[Megathread] The Division 2

[KrayZ33]

Why do you have 'problems' with doggos, but don't really know which skill to pick with that build?
Just pick anti doggo pulse then for Black Tusk stuff.
Or use your Signature weapon for them.

[Coldkil]

Why do you have 'problems' with doggos, but don't really know which skill to pick with that build?
Just pick anti doggo pulse then for Black Tusk stuff.
Or use your Signature weapon for them.

That wasn't the point at all - i perfectly know what's effective against what. The point was that if you base all your damage on shooting stuff, eveything goes down in the same way. The rest of stuff - be skills, status effects, etc are affected by a multitude of things full red build just ignore.

I can get the EMP sticky to deal with doggos in an easier way, but then i lose a damaging status which still counts. Bleeding is still non functional while being a good part of the total damage. And while i can just swap builds for missions for example, the problem is in the open world where it's just random patrols popping around and i have to deal with everything at once.

TL;DR: by "problems" i mean "build is less effective so i want to try other stuff to cover that".

[KrayZ33]

Well, you are using the Xbow anyway, so I don't see how your build has a "weakness" against robots anywhere. Just use the Signature Weapon - it's already the counter for these things because it deals explosive damage and should ignore doggo-armor, so why are you saying that they are the only problem.

[SirCowdog]

81% HS damage

What's going on there? Or is that the built in HS damage from Merciless?

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SOTG today.

Not a lot of info. But a few gems:

There will be a PTS for TU11.
TU11 is planned for "late august".
Skyscraper and rainbow loot will be in TU11.

However....a concern. When asked if Skyscraper will be free for WONY players, they deflected with "we're not ready to announce any further details about TU11. "

Either that means exactly what they said. That the guy literally didn't know. Or It's a cover for a purchase price. We'll see....

Depending on what things look like in the PTS, I could maybe see a $10 purchase is it includes season 3 and Skyscraper. I can't really see more than that given the limited content release.

[Coldkil]

Well, you are using the Xbow anyway, so I don't see how your build has a "weakness" against robots anywhere. Just use the Signature Weapon - it's already the counter for these things because it deals explosive damage and should ignore doggo-armor, so why are you saying that they are the only problem.

Explosive damage doesn't ignore armor, it's actually less effective since the damage is split between the various armor parts (same with tank mobs). The "main issue" is to apply a status effect to them as they're affected only by disrupt and bleeding, which is a substantial part of the build, isn't counted.

Again it's not a matter of killing them - it's literally them negating a lot of the bonuses the build has. All while a standard PEWPEW full red build has no troubles with any kind of enemy, and i really don't get why it should be like this.

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What's going on there? Or is that the built in HS damage from Merciless?

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SOTG today.

Not a lot of info. But a few gems:

There will be a PTS for TU11.
TU11 is planned for "late august".
Skyscraper and rainbow loot will be in TU11.

However....a concern. When asked if Skyscraper will be free for WONY players, they deflected with "we're not ready to announce any further details about TU11. "

Either that means exactly what they said. That the guy literally didn't know. Or It's a cover for a purchase price. We'll see....

Depending on what things look like in the PTS, I could maybe see a $10 purchase is it includes season 3 and Skyscraper. I can't really see more than that given the limited content release.

I really don't want it to be a paid addition, though stuff like Underground were paid DLCs - if it's included with the season pass, it's "fine", but only because i would have bought it anyway. If it's separated, it must be a REALLY better way to farm and play otherwise why should i pay to get a game mode that's at best on par with normal farming.

EDIT: just checked, and they confirmed that they're putting a "solution" for rainbow loot in TU11. What will beand how effective will be it's a mystery.

[Nutri]

If Skyscraper is paid content I will either skip it or have another look at it after like 2-3 months to see how it keeps afloat on all the reviews it gets.

[KrayZ33]

Explosive damage doesn't ignore armor, it's actually less effective since the damage is split between the various armor parts (same with tank mobs). The "main issue" is to apply a status effect to them as they're affected only by disrupt and bleeding, which is a substantial part of the build, isn't counted.
.

the grenade launcher ignores doggo-armor, I'd reckon the same thing applies to crossbow bolts.

Might be because doggos actually have a point where there is no armor and you can hit the health directly. So the explosion damage might hit that too, which is why they take health damage.

