[Megathread] The Division 2

[Edge-]

If you're going in fresh and enjoyed the beta, sure you'll get fun out of this game.
Just beware that the endgame is kind of a mixed back, and this developer is one huge yoyo when it comes to balancing things - and the knot is tangled halfway so there's more lows than highs tbh.

It's a pretty amazing game for both looks and gameplay, just get out once the annoyances start to become noticeable in the endgame.

This.

I wouldn't want to make it a "main" game, there's simply not enough stuff to do and the balance remains too out of whack for that. But it's a fantastic "side game" to dump a bunch of time into to hit cap and gear up, and then kinda keep on the side burner to dip into periodically.

Currently balance is fucked, last update nerfed enemies to make them less insanely annoying and next update is aiming to buff weapons, add more skill based talents and builds for more diversity, and generally make gear less...not exciting. There's another round of updates coming and we may find out more today.

I still really enjoy it, but in smaller doses as playing for too long makes the problems really obvious and starts irking me. But just logging in to clear out the daily project (usually a mission and some open world activities) is good fun. World building and all the little recording devices that deliver more background story are all still in the game and a ton of fun.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision...may_27th_2020/

Some info on phase 2.

Chest updates are good, they'll finally be somewhat useful again!

Some early info on the exotic updates, seems like some damage boosts but nothing major. Really disappointed in this, Chamelion looks like it's getting a 32% damage increase which will be nice but...I still don't see it having much draw. Still requires too much time (even with its insane rate of fire) to stack buffs without running outta ammo. Maybe it's designed to stack the buff and have you swap, and then swap back to maintain? That seems...really annoying if so.

[SirCowdog]

Some early info on the exotic updates, seems like some damage boosts but nothing major. Really disappointed in this, Chamelion looks like it's getting a 32% damage increase which will be nice but...I still don't see it having much draw. Still requires too much time (even with its insane rate of fire) to stack buffs without running outta ammo. Maybe it's designed to stack the buff and have you swap, and then swap back to maintain? That seems...really annoying if so.

I've played with the Chameleon a bit. It's not that bad of an AR, especially if you haven't unlocked the +20 round mag mod yet. Generally I never noticed the buffs from shooting body/head/legs. They all stack independently, and the stacks never drop that I can tell. A 32% damage increase will make it a reasonable option to use, although it won't really make for amazingly different gameplay than any other AR.

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BTSU Gloves gives you a Skill Haste buff for Hive Skills depending on Skill Tier

This might make the gloves actually worth using, although I don't think it will match up against the damage potential given by the Vile exotic mask.

layers might have also seen Skyscraper references. Yes, they are working on a new PVE game mode that is currently called Skyscraper. The idea of this game mode is, that it should scratch that itch of a replayable PVE game mode.

Also just to clarify, this is not Underground 2.0. While they always wanted to take inspiration from Survival or Underground, the goal is not simply to recreate those modes in The Division 2. So when Skyscraper comes out (and it will take some time) it will be a new and different experience.

Well, so much for that being in season 2 I guess. We'll just have to wait and see what it actually turns out to be.

[Coldkil]

That's pretty disgusting, honestly. 1 million? How does that even work?

But Pestilence not being a status wasn't really the point with my idea. It was just to stack DOTs.

But yeah, if you can stack 1 million per tick, that's pretty disgusting and probably more effective.

Yeah, that's awesome. Pestilence dot is full flat weapon damage. Doesn't scale with anything else, but is affected by armor/health damage (as everything else since they're separate multipliers). So i don't need crit/critdmg at all with it. Hence, i can roll skilldmg/handling on every piece, as handling now apparently increases also WD by a few %. skill haste is not needed since i'm gonna run either turret or drone. Probably 3 HanaU (due to skilldmg+wd) and 3 of the new set which is fine overall. Wondering if i can fit the Contractor's since its a 10% LMG dmg + 8% armor which is really good. Probably passsing over the health dmg of the new set (if it's the 3rd bonus) because i still think it's a next to useless stats until we're talking tanks/robodogs.

