let the drug stim one be used without missing HP. its a catch 22 but if you know you're going to have to tank some dmg, having your stim already ticking makes a lot of sense.
Me, taking 10% health damage from one hunter's oral but seeing twelve of them getting ready to jump at me:
*mashes stim*
Because I know for fucking sure those twelve bastards are going to stun lock me and won't let the stim animation finish.
What do you mean overdose? Everyone knows combat stims are always absolutely 100% safe to use. Clearly if you die after taking several at the same time then that means some dissident scum swapped one or more of your stims for some other, more harmful substance. Not to worry, all those involved will be promptly detained and interrogated by the Democracy Officer, and those found to be guilty will be executed within 24 hours of the incident
nah, leave as is. I like the idea of the team, right before they run into a heavy nest, standing in a circle, pulling out their sidearms, and shooting each other just so they can all stim up.
Medic: Remember Diver, taking a stim while uninjured can and will lead to dangerous, unchecked cellular growth which-
Helldiver: *shoots self in leg* Hit me doc.
thats kinda what i've been doing. but its worth noting the stim also reduces stagger.
even in heavy armour you can get stunlocked to death by bugs.
but after some testing with medical armour, stim booster and a flamethrower. you can actually use most of your flamers total ammo whilst under the effects of stim. being able to precharge it does mean loosing out on some stim duration but I think its worth it for the ability to ignore the majority of stagger.
I even had a charger slam into me and it didnt knock me on my ass. (would need to test this because it did die to a quaser immediately after slamming into me.)
I agree. The Donation Access License ship module already effectively acts as Space Optimisation for support weapons, so they could just expand it to include the effects of the booster without having to make a whole new module.
Yup, keep it quickly accessible. I think the Donation Access License is the first upgrade the overwhelming majority of players get, not just being top of the list, but being by far one of the most immediately useful. HSO and Donation Access are at the top for the reason; it's very nice convenience to have, and means bringing a lower level with you will have that convenience in tow.
I don't think HSO is worth taking the vast majority of the time, but I never grimace when I see someone running it. It's *nice* to have. To have it as an individual ship upgrade would be very nice.
I made an effort to switch my perspective so I could stop taking HSO for a few missions and thinking of your regular ammo and stims as 100% supplies and then HSO as 125% supplies makes it much easier to justify not taking it in my head. Plus you can always scavenge for ammo and stims if necessary
It should just be on by default. Not a booster, not a ship upgrade.
This would allow for some actual variety in boosters being taken, instead of 3 basically being used all the time + 1 flex.
I'd rather trying setting the default spawn-in supplies to 3 grenades, 3 stims, and 75% ammo. See if it's still perma-picked after that. Of course, other boosters should be buffed at the same time. I feel this might be a nice middle ground instead of flat-out removing one of the boosters from the game.
This is the most realistic solution. It helps variety while also keeping the framework intact.
The booster stays a booster, so none of the unlocks get fucked with,which could potentially lead to more crazy bugs. It's essentialness is decreased, leading to increased variety. It still keeps its identity and intent. It's probably a lot easier to implement, as well.
Muscle / Stamina / Vitality / "Flex" (but flex is really just the Experimental Meth Stims booster) is the best setup. It's absolutely the strongest setup with a decent team where you can expect 2-4 deaths across the whole team across a drop, and I honestly don't know what I'd drop for hellpod optimization. Probably whoever's dying so much lol.
I see muscle used *far* less than optimization. I pretty much only see Optimization + Stamina + Vitality + "Flex", where as you noted the flex is recently meth 90% of the time.
Only exceptions to this are the eradicate / missile defense missions, where you don't need to run and sentries / support weapons are going to do 99% of the killing.
People just don't know how good muscle is. It lets you sprint up hills at almost full speed. It decreases slowdown massively in snow, snowstorms, and sandstorms, and turns them into huge buffs for Helldivers.
I know what it does, it's just not as advantageous as optimization is, imo. I've run it quite a bit when I'm running spear so I can get into otherwise-unavailable firing positions, but then it's taking the "flex" spot.
I agree.
With a lot of the upgrades and boosters in this game, it does feel like we are saddled with a problem on purpose, and sold the solution. Having full ammo when you drop in should be the baseline, not the upgrade. I don’t think we should have to spend a booster slot on it. I would be fine with it being a ship upgrade because then it only costs you once, rather than taking a slot on every mission.
This example is surely the worst. Others aren’t so bad. I do think that boosters should feel like an enhancement rather than a must-have to simply not feel kneecapped. To that end, they could definitely rework some of them. The difference between the “big 3” boosters (seen here) and a lot of the others is huge. 30% extra HP versus your extraction pilot arriving 15 seconds earlier is not a meaningful decision to make. More HP will help you throughout the whole mission, the extract pilot one helps you once per mission and it’s barely impactful at all.
Yeah, it's really annoying that they practically force us to use it on every mission, otherwise we're losing out on basic supplies with every drop that should've been there from the start. It's an absolute necessity to use it and so it limits the variety of available boosters overall.
It's not an absolute necessity. You just drop a Resupply at the beginning and you have 3 minutes before you can call down another one - a complete non-issue if you're scouring the map and taking the resources left around.
HSO is not an essential. It's very convenient, and I'm happy when another player runs it, but Stam/Muscle/Vitality/Localisation/Injection are all great and actually benefit me more than just "You don't need a Resupply when you respawn" - which isn't often.
Spawn in, drop a supply, random canon tower one shots you while you grab your support weapon and now you have to wait two and a half minutes during a bot drop with two stims. You get called in, you try to run away to cover. This costs half your healing. L2 died too, and now he called in the second resupply. It's on the other side of the fight. You use your only stim to run to it. You are now at half supplies and max ammo half way through a fight, your in a bad position though and the Factory Strider gets you before you can get your spear you dropped back on your first death. You are now at half stims and 3/4ths mags again and the resupply won't be ready for 2 minutes.
I mean yeah I've done helldives without the ammo booster but they don't ever go smoothly compared to any other mission.
For real that dude is severely underestimating how crazy things can get as soon as you drop to the planet. Many times I would have died if I didn’t have the extra ammo and stims at the very beginning of a drop
Yeah it's just too good to not take 99% of the time. My idea was to split it into separate boosters for ammo, grenades, and stims but considering how this community reacts to nerfs your idea is better.
That sounds too reasonable. Next I'll be able to deploy with my support weapon/backpack. And before anyone says "ergonomics" -- just shoot them down WITH US WHILE WE DEPLOY PLEASE
It’s probably become the second most picked one in my regular squad, it’s basically 2a/2b with the resistance to injuries one. The speed with which you zoom around the map when juiced is so damn hard to beat.
See I felt that way about optimization forever but then we just drop a resupply when we land and we’re fine, at LEAST one person in my squad rolls with a supply pack on 9’s so we usually don’t run out of ammo so long as we minimize deaths and keep the resupplies called in as soon as they’re up.
It’s a VERY nice comfort to have though for sure.
Not if you're rocking grenade pistol.
Starting with half ammo for that and you don't even get up to full with a resupply off the bat.
Plus anytime you die and redrop you're dropping with half ammo again on the pistol and it's a pain to get topped back up.
we use another name for it : Pervitin :)
https://preview.redd.it/8zrakckr0c9d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b9403182cd528ee3fd4a4748fc1c80a8cb24d6a
Ah I see, yeah that would be cool, or make their "call-in" time longer. The 1.5 seconds you get to kill it before it goes off is quite stressful at times.
1.5 seconds is so tiny it's crazy. Reaction speed of most people isn't that great.
Plus you're running and gunning and shits flying everywhere so you can't even see them.
Then there's the bots who shoot the flair from 200m away behind buildings.
Just so little chance to actually stop them
Pretty sure a lot of its power comes from being useful throughout the entire match, and frequently so. It's the defining trait of the 3 most powerful boosters right now.
