Joel, Helldivers 2's benevolent God, has vanished from his celestial observatory above the front lines, taking with him the free Strategems he used to hand out. And now the masterless Helldivers are left wondering: where did he go?
Helldivers 2 players have "gone too far"
“What happened to Joel giving us free strategies to use?” asked Reddit user TheQuixotic6 in a thread published on May 17. They detailed the freebies Joel used to give out to Helldivers participating in the game’s first Major Orders, such as four 500kg bombs per run, a fifth Strategem slot, or unique Support Weapons to help Helldivers push through the trenches. However, they also pointed out that Joel appears to have stopped doing that and slowed down his goodwill, which some have suggested has to do with “balance.”
A player commenting on the thread mockingly noted how "JOEL has been rebalanced", implying that Arrowhead has been slowing him down on purpose as part of their recent crackdown on balancing the game as much as possible. These balance changes have caused some controversy and backlash from the community, leading Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt to personally step in to help address the situation. Joel's powers in Helldivers 2 may indeed have been limited, though he can likely still handle the usual workloads like managing spawn rates and planetary difficulty.
Another player wanted Arrowhead to introduce weekly Strategem rotations to give weaker or less popular Strategems a chance. This could fill the void left by Joel's absence and support those Strategems that may have been overlooked by meta-minded Helldivers. It could even serve as a "testing ground" for balance adjustments, as weekly Strategems could be made slightly different than those available in the armory.
