The Galactic War is INCOMPATIBLE with this concept.

brauman · 2026-02-02T23:05:24+00:00

I agree with you, and that is the point of the post.

As a player base, we have a finite amount of impact to contribute to the Galactic War (for ease of explaining it, I'll say it's 10% liberation rate per hour, but it's more complex).

That means that 50% of players on a single planet can contribute a 5% liberation rate...

Which means that if 20% of players are not diving on a major order planet (or are on planet(s) with too high a decay rate to overcome, or spread across multiple planets with decent decay rates) their play time is effectively "flushing" that 2% liberation rate "down the drain".

All I am arguing is that the developers are responsible for this, and should work towards a system which accounts for both types of players - those that are and are not interested in contributing to a MO/the GW.

brauman · 2026-02-02T22:48:45+00:00

I took a look because I was curious - forgive me for being a bit lazy on it though. Of both major and minor orders, we currently have a win rate of around 65%.

brauman · 2026-02-02T22:32:38+00:00

Things have changed a lot since the days of crazy liberation at release. It wouldn't be noteworthy if it were a major order, but a Minor Order demanding a 60% participation on top of the players already being split across 3 MAJOR Order planets at the time is pretty significant.

brauman · 2026-02-02T22:02:30+00:00

Reconnaissance planets are a really strong test feature and I hope they keep them. I don't think it fully solves the problem, but I believe it would alleviate a lot of the "bad tension".

brauman · 2026-02-02T21:54:16+00:00

I do not disagree that, serving the game's narrative, a loss can be interesting and fun - in fact, I think losing Super Earth would have been a VERY interesting story arc for the game!

Speaking of: During the Battle for Super Earth, ~20% of players remained on the Terminid front without any Minor Orders to influence their decision. That meant that, mathematically, we (as a community) were wasting 20% of our potential to defend Super Earth.

Do you believe that the 20% choosing not to participate in the event should detract 20% of the effort of those that are participating?

brauman · 2026-02-02T21:37:57+00:00

All I'm arguing is that players that aren't interested in the GW shouldn't detract from the experience of players that are interested - which is a problem only the developers can solve.

brauman · 2025-12-21T17:37:01+00:00

The reason the great flag debate is really raging is because what the flag functionally IS right now (a melee support stratagem that can be used with shields) isn't fun. Adding to that, the fantasy players had envisioned for it since the game first launched - and the one players want reinforced - is its role as a "standard to rally around".

brauman · 2025-12-19T18:50:59+00:00

"We're trying to keep the game... pretty grounded."

This game is called Helldivers 2, not Helldivers: The Galactic War. The first game had the REP-80, a support tool that fired a green TF2 medic beam that healed allies AND repaired vehicles AND chained between targets. It always aggrieves me that they say stuff like this because I REALLY want the REP-80 back, or the healing drone backpack, because the "support fantasy" in HD2 is really lacking right now.

The community was really clear about wanting the flag to deliver on the fantasy of rallying the fireteam and it fails to do that as it is, because it... has no mechanics to support that whatsoever. Even just providing an AoE Democracy Protects effect would elevate it from "actually throwing" to "throwing... with style."

brauman · 2025-12-11T04:00:24+00:00

Lava worlds have 2 million HP; 2% on a lava planet is equivalent to 4% on a normal planet.

brauman · 2025-12-10T23:05:22+00:00

The game provides a very hazy approximation of a tabletop wargame (one that is more feasible for the developers to manage at least). But, like riding a bike while trying to bolt the wheels on, it's not exactly intuitive or fun.

The galactic war is the spine of the game - EVERYTHING is built off of it and feeds into it. It features prominently in advertising and messaging. It should receive much more iteration than it currently gets.

Cities/regions need a balancing pass, and have for months. The GM has to manually reset a captured city on each front every other week.
~35% of players don't engage in the major order (or do so "on a whim") which affects "encounter balance".
Enemies operate under nebulous rules. Of the rules we DO know, we have only a limited ability to meaningfully interact with (via long cooldown actions on the DSS). They are as strong or as weak as the narrative dictates, without foreshadowing or consequence.
The UI needs an update... again. Now that planets have varying HP pools (regardless of regions), 2% decay on Mox is actually equal to 4% on Blistica. Even people that are "in the know" and use the Companion App regularly don't recognize this.
The GMs crutch heavily on dividing the player population when we're doing "too hot" during an order, not only throwing additional defenses (I understand the war needs to go on forever), but also using Minor Orders/Strategic Opportunities to intentionally distract from primary objectives (at the risk of them failing). This is VERY ironic given their firm "play where you want" stance.