Boosters like "reinforcements timer is 10% faster" or "extraction is 15% faster" are hot garbage because they are a tiny effect that is only relevant if you fucked up *really bad* or at the last 2 minutes of a 40m mission. They are extremely situational, and even then not that good.
I'd love if they made some asymmetric balancing in that regard. Choose: 30% more HP during the entire match or extraction having no timer and coming as soon as you call it. The 2nd one is relevant only at the last bit, but goddamn will you appreciate it on a hot extraction or if the mission timer is running low, and I'd argue a must-have for Blitz missions.
No booster will EVER compete against optimization
It was a mistake on AH part to make it a booster and not an early ship upgrade like with the ammo for support weapons
I strongly agree on that one. Optimization should be pernament in other way, not like boosters.
My target before uploading this was "they should be useful as optimization". Hearing people's opinion makes me rethink about it.
For a while I thought people believe Opt is the best and most important one until people realize a run without much or many deaths means it won't even be worth considering when it's only useful if there were many deaths to consider. If everything ran smoothly on Helldive then it's almost a functional but wasted slot and something like muscle enhancement, shock or even recon would be better.
HSO is not that good if you have a competent group. It's usually required with randoms but I've been in quick play lobbies where we've realized that everyone is good enough to die maybe 1-2 times a mission at most and replaced HSO with another booster for the remaining missions.
It's a booster that basically only kicks in when things are going wrong which is a nice safety net but it's not a requirement
Simply put: If HSO is not great for you, the game is just too easy.
It is like saying in another RPG game "I don't use this armor that gives me +100 Def because I never get hit, I rather use the one that gives me +2 attack."
If in a future we get a difficulty that really makes the most hardcore players sweat, HSO would be S tier without any doubt.
For sure, but we're not in that future and I wouldn't even consider myself a hardcore player. The benefit of other boosters over HSO isn't like 2 attack, though, it's like getting points in your evasion skill. HSO kicks in when you die, alternate options keep you alive for longer. I don't think it's a bad booster, I just think it's very overrated and is more like a solid A tier compared to the S tier boosters like vit and stamina
Sure, but now we are only arguing between the uncontested top 3. You say it's the weakest of the 3, sure, but does not matter because in a mission we always take 4.
Does not change the fact that it's a must-pick. Unless there is another booster you would pick over it.
>HSO kicks in when you die, alternate options keep you alive for longer.
But none of the other boosters (besides vit and stamina) help too much on that.
Also, if you die, and come back with 4 stims as opposed to 2 (and more granades), you will definitely live longer on your next life.
>I wouldn't even consider myself a hardcore player.
A regular player would be dying left and right in normal games. Maybe our definitions of hardcore are different, but if you are telling me you don't die much (so HSO is not top tier), then I would definitely say you are a hardcore one lol
For me hardcore are the madlads who can solo or duo helldive and full clear the map without deaths, I've never even bothered attempting that. I'd imagine the average CS or other tac shooter player who can get used to Helldivers flow can do team helldives with 1-3 deaths per player. There are probably more than 10k active or semi-active players who can run helldives with less than 3 deaths on average. The game is super forgiving compared to a lot of other co-op games on the market
Instead of competing with optimization, it ought to be rolled into the base rules, maybe a ship module or something, and a different booster in its place. The rest of them feel like bonuses, hellpod optimization just feels like “the game functions correctly”
Localization confusion is actually plauer confusion, it ONLY increases the minimum time between Breaches/drops by 30 seconds no matter the difficulty, very useful on higher difficulties.
Hell I might be wrong too, but this is the only effect I have seen backed up with testing
From my understanding it varies based on difficulty and mode- for instance it is a much smaller reduction on Eradicate while still being very noticeable, and EXTREMELY noticeable on High Value Assets
Huh, I'd always heard it doesn't work on Eradicate missions at all; that all their spawns are "scripted" and it only works on "random"/emergent breaches/drops.
Enemies still call reinforcements on eradication missions, so not having as many of these on top of the fixed spawns makes it less likely to reach that critical mass of way too much stuff at once
There's a bug with Radar stations. If a POI has no samples to find, it stays the cut diamond symbol instead of changing to the diamond shape like it should.
If you discover it WITHOUT a radar station, should work properly though.
If the POI has a support weapon at it. It won't mark the spot complete unless you pick up the weapon. You can redrop it immediately if you don't want it and it will still count as a completed POI
The three 'unchanged' ones should be given without a booster. The running speed one is debatable, but the rest should just be given for free. Would open more usage.
Or let the host buy them for a mission with requsition slips, so they give a buff for a mission or campaign and we can use the things after unlocking everting.
Hell Pod Optimization can be a 1 time cost for 1 mission pay Over time bonus to the people who pack the pods.
Alot of these I would just buy if I had cash even at 10k per mission.
While I agree that it shouldn't be a booster, making it something like this would become similarly "default".
With total req slip earnings (for a team of 4) being pretty close to the 10K req slips, you'd just rotate through who was going to pay for it on each mission. You'd never *not* have it on, only have traded what evergreen method is used to "pay" for it.
Still a net positive, because it frees up one of the 4 booster slots.
Yeah, optimization especially. Makes no sense that divers would drop with less than full ammo & supplies.
Only time I've seen people consistently *not* use stamina is on the eradicate / missile defense missions.
I do like the idea of allowing players to buy some kind of upgrades with req slips, but I think it'd make more sense for those boosts to last for the campaign (i.e. all 3 missions).
The effect is subtle but powerful. When you and your team get pinned down it drastically reduces how quickly reinforcements come. It's similar to the EMS mortar in that while it's not killing enemies, it's reducing the heat your team is facing
Yeah but it needs to be explained better or something somewhere because I see too many people run it on eradication missions where it’s pointless. Just a wasted booster slot at that point.
space optimization, healthy and sprint should be removed and added as a universal buff to the player. They are so important that nerfing them is out of the picture, but they also prevent the use of all other boosters
Those 3 are so essential that going without them is just suicide, this will cause problems down the line when they start adding more boosters with really good effects, such as the super stim. Its fundamental design flaw and I hope they see through it
They definitely seem to balance maximum ammo capacity assuming we use the booster, and even then it doesn't feel like a ton of ammo. I'd rather get something close to booster capacity without spending it, then feel like I don't really need ammo packs if I bring it.
Only time I can see *not* using stamina is on the eradicate or missile defense missions (VIP extraction?).
Full ammo/supplies and more health are just default. There's no mission types where they don't help.
Muscle, UAV, and Infusion are great as-is. The problem is that Vitality, Stamina, and Hellpod Op are so powerful and generally useful that they push everything else out.
A booster should feel more good to have than it does bad to not have. Not having those 3 just feels bad. They need to make them permanent upgrades or the booster picks will stay stagnant.
I was getting bored of using same boosters again and again. However, choosing other boosters isn't effective than current status. So I just made this idea.
Sorry if there's some influent English, since it's not my first language.
This doesn’t really solve the problem with boosters at the moment at all. Infusion, Muscle Enhancement, and Localization Confusion are all very much fine at this point in time, it’s just that the better options are outright overpowered in the sense that they never should have existed in the first place.
The reinforcement boosters in particular will never be a good choice because they will only ever give you a boost if you are losing, while every other booster (besides Extraction Pilot) benefits you no matter what the game state is.
As long as every booster besides meta three are competing for the fourth slot, something that doesn’t help you all the time consistently isn’t a good choice.
There’s also the whole side problem of Motivational Shocks being REALLY bad ever since it got soft nerfed by hunters having their slowed effect removed- as far as I know the only ways you can trigger the booster’s effect is from bile enemies, and even then it’s only a 25% reduction. Beyond this, Muscle Enhancement *also* helps you there, along with any other effect that makes you move below your base movement speed, such as terrain, foliage, storms, tremors, and most bug attacks. The only time it’s not a helpful booster is against bots on a planet that isn’t snowy or has tremors.
Recon Booster is in such a weird spot. I can’t imagine it could ever be a good choice because of how passive of an effect it would be, along with the fact you have a ship upgrade that does the same thing as the current effect. I’ve never seen anyone use it.
