[Megathread] The Division 2

[Skizzit]

Is it though? surely I'm not the only one of my kind out there which this kind of bug ruins a game for a person I really want to carry on but when I try I lose all motivation because I really want to carry on that quest and see how it plays out and if I carry on letting the quest fade into obscurity I'll never know and no youtube videos are not the same experience.

Yes because side missions can be completed at any time. It isn't going to vanish off of your map and will scale in level to whatever you are at. You can skip it for now, continue on with the game, and return to it whenever it gets fixed.

[Coldkil]

Disable W10 gaming mode and game bar, and disable fullscreen optimization for the game. Since i turned off these two, didnt have a single CTD or hard freeze on DX12, on both my PCs (notebook with 7700hq and 1060, desktop with 8600k and 1080ti). Before that the game crashed like every 20-25 mins with dx12.

W10 game mode should have been disabled from long time ago - i did disable fullscreen optimization (like in the guide i linked) and yes, no more crashes. At least for now.

Still some stutter when "loading areas" only when in party, solo play is flawless.

EDIT: btw, i found my weapon. Single shot MMR are awesome. Also i extremely dislike the 12x scopes, i play much better without it. I unlocked the standard small scope and it's fine, i need to try a 4x and see how it goes.

[Skizzit]

W10 game mode should have been disabled from long time ago - i did disable fullscreen optimization (like in the guide i linked) and yes, no more crashes. At least for now.

Still some stutter when "loading areas" only when in party, solo play is flawless.

EDIT: btw, i found my weapon. Single shot MMR are awesome. Also i extremely dislike the 12x scopes, i play much better without it. I unlocked the standard small scope and it's fine, i need to try a 4x and see how it goes.

I played through the entire game solo using a single shot MMR and an assault rifle. I have been playing around with the MK17 post-30 however and it is damn strong but it is getting nerfed tomorrow.

I read on the ubi forums that at some point in the game these side missions if not completed disappear and do not return after a certain point in the story quests and I didn't want that, that's why I havent played...

Not as far as I know. I finished the story and the first three strongholds to get to tier 1 and every side mission I never did are still on my map.

[Coldkil]

I played through the entire game solo using a single shot MMR and an assault rifle. I have been playing around with the MK17 post-30 however and it is damn strong but it is getting nerfed tomorrow.

Ah, i'm still lvl10 and a half and taking my time. I have a SMG and a rifle as secondary weapons, still thinking what to try in conjunction with the Chem Launcher - i want to try the turret as i loved it in the first game.

Also, are Strongholds soloable or are they party only content?

[szechuan]

Also, are Strongholds soloable or are they party only content?

They're definitely meant to be played with a group, you'll most likely still be able to solo it depending on your level/gear/abilities etc... and what difficulty you choose.

[Super Kami Dende]

So will the endgame have matchmaking where you can just group with randoms?

Considering picking this up tomorrow (later today).

Yes it does, it has matchmaking for all activities from low level.

[Coldkil]

They're definitely meant to be played with a group, you'll most likely still be able to solo it depending on your level/gear/abilities etc... and what difficulty you choose.

Ok, so similar to first game difficulties where normal/hard were soloable but challenge was definitely not. Well, it's also a matter of convenience and efficiency - it's not worth running solo if it takes 5x the time to clear i suppose.

[bowchikabow]

Glad I spent so much time farming for a nice M4/ACE-r And LMG. That AR/LMG survivalist build is gonna be NUTS when servers go up haha. RIP sharpshooter.

[Tekkommo]

Also, are Strongholds soloable or are they party only content?

Everything is soloable, any difficulty. It's up to you how you play.

No idea what it will be like in WT5.

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There is a SHD cache inside the mission thats only accessible through that mission and yes we tried the matchmaking but it bugged out my partner hence why we are now both stuck at that point and we'd rather prefer to be able to get all our skillpoints and not be left short.

That's not a game breaking bug...

Just do it later on when it's fixed.

edit: It's fixed, just picked mine up in WT5.

[Skizzit]

Ah, i'm still lvl10 and a half and taking my time. I have a SMG and a rifle as secondary weapons, still thinking what to try in conjunction with the Chem Launcher - i want to try the turret as i loved it in the first game.

Also, are Strongholds soloable or are they party only content?

If you are running solo, I highly recommend the hive that revives. It doesn't say so in the help text, but if it is off cooldown and you die, it will fire off automatically and rez you. Very handy. I have read that if you use it with another gadget like a turret or drone and have that out when you die, the hive rez will bug out and not work, but I use it mostly with the chem launcher (either the heal or the damage version) and it has always worked for me. And I cannot speak to anything post tier 1, but I soloed the basic versions of the strongholds with little issue.

[Puri]

Okay . . . so this just happened.

I was making my way to the theater, and saw I lost the Demolition Cite CP so I thought to retake it. However, before I even got into it, much less fired my flare or engaged any guards, I run into an elite named Black Tusk guy. Kill him and suddenly "Supply Room unlocked!"

Found it weird that the CP unlocked while I was engaged in something else entirely.

