Helldivers 2 Patch Notes 01.003.000 - New weapon customization and progression, new Illuminate faction enemies, balance changes, and more

Time of India

14-05-2025

Helldivers 2 Patch 01.003.000: Patch Notes (Image via ArrowheadGS)
Helldivers
2
just received the
01.003.000 patch
that has added a ton of new content and features, addressed several bugs and glitches, and improved the in-game experience. One of the highlight features is the
Weapon Customization
system, where players can tailor their weapons to match their playstyle and unlock weapon attachments.
A significant increase in player count was observed on Steam right after the release of this update. With over 104,000 players coming back to the game, it's safe to say this update has the community all hyped up, many of whom are clocking in multiple hours after the update rolled out.
This article will list everything in the new
Helldivers 2 01.003.000 patch notes
.
Helldivers 2 patch 01.003.000: Patch Notes
Weapon Customization
Gear up, Helldivers—your arsenal just got personal!
With the new Weapon Customization system, you can now tailor your favorite weapons to match your combat style and preferences once you've progressed and unlocked different attachments. Whether it's tweaking sights for precision, changing color patterns, adjusting magazines for ammo capacity, muzzles to optimize weapon performance characteristics or adjusting underbarrels for the handling you want, you're in command of how your weaponry performs on the battlefield.
Tinker in the menu, customize your specific weapon configs and switch between them during the mission loadout sequence.
It's time to fight for Super Earth with weapons that are truly yours!
We are aware of a bug that prevents players from canceling customization with a controller. We have a fix identified and prepared for our next hotfix. In the meantime, you can save the customization and then go in and do it again.
New Illuminate Enemies
Stingray:
Jetfighters that provide Illuminate support from the sky, targeting Helldivers and lining up devastating strafing runs.
Crescent Overseer:
Has the ability to lay barrages on Helldivers in cover.
Fleshmob:
A failed Illuminate experiment made up of Voteless parts turned into a brute battlefield force that the Helldivers must work hard to destroy.
Balancing
Weapon balances:
Spread
Drag
Sway
Melee weapons stamina cost
Shrapnel spawning
Fire damage
Spread:
Spread refers to how much a projectile veers from the point you're aiming at when you fire. This rebalance primarily targets SMGs and sidearms, which previously had noticeably higher spread values. We've reviewed all primary, sidearm, and support weapons with the intent to significantly reduce spread overall, as it didn't make much sense for these specific weapons to have such high inaccuracy.
Drag:
Drag determines how quickly a projectile loses speed over distance, affecting its damage. We've increased drag for pistol-caliber ammunition (used in SMGs and some sidearms) to better represent its shorter, wider projectile compared to rifle rounds. As a result, these weapons will be slightly less effective at longer ranges.
Sway:
Sway refers to how much the weapon's aim shifts, influenced by factors like movement and stance. It represents the weapon's inertia and stability—so weapons with lower ergonomics will experience less sway, while those with higher ergonomics will have more. Sidearms will naturally have more sway than primaries due to the lack of support features like stocks. This balance patch specifically focuses on adjusting sway for primaries and sidearms.
Stamina Cost:
All melee weapons now consume less stamina when attacking, reducing the cost from 0.1 to 0.05. This change makes melee combat less punishing and allows for easier repositioning between strikes. The affected weapons include the CQC-30 Stun Baton, CQC-19 Stun Lance, CQC-5 Combat Hatchet, and the Entrenchment Tool.
Shrapnel spawning:
With this update, shrapnel will now always spawn in a full 360-degree spread, regardless of where the explosion occurs. This means weapons like the R-36 Eruptor will now more reliably hit the intended target with their shrapnel.
In addition, we've adjusted shrapnel performance against armor. Shrapnel now has reduced effectiveness at poor impact angles, to reflect its lack of design for armor penetration in such situations.
These shrapnel balance changes will impact the following weapons:
R-36 Eruptor
G-6 Frag Grenade
AC-8 Autocannon
Balance Changes:
Armor Penetration decreased on shrapnel projectiles from 3-3-3-0 to 3-3-2-0
Each of these numbers represent an angle threshold, which means we've reduced the AP value of 3 to 2 in the last range where a shrapnel projectile would penetrate an enemy.