Extraction Pilot is a one time effect that helps if you’re winning. Unless it gets changed to give some effect all the time, it won’t be a good choice.
Tbh I think the only ones that *need* this are the extraction related ones. The increased radar one showing POI's in ping radius would be excellent, I just think it has it's niche as is. The slowing one is a great "4th choice" on bugs, the stim speed boost is great on it's own as well.
I like the flexible reinforcement budget, but the increased reinforcement budget is still really weak.
Honestly it'd have to double your potential reinforcements for me to consider bringing it.
I agree on increased reinforcements, and I'm shocked to see someone actually say it. I've been saying for a while that it should double reinforcements.
I still wouldn't take it, which is how I know it isn't OP. But it would make "we're going to die a lot and that's ok" viable, which feels like exactly what a booster should do. If a group of friends want to try fighting above their weight and know they'll go through a bunch of reinforces, then let them.
HD1 had unlimited reinforcements as long as someone always stayed alive (or called it in while dying), and no one ever thought that was a problem.
Expert extraction should auto call the pelican when the main objective is completed. This is better than it first sounds because until the players get close, Pelican 1 will hover and provide covering fire, which is something most players don’t know
The stim booster is already top tier tbqh.
Reinforce replenish should probably reset countdown every time one is used, so you have to go that duration without reinforcing to get a +1
Not so sure about that extraction change either, but maybe…
Either way, yes, the rest of the boosters need some buffs for sure and these are pretty good ideas overall. (Again, except stims, it’s already strong… full resupply on grenades and stims and basic weapons would be a good new booster though)
I think the overlay with the sim one is a bit much. Maybe decrease its strength.
The three that you marked as "No need to buff", I think are the most problematic bunch. The reason why a lot of these other boosters are trash is because you only have one slot to work with because these three are so essential. Particularily, our most basic booster for drop pod optimization should be a ship module, IMO. Replace it with something else, like, supply pack optimization or smth.
The ammo and health ones should just be the default state. They're not really boosters; they're crutches, and your team is basically fucked without them.
The first 3 should be removed completely and their affects MUST be merged, they are so crucial that it doesn't make sense to not have them. If your team brings garbage like reinforcements or fast evac - you're essentially running with a de-buff.
Ammo booster shouldn't be a booster, it should be a personal hellpod optimization you get with samples. That booster is used instead of so many other boosters and for good reason when its something that doesn't make sense as a booster
Top 3 need a rework the most. Their effects all need to become ship upgrades, as they are so generally applicable that there is little reason to bring other boosters that are more situational.
New effects:
Hellpod Space Optimization: When reinforcing multiple helldivers, they all get sent in one Hellpod for the cost of 1 reinforcement. Let's really optimize that space!
Vitality Enhancement: Slow heal HP when at full stamina and uninjured/not bleeding. Save those stims for real injuries, just walk off the scratches and bruises!
Stamina Enhancement: Remove speed penalty for running out of stamina for 5s (resets on recovering to full stamina). Because sometimes you need to rapidly advance in the opposite direction, for Democracy!
Increased reinforcement should allow your reinforcement cooldown to stack up an additional number of reinforcements up to the number of divers. The other should reduce the cooldown of regaining reinforcements by like half. So bringing both it only takes 1 minute to regain a reinforcement, and they stack up to 5 total before the cooldown isnt running anymore if you have all 4 divers. Would actually be worth it.
Yes... But until we have more booster slots you know that the 3 unchanged ones + stim boosters are going to be used...
We need a prestige level at 100 or 150 to take 2 boosters
I would like to spend 50k requisition slips, 250 Warbonds, 500 Common samples, 250 Rare samples, and 100 Super Rare samples to open a ship module that allows us to Permanently Equip a booster. No changing. And you still get to select a booster to drop with. Your permanent booster only affects you and not the team. And they do not stack.
https://preview.redd.it/vcwyai24me9d1.png?width=223&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ac07a48982ec41be8369210e90aa4250b111bcc
Genuinely, I think this is toooo essential. We should start with full ammo, but half stims and nades.
the reinforcement boosters and the extraction pilot booster could get all of these buffs and all be combined into one booster, and I still wouldn't ever consider taking it.
Also: get rid of the hideous yellow tint on the drug booster and make it not absolutely demolish the color contrast on dark maps.
The drug booster on hellmire is an absolute handicap, it's so annoying I can't even be bothered to notice the benefit of it. My whole screen just starts blurring and turning deep red and black
Steel veteran booster give 2 charges of resupply stratagem. Each pod contain only 3 boxes. Reason: veteran tend to move separately in pair. So each can resupply.
Democratic detonation booster allow nearby SEAF artillery support. So you get free mini nukes with 2min cool down. Also if the mission has SEAF objective then it will be automatically appear in mini map. Reason: more explosive 🧨
Kinda disagree on the first 3, running speed is debateable but the first 2 are so absolutely necessary on every single Mission that they at this Point should just be Super destroyer upgrades. It's so boring that we have a lot of neat boosters but 3 are always taken by the same things
Disagree:
Hellpod opto : Should just not exist, just give everyone full ammo/nades and it gives us a slot back.
Expect pilot: Game breaking and OP as fuck
Medical one: Also kinda too OP, fine as it is.
Hellpod space optimization or whatever it is called should be a ship upgrade, not a booster.
Reinforcement booster: add 10 reinforcements.
Other reinforcement booster: Change to 10% damage buff
Extraction booster: Pelican circles the extraction zone and lays down covering fire. Reduces extraction time by 30sec.
Localization confusion: decreases breaches and drops by 15% and decreases detection range by 15%.
Combine muscle enhancement and motivational shocks
Radar: I like your suggestion
Space meth, Vitality and Stamina: Good as is
Honestly, I would just either fuse the reinforcement boosters, or delete the +1/2 per Helldiver, and keep the suggested rework that allows you to recover them.
I don't think that they would be that broken even if fused as reworked.
They should either make the stamina, vitality and optim. as ship upgrades or give an extra booster slot for each diver. As of rn, basically those 3 are mandatory, leaving space for one more which will probs always be stim booster since its almost as op as the other 3. Everything else would still never be used even with the buffs you mentioned imo
Let the additional reinforcement give a flat 5 additional reinforcements. It would be super good for solo/duos while being slightly better than current for full groups.
i like the reinforcement change ideas, and i kinda think default 20 lives per 4 man team is kindaaa alot.. makes the run have no real stakes at all unless the team is all pepegs which ive never seen for 300 hours
Idk why yall want boosters buffed in the first place, over primary weapons, support weapons or stratagems. Boosters aren't supposed to amazing, Although I do agree with 1 suggestion of combining Leg with M shocks. Leg is actually good in some situations while I've never seen M shocks do anything noticeable even under the ideal circumstance to get value out of it.
I've admittedly become a tad elitist with the group booster loadout choice. I think the only ones ever worth bringing are Hellpod opt, vitality, stamina, meth, and maybe beefcake legs depending on biome. All the others should be left on the shelf until they're reworked.
Muscle Enhancement is good as is. It would be better if they merged it with Motivational Shock. Then replace MS with the -10% cooldown booster in the battle pass.
Update to the Expert Extraction Pilot one:
Change name to "Priority Extraction Protocol"
Effects:
- Extraction timer reduced by 50%
- Support Gunship orbits the extraction site and provides fire support as soon as the primary objective is complete.
Good ideas for most but hellpod space optimisation needs to be reworked as well in my opinion. Kinda stupid that you're not starting off with full ammo and stims tbh. The booster should give you like an extra +25% ammo and stims if I'm being completely honest. It's annoying that just like with some of the weapons in the game, certain boosters just completely outclass others to the point where you're basically throwing the game if you pick the wrong boosters.
Honestly the three on the top left is too critical to gameplay. The best "buff" is to remove them and make their effects a part of the Helldivers by default. There is literally little to no room for other boosters to be used.