If you supply your CPs enough, they will start attacking other CP from themselves. A single supplied CP is not enough to take over another one, but with multiple groups (you see them as green guns on the map) attacking a CP they can take over a CP without the players help. You probably just stumbled into such a NPC raid and finished the boss.
If this happens, and you are in a region where they send their soldiers to another CP, you cannot retake any other CP until they are finished (wiped or succeeeded), as you cannot call reinforcments ("No reinforcements available").

They really nailed the outside world in that game.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, are Strongholds soloable or are they party only content?

Pretty much everything scales with the party size. If you are going solo you will have significantly less and weaker enemies to fight than in a 4 player party.

That's why imho the best party size to run is two players. A reasonable amount of mobs that are not just bullet sponges, the fire is not concentrated on a single player, and when you fail (for example during a bounty or limited activity) the mission does not just despawn and one player can corpserun while the other remains dead within the mission area.

[Coldkil]

Thanks all for the tips - especially @Skizzit for the Hive recommendation. I'm sad for unlocking the pulse first as i thought it would have been more useful as it was in the first game, but hell, it sucks. I am also thinking on going dual offensive because if things are dead, they cannot kill you (flamethrower turret and gas chem launcher have a great synergy).

But defintely going to unlock hive. It was one of my picks for solo and i can maybe use an offensive/cc option when i group up (i have a friend that plays shield/healing hive).

[Adam Jensen]

Ah, i'm still lvl10 and a half and taking my time. I have a SMG and a rifle as secondary weapons, still thinking what to try in conjunction with the Chem Launcher - i want to try the turret as i loved it in the first game.

Also, are Strongholds soloable or are they party only content?

I did the three Strongholds before World Tier 1 solo. They're no harder than a regular mission.

[SirCowdog]

Thanks all for the tips - especially @Skizzit for the Hive recommendation. I'm sad for unlocking the pulse first as i thought it would have been more useful as it was in the first game, but hell, it sucks. I am also thinking on going dual offensive because if things are dead, they cannot kill you (flamethrower turret and gas chem launcher have a great synergy).

But defintely going to unlock hive. It was one of my picks for solo and i can maybe use an offensive/cc option when i group up (i have a friend that plays shield/healing hive).

I've been soloing all content at World Tier 4. The hive is an absolute must when you don't have anyone to rez you. I feel like it's kind of a crutch, but there's so many "Oh sh*t!" moments where you just don't see something coming and get wrecked. The Hive is just invaluable due to the ridiculous damage you can take from the various challenging enemies that roam around.

For leveling though, you can use almost anything, and I highly recommend you branch out and try other skills. Personally I like the vanilla turret, since it will point out targets for you and cover you flanks. Just make sure you place it somewhere with high elevation so I can actually shoot. I also used Chem Launcher: Oxidizer a lot to get people out of cover, since the AOE ignores cover. Crusader Shield is a good alternative to cover you in bad situations, although you shouldn't hesitate to try the regular shield, since pistols are actually REALLY strong in TD2.

All in all, if you're going to solo, you just need to make sure your gear is within 1 level of you. The way enemy damage and armor scales, if you don't keep your weapon and armor up to date, things will be unnecessarily difficult. Even 2 levels below can mean a difference of 20-25% less armor or damage. Don't waste much time trying to optimize your gear, level matters more as a rule of thumb.

[StrawberryZebra]

I'm currently at level 9 and I can't help but think I'm missing something important. Enemies soak up bullets like it's going out of style, even repeated headshots from close range with my Shotgun takes 3-4 rounds to get a kill. And it's a level 9 weapon too, so it's not as if it's out of date. The Boss enemies are damn near bullet proof.

The guns are well.. Just guns? They shoot bullets and do gun type things. They don't really seem to be exciting or interesting in any real way. Though not really being able to shoot on the move is a huge pain in the neck I have to say. You never know if you're going to hit the guy at point blank or if you're going to be off by 90 degrees. I did get a Sniper Rifle for a level or two, which was slightly more interesting than generic assault rifles, but even that wasn't brilliant.

The skills seem very lackluster too - The cooldowns take forever and the effects aren't really that spectacular. Maybe I've just picked some of the weaker ones, I went with the Turret and the Drone, but neither really seem worth the investment if I'm honest.

The loot is boring too, it suffers from the same problem as M+ does in WoW where it's just more of the same but with better stats. It get's annoying having to stop and adjust your gear every 2-3 minutes to see if the new kneepads you just picked up are better than your old ones. Having to constantly dismantle gear to have inven space is a ballache.

Which is disapointing, because the core gameplay is fine. Not great, but entertaining enough, but the overall package just seems rather bland at the moment. Really hoping it gets better later on, otherwise I can't see myself sticking with it for much longer.

[stellvia]

@StrawberryZebra Different weapons excel at different things. Shotguns stagger enemies, but do poorly against armored targets IE yellow-bar enemies. They're best against red-health enemies but are still a situational weapon in TD2. Armored targets require changing up your tactics: Spiced up Rushers wear helmets so you want to shoot them in the body or legs. Fully armored guys like the sledgehammer or grenadiers you want to be targeting their hands or ammo... they will "drop their weapon" or be forced to reload, buying you time. It's also a good idea to have multiple loadouts. If your stuff isn't on cooldown you can switch out gadgets or weapons for the situation.