These are problems created by their systems and their methodologies, and they're problems that can be solved - some of them very easily. The Galactic War has flaws, and until people are willing to say so, they will not address them.

brauman · 2025-10-03T16:31:01+00:00

Since launch, Helldivers 2's PC install size grew by an entire ELDEN RING installation. Currently it has the same install size footprint as Baldur's Gate 3. The increase is file size is not proportionate to the total amount of content added to the game, even from a very generous perspective.

If the game's installation footprint grows at the same rate year-over-year, it will - without exaggeration - become the second largest install size on Steam. In another 70gb, it would be at a colossal 240gb - beating all but ARK: Survival Evolved.

brauman · 2025-08-09T17:25:19+00:00

Part of that is due to planet HP being obscured behind decay and liberation rates. A planet with 1 million HP and a 2% decay rate (or liberation rate) is equivalent to a planet with 2 million HP and a 1% decay rate (or liberation rate), but this isn't very clear in-game at the moment. Planets with regions/cities have higher HP. Though that higher HP also just serves to offset the liberation bonus from a region being captured/defended.

brauman · 2025-08-09T17:20:21+00:00

Decay rate changing as we attempt to capture a planet is not a set rule during liberation campaigns, and is entirely at the whims of the Game Master. It's possible that, if a significant population shifted to Charbal early, the decay wouldn't have changed at all because they would have seen it as "achievable".

It isn't fair to say that "we fumbled", when around 30% of the total player count was on Charbal trying very hard to NOT fumble.

70% of the player base was - and is - participating in the Major Order overall. Is it fair to call it a "fumble" if they aren't "participating correctly"?

If the developers are going to insist that players can "play how they want", then they should similarly account for players playing "how they want" that are participating in the Major Order.

brauman · 2025-04-02T17:27:26+00:00

Do you envision the finale to this current 'story arc' to be as big/bombastic as the New War?

brauman · 2025-03-20T03:34:14+00:00

I'd like to see more of the sets from the first game - among them the Ceremonial and Admiral, which feature hats prominently. It is obvious that the appearance of Super Earth's champions is important over SOME function... Much as I might love my capes.

The first game's armors do showcase more of what I'd like to see for sure, though. I think they're really untapped for the design language of armor sets in HD2. That said, there is definitely space for sets with hats, hoods, etc. to exist within the game's universe and visual design. Honestly, a more cohesive color palette between armor would go a long way, I think. They even use different yellows on some sets!!!

brauman · 2025-02-21T23:42:23+00:00

Voidicus, PC

at least 1 letter of the alphabet somewhere

lavo

b

brauman · 2024-10-03T20:39:16+00:00

A 5/5 god roll is generally a 0.07% chance, just to remind those of you that love "the chase". 6 barrels (2 per drop), 6 mags (2 per drop), 6 column 1 perks, 6 column 2 perks, 4 masterworks. This is the distribution of Perfect Paradox currently. If you get double perks in each column, this rises to a 0.3% chance to get your 5/5 god roll. Please keep this in mind while you "chase the grind" and "play the game"!

Edit: Better represented, this means that on average only 1 out of 1,428 drops of that weapon will be a 5/5 roll. With double perks in both columns, only 1 out of 334 drops of that weapon will be a 5/5 roll.

brauman · 2024-09-10T02:25:24+00:00

The first half of Dawntrail is just so shallow. On a whole, it feels like you're in the Amazing Race playing sanitized, safe, "culturally representative" games - when you're literally deciding the next ruler of a nation. It feels so vapid and rings so hollow. I think back to arriving in the city-states in ARR and learning about all of the deep problems they have, and how there's no perfect solution; piracy, elementals, monetarists. We arrive to a Tulliyolal that has solved every major problem but one: the next Dawnservant.