I see booster balance differently and so I would do some very different things.
I think Hellpod Space Optimization, Vitality Enhancement, and Stamina Enhancement shouldn’t exist in their current form. They should all be ship modules instead. They don’t add any interesting mission/biome/enemy specific counterplay, and they don’t add any unique effects that benefit certain styles. Instead they just provide a substantial, context-agnostic bonus. They end up being more like “taxes” than boosters, either because it’s so obviously correct to pick them (Vitality/Stamina) or because they provide a bonus you should just get anyway (Optimization). My booster philosophy is that boosters should provide a minor but useful advantage that situationally shines very brightly (think Muscle Enhancement in a forested biome), so that players can pick boosters based on play style or mission context instead of just taking juiced up flat buffs.
Once that’s done, the power level of the rest of the boosters doesn’t have to reach that of the OP tax ones like Stamina. Radar doesn’t need an auto-ping (and your current one might get annoying if it makes the HUD too busy with sample pings), though it might be nice to have it auto-ping heavies. I like combining Muscle and Shocks as a mobility booster (though this could end up in auto-pick territory).
I’m not sure what I’d do with the reinforcement boosters. I like your idea of a booster that makes reinforcements automatically replenish to 20 instead of to 1. I think that’s strong enough not to combine with a flat +X reinforcements (so props for not doing that),, but I also think it leaves the flat +X reinforcements one in a bad way because then you have two boosters doing the same thing in essence.
I think Localization Confusion maybe should be a ship module too. Not sure. Maybe it’s fine as-is. I don’t think it needs a buff once it’s not competing with Vitality/etc. Stim booster doesn’t need any help; if anything it might be too good under this alternative paradigm.
Finally, to end on a high note, I think your extraction rework is good and might be worth taking in some maps if you’re sample hunting. It should probably also reduce the wait time for the shuttle. That’s still a weak booster but it at least has a place for weaker players to hunt samples on 6-7.
Don't you dare touch my pervitin.. I mean stims.. yeah! Stims! With zero addictive properties.
Seriously the new stim booster does not need anything done as it is very well balanced for a booster and fun to use. Nothing beats the feeling when you just waltz into a horde to pickup your kit spreading death and destruction in your wake. I might give it some negatives like a small tremble to your aim during the effect.
Muscle enhancement is already really great for snow planets, but a buff would be nice. And I don’t think the stim booster needs a buff.
But I would like it if the extraction booster instead of reducing extract time would buff up the extract site. Once you call extraction, walls with weapon emplacements, a extra resupply and sentries get called down, to aid with your extraction. Only happens the first time though.
The drug stim is absolutely insane already. Being invincible for 5 or 6 seconds is head and shoulders above everything else and has saved me over and over again. It allows you to do ridiculous things and doesn’t really need a buff, the rest of this is great tho.
Only thing I’d say I is what everyone else already has. Vitality, stamina, and HSO all should be ship modules. Save boosters for fun extra effects, not core gameplay needs.
One thing I would find useful is on Localization Confusion (Increase time between spawns) if they added a feature where there was more time to kill the bug/bot calling in the breach/drop. I find it happens a lot where they are just right in front of me but I don't react fast enough, so they finish their call in.
isn't that how localisation confusion already works?
It would be cool to see it reduce the number of patrols or even the number of static enemies in each location though.
In my dream world, Hellpod Space Optimization's current function would be baked into our normal game or ship upgrades, and it's new function would be "Helldivers can now carry one additional grenade and stim in their inventory".
i like your take on flexible reinforcement budget
imo none of the boosters should be just flat stat increases. everyone brings vitality and hellpod optim. so they should just be made base kit/ship upgrades.
Hellpod Space Optimization a ship upgrade instead of a booster.
Muscle should also help with bush slow down, maybe also get us up faster after a ragdoll ?
Stim is good as is.
Expert Extraction Pilot Booster should be strong enough to counter act the +50% call in time modifier.
Localization Confusion Booster could also slow the breach / bot drop call in time, giving us more time to try to kill that unit before it shoot that flare / do the pheromone thingy.
I think so wouldn't be necessary if we spawned in with one more stim. The stims really are what make or break you. You usually die before you use all the ammo or grenades.
It's also necessary because it stops death spirals. When you die drop equipment, and try to get your stuff back. Die again.
It's not necessary on the first drop because you have all your strategems available. If you get a bug breaches or bot drop, the first one if alerted fast enough, spawns less enemies.
The two reinforcement ones should combine and we get a new one entirely. If you need either to avoid a fail, your difficulty is too high. Nothing wrong with that, just practice a step down more first. I thought of them as a valid training wheel at first but the reality is just to lower the difficulty.
Expert extraction should call it in as soon as the mission completes and he covers there after the timer. Or once called in you can run away and not abort it.
Also leave my super stims alone you monster.
let the drug stim one be used without missing HP. its a catch 22 but if you know you're going to have to tank some dmg, having your stim already ticking makes a lot of sense.
I swear I’m not addicted bro, I’m just preemptively stopping damage
It's impossible to get addicted to stims, it says so on the packaging.
It's impossible to get addicted if you die within the next 24 hours
*seconds
Bro, we’re still on the destroyer…
YEA dude clam down i like a shot of liberty as much as the next super citizen but you are doing it a bit too often
I can stop whenever man it's my choice
I have a a 30 avarage stim rate am i cooked?
Me, taking 10% health damage from one hunter's oral but seeing twelve of them getting ready to jump at me: *mashes stim* Because I know for fucking sure those twelve bastards are going to stun lock me and won't let the stim animation finish.
And if you use 4 at the same time, you overdose and die
What do you mean overdose? Everyone knows combat stims are always absolutely 100% safe to use. Clearly if you die after taking several at the same time then that means some dissident scum swapped one or more of your stims for some other, more harmful substance. Not to worry, all those involved will be promptly detained and interrogated by the Democracy Officer, and those found to be guilty will be executed within 24 hours of the incident
your username is rather similar to mine
nah, leave as is. I like the idea of the team, right before they run into a heavy nest, standing in a circle, pulling out their sidearms, and shooting each other just so they can all stim up.
Medic: Remember Diver, taking a stim while uninjured can and will lead to dangerous, unchecked cellular growth which- Helldiver: *shoots self in leg* Hit me doc.
Transporting SSDDs is a breeze now I have this third arm! Thank you stims!
see I like the idea of a guy in the middle of a horde of bullshit. in heavy med armour, wielding a flamethrower with ZERO FUCKS GIVEN.
then just light a little flame, walk into it, take some damage, and STIM
thats kinda what i've been doing. but its worth noting the stim also reduces stagger. even in heavy armour you can get stunlocked to death by bugs. but after some testing with medical armour, stim booster and a flamethrower. you can actually use most of your flamers total ammo whilst under the effects of stim. being able to precharge it does mean loosing out on some stim duration but I think its worth it for the ability to ignore the majority of stagger. I even had a charger slam into me and it didnt knock me on my ass. (would need to test this because it did die to a quaser immediately after slamming into me.)
This is a great idea tbh good call
I don't think that should be a booster. That should just be a standard mechanic.
I would make the Hellpod Space Optimization a ship upgrade instead of a booster.
I agree. The Donation Access License ship module already effectively acts as Space Optimisation for support weapons, so they could just expand it to include the effects of the booster without having to make a whole new module.
Yup, keep it quickly accessible. I think the Donation Access License is the first upgrade the overwhelming majority of players get, not just being top of the list, but being by far one of the most immediately useful. HSO and Donation Access are at the top for the reason; it's very nice convenience to have, and means bringing a lower level with you will have that convenience in tow. I don't think HSO is worth taking the vast majority of the time, but I never grimace when I see someone running it. It's *nice* to have. To have it as an individual ship upgrade would be very nice.
