor, which got a lot better at higher values. However, one weapon that didn’t benefit from the swarms of buffs was the M-105 Slugger, which received not one but three distinct nerfs. The gun’s damage was lowered by 11 percent, while its chance to flinch and destroy armor has been reduced.

The developer knew what it was doing, though. Alexus Kravchenko, a senior game designer of Arrowhead Studios, responded to comments on the official Helldivers 2 Discord that the M-105 Slugger was “just hands down the best sniper rifle out there.” And he was sadly very much correct. The Slugger’s damage was absurd compared to every other mid- or long-ranged option in the Primary slot. While it lacked an actual sniper scope, the Slugger’s damage outdid everything else. And it’s not like it was particularly inaccurate.

Patch 1.000.200 did a good job addressing the weaknesses of other tools, thankfully. The Dominator, for instance, hits a lot harder and no longer suffers as much kickback. The Diligence Counter Sniper can pierce medium armor, making it more useful against Scout Striders and Devastators. And the Liberator Concussive now has a firing speed above the worst burst-fire you’ve ever seen.

That being said, not many took the nerfs to the Slugger as well as the developer seems to have. In an April 2 Reddit post titled “Slugger nerfs were completely uncalled for“, user u/god_hates_maggots detailed the rather unflattering state the Slugger is compared to the new and improved JAR-5 Dominator. “Why exactly is anyone supposed to pick Slugger over the Dominator now?” asked the user, after showcasing how the Dominator is better than the Slugger on every metric.

In the face of such numerical evidence, Hell Divers with a chip on their shoulder flocked the comments to point out further discrepancies. “Same world where a railgun doesn’t pen,” noted one user, since the Railgun had been the target of the first barrage of nerfs. “Honestly I’m most upset about the arc thrower nerf to range,” added another user. The Arc Thrower was a mixed bag in the patch, receiving buffs to consistency but no longer able to chain as far.

As balance patches are a roller coaster in any game, we expect Helldivers 2 weapons across all Warbonds to experience rocky patches. Hopefully, the devs listen to the community and consider a bit of a rollback for a weapon now completely obliterated by another option.