Like it says on the tin, I really feel like the complaints about the balancing are made by the same type of folks who complain about SBMM in CoD: They want to be able to stomp on everything. To me, games are fun when there's a challenge and I feel like the latest Balance patch ensures that we aren't overpowered. Are Helldivers a force to be reckon with? Of course! But the whole premise of the game is that we are all expendable fodder for the war machine. From difficulty 4 upwards, it should be expected to lose at least 1-2 divers to the cause.

The Fire Breaker was OP against bugs, there's no debating that, and with the Cookout on the way it just made sense to nerf it. The Flamethrower being bugged made it OP, they fixed it and it's still super fun to use. Do I think the balance is perfect? Of course not. There are primaries that I just don't use because I haven't taken the time to figure out a viable scenario/loadout for them (looking at you PLAS-101 Purifier). I think the Autocannon should be able to damage a Charger's armour if the angle is right (it does have an explosive damage effect, does it not?).

All in all, I think the Balance is good overall, though some tweaks might make it even better. At the end of the day, if people feel like the game is absolute trash because they can't stomp on a difficulty 8, it is likely that it's just a "them" problem and they really should find another game where they can feel like a one-person army and can decimate a legion of enemies. The 54k players live at this moment (according to https://helldivers.io/) are proof that the game is fun.