Community Balance Patch — Arsenal Accord
Your next favorite loadout might already be in your armory.
Arsenal Accord is a community balance overhaul built to make Helldivers 2 feel fresh again. It takes on underperforming weapons and stratagems across the armory, giving overlooked equipment the damage, handling, ammunition, or utility it needs to earn a place in your loadout.
The goal is simple: base-game weapons should stand alongside newer Warbond gear, and bringing an old favorite should feel rewarding. Some equipment receives focused improvements; other pieces get a substantial rework and a clearer role.
If you keep bringing the same equipment because everything else feels like a compromise, this patch gives you reasons to open the rest of the armory.
9.5 — Shotguns, Stratagems & Grenades
Super Earth has reopened the requisitions ledger. Version 9.5 gives close-range weapons clearer jobs and expands the tools available for controlling the battlefield.
Shotguns receive distinct damage, penetration and handling profiles, including two selectable M90A ammunition configurations. Support equipment gains improvements to recovery, mobility and usability, while smoke, bombardments and utility grenades offer more ways to protect an advance or hold a position.
HD2Runtime 0.40.0 now provides controls needed for several GRASS proposals that earlier versions of Arsenal Accord could not implement. This release brings those supported changes into the mod alongside Accord’s own balance decisions. The 0.9.4 support pass remains included; new assault-rifle, pistol and SMG proposals are reserved for later releases.
Requires HD2Runtime 0.40.0, Bingus Shared Loader v18+ and Vanilla Plus Megapack. Offline package checks passed; the complete 9.5 package has not yet been live gameplay-tested. ModBuilder and the SDK are not required to play.
Orbital Smoke uses 16 salvos, the runtime maximum. M90A’s reload ability is faster, but its complete reload animation has not yet been timed. Sterilizer’s five-second Acid Storm duration changes the shared effect, including weather.
Read the full 9.5 changelog for values, tradeoffs and implementation notes.
Maxigun overhaul — keep moving, keep firing.
A weapon that takes both your support weapon and backpack slots should be worth the commitment. The Maxigun now allows walking while firing, and supply pickups refill its full 1,000-round backpack. Increased stagger and push are intended to help keep bodies from blocking sustained fire.
Selectable fire rates offer different levels of ammunition consumption and output, although the selector remains experimental. The weapon retains its original recoil and backpack capacity.
Melee overhaul — make getting close worth the risk.
Closing into striking distance should have a meaningful payoff. Supported melee weapons receive substantial damage increases, with durable damage raised to match standard damage.
The Combat Hatchet reaches 480 standard and durable damage, the Stun Lance reaches 330, and the Defoliation Tool gains increased damage, penetration, and stagger. The One True Flag also becomes a frequently available drop-pod strike with a finite mission stock.
These changes reward close-quarters commitment while preserving the danger of getting that close. The Breaching Hammer’s ordinary melee damage remains unchanged; its charged explosion increases to 2,500 standard and durable damage in the carried-forward support pass. New Machete and Entrenchment Tool proposals are deferred.
Primary overhaul — give the whole weapon rack another look.
Assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, marksman rifles, and specialist primaries receive changes tailored to their roles.
The Liberator gets steadier aim and improved reserves on its larger magazines. The Punisher hits harder and fires faster. The Constitution becomes a stable, hard-hitting precision rifle with improved penetration while retaining its five-round capacity and bolt-action limitations.
Other weapons receive more distinct identities. The Eruptor leans into wider crowd-clearing explosions, while the Crossbow becomes a suppressed weapon focused on deliberate shots. The aim is to make more weapons competitive while preserving reasons to choose one over another.
Orbital rework — put your Super Destroyer to work.
Orbitals receive shorter cooldowns balanced by finite mission stocks, making them available more often during a fight while asking you to manage your remaining support.
Examples include:
These are whole-mission stocks, not rechargeable charges. Listed cooldowns are before ship upgrades.
Mine rework — prepare the battlefield.
Minefields become quicker to deploy, with a limited mission stock replacing long waits between call-ins:
More changes throughout the armory.
The overhaul also reaches secondaries, throwables, support weapons, sentries, backpacks, and exosuits. Examples include a shorter Jump Pack recharge, quicker recovery for a damaged but unbroken Shield Generator Pack, and removal of the mission-use cap for supported exosuits while retaining their cooldowns and ammunition limits.
There are 167 selectable equipment options, allowing you to choose which parts of the patch to enable. Some changes include reductions and tradeoffs to preserve distinct roles.
Built with community feedback.
Development is active, with changes arriving almost every day as testing, proposals, and player feedback shape the patch.
The Discord is the place to request changes to Arsenal Accord, discuss balance, report problems, follow work in progress, share clips, and find a squad. Requests are for improvements and additions to this mod.
Join the Arsenal Accord Discord
Read the full balance document for exact values, tradeoffs, implementation notes, and known limitations. The document distinguishes implemented changes from proposals that remain unsupported or experimental.
