Earlier this month, Arrowhead Game Studios’ fan-favorite co-op shooter Helldivers 2 kicked off Super Earth’s largest operation against the Terminids yet with the Into the Unjust update. In addition to initiating an expedition to planets deep within the dangerous Gloom miasma, the patch also introduced several new types of bugs that Helldivers can encounter in the field.
These include colossal Hive Lord worm bosses, huge winged Dragonroaches that are essentially flying Bile Titans, and a new sub-faction called the Rupture Strain with special versions of bugs that can burrow into the earth. Just a few short weeks after its arrival, though, the Rupture Strain has actually been taken offline.
Its removal came through on Wednesday morning, with Arrowhead explaining that the sub-faction will be unavailable to fight temporarily while the developers work to improve its enemy units.
“Our patch yesterday combined with other issues regarding the balance of the Rupture Strain have made them function in a way we did not intend. We’re going to take the Rupture Strain offline,” the studio wrote in an announcement on the official Helldivers Discord server. “No other units will be affected. The improved Rupture Strain will be back online in 5 weeks.”
Fans have been very vocally critical of the Rupture Strain since it was brought into the game, with its largest issue being a move used by Rupture Warriors — rank-and-file bugs that tunnel underground as they approach before leaping out and clawing at Helldivers’ legs.
Unlike most enemy attacks in Helldivers 2, that leaping strike proved to be seemingly impossible to dodge with smart movement or a combat dive, and bugs could even propel themselves high into the air to track players using a Jet Pack or Hover Pack when performing it.
For a time, you had a chance to get away from the leap if you weren’t the host of a match. Amusingly, though, a recent patch to the game — the one Arrowhead mentioned in the above notice — “fixed” the Rupture Warrior’s attack, making it nigh-unavoidable for everyone on the team.
Unlike most enemy attacks in Helldivers 2, that leaping strike proved to be seemingly impossible to dodge with smart movement or a combat dive, and bugs could even propel themselves high into the air to track players using a Jet Pack or Hover Pack when performing it.
The only true counter to Rupture Warriors and every other bug capable of burrowing is using explosive weaponry on part of the ground they’re near, as it forces them to emerge and expose themselves.
However, this in and of itself has been a controversial mechanic as well, as it’s hard to bring along enough explosives to deal with hordes of burrowers. The bugs often also only stay above ground for a brief moment before tunneling again, giving you very little time to finish them off; given how much fighting the Terminids requires you to run around and kite the horde, only having tiny windows like that is frustrating.
Overall, then, I think it’s good that the Rupture Strain is being pulled out of the Galactic War for a while to be reworked — and the community agrees. “All the complaining worked lmao,” wrote one player in response to the announcement of the takedown.
“This has never happened before. We officially had an enemy so obnoxiously awful that AHS straight up removed them from the game, at least a little while,” said another.
With that said, it’s also pretty disappointing that a new sub-faction, one of the biggest draws of the Into the Unjust patch, will be absent from the game for over a month shortly after its introduction. Despite its frustrating elements, I was having a lot of fun dealing with and building loadouts for the Rupture Strain’s unique approach. It spiced up the bug-slaying experience quite a bit.
Despite its frustrating elements, I was having a lot of fun dealing with and building loadouts for the Rupture Strain’s unique approach. It spiced up the bug-slaying experience quite a bit.
That adjusting the Rupture Strain will take Arrowhead five weeks speaks to the possibility that there are deeper technical issues to deal with here, and that it’s not something achievable with simple tweaks to numbers under the hood. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me, given how rocky Helldivers 2’s overall stability has been, recently.
Ultimately, though, all we can do is wait and see how Arrowhead tweaks the Rupture Strain to make them less unfair and more fun to fight against next month. Don’t think we’re going to have it easy on the bug front just because it’s on leave, though — the Stalker-filled Predator Strain is still around, and it’s as terrifyingly fierce as it’s always been.
Helldivers 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam), and PS5. It’s usually $39.99, but you can pick it up for $34.39 at Loaded (formerly CDKeys) thanks to a cool discount.