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You shoot heavies with it.
Since they "buffed" how the dot works, it's possible without heavies though. Before, it would overwrite the other buff if you have to two targets rolling with the debuff and one jumps over to the same target later than the other.
Now, they start stacking in damage.

100k ticks (1) + 80k ticks (2) = 80k ticks

vs

100k ticks (1) + 80k ticks(2) = 180k ticks.

The dot stacks up to 50. they don't add the damage, they add the stacks. If you shoot a guy and get to 5 stacks, and then another with 15 and it dies, the 15 stacks move to the other enemy totaling at 20 and refreshing duration.

50 stacks is 5000% weapon damage over 10 seconds. That's why it ticks so high.

EDIT: yes, the new brand set is wd - armor dmg - hp damage. So i can freely drop the 3rd piece for contractor's (which i have godrolled already).

[KrayZ33]

The dot stacks up to 50. they don't add the damage, they add the stacks. If you shoot a guy and get to 5 stacks, and then another with 15 and it dies, the 15 stacks move to the other enemy totaling at 20 and refreshing duration.

50 stacks is 5000% weapon damage over 10 seconds. That's why it ticks so high.

What's the difference?

[Coldkil]

What's the difference?

My bad, -1 reading comprehension Though it's not two debuffs separately rolling, but merging together. At least from what i saw.

[KrayZ33]

My bad, -1 reading comprehension Though it's not two debuffs separately rolling, but merging together. At least from what i saw.

Yeah it's just 1 debuff. But they merge now instead of overwriting.
Before the patch, the worse one would actually delete the stronger one. (lel)

[Edge-]

I've played with the Chameleon a bit. It's not that bad of an AR, especially if you haven't unlocked the +20 round mag mod yet. Generally I never noticed the buffs from shooting body/head/legs. They all stack independently, and the stacks never drop that I can tell. A 32% damage increase will make it a reasonable option to use, although it won't really make for amazingly different gameplay than any other AR.

I still can't see it being useful outside of bursting though, it burns through ammo WAY too quickly for my tastes and would be running dry unless you're constantly rushing around and picking up ammo on longer fights.

Would be "fine" for bosses with plenty of adds that spawn away from them, but on bosses without enough adds to keep your ammo up during longer fights I'd run dry way too soon. And clearing packs has a similar problem, by the time you've got 1-2 buffs stacked the dudes are all dead and you're burning time on the buffs running to the next encounter.

It's not a numbers issue, it's a design/mechanical issue. Sure, it can be INSANELY strong in specific situations but that doesn't feel super attractive to me. I get that they don't want exotics to be the "be all end all" or "best in slot by default", and that you're supposed to build around them a bit more, but I just don't see how you can effectively build around it to make it a general effective weapon : /

Which, sadly, largely remains my view on the exotics I've found so far. The exotic mask is the only one that I can think of that's a generally useful one, and even that has drawbacks with its longrange buff.

[SirCowdog]

I still can't see it being useful outside of bursting though, it burns through ammo WAY too quickly for my tastes and would be running dry unless you're constantly rushing around and picking up ammo on longer fights.

Would be "fine" for bosses with plenty of adds that spawn away from them, but on bosses without enough adds to keep your ammo up during longer fights I'd run dry way too soon. And clearing packs has a similar problem, by the time you've got 1-2 buffs stacked the dudes are all dead and you're burning time on the buffs running to the next encounter.

It's not a numbers issue, it's a design/mechanical issue. Sure, it can be INSANELY strong in specific situations but that doesn't feel super attractive to me. I get that they don't want exotics to be the "be all end all" or "best in slot by default", and that you're supposed to build around them a bit more, but I just don't see how you can effectively build around it to make it a general effective weapon : /

Which, sadly, largely remains my view on the exotics I've found so far. The exotic mask is the only one that I can think of that's a generally useful one, and even that has drawbacks with its longrange buff.

Out of curiosity, what bosses are you fighting where you run out of ammo? Or are you playing with the Ammo Hoarders directive?

Regardless, any ammo hungry weapon like that should really be combined with the gunner spec. The ammo regen will keep you shooting in any situation.