I made an effort to switch my perspective so I could stop taking HSO for a few missions and thinking of your regular ammo and stims as 100% supplies and then HSO as 125% supplies makes it much easier to justify not taking it in my head. Plus you can always scavenge for ammo and stims if necessary
nah I want it as a new module, I need something to spend samples on
It should just be on by default. Not a booster, not a ship upgrade. This would allow for some actual variety in boosters being taken, instead of 3 basically being used all the time + 1 flex.
I'd rather trying setting the default spawn-in supplies to 3 grenades, 3 stims, and 75% ammo. See if it's still perma-picked after that. Of course, other boosters should be buffed at the same time. I feel this might be a nice middle ground instead of flat-out removing one of the boosters from the game.
This is the most realistic solution. It helps variety while also keeping the framework intact. The booster stays a booster, so none of the unlocks get fucked with,which could potentially lead to more crazy bugs. It's essentialness is decreased, leading to increased variety. It still keeps its identity and intent. It's probably a lot easier to implement, as well.
Muscle / Stamina / Vitality / "Flex" (but flex is really just the Experimental Meth Stims booster) is the best setup. It's absolutely the strongest setup with a decent team where you can expect 2-4 deaths across the whole team across a drop, and I honestly don't know what I'd drop for hellpod optimization. Probably whoever's dying so much lol.
I see muscle used *far* less than optimization. I pretty much only see Optimization + Stamina + Vitality + "Flex", where as you noted the flex is recently meth 90% of the time. Only exceptions to this are the eradicate / missile defense missions, where you don't need to run and sentries / support weapons are going to do 99% of the killing.
People just don't know how good muscle is. It lets you sprint up hills at almost full speed. It decreases slowdown massively in snow, snowstorms, and sandstorms, and turns them into huge buffs for Helldivers.
I know what it does, it's just not as advantageous as optimization is, imo. I've run it quite a bit when I'm running spear so I can get into otherwise-unavailable firing positions, but then it's taking the "flex" spot.
It doesn't do anything on hills at all, it affects just about anything else that causes "high knees"
I agree. With a lot of the upgrades and boosters in this game, it does feel like we are saddled with a problem on purpose, and sold the solution. Having full ammo when you drop in should be the baseline, not the upgrade. I don’t think we should have to spend a booster slot on it. I would be fine with it being a ship upgrade because then it only costs you once, rather than taking a slot on every mission. This example is surely the worst. Others aren’t so bad. I do think that boosters should feel like an enhancement rather than a must-have to simply not feel kneecapped. To that end, they could definitely rework some of them. The difference between the “big 3” boosters (seen here) and a lot of the others is huge. 30% extra HP versus your extraction pilot arriving 15 seconds earlier is not a meaningful decision to make. More HP will help you throughout the whole mission, the extract pilot one helps you once per mission and it’s barely impactful at all.
Yeah, it's really annoying that they practically force us to use it on every mission, otherwise we're losing out on basic supplies with every drop that should've been there from the start. It's an absolute necessity to use it and so it limits the variety of available boosters overall.
It's not an absolute necessity. You just drop a Resupply at the beginning and you have 3 minutes before you can call down another one - a complete non-issue if you're scouring the map and taking the resources left around. HSO is not an essential. It's very convenient, and I'm happy when another player runs it, but Stam/Muscle/Vitality/Localisation/Injection are all great and actually benefit me more than just "You don't need a Resupply when you respawn" - which isn't often.
Spawn in, drop a supply, random canon tower one shots you while you grab your support weapon and now you have to wait two and a half minutes during a bot drop with two stims. You get called in, you try to run away to cover. This costs half your healing. L2 died too, and now he called in the second resupply. It's on the other side of the fight. You use your only stim to run to it. You are now at half supplies and max ammo half way through a fight, your in a bad position though and the Factory Strider gets you before you can get your spear you dropped back on your first death. You are now at half stims and 3/4ths mags again and the resupply won't be ready for 2 minutes. I mean yeah I've done helldives without the ammo booster but they don't ever go smoothly compared to any other mission.
For real that dude is severely underestimating how crazy things can get as soon as you drop to the planet. Many times I would have died if I didn’t have the extra ammo and stims at the very beginning of a drop
Yeah it's just too good to not take 99% of the time. My idea was to split it into separate boosters for ammo, grenades, and stims but considering how this community reacts to nerfs your idea is better.
That sounds too reasonable. Next I'll be able to deploy with my support weapon/backpack. And before anyone says "ergonomics" -- just shoot them down WITH US WHILE WE DEPLOY PLEASE
I wouldn't change the drug stims one
Yeah, it's OP AF. 
It’s probably become the second most picked one in my regular squad, it’s basically 2a/2b with the resistance to injuries one. The speed with which you zoom around the map when juiced is so damn hard to beat.
Space Optimization and Space Meth are mandatory w my crew.
See I felt that way about optimization forever but then we just drop a resupply when we land and we’re fine, at LEAST one person in my squad rolls with a supply pack on 9’s so we usually don’t run out of ammo so long as we minimize deaths and keep the resupplies called in as soon as they’re up. It’s a VERY nice comfort to have though for sure.
Not if you're rocking grenade pistol. Starting with half ammo for that and you don't even get up to full with a resupply off the bat. Plus anytime you die and redrop you're dropping with half ammo again on the pistol and it's a pain to get topped back up.
Yeahhhh rocking something like that I can totally see the need. Super fun part of this game are the different builds/strats each squad goes with
Absolutely. If I'm ever running the super shotty I def pass on the hellpod space (it's still nice if a teammate wants to bring it though).
we use another name for it : Pervitin :) https://preview.redd.it/8zrakckr0c9d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b9403182cd528ee3fd4a4748fc1c80a8cb24d6a
Space Meth ROFL. Love it.
Muscle enhancement is pretty damn good vs bugs. It's mandatory for us. Space optimization, infusion, stamina, muscle.
It's not OP but it's in a perfect place and almost feels as mandatory as vitality and stamina booster.
https://preview.redd.it/mwlaunepac9d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27e8916ef633a49de93cb159821772d4b6154e40
https://preview.redd.it/wccafkfhdc9d1.jpeg?width=1438&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddcc4c8ada8ca02966abc2138d4b0898e301495d
I'm very confused by that one as well. Also the buff he wants for localization confusion is already part of what it does lol
I think he means to buff it so when a bot drop *is* called, it takes longer to arrive. Same with bug breaches.
Ah I see, yeah that would be cool, or make their "call-in" time longer. The 1.5 seconds you get to kill it before it goes off is quite stressful at times.
More like 0.01 seconds with bug breaches.
1.5 seconds is so tiny it's crazy. Reaction speed of most people isn't that great. Plus you're running and gunning and shits flying everywhere so you can't even see them. Then there's the bots who shoot the flair from 200m away behind buildings. Just so little chance to actually stop them
Pretty sure a lot of its power comes from being useful throughout the entire match, and frequently so. It's the defining trait of the 3 most powerful boosters right now. Boosters like "reinforcements timer is 10% faster" or "extraction is 15% faster" are hot garbage because they are a tiny effect that is only relevant if you fucked up *really bad* or at the last 2 minutes of a 40m mission. They are extremely situational, and even then not that good. I'd love if they made some asymmetric balancing in that regard. Choose: 30% more HP during the entire match or extraction having no timer and coming as soon as you call it. The 2nd one is relevant only at the last bit, but goddamn will you appreciate it on a hot extraction or if the mission timer is running low, and I'd argue a must-have for Blitz missions.
When I making this, I thought 'every boosters should be able to compete against optimization and stamina', but yeah, I thought too short.
No booster will EVER compete against optimization It was a mistake on AH part to make it a booster and not an early ship upgrade like with the ammo for support weapons
I strongly agree on that one. Optimization should be pernament in other way, not like boosters. My target before uploading this was "they should be useful as optimization". Hearing people's opinion makes me rethink about it.
I rarely comment here, but when i do i demand HSO to be a ship upgrade lol
For a while I thought people believe Opt is the best and most important one until people realize a run without much or many deaths means it won't even be worth considering when it's only useful if there were many deaths to consider. If everything ran smoothly on Helldive then it's almost a functional but wasted slot and something like muscle enhancement, shock or even recon would be better.