[Edge-]

What's going on there? Or is that the built in HS damage from Merciless?

I'll need to actually look at all my gear, but I believe it's a bunch of HS damage spread across gear I have. Again, it's a weird mix of gear that I whipped up to make various other builds work (Mantis, MMR/R crit, Diamondback builds mostly) so the recals are usually more geared towards that. I'll be trying to work up a list of actual gear/stats I need for each set and likely trying to whittle down to only 3 sets that I carry around (likely Mantis, AR Red, stinger hive/assault drone builds).

But here's the thing...it's not as if all that headshot damage is necessarily bad, because with so much WH from Braced/Burn Out I can pretty much apply a 50 round magazine directly onto the forehead of enemies at 25 meters pretty easily.

Though I am thinking of testing an AK out with Braced, seems like the WH would address the issues with accuracy/stability/reload and make it more attractive for much chunkier hits. Not sure what talent I'd want on it (probably crit damage while firing since it's got a lower rate of fire to let it stay maxed out longer) but I think that's the next thing to play with for now.

There will be a PTS for TU11.
TU11 is planned for "late august".
Skyscraper and rainbow loot will be in TU11.

Yay.
That's sooner than I expected, yay!
...I assume you mean "less rainbow loot"? If so, double yay for that and skyscraper!

However....a concern. When asked if Skyscraper will be free for WONY players, they deflected with "we're not ready to announce any further details about TU11. "

Either that means exactly what they said. That the guy literally didn't know. Or It's a cover for a purchase price. We'll see....

Or that they know, they're just not ready to announce. I hope it's not sold separately, they moved away from that content delivery approach after it bombed in TD1 and haven't been using it for TD2 yet. I imagine they are just expecting backlash (which wouldn't be surprising, but releasing free content for the base game when there's an expansion is a bit odd) and want to wait until they can reveal what the content is alongside how it will be delivered.

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Shit...I totally didn't realize Sawyers had that 30% weapon damage increase on it (if you stay behind cover for 10s)...that's tempting to play around with instead of Fox's Prayer/Coyote. May have to see I can make that work tonight on top of the other testing. Should definitely make me tankier at the very least, and maybe with the blue node make the crusader shield slightly less useless as a secondary skill.

[SirCowdog]

But here's the thing...it's not as if all that headshot damage is necessarily bad, because with so much WH from Braced/Burn Out I can pretty much apply a 50 round magazine directly onto the forehead of enemies at 25 meters pretty easily.

I guess I just view all headshot damage as bad because of how many dangerous enemies you fight that just don't have heads. If I was you, I'd replace as much of that HS damage with crit damage.

Yay.
That's sooner than I expected, yay!
...I assume you mean "less rainbow loot"? If so, double yay for that and skyscraper!

Yeah, I just didn't want to type it all out because I was on my phone, and I figured everyone knew what the story was with rainbow loot.

Or that they know, they're just not ready to announce. I hope it's not sold separately, they moved away from that content delivery approach after it bombed in TD1 and haven't been using it for TD2 yet. I imagine they are just expecting backlash (which wouldn't be surprising, but releasing free content for the base game when there's an expansion is a bit odd) and want to wait until they can reveal what the content is alongside how it will be delivered.

Given how irritated and bored a lot of players are, I think it would be a mistake to lock new content behind a pay wall. I really do think the battle/season pass thing is the way to go. Add objectives and cosmetics for completing various objectives that are only gained if you pay for the pass. But not the content itself.

[Edge-]

I'm legit shocked that Sawyer's appears to be a damage increase over Coyote once the buff gets rolling, but it is. It's not massive, but it's noticeable enough that it's worth the swap alone. The added armor/health and immunity to explosion stagger is just a huge freakin side bonus.

Changed things up a bit as a result, 2P W&H, 1P Ceska, 1P Grupo Sombra, 1P Fenris. It actually let me swap some stats around a touch and ridiculously, I'm somehow up to 56% crit and 109% crit damage. Will need to test how it compares, but it seems better from the target room alone.