[KrayZ33]

If I'd use the exotic AR, at least before the patch (didn't use it post patch yet, in fact didn't even play after the buffs - is the patch even out already?) I'd have the same problem.
That gun is/was exceptionally weak and when you play with 3 players and enemies are a little further back than SMG range, you need a lot of ammo to kill one dude. The weapon ammo capacity didn't even survive a single man-hunt endboss-bounty (I think it was the first rogue agent we had to kill, where I tried it)

I was playing with the directive though.

Yet, I have no issue with any other weapon even with that directive on. Mostly due to Bullet King.

[Edge-]

Out of curiosity, what bosses are you fighting where you run out of ammo? Or are you playing with the Ammo Hoarders directive?

Normally, none. But I sorta build that way.

When I was testing it out I noticed just how insanely fast I was burning through rounds, and mentally mathing that out in my head on some of the boss fights would run me dry. I haven't properly tested since the damage has been bad, but I'll see if the buff makes it more attractive. Maybe I'm just remembering it running dry much faster than it actually did.

Regardless, any ammo hungry weapon like that should really be combined with the gunner spec. The ammo regen will keep you shooting in any situation.

Yeah, I run sniper for all the bonuses I get for MMR/R and crit etc. but would swap over to that. It'll help, but 1 mag every 10 seconds (IIRC) ain't much when you're burning through them every few seconds >.<

[SirCowdog]

Yeah, I run sniper for all the bonuses I get for MMR/R and crit etc. but would swap over to that. It'll help, but 1 mag every 10 seconds (IIRC) ain't much when you're burning through them every few seconds >.<

I ask because I run a vector with 53 rounds in the mag. And I burn through A LOT of mags. But never run out of ammo on anything besides lvl 4 CPs when an elite patrol shows up along with a resource convoy.

Ammo boxes are freakin everywhere anyway.
@Keayz33 No the patch isn't out, but the PTS is.

[Coldkil]

Watching iDentity stream right now. Apart from the Bulwark still being insanely OP (literally god mode set) it seems that TTK is generally dropped a lot. Which i like.

Definitely going down the route 2hana/contractor/3walker. i can stack great multipliers though Force Multiplier, armor dmg, Pestilence, and flat increases. Hopefully drones are not shitty anymore and don't die in 3 shots. Turret is good aswell but positioning is painful and you cannot grab it up like the hive.

EDIT: uh, just read how actually the new Vile mask works. Mad Bomber survivalist spam incoming.

[SirCowdog]

The Bulwark still being insanely OP (literally god mode set)

Yeah, I might have to break out a shield build again. And liberty might be worth using with that crazy 2% stacking damage per hit, up to 30 stacks. I mean.....60% extra damage as long as you avoid shooting the head. That's insane.

EDIT: uh, just read how actually the new Vile mask works. Mad Bomber survivalist spam incoming.

The interesting part is that Vile applies the DOT when any status effect gets applied. Large area effects like jammer pulse should be fun. And things like the Stinger Hive and the fire nade from survivalist(that you correctly pointed out) will double dot. I really think it'll be a staple for all status builds. The tricky part with mad bomber is whether or not the game will correctly refund grenades if the vile dot ticks for the kill instead of the fire damage.

Still...after reading through all the patch notes for phase 2, I'm a bit underwhelmed at the changes to exotics. Mostly it's just damage increases. I was hoping for some of the less-useful exotics getting changes to make them interesting. Passive damage increases are strong, but not interesting.

[Servos]

Big nerf to status effects on Heroic and Legendary difficulty on PTS. No impact on Challenging and below. Mob types are getting all sorts of increased resistance to statuses at the higher levels. I was really hoping that T10 is us 'regular folks'' chance to move our builds from Challenging to Heroic, and also hoping that we don't end up in a situation where it's fine, but only with full red builds. We shall see.....

[SirCowdog]

Big nerf to status effects on Heroic and Legendary difficulty on PTS. No impact on Challenging and below. Mob types are getting all sorts of increased resistance to statuses at the higher levels. I was really hoping that T10 is us 'regular folks'' chance to move our builds from Challenging to Heroic, and also hoping that we don't end up in a situation where it's fine, but only with full red builds. We shall see.....