Frag Grenade
Increased Shrapnel spawned from 30 to 35
Autocannon Flak
Increased Shrapnel spawned from 25 to 30
Fire and Flamethrowers:
This update aims to better balance fire damage between direct hits (like those from flamethrowers) and burn effects over time, while also introducing scaling of fire damage depending on the size of the enemy. Previously, burn damage didn't scale well against larger enemies, making putting them on fire feel less effective in those encounters.
Now, the larger the enemy, the more damage they take while burning. However, bigger enemies will also be slightly more resistant to ignition. Additionally, direct fire damage now scales with enemy size—so large enemies like Chargers will still take roughly the same damage as before, while smaller enemies will take slightly less.
We have also increased the magazine capacity of the FLAM-66 Torcher and the FLAM-40 Flamethrower because putting stuff on fire is fun!
Damage
Burning damage now scales with enemy size and will do more damage over time to larger enemies
Fire direct damage also scales with enemy size. The base damage of direct fire hits has been lowered as compensation. This means that large enemies will take roughly the same amount of damage as before, while smaller enemies will take slightly less
Time to ignite
Larger enemies now take longer to ignite
Robotic enemies are harder to set on fire than organic ones
Incendiary Ammunition and Lasers are now less effective at igniting enemies, but once they do, the resulting burn damage is more impactful thanks to the new scaling system
The Helldiver
The Helldiver is now slightly more resistant to being set on fire
Burn damage taken by the Helldiver remains unchanged
Primary weapons
AR-23 Liberator
Spread decreased from 4 to 2
AR-23P Liberator Penetrator
Starting magazines increased from 5 to 6
Max spare magazines increased from 7 to 8
AR-23C Liberator Concussive
Spread decreased from 24 to 4
StA-52 Assault Rifle
Spread decreased from 4 to 2
AR-23A Liberator Carbine
Spread decreased from 4 to 3
AR-61 Tenderizer
Spread decreased from 4 to 1
SMG-37 Defender
Spread decreased from 20 to 5
Drag increased from 0.3 to 0.6
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
SMG-72 Pummeler
Spread decreased from 20 to
Drag increased from 0.3 to 0.6
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
MP-98 Knight
Spread decreased from 25 to 5
Drag increased from 0.3 to 0.6
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
StA-11 SMG
Spread decreased from 25 to 5
Drag increased from 0.3 to 0.6
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
SMG-32 Reprimand
Spread decreased from 40 to 5
Drag increased from 0.3 to 0.6
JAR-5 Dominator
Sway decreased from 1 to 0.8
R-63CS Diligence Counter Sniper
Sway decreased from 1 to 0.8
FLAM-66 Torcher
Magazine capacity increased by 25%
R-36 Eruptor
Spread decreased from 10 to 5
Ergonomics increased from -14 to 25
Sway decreased from 1 to 0.8
Fire rate increased from 25 to 32
Fixed a bug that allowed players to cancel the Eruptor's round cycling animation, effectively increasing its fire rate
The intent with these changes:
The improvements made to the Eruptor are designed to compensate for the removal of the reload exploit, ensuring that its overall power remains steady or even improved
PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle
Drag decreased from 1.5 → 0.1
Is now categorized as an energy weapon in the loadout menu
The changes to drag means it wont lose speed and damage as it travels through the air and does the damage you would expect it to do
Sidearm weapons
GP-31 Ultimatum
Is now affected by the Hellpod Optimization Booster
Explosion damage increased from 1000 to 2000
Explosion inner radius decreased from 4 to 2 m
Projectile damage decreased from 3500 to 1000
Demolition strength decreased from 50 to 40
Sway increased from 1 to 1.3
The intent with these changes:
We want to maintain the Ultimatum's overall power level while rebalancing how that power is delivered—shifting more of the damage from the projectile itself to the explosion. Previously, the Ultimatum behaved more like a massive kinetic projectile (similar to the 380mm shell) because of its high projectile damage and relatively weaker explosion. This update reinforces its intended identity as a powerful explosive weapon, emphasizing high explosive damage over impact force