And holy hell, the AK-M plays. Need to get a decent one, but I crafted a super overwhelmingly mediocre one and tossed Strained on it and I'm seeing headshot crits for upwards of 1M+ on a bloody AR. @SirCowdog I'm assuming that headshot damage is 50% base, so my 72% is closer to what I'd think it'd be...but even then it's still a bit high. Still trying to figure it out, but I'll definitely be working to farm a solid AK-M with Strained that I can put 6% armor damage on to give that a nice boost.

I think I've settled on Bulwark for my second ability. 4.6M health and 100K active regen thanks to Sawyers giving it a rank, and I cannot believe how hard my Mozambique Special hits. That little motherfucker was hitting from 400-700K a shot when I was testing it out earlier, and I wasn't even really trying to make use of P Breadbasket. Playing around with it now in the target room...what the fuckity fuck. Without anything pumping pistol damage at all this thing is headshotting for 600-900K, over 750K-1.1M with double breadbasket stack, and bodyshotting for between 230K and 570K.

Holy hell, I almost want to try to see if there's a tankier build that can be done around this, because like...swap around a few red nodes for blue nodes, trade Fenris for the pistol set...you avoid losing much damage with it while gaining considerable tankiness. GOD DAMNIT I DON'T NEED ANOTHER BULID TO TEST OUT TONIGHT : |

[SirCowdog]

I'm legit shocked that Sawyer's appears to be a damage increase over Coyote once the buff gets rolling, but it is. It's not massive, but it's noticeable enough that it's worth the swap alone. The added armor/health and immunity to explosion stagger is just a huge freakin side bonus.

Changed things up a bit as a result, 2P W&H, 1P Ceska, 1P Grupo Sombra, 1P Fenris. It actually let me swap some stats around a touch and ridiculously, I'm somehow up to 56% crit and 109% crit damage. Will need to test how it compares, but it seems better from the target room alone.

And holy hell, the AK-M plays. Need to get a decent one, but I crafted a super overwhelmingly mediocre one and tossed Strained on it and I'm seeing headshot crits for upwards of 1M+ on a bloody AR. @SirCowdog I'm assuming that headshot damage is 50% base, so my 72% is closer to what I'd think it'd be...but even then it's still a bit high. Still trying to figure it out, but I'll definitely be working to farm a solid AK-M with Strained that I can put 6% armor damage on to give that a nice boost.

I think I've settled on Bulwark for my second ability. 4.6M health and 100K active regen thanks to Sawyers giving it a rank, and I cannot believe how hard my Mozambique Special hits. That little motherfucker was hitting from 400-700K a shot when I was testing it out earlier, and I wasn't even really trying to make use of P Breadbasket. Playing around with it now in the target room...what the fuckity fuck. Without anything pumping pistol damage at all this thing is headshotting for 600-900K, over 750K-1.1M with double breadbasket stack, and bodyshotting for between 230K and 570K.

Holy hell, I almost want to try to see if there's a tankier build that can be done around this, because like...swap around a few red nodes for blue nodes, trade Fenris for the pistol set...you avoid losing much damage with it while gaining considerable tankiness. GOD DAMNIT I DON'T NEED ANOTHER BULID TO TEST OUT TONIGHT : |

If you're not already using an exotic, why not drop a Liberty to use when you swap to the bulwark?

I am a little surprised at Sawyers being a damage increase, especially considering the blue core. Could the buff for not moving be multiplicative maybe?

But yeah, for a pistol tank:

Claws Out holster
Punch Drunk Mask
Sawyers Knees.

[Coldkil]

the grenade launcher ignores doggo-armor, I'd reckon the same thing applies to crossbow bolts.

Might be because doggos actually have a point where there is no armor and you can hit the health directly. So the explosion damage might hit that too, which is why they take health damage.

Well, i'm gonna try, if it's working nice for me

Also, found that emp applying disrupt on dogs also triggers Vile, since it's a status effect.

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If you're not already using an exotic, why not drop a Liberty to use when you swap to the bulwark?

I am a little surprised at Sawyers being a damage increase, especially considering the blue core. Could the buff for not moving be multiplicative maybe?

But yeah, for a pistol tank:

Claws Out holster
Punch Drunk Mask
Sawyers Knees.

It is multiplicative. Though i've never been a fan of them, i really move way too much for them to get stacked up.

[SirCowdog]

It is multiplicative. Though i've never been a fan of them, i really move way too much for them to get stacked up.