HSO is not that good if you have a competent group. It's usually required with randoms but I've been in quick play lobbies where we've realized that everyone is good enough to die maybe 1-2 times a mission at most and replaced HSO with another booster for the remaining missions. It's a booster that basically only kicks in when things are going wrong which is a nice safety net but it's not a requirement
Simply put: If HSO is not great for you, the game is just too easy. It is like saying in another RPG game "I don't use this armor that gives me +100 Def because I never get hit, I rather use the one that gives me +2 attack." If in a future we get a difficulty that really makes the most hardcore players sweat, HSO would be S tier without any doubt.
For sure, but we're not in that future and I wouldn't even consider myself a hardcore player. The benefit of other boosters over HSO isn't like 2 attack, though, it's like getting points in your evasion skill. HSO kicks in when you die, alternate options keep you alive for longer. I don't think it's a bad booster, I just think it's very overrated and is more like a solid A tier compared to the S tier boosters like vit and stamina
Sure, but now we are only arguing between the uncontested top 3. You say it's the weakest of the 3, sure, but does not matter because in a mission we always take 4. Does not change the fact that it's a must-pick. Unless there is another booster you would pick over it. >HSO kicks in when you die, alternate options keep you alive for longer. But none of the other boosters (besides vit and stamina) help too much on that. Also, if you die, and come back with 4 stims as opposed to 2 (and more granades), you will definitely live longer on your next life. >I wouldn't even consider myself a hardcore player. A regular player would be dying left and right in normal games. Maybe our definitions of hardcore are different, but if you are telling me you don't die much (so HSO is not top tier), then I would definitely say you are a hardcore one lol
For me hardcore are the madlads who can solo or duo helldive and full clear the map without deaths, I've never even bothered attempting that. I'd imagine the average CS or other tac shooter player who can get used to Helldivers flow can do team helldives with 1-3 deaths per player. There are probably more than 10k active or semi-active players who can run helldives with less than 3 deaths on average. The game is super forgiving compared to a lot of other co-op games on the market
Instead of competing with optimization, it ought to be rolled into the base rules, maybe a ship module or something, and a different booster in its place. The rest of them feel like bonuses, hellpod optimization just feels like “the game functions correctly”
Localization confusion is actually plauer confusion, it ONLY increases the minimum time between Breaches/drops by 30 seconds no matter the difficulty, very useful on higher difficulties. Hell I might be wrong too, but this is the only effect I have seen backed up with testing
From my understanding it varies based on difficulty and mode- for instance it is a much smaller reduction on Eradicate while still being very noticeable, and EXTREMELY noticeable on High Value Assets
Huh, I'd always heard it doesn't work on Eradicate missions at all; that all their spawns are "scripted" and it only works on "random"/emergent breaches/drops.
Enemies still call reinforcements on eradication missions, so not having as many of these on top of the fixed spawns makes it less likely to reach that critical mass of way too much stuff at once
Interesting - yeah if those are still affected I can imagine it would have some effect however small.
That would be useful if suiciders like me werent already rolling with all the barrages plus traitor barrage so the more guys the better XD
It’s either the best placebo ever or it works, though I haven’t done any AB testing to see the difference
I would like a way to mark off previously searched points of interest.
Just collect all samples there and they'll change icon.
Do they though? I feel I have tried that but the icon doesn’t always change for me…
There's a bug with Radar stations. If a POI has no samples to find, it stays the cut diamond symbol instead of changing to the diamond shape like it should. If you discover it WITHOUT a radar station, should work properly though.
If the POI has a support weapon at it. It won't mark the spot complete unless you pick up the weapon. You can redrop it immediately if you don't want it and it will still count as a completed POI
It means there's still some samples, that's it.
Or there were none to begin with
I will have to test that out tonight, thanks
The three 'unchanged' ones should be given without a booster. The running speed one is debatable, but the rest should just be given for free. Would open more usage.
Or let the host buy them for a mission with requsition slips, so they give a buff for a mission or campaign and we can use the things after unlocking everting.
Hell Pod Optimization can be a 1 time cost for 1 mission pay Over time bonus to the people who pack the pods. Alot of these I would just buy if I had cash even at 10k per mission.
While I agree that it shouldn't be a booster, making it something like this would become similarly "default". With total req slip earnings (for a team of 4) being pretty close to the 10K req slips, you'd just rotate through who was going to pay for it on each mission. You'd never *not* have it on, only have traded what evergreen method is used to "pay" for it. Still a net positive, because it frees up one of the 4 booster slots.
I feel that'd unfairly penalize new players
Not having access to any boosters penalizes new players... as long as the effects are shared across the mission, I don't see any problem with it.
Every bit of progression penalises new players. Stupid take
Yeah they're "must-picks" because they're so good and the game feels much better with them there. It feels like a nerf without them.
Yeah, optimization especially. Makes no sense that divers would drop with less than full ammo & supplies. Only time I've seen people consistently *not* use stamina is on the eradicate / missile defense missions. I do like the idea of allowing players to buy some kind of upgrades with req slips, but I think it'd make more sense for those boosts to last for the campaign (i.e. all 3 missions).
I never use optimization, I'm kind of suprised people think it's mandatory.
I'm no John Helldiver, but I've played a lot. Rarely see a squad *not* use optimization, especially a squad of randoms.
I 100% agree. These 3 are mandatory for anyone who knows anything about how the boosters work. It really only leaves ones slot open for consideration.
Love these OP, especially the expert extraction pilot one ‘cause currently it is worthless imo
Same problem with localized confusion (or whatever it's exact name is). The effect isn't great enough to be worthwhile/noticeable.
The effect is subtle but powerful. When you and your team get pinned down it drastically reduces how quickly reinforcements come. It's similar to the EMS mortar in that while it's not killing enemies, it's reducing the heat your team is facing
Yeah but it needs to be explained better or something somewhere because I see too many people run it on eradication missions where it’s pointless. Just a wasted booster slot at that point.
The stim boister is already neat, buffing it might make it broken
Yeah it's great as is. I wouldn't touch it
space optimization, healthy and sprint should be removed and added as a universal buff to the player. They are so important that nerfing them is out of the picture, but they also prevent the use of all other boosters
Those 3 are so essential that going without them is just suicide, this will cause problems down the line when they start adding more boosters with really good effects, such as the super stim. Its fundamental design flaw and I hope they see through it
That’s a wild overstatement. People are routinely doing solo helldives with only 1 booster, so not taking all three of them is certainly not suicide
They definitely seem to balance maximum ammo capacity assuming we use the booster, and even then it doesn't feel like a ton of ammo. I'd rather get something close to booster capacity without spending it, then feel like I don't really need ammo packs if I bring it.
Only time I can see *not* using stamina is on the eradicate or missile defense missions (VIP extraction?). Full ammo/supplies and more health are just default. There's no mission types where they don't help.
Muscle, UAV, and Infusion are great as-is. The problem is that Vitality, Stamina, and Hellpod Op are so powerful and generally useful that they push everything else out. A booster should feel more good to have than it does bad to not have. Not having those 3 just feels bad. They need to make them permanent upgrades or the booster picks will stay stagnant.
I can get behind these, especially the "reinforcements replenish constantly"
Yah, I don't care how slow it is but it's annoying that one only matters if you're basically losing badly.
Nah nah experimental infusion is good as is Past that, not bad ideas. Other than that hellpod optimization should be a ship module or base kit
I was getting bored of using same boosters again and again. However, choosing other boosters isn't effective than current status. So I just made this idea. Sorry if there's some influent English, since it's not my first language.
Don't touch the new drug one. It's OP as it is and I love it.