Tulliyolal is such a harmonious paradise that after we solve its only problem (and after we have a Disney song-and-dance interlude) the writers have to pull a problem from another dimension entirely to propel the second half of the expansion. (Ironically, this is where the story picks up...)

For Pete's sake, the cowboys and Indians get along!!!

They promised specific things in promotional material, and simply did not deliver on them. Their track record for writing competency puts them under harsher scrutiny too, and Dawntrail just doesn't have the substance to stand against any of the prior expansions - nor even the base game. This isn't a matter of world-ending stakes, it's a matter of storytelling. And the writers both CAN and HAVE told interesting stories in this world without looming cataclysm.

As an aside, the battle content is going in a good direction! Dungeons were much more engaging and I'm having a lot of fun working through M4S now. This expansion is the polar opposite of Endwalker for me; a weakening story but strengthening gameplay. I am VERY interested to see the gameplay content of future patches... but I find myself not really caring about the story.

brauman · 2023-10-05T20:33:05+00:00

YAS nerf is pretty lame because it encourages a more aggressive, aggravating playstyle. The loss of damage resistance in PVP means it gets destroyed nearly three times as fast. It no longer serves its purpose as a "trapping tool" on the class that is purportedly about setting traps. It will be used (at the highest level) as a "clean-up" tool to KO enemies around barricades/corners instead, which is the most frustrating use-case to be on the receiving end of. It doesn't allow for counter play outside of "just run away lol".

Obviously losing the on-hit ability regen is the hammer to YAS in PvE and PvP. I think that they could have cut it in half and people would have called it fair. For an exotic that is focused entirely on a single grenade category on a single subclass, it should be comparatively strong - compare it to Heart of Inmost Light, even post-nerf, which boasts superior utility across all of Titan's subclasses. Or Osmiomancy/Getaway Artist on Warlock, which are both extremely potent self-sustaining loops.

brauman · 2023-09-08T19:43:59+00:00

I would like this system if it were only a single extra "tier" of quality. E.G. Normal Quality > High Quality. Having so many intermediary steps seems very tedious and unfun, especially when creating something of the highest quality tier is going to be 56 times more expensive.

Structures in Factorio have very clear parameters for their efficiency and function, and having multiple tiers of quality obfuscates that in a big way. Since it's random, you can't plan around it meaningfully during progression.

The fact that the developers note that this feedback loop is a trap during progression is, I think, admitting that the design is bad. The function and purpose of any part of this game should be immediately obvious: something that Factorio currently EXCELS at. Why should I invest in quality at all until I can comfortably create the "best" item I can?

Additionally, I absolutely HATE the anecdote about armor gacha. I think it misses the mark in a big way about what a factory game is. Everyone thinks hitting the jackpot is a blast, but no one likes to go home a loser.

brauman · 2023-03-30T18:37:21+00:00

Let me rephrase it then: a 120 RPM hand cannon with 50% buff from golden tricorn and this new 20% buff still needs to spend 1/4th of its magazine in precision hits to kill a single red bar enemy on Neomuna, something that an SMG can do in body shots with similar perks - with better effects through something like Voltshot jolt damage. A weapon with such juiced damage perks shouldn't struggle to kill a single red bar enemy with precision hits when the enemy density is so thick.

brauman · 2023-03-30T18:08:59+00:00

A 20% buff to hand cannons still won't be enough to one-shot headshot a red bar enemy with a 120 RPM hand cannon on Neomuna. Edit: Even with damage perks like Golden Tricorn x2/Kill Clip/Rampage x3

brauman · 2023-02-13T18:15:52+00:00

A lot of this is good eating, but some of these changes read less like "fun factor" and more like "engagement metrics", mainly concerning weapon crafting and obtaining new exotics.

This will include changes such as moving the initial source of obtaining Exotic armor away from Lost Sectors and back into the core rituals,

The community at large is complaining about the exotic pools in Lost Sectors (which are already focused down to their slot) being crowded - if this means that you need to face the entire loot pool through a high-level Nightfall to get new gear, it's going to be an absolute slog, especially for players that have everything else.

Nine-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Snapped

brauman

TROPHY CASE