Same for me. Always moving when I've got a shield. Always looking for a better angle, or blocking LOS for some enemies.

Tho I should probably use sawyers for headhunter builds. Might help me for when I miss.

[Coldkil]

Same for me. Always moving when I've got a shield. Always looking for a better angle, or blocking LOS for some enemies.

Tho I should probably use sawyers for headhunter builds. Might help me for when I miss.

Yeah, that's what i was thinking.

After tinkering with Directive, i'm just gonna ditch the Vile thing. It's fun and all, but as usual, since damage calculations are totally wonky, you're having just unnecessary annoyance when dealing with things that are not standard enemies. Gonna equip Directive mask and test between Eclipse backpack and Anarchist.

Pestilence is still good, the damage rolls up and only needs weapon damage, boosting status is still nice because you're still relying on them and EMP sticky is very good. Sidenote: Disrupt as a status triggers every bonus, but when applied to bots it doesn't trigger Vile. It does when applied to humans, so here's another bug.

The build works, but focusing on more red is just better working overall.

EDIT: i'm gonna farm for something different after this, because i can. The Mechanical Animal/Drone build attracts me and i have some gear for it already, and i think i'm gonna use Braced with it given Spotter is a no-go. Otherwise i could start focusing on Mantis or Diamondback builds. I miss a good full red/high number build

[SirCowdog]

Yeah, that's what i was thinking.

After tinkering with Directive, i'm just gonna ditch the Vile thing. It's fun and all, but as usual, since damage calculations are totally wonky, you're having just unnecessary annoyance when dealing with things that are not standard enemies. Gonna equip Directive mask and test between Eclipse backpack and Anarchist.

Pestilence is still good, the damage rolls up and only needs weapon damage, boosting status is still nice because you're still relying on them and EMP sticky is very good. Sidenote: Disrupt as a status triggers every bonus, but when applied to bots it doesn't trigger Vile. It does when applied to humans, so here's another bug.

The build works, but focusing on more red is just better working overall.

EDIT: i'm gonna farm for something different after this, because i can. The Mechanical Animal/Drone build attracts me and i have some gear for it already, and i think i'm gonna use Braced with it given Spotter is a no-go. Otherwise i could start focusing on Mantis or Diamondback builds. I miss a good full red/high number build

Why doesn't spotter work?

The main issue I have with drones is that the eay they choose and attack targets is janky. It's not a super reliable way to keep In-Sync rolling. And while drones do decent damage when they're hitting, the overall DPS is kind of meh.

That leaves their utility as a distraction for enemies to shoot at. And if you're good with cover or otherwise tough, it's not that big of a benefit.

What bugs me the most is that there aren't really many competitive options for a shooting build.

[Coldkil]

Why doesn't spotter work?

The main issue I have with drones is that the eay they choose and attack targets is janky. It's not a super reliable way to keep In-Sync rolling. And while drones do decent damage when they're hitting, the overall DPS is kind of meh.

That leaves their utility as a distraction for enemies to shoot at. And if you're good with cover or otherwise tough, it's not that big of a benefit.

What bugs me the most is that there aren't really many competitive options for a shooting build.

AR cannot mount the Tech laser beam. So, no free pulse. Could use pulse as secondary ability, but i like too much having and healing something.

As for drone targeting, i just manually direct it to enemies - i usually put it onto yellows/tanks/named so they don't die fast and the drone can do his job, while i shoot red to bring the stacks up fast. Could use a standard Spark/Combined arms combo even if i lose some skill damage.

And yes, competition is still skewed. It's infinitely better than TU9, but the whole thing is that red builds have literally no downsides. They're even more offensive so enemies die faster and you're having less troubles. They have no issues with any type of enemy.

The game has so much build variety and it's super fun to play them all - but in the end you're gonna get bad to the same old as it works just every single time.

[SirCowdog]

AR cannot mount the Tech laser beam.

Um...yes they can? As long as it has a "long rail".

The unlock for the device requires the points in rifle in the tech tree, but once unlocked can be put on all kinds of weapons.

Logged in just to test it, to make sure I wasn't off my rocker. Works for sure on:

Military G36
Police M4
Carnage LMG
Good Times LMG
New Reliable LMG
Tsunami Shotgun