Hybrid and skill builds will be stronger than ever. The new exotic mask will add damage to ANY status effect. Status effects will also get a boost from new sets.

I think what Massive was trying to do was to get away from 100% uptime on CC type status in groups, like blind or disorient. That may have caused them to go a little too far on the nerfing. But that's what the PTS is for: To find this out before it goes live. I think a better system would be to have a system of diminishing returns on the effectiveness of CC on each target, but we'll see how it turns out.

As for all red being the only way, I really think that's not true. Hybrids and shield builds are looking to be extra strong in TU10. I think there will be more diversity than there's ever been since the launch of Warlords.

[KrayZ33]

Wouldn't damage from status effects also go down due to the short uptime of burning for example?

But anyway. People complaining about losing ther 23+ second blinds are just losers.
Even if you have to completely specialize to do that (which is required to achieve 23+s) it's blatantly obvious that it's broken.

I'm pretty sure that they added the new mask so that Status Effect *damage* builds are still going to be a thing. It's just that they can't cheese everything anymore. The damage ticks from the mask alone are no joke, and since the CC effects are pretty much room-wide, the damage output in general is no joke either. So obviously, you don't want players to give the 100% CC uptime alongside it (or not even more than 50%)

I certainly like the changes to the exotic stuff.
Chameleon sounds amazing now, even though it's a very inaccurate weapon. But that's what weapon handling is for.
Even the Kneepads are usable now... maybe.... probably not.

But the change to Liberty sounds strong. Merciless is still going to be useless due to the fact that you need to hit the enemy 7 times/14 times

[SirCowdog]

Wouldn't damage from status effects also go down due to the short uptime of burning for example?

Yes, although with things like the new Backpack and Chest talents, damage will go up. The exotic mask will cause damage associated with status effects to go up. The new set will cause status effects to jump from target to target with 50-75% of their duration.

Honestly, things will be fine. Better than fine. People are just mad that their EZ mode farm is going away. Legendary was never meant to be so easy.

[Coldkil]

I read all the patch notes, and with my suprise, i actually found a way to use consistently and reliably the Gun City Holster. Requires out of the box thinking, but on paper it's gonna look insane.

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Wouldn't damage from status effects also go down due to the short uptime of burning for example?

Yeah, that's what im worried about, but i think we're going to survive. OD build is going to be my starting point, and woth that i'm going to farm for the rest.

[SirCowdog]

I read all the patch notes, and with my suprise, i actually found a way to use consistently and reliably the Gun City Holster. Requires out of the box thinking, but on paper it's gonna look insane.

Does it involve using Headhunter? I was looking at that, and although the holster says it does headshot damage, I'm not sure it will count as actually scoring a headshot for the purposes of that talent. Because if it does, that's stupid OP broken. You could stack it with the Regulus pistol and just run around body-shotting everything for 800% weapon damage followed by a 400% explosion with every shot.

Although.....given the sloppiness of Massive over the course of Warlords, it wouldn't surprise me if this actually worked.

Even if it doesn't, that's still a fairly strong exotic now. 30% bonus damage every second that also does headshot damage. Just keep swapping. Since Weapon Handling will actually be good now, that would help as well.

I wonder if it stacks or works with the Breadbasket talent. Hmmm.....

[Coldkil]

Does it involve using Headhunter? I was looking at that, and although the holster says it does headshot damage, I'm not sure it will count as actually scoring a headshot for the purposes of that talent. Because if it does, that's stupid OP broken. You could stack it with the Regulus pistol and just run around body-shotting everything for 800% weapon damage followed by a 400% explosion with every shot.

Although.....given the sloppiness of Massive over the course of Warlords, it wouldn't surprise me if this actually worked.

Even if it doesn't, that's still a fairly strong exotic now. 30% bonus damage every second that also does headshot damage. Just keep swapping. Since Weapon Handling will actually be good now, that would help as well.

I wonder if it stacks or works with the Breadbasket talent. Hmmm.....

It's a sniper build. Since you're going full headshot dmg, and things like Punch Drunk are awesome since they have all the bonuses, sniping enemies and once every 30 seconds getting a free pistol headshot sounds pretty good.