Installation
Install and enable all four required mods:
For Arsenal configured with “last mod = highest priority,” use this order from top to bottom:
This ordering is based on the author’s earlier tested setup; the complete 9.5 build has not yet been live gameplay-tested. Compatibility with every other mod combination has not been established.
Select the Arsenal Accord equipment options you want enabled. With the game closed, disable older Arsenal Accord or GRASS packages, then purge and deploy your mods.
Startup — read this before playing.
Runtime changes must apply again after every full game restart.
Keep Helldivers 2 in the foreground at the “Press any button” screen while the included progress panel processes your selected changes. Allow approximately five minutes as a starting estimate; loading time varies with your system and selected options. Loading aboard the ship or during a mission has been significantly slower in the author’s tests.
The panel disappears when processing finishes. Completion can include rejected changes, so check HD2Runtime.log for applied and rejected counts and the settled summary.
You can toggle the panel with Shift+P or hide it with X. Hiding it does not stop loading. After processing finishes, spawn fresh equipment before testing changes.
Testing and troubleshooting
This is an experimental balance project. Some firing modes, attachment effects, displayed stats, and gameplay interactions still need further testing. Unsupported proposals are identified in the balance document.
If something appears unchanged or behaves incorrectly, report it in Discord with:
GRASS / luxeburn: original publicly shared balance proposals and document structure that formed the foundation of this project.
Arsenal Accord: additional balance direction, personal reworks, implementation decisions, and ongoing community-driven adjustments.
SkyeShade: HD2Runtime and HD2Runtime ModBuilder.
CowboyBingus: Bingus Shared Loader.
OpenAI Codex: assistance with supported runtime implementation, offline validation, and documentation.
Thanks to everyone testing the patch, reporting problems, and suggesting improvements.
Arsenal Accord is an independent community project. GRASS has not endorsed this mod, and its additional changes should not be attributed to him.
Your next favorite loadout might already be in your armory.
Arsenal Accord is a community balance overhaul built to make Helldivers 2 feel fresh again. It takes on underperforming weapons and stratagems across the armory, giving overlooked equipment the damage, handling, ammunition, or utility it needs to earn a place in your loadout.
The goal is simple: base-game weapons should stand alongside newer Warbond gear, and bringing an old favorite should feel rewarding. Some equipment receives focused improvements; other pieces get a substantial rework and a clearer role.
If you keep bringing the same equipment because everything else feels like a compromise, this patch gives you reasons to open the rest of the armory.
9.5 — Shotguns, Stratagems & Grenades
Super Earth has reopened the requisitions ledger. Version 9.5 gives close-range weapons clearer jobs and expands the tools available for controlling the battlefield.
Shotguns receive distinct damage, penetration and handling profiles, including two selectable M90A ammunition configurations. Support equipment gains improvements to recovery, mobility and usability, while smoke, bombardments and utility grenades offer more ways to protect an advance or hold a position.
HD2Runtime 0.40.0 now provides controls needed for several GRASS proposals that earlier versions of Arsenal Accord could not implement. This release brings those supported changes into the mod alongside Accord’s own balance decisions. The 0.9.4 support pass remains included; new assault-rifle, pistol and SMG proposals are reserved for later releases.
Requires HD2Runtime 0.40.0, Bingus Shared Loader v18+ and Vanilla Plus Megapack. Offline package checks passed; the complete 9.5 package has not yet been live gameplay-tested. ModBuilder and the SDK are not required to play.
Orbital Smoke uses 16 salvos, the runtime maximum. M90A’s reload ability is faster, but its complete reload animation has not yet been timed. Sterilizer’s five-second Acid Storm duration changes the shared effect, including weather.
Read the full 9.5 changelog for values, tradeoffs and implementation notes.
Maxigun overhaul — keep moving, keep firing.
A weapon that takes both your support weapon and backpack slots should be worth the commitment. The Maxigun now allows walking while firing, and supply pickups refill its full 1,000-round backpack. Increased stagger and push are intended to help keep bodies from blocking sustained fire.
Selectable fire rates offer different levels of ammunition consumption and output, although the selector remains experimental. The weapon retains its original recoil and backpack capacity.
Melee overhaul — make getting close worth the risk.
Closing into striking distance should have a meaningful payoff. Supported melee weapons receive substantial damage increases, with durable damage raised to match standard damage.
The Combat Hatchet reaches 480 standard and durable damage, the Stun Lance reaches 330, and the Defoliation Tool gains increased damage, penetration, and stagger. The One True Flag also becomes a frequently available drop-pod strike with a finite mission stock.
These changes reward close-quarters commitment while preserving the danger of getting that close. The Breaching Hammer’s ordinary melee damage remains unchanged; its charged explosion increases to 2,500 standard and durable damage in the carried-forward support pass. New Machete and Entrenchment Tool proposals are deferred.
Primary overhaul — give the whole weapon rack another look.
Assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, marksman rifles, and specialist primaries receive changes tailored to their roles.
The Liberator gets steadier aim and improved reserves on its larger magazines. The Punisher hits harder and fires faster. The Constitution becomes a stable, hard-hitting precision rifle with improved penetration while retaining its five-round capacity and bolt-action limitations.
Other weapons receive more distinct identities. The Eruptor leans into wider crowd-clearing explosions, while the Crossbow becomes a suppressed weapon focused on deliberate shots. The aim is to make more weapons competitive while preserving reasons to choose one over another.
Orbital rework — put your Super Destroyer to work.
Orbitals receive shorter cooldowns balanced by finite mission stocks, making them available more often during a fight while asking you to manage your remaining support.
Examples include:
- Orbital Precision Strike: 20-second base cooldown, 33 uses per mission.
- Orbital Gatling Barrage: 15-second base cooldown, 20 uses.
- Orbital Railcannon Strike: 30-second base cooldown, 15 uses.
- Orbital Smoke and EMS: 15-second base cooldowns, 36 uses each.
These are whole-mission stocks, not rechargeable charges. Listed cooldowns are before ship upgrades.
Mine rework — prepare the battlefield.
Minefields become quicker to deploy, with a limited mission stock replacing long waits between call-ins:
- Anti-Personnel Minefield: 15-second base cooldown, 22 deployments.
- Anti-Tank Mines: 30-second base cooldown, 11 deployments.
- Gas and Incendiary Mines: 45-second base cooldowns, 11 deployments each.
More changes throughout the armory.
The overhaul also reaches secondaries, throwables, support weapons, sentries, backpacks, and exosuits. Examples include a shorter Jump Pack recharge, quicker recovery for a damaged but unbroken Shield Generator Pack, and removal of the mission-use cap for supported exosuits while retaining their cooldowns and ammunition limits.
There are 167 selectable equipment options, allowing you to choose which parts of the patch to enable. Some changes include reductions and tradeoffs to preserve distinct roles.
Built with community feedback.
Development is active, with changes arriving almost every day as testing, proposals, and player feedback shape the patch.
The Discord is the place to request changes to Arsenal Accord, discuss balance, report problems, follow work in progress, share clips, and find a squad. Requests are for improvements and additions to this mod.
Join the Arsenal Accord Discord
Read the full balance document for exact values, tradeoffs, implementation notes, and known limitations. The document distinguishes implemented changes from proposals that remain unsupported or experimental.
Installation
Install and enable all four required mods:
- Arsenal Accord — Community Balance Patch: download the package from this page.
- HD2Runtime 0.40.0 by SkyeShade: expand Assets and download HD2Runtime-0.40.0-runtime.zip.
- Vanilla Plus Megapack.
- Bingus Shared Loader v18+.
For Arsenal configured with “last mod = highest priority,” use this order from top to bottom:
- Arsenal Accord — Community Balance Patch
- HD2Runtime 0.40.0
- Vanilla Plus Megapack
- Bingus Shared Loader — highest priority
This ordering is based on the author’s earlier tested setup; the complete 9.5 build has not yet been live gameplay-tested. Compatibility with every other mod combination has not been established.
Select the Arsenal Accord equipment options you want enabled. With the game closed, disable older Arsenal Accord or GRASS packages, then purge and deploy your mods.
Startup — read this before playing.
Runtime changes must apply again after every full game restart.
Keep Helldivers 2 in the foreground at the “Press any button” screen while the included progress panel processes your selected changes. Allow approximately five minutes as a starting estimate; loading time varies with your system and selected options. Loading aboard the ship or during a mission has been significantly slower in the author’s tests.
The panel disappears when processing finishes. Completion can include rejected changes, so check HD2Runtime.log for applied and rejected counts and the settled summary.
You can toggle the panel with Shift+P or hide it with X. Hiding it does not stop loading. After processing finishes, spawn fresh equipment before testing changes.
Testing and troubleshooting
This is an experimental balance project. Some firing modes, attachment effects, displayed stats, and gameplay interactions still need further testing. Unsupported proposals are identified in the balance document.
If something appears unchanged or behaves incorrectly, report it in Discord with:
- Your patch version and selected equipment options.
- Your mod load order.
- What happened and which equipment was affected.
- HD2Runtime.log and BingusSharedLoader.log.
GRASS / luxeburn: original publicly shared balance proposals and document structure that formed the foundation of this project.
Arsenal Accord: additional balance direction, personal reworks, implementation decisions, and ongoing community-driven adjustments.
SkyeShade: HD2Runtime and HD2Runtime ModBuilder.
CowboyBingus: Bingus Shared Loader.
OpenAI Codex: assistance with supported runtime implementation, offline validation, and documentation.
Thanks to everyone testing the patch, reporting problems, and suggesting improvements.
Arsenal Accord is an independent community project. GRASS has not endorsed this mod, and its additional changes should not be attributed to him.
