Helldivers 2 has a new line of defense against cheaters. Arrowhead Game Studios switched the co-op shooter from GameGuard to Easy Anti-Cheat on Tuesday, October 20, and paired the change with patch 7.2.0, which also brings a sizable balance pass for weapons and stratagems.
Why Arrowhead is changing anti-cheat
Arrowhead was blunt about the reason. “The implementation of GameGuard for HELLDIVERS 2 wasn’t as effective as it could have been, and in the end we decided to take another path with EAC,” the studio wrote. It called Easy Anti-Cheat an industry standard used in over 200 games and said the switch comes with “additional security tools in place to enhance its effectiveness and improve game integrity protection.”
The studio said some players have bent the rules far enough to affect other people’s missions and even manipulate the Galactic War itself. To fight that, it is cracking down on recent cheat mods. Arrowhead said it appreciates cosmetic and non-gameplay mods, but warned that “some mods, particularly the types that are affecting the experience of other players, may no longer function,” and that some harmless cosmetic mods may need updates from their creators. If you think EAC is blocking a non-destructive mod, Arrowhead wants you to contact its support team on Zendesk.
A few practical answers came with the announcement. Easy Anti-Cheat does not change the game’s hardware requirements, and Steam Deck and Linux compatibility stays the same.
Patch 7.2.0 balance highlights
Patch 7.2.0, called Devoid of Liberty, also lands alongside the new Scope of Authority Warbond. Arrowhead gave the Killzone and Halo legendary warbond weapons a boost because they cannot be customized. The M90A Shotgun’s damage rises from 605 to 726, the MA5C Assault Rifle gets much less recoil, and the StA-11 SMG now hits for 100 instead of 90.
The PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle reloads faster, dropping from 3.3 to 2.7 seconds, and both Sickle laser rifles start firing and cooling down faster. Light-penetration shotguns like the SG-8 Punisher and SG-225 Breaker hit harder too. On the stratagem side, the M-1000 Maxigun lets you move again the instant you stop firing, the CQC-20 Breaching Hammer gets 10 spare charges instead of 7, and the Orbital Airburst Strike now has a tighter blast pattern, with its cooldown cut from 100 to 90.
Arrowhead also split the bug strain that spawns Bile Warriors, Spewers and Scavengers into its own strain controlled by the Game Masters, with its own on-map indicator, so you will know when it is active. The patch also includes a long list of crash and bug fixes.