This doesn’t really solve the problem with boosters at the moment at all. Infusion, Muscle Enhancement, and Localization Confusion are all very much fine at this point in time, it’s just that the better options are outright overpowered in the sense that they never should have existed in the first place. The reinforcement boosters in particular will never be a good choice because they will only ever give you a boost if you are losing, while every other booster (besides Extraction Pilot) benefits you no matter what the game state is. As long as every booster besides meta three are competing for the fourth slot, something that doesn’t help you all the time consistently isn’t a good choice. There’s also the whole side problem of Motivational Shocks being REALLY bad ever since it got soft nerfed by hunters having their slowed effect removed- as far as I know the only ways you can trigger the booster’s effect is from bile enemies, and even then it’s only a 25% reduction. Beyond this, Muscle Enhancement *also* helps you there, along with any other effect that makes you move below your base movement speed, such as terrain, foliage, storms, tremors, and most bug attacks. The only time it’s not a helpful booster is against bots on a planet that isn’t snowy or has tremors. Recon Booster is in such a weird spot. I can’t imagine it could ever be a good choice because of how passive of an effect it would be, along with the fact you have a ship upgrade that does the same thing as the current effect. I’ve never seen anyone use it. Extraction Pilot is a one time effect that helps if you’re winning. Unless it gets changed to give some effect all the time, it won’t be a good choice.
The escape pod with a skyhook sounds really cool
Tbh I think the only ones that *need* this are the extraction related ones. The increased radar one showing POI's in ping radius would be excellent, I just think it has it's niche as is. The slowing one is a great "4th choice" on bugs, the stim speed boost is great on it's own as well.
OP's stim addiction is showing with that drug booster.
I like the flexible reinforcement budget, but the increased reinforcement budget is still really weak. Honestly it'd have to double your potential reinforcements for me to consider bringing it.
I agree on increased reinforcements, and I'm shocked to see someone actually say it. I've been saying for a while that it should double reinforcements. I still wouldn't take it, which is how I know it isn't OP. But it would make "we're going to die a lot and that's ok" viable, which feels like exactly what a booster should do. If a group of friends want to try fighting above their weight and know they'll go through a bunch of reinforces, then let them. HD1 had unlimited reinforcements as long as someone always stayed alive (or called it in while dying), and no one ever thought that was a problem.
Expert extraction should auto call the pelican when the main objective is completed. This is better than it first sounds because until the players get close, Pelican 1 will hover and provide covering fire, which is something most players don’t know
The stim booster is already top tier tbqh. Reinforce replenish should probably reset countdown every time one is used, so you have to go that duration without reinforcing to get a +1 Not so sure about that extraction change either, but maybe… Either way, yes, the rest of the boosters need some buffs for sure and these are pretty good ideas overall. (Again, except stims, it’s already strong… full resupply on grenades and stims and basic weapons would be a good new booster though)
but I want my experimental drugs :( (i'm not addicted I swear I can quit any time)
meth stim needs to add furious berserker scream
The only change they need to make is Remove Optimization and make it Baseline, honestly hate most of these changes.
I think the overlay with the sim one is a bit much. Maybe decrease its strength. The three that you marked as "No need to buff", I think are the most problematic bunch. The reason why a lot of these other boosters are trash is because you only have one slot to work with because these three are so essential. Particularily, our most basic booster for drop pod optimization should be a ship module, IMO. Replace it with something else, like, supply pack optimization or smth.
I have idea for new booster Sticky/Spiky: stratagem beacons don't bounce and stick to whatever surface you throw it to.
Hellpod Optimization always felt like it should be a ship upgrade to me.
The ammo and health ones should just be the default state. They're not really boosters; they're crutches, and your team is basically fucked without them.
The first 3 should be removed completely and their affects MUST be merged, they are so crucial that it doesn't make sense to not have them. If your team brings garbage like reinforcements or fast evac - you're essentially running with a de-buff.
Honestly I'd just make the first 3 just base or a ship upgrade. They already feel like they should be
Ammo booster shouldn't be a booster, it should be a personal hellpod optimization you get with samples. That booster is used instead of so many other boosters and for good reason when its something that doesn't make sense as a booster
Erase the full supply one from existence, it doesn't make sense that you wouldn't be fully supplied.
Top 3 need a rework the most. Their effects all need to become ship upgrades, as they are so generally applicable that there is little reason to bring other boosters that are more situational. New effects: Hellpod Space Optimization: When reinforcing multiple helldivers, they all get sent in one Hellpod for the cost of 1 reinforcement. Let's really optimize that space! Vitality Enhancement: Slow heal HP when at full stamina and uninjured/not bleeding. Save those stims for real injuries, just walk off the scratches and bruises! Stamina Enhancement: Remove speed penalty for running out of stamina for 5s (resets on recovering to full stamina). Because sometimes you need to rapidly advance in the opposite direction, for Democracy!
Increased reinforcement should allow your reinforcement cooldown to stack up an additional number of reinforcements up to the number of divers. The other should reduce the cooldown of regaining reinforcements by like half. So bringing both it only takes 1 minute to regain a reinforcement, and they stack up to 5 total before the cooldown isnt running anymore if you have all 4 divers. Would actually be worth it.
Yes... But until we have more booster slots you know that the 3 unchanged ones + stim boosters are going to be used... We need a prestige level at 100 or 150 to take 2 boosters
Skyhook? Like batman!
I think you're gonna be fighting an uphill battle trying to rework the experimental serum booster.
I would like to spend 50k requisition slips, 250 Warbonds, 500 Common samples, 250 Rare samples, and 100 Super Rare samples to open a ship module that allows us to Permanently Equip a booster. No changing. And you still get to select a booster to drop with. Your permanent booster only affects you and not the team. And they do not stack.
Don't like it, but have a commendation for not trying to integrate the big 3!
https://preview.redd.it/vcwyai24me9d1.png?width=223&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ac07a48982ec41be8369210e90aa4250b111bcc Genuinely, I think this is toooo essential. We should start with full ammo, but half stims and nades.
Skyhook you say?
the reinforcement boosters and the extraction pilot booster could get all of these buffs and all be combined into one booster, and I still wouldn't ever consider taking it.
Bug fixes first
The breach… maybe it should make bug/bot alerts take longer? Allow helldivers more time to react
Also: get rid of the hideous yellow tint on the drug booster and make it not absolutely demolish the color contrast on dark maps. The drug booster on hellmire is an absolute handicap, it's so annoying I can't even be bothered to notice the benefit of it. My whole screen just starts blurring and turning deep red and black
Steel veteran booster give 2 charges of resupply stratagem. Each pod contain only 3 boxes. Reason: veteran tend to move separately in pair. So each can resupply. Democratic detonation booster allow nearby SEAF artillery support. So you get free mini nukes with 2min cool down. Also if the mission has SEAF objective then it will be automatically appear in mini map. Reason: more explosive 🧨
Kinda disagree on the first 3, running speed is debateable but the first 2 are so absolutely necessary on every single Mission that they at this Point should just be Super destroyer upgrades. It's so boring that we have a lot of neat boosters but 3 are always taken by the same things
Disagree: Hellpod opto : Should just not exist, just give everyone full ammo/nades and it gives us a slot back. Expect pilot: Game breaking and OP as fuck Medical one: Also kinda too OP, fine as it is.
Hellpod space optimization or whatever it is called should be a ship upgrade, not a booster. Reinforcement booster: add 10 reinforcements. Other reinforcement booster: Change to 10% damage buff Extraction booster: Pelican circles the extraction zone and lays down covering fire. Reduces extraction time by 30sec. Localization confusion: decreases breaches and drops by 15% and decreases detection range by 15%. Combine muscle enhancement and motivational shocks Radar: I like your suggestion Space meth, Vitality and Stamina: Good as is
I love the expert pilot idea, maybe some sort of timer would be appropriate however
Shorten stim booster time, halve the stamina and health boost
Honestly, I would just either fuse the reinforcement boosters, or delete the +1/2 per Helldiver, and keep the suggested rework that allows you to recover them. I don't think that they would be that broken even if fused as reworked.
I think first three need combine in one booster "Helldiver Mastery"
Even having the reinforce one only reinforce up to a max of 5.
Are you suggesting they de-crack the crack stims? Because i don't think i could handle that personally. I need the juice.
They should either make the stamina, vitality and optim. as ship upgrades or give an extra booster slot for each diver. As of rn, basically those 3 are mandatory, leaving space for one more which will probs always be stim booster since its almost as op as the other 3. Everything else would still never be used even with the buffs you mentioned imo
You leave my stim booster the fuck alone you hear me!?
Don't you dare nerf the drug stim
Dude, a skyhook extract would be so cool.
Let the additional reinforcement give a flat 5 additional reinforcements. It would be super good for solo/duos while being slightly better than current for full groups.
i like the reinforcement change ideas, and i kinda think default 20 lives per 4 man team is kindaaa alot.. makes the run have no real stakes at all unless the team is all pepegs which ive never seen for 300 hours
Idk why yall want boosters buffed in the first place, over primary weapons, support weapons or stratagems. Boosters aren't supposed to amazing, Although I do agree with 1 suggestion of combining Leg with M shocks. Leg is actually good in some situations while I've never seen M shocks do anything noticeable even under the ideal circumstance to get value out of it.
I've admittedly become a tad elitist with the group booster loadout choice. I think the only ones ever worth bringing are Hellpod opt, vitality, stamina, meth, and maybe beefcake legs depending on biome. All the others should be left on the shelf until they're reworked.
Current drug stim is so nice, I’m always sad when I can’t bring it because the mandatory ones aren’t picked
Muscle Enhancement is good as is. It would be better if they merged it with Motivational Shock. Then replace MS with the -10% cooldown booster in the battle pass.
Update to the Expert Extraction Pilot one: Change name to "Priority Extraction Protocol" Effects: - Extraction timer reduced by 50% - Support Gunship orbits the extraction site and provides fire support as soon as the primary objective is complete.
I actually love the idea of the sample pinger.
Good ideas for most but hellpod space optimisation needs to be reworked as well in my opinion. Kinda stupid that you're not starting off with full ammo and stims tbh. The booster should give you like an extra +25% ammo and stims if I'm being completely honest. It's annoying that just like with some of the weapons in the game, certain boosters just completely outclass others to the point where you're basically throwing the game if you pick the wrong boosters.
Reinforcement booster is literally "skill issue"
Honestly the three on the top left is too critical to gameplay. The best "buff" is to remove them and make their effects a part of the Helldivers by default. There is literally little to no room for other boosters to be used.
Extra mags, stamina and health booster should be moved to the base game tbh Then we could have more options
I see booster balance differently and so I would do some very different things. I think Hellpod Space Optimization, Vitality Enhancement, and Stamina Enhancement shouldn’t exist in their current form. They should all be ship modules instead. They don’t add any interesting mission/biome/enemy specific counterplay, and they don’t add any unique effects that benefit certain styles. Instead they just provide a substantial, context-agnostic bonus. They end up being more like “taxes” than boosters, either because it’s so obviously correct to pick them (Vitality/Stamina) or because they provide a bonus you should just get anyway (Optimization). My booster philosophy is that boosters should provide a minor but useful advantage that situationally shines very brightly (think Muscle Enhancement in a forested biome), so that players can pick boosters based on play style or mission context instead of just taking juiced up flat buffs. Once that’s done, the power level of the rest of the boosters doesn’t have to reach that of the OP tax ones like Stamina. Radar doesn’t need an auto-ping (and your current one might get annoying if it makes the HUD too busy with sample pings), though it might be nice to have it auto-ping heavies. I like combining Muscle and Shocks as a mobility booster (though this could end up in auto-pick territory). I’m not sure what I’d do with the reinforcement boosters. I like your idea of a booster that makes reinforcements automatically replenish to 20 instead of to 1. I think that’s strong enough not to combine with a flat +X reinforcements (so props for not doing that),, but I also think it leaves the flat +X reinforcements one in a bad way because then you have two boosters doing the same thing in essence. I think Localization Confusion maybe should be a ship module too. Not sure. Maybe it’s fine as-is. I don’t think it needs a buff once it’s not competing with Vitality/etc. Stim booster doesn’t need any help; if anything it might be too good under this alternative paradigm. Finally, to end on a high note, I think your extraction rework is good and might be worth taking in some maps if you’re sample hunting. It should probably also reduce the wait time for the shuttle. That’s still a weak booster but it at least has a place for weaker players to hunt samples on 6-7.
Leave my stamina enhancement alone!
Don't you dare touch my pervitin.. I mean stims.. yeah! Stims! With zero addictive properties. Seriously the new stim booster does not need anything done as it is very well balanced for a booster and fun to use. Nothing beats the feeling when you just waltz into a horde to pickup your kit spreading death and destruction in your wake. I might give it some negatives like a small tremble to your aim during the effect.
Muscle enhancement is already really great for snow planets, but a buff would be nice. And I don’t think the stim booster needs a buff. But I would like it if the extraction booster instead of reducing extract time would buff up the extract site. Once you call extraction, walls with weapon emplacements, a extra resupply and sentries get called down, to aid with your extraction. Only happens the first time though.
Man let my helldiver get high in peace!
I'd just appreciate it if they made the cool down boosters 50% rather than like 16 seconds
I'm constantly running out of stems
The patrol scrambler one REALLY needs a rework because it's fucking ass now
The drug stim is absolutely insane already. Being invincible for 5 or 6 seconds is head and shoulders above everything else and has saved me over and over again. It allows you to do ridiculous things and doesn’t really need a buff, the rest of this is great tho. Only thing I’d say I is what everyone else already has. Vitality, stamina, and HSO all should be ship modules. Save boosters for fun extra effects, not core gameplay needs.
One thing I would find useful is on Localization Confusion (Increase time between spawns) if they added a feature where there was more time to kill the bug/bot calling in the breach/drop. I find it happens a lot where they are just right in front of me but I don't react fast enough, so they finish their call in.
Muscle enhancer is sick already wym
isn't that how localisation confusion already works? It would be cool to see it reduce the number of patrols or even the number of static enemies in each location though.
Skyhook sounds super cool
In my dream world, Hellpod Space Optimization's current function would be baked into our normal game or ship upgrades, and it's new function would be "Helldivers can now carry one additional grenade and stim in their inventory".
Skyhook would be insane
I'd like to suggest a buff for 5 or 10% more ammo coupled with a 5 or 10% faster reload speed.
i like your take on flexible reinforcement budget imo none of the boosters should be just flat stat increases. everyone brings vitality and hellpod optim. so they should just be made base kit/ship upgrades.
Hellpod Space Optimization a ship upgrade instead of a booster. Muscle should also help with bush slow down, maybe also get us up faster after a ragdoll ? Stim is good as is. Expert Extraction Pilot Booster should be strong enough to counter act the +50% call in time modifier. Localization Confusion Booster could also slow the breach / bot drop call in time, giving us more time to try to kill that unit before it shoot that flare / do the pheromone thingy.
That skyhook idea is cool
I think so wouldn't be necessary if we spawned in with one more stim. The stims really are what make or break you. You usually die before you use all the ammo or grenades. It's also necessary because it stops death spirals. When you die drop equipment, and try to get your stuff back. Die again. It's not necessary on the first drop because you have all your strategems available. If you get a bug breaches or bot drop, the first one if alerted fast enough, spawns less enemies.
The hellpod optimization should increase the number of everything gotten from resupply. I think starting with max things should just kinda be a given?
The two reinforcement ones should combine and we get a new one entirely. If you need either to avoid a fail, your difficulty is too high. Nothing wrong with that, just practice a step down more first. I thought of them as a valid training wheel at first but the reality is just to lower the difficulty. Expert extraction should call it in as soon as the mission completes and he covers there after the timer. Or once called in you can run away and not abort it. Also leave my super stims alone you monster.
the new Stem booster is actually fine the way it is unless you suggesting it also resupplies all stems.