Most heavy enemies will now die from a close hit instead of a direct hit, except for the Factory Strider
Additionally, due to its reduced demolition strength, the Ultimatum will no longer destroy Stratagem Jammer Objectives or landed Illuminate Warp Ships through their shields. However, the dropships now have health, allowing the Ultimatum to destroy them once the shield is down
P-2 Peacemaker
Decreased Spread from 30 to 10
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
P-19 Redeemer
Decreased Spread from 35 to 10
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
P-113 Verdict
Decreased Spread from 30 to 8
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
PLAS-15 Loyalist
Decreased Spread from 25 to 10
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
LAS-58 Talon
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
P-72 Crisper
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
GP-31 Grenade Pistol
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
LAS-7 Dagger
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
P-11 Stim Pistol
Sway increased from 1 to 1.2
SG-22 Bushwhacker
Sway increased from 1 to 1.3
P-4 Senator
Decreased Spread from 30 to 8
Sway increased from 1 to 1.3
Stratagems
Support Weapons
RS-422 Railgun
Decreased Spread from 10 to 0.1
FLAM-40 Flamethrower
Magazine capacity increased by 30%
Backpacks
LIFT-850 Jump pack
Increased break force on landing to make Helldivers less likely to ragdoll when landing
Eagles
Eagle 110mm rockets
Stagger strength increased from 35 to 40
Increased armor penetration in certain angles
Enemies
Automatons
Bunker Turret
Spread increased from 20 to 50
Conflagration Devastator
Reduced damage per pellet
More pellets are now required to hit you to put you on fire
Automaton Gunship
Body armor value reduced from 4 to 3
Main body health increased to 950 from 700
Now shoots more and the aim is slightly more accurate
Bulk Fabricator
Health increased from 1500 to 5000
Conscripts
There was a bug where the Conscripts reloaded after every shot, it's now been fixed so they only reload when they're actually out of ammo
Terminids
Spore Spewers
Demolition level decreased from 60 to 50, making it easier to kill with heavy ordnance weapons
Illuminates
Landed Warp Ships
Will now be easier to kill with Anti-Tank weaponry once the shields are down
Fixes
Resolved Top Priority issues:
Crash Fixes, Hangs and Soft-locks:
Fixed a crash which could occur when returning to your Super Destroyer from a host parked at a planet with the Democracy Space Station in orbit, if the Democracy Space Station had just moved to a new planet
Fixed a crash when writing a specific sequence of text in the chat
Fixed a crash that could occur after partially destroying an Automaton convoy
Fixed crash when attempting to drop into a mission on Tien Kwan
Weapons and Stratagems
The SMG-37 Defender does not trigger the anti tank mines anymore
Improved the effectiveness of flashlight attachments
Fixed a bug that was causing the camera to be stuck in Aim Down Sights (ADS) mode when discarding the MLS-4X Commando when utilizing that camera mode
Cancelling laser weapon reloads no longer gives them infinite ammo
Miscellaneous Fixes
Fixed an issue with intermittent flickering of distant visual effects
Fixed an issue where the FRV and Helldivers embarked in it would get covered in blood after a Helldiver would attack the FRV from any passenger seat
Spore Scavengers can now properly attack
Vehicles now correctly show the appropriate enemy blood colors
Lowered the target node for the Illuminate tesla tower so that the StA-X3 W.A.S.P. Launcher can properly hit it
No longer shows the reconnect popup if the host leaves while on the Destroyer
Fixed an issue that resulted in some cases where the momentum could get reset at the end of moving emotes
Sample containers can now be properly pinged again
Corrected misaligned logo of the Borderline Justice Warbond
Fixed an issue with the illuminate Cognitive Disruptor not turning off correctly for hot joining players
Decreased a big hitch that could occur during the dropdown sequence
The game is now showing the correct amount of total samples on missions
Fixed a bug that caused held stratagems to be stuck in Helldivers hands after taking fall damage
Performance improvement in the particle subsystem
Also read:
Light No Fire Release Date, Storyline, Gameplay and More