Helldivers 2 dev nerfed everyone's favorite shotgun because it was 'hands down the best sniper rifle' in the game
Nestled on page eight of Helldivers 2's free warbond is an unassuming gun—the SG-85 Slugger. I didn't pay much mind to the Slugger for a long time, or even bother unlocking it, because it's a variant of the Punisher, a shotgun I don't like. That changed when my friend informed me that the Slugger isn't really a shotgun—it's a shotgun-shaped rifle that fires slugs that can unalive anything in seconds. It's so good at killing that I feel like I'm cheating when I use it.
So I wasn't surprised when the Slugger got the biggest nerfs in yesterday's Helldivers 2 patch that also buffed sniper rifles, flame damage, and heavy armor. Arrowhead hit the popular gun where it hurts:
- Reduced stagger.
- Reduced damage from 280 to 250.
- Reduced demolition force.
Responding to feedback on the Helldivers Discord server, senior game designer Alexus Kravchenko said the Slugger changes came down to the fact that it was a shotgun that didn't behave like a shotgun.
"The truth is, [the] Slugger was just hands down the best sniper rifle out there, which is not fitting for, you know, a shotgun," Kravchenko wrote.
It's true: The Slugger can't equip a scope, but it