The number of Talent choices expands over time, but yes this is a more grounded game where you won't find the range of wacky specialty guns like you might in Borderlands. That expands to the gunplay where yes, trying to run n gun is going to throw off your aim a lot as one would expect IRL. Walking and gunning? That works okay, running does not. As for skills: the skill power system has been broken until now, the patch that rolled out overnight JUST reworked them so you should find you can equip some skill mods now. With like +20-30% cooldown reduction I find the healing drone works just fine. If you destroy it early you get half the CD which for me is about 70secs. Lategame even before the skill changes people were able to make gimmick builds with like 5sec seeker mine CD or rolling CDs for the reflection shield. If you want short CDs I suggest getting the chemlauncher then.

I will admit they maybe went a bit overboard in how much gear drops in the game because yeah, you have to deconstruct quite often. You have to fight the compulsion to stick your nose in your gear every 3mins though. You realistically only have to update your gear about every 2-3 levels, so go out and do a number of missions and don't worry about your gear until you get back to the BoO or settlement. Then update a few armor and a weapon or something and sell/deconstruct the rest. Don't worry about saving shit as it drops so often you'll have more soon enough.

Overall I'll say: Maybe the game just isn't for you? Sounds like you want more fast-paced arcadey action. Something like Destiny delivers on that a lot better, and theoretically Anthem will as well in however many months or years it takes them to finish the game into an actual release state.

[szechuan]

The skills seem very lackluster too - The cooldowns take forever and the effects aren't really that spectacular. Maybe I've just picked some of the weaker ones, I went with the Turret and the Drone, but neither really seem worth the investment if I'm honest.

You'll get mods for them eventually, Skill Builds are now exceptionally powerful end game Builds.

[SirCowdog]

I'm currently at level 9 and I can't help but think I'm missing something important. Enemies soak up bullets like it's going out of style, even repeated headshots from close range with my Shotgun takes 3-4 rounds to get a kill. And it's a level 9 weapon too, so it's not as if it's out of date. The Boss enemies are damn near bullet proof.

You need to remember that despite being a shooter, The Division 2 is also an RPG. Some enemies are meant to be tougher than others, especially bosses.

But yeah, at such a low level your gear is going to be garbage. You don't have any optimization or good modifiers. Also, stop using shotguns. They're garbage. They've always been garbage.

Do your side missions to unlock weapon mods at the crafting table. Once you unlock a weapon mod and craft it, it's always available for any gun. There's no limit on them. You don't run out. They're free.

Though not really being able to shoot on the move is a huge pain in the neck I have to say.

Um...what? You can absolutely shoot while moving. Just don't expect your accuracy to be amazing. You need to learn how and when to use cover. You don't always have to lock yourself into a cover position to shoot. Sometimes it's more effective to use Line of Sight to block enemy fire so you can stay mobile.

The loot is boring too, it suffers from the same problem as M+ does in WoW where it's just more of the same but with better stats. It get's annoying having to stop and adjust your gear every 2-3 minutes to see if the new kneepads you just picked up are better than your old ones. Having to constantly dismantle gear to have inven space is a ballache.

That's because you're still leveling up. I'd highly recommend not worrying about the stats on gear while leveling. Just use whatever is higher level. Make sure you return to the Base of Operations every now and then after collecting SHD points to upgrade things like backpack space. And yes, absolutely dismantle everything that isn't currently your level. Mark them as trash with the V key then dismantle all trash with Tab. You'll want the components you get from that anyway.

Once you're level 30 you can actually start worrying about optimization and builds. Before that, just focus on leveling up.

[sibut]

I can see the DZ is populated with the same mature adults as in TD1. I don't even loot anything-ever-unless it's an exotic and these squads of 12 year olds gank me repeatedly as I'm trying to clear landmarks with no lootpack on. Basement-dwelling virgins gonna basement-dwelling virgin, I guess.

Anyone else finding going from 450-500 significantly slower than 400-450? I've done missions, control points, DZ, etc. and it seems like a good 85%+ of the drops have been downgrades.

[Tekkommo]

Anyone else finding going from 450-500 significantly slower than 400-450? I've done missions, control points, DZ, etc. and it seems like a good 85%+ of the drops have been downgrades.

Yeah I've noticed that, I'm currently 476.

I did WT1-4 in a few hours, which was too fast. So I don't care that it is slowed down. I like the grind, where I am mostly increasing my GS. This time I am being more picky with what pieces I replace. Maybe they nerfed having higher pieces in your bag counting as a higher GS.

I'm in no rush to get to 500 (although I will play a lot!), I have till April 25th to get a good set for the raid.

With regards to the DZ, splitting it into 3 zones and decreasing the amount of players in the zone was a mistake. Although what it does mean, if you are getting ganked constantly in one zone, you can move to another... I really liked the DZ in TD1, I have little motivation to go to the new DZs, whether this is attributed by the LZ being fantastic this time, I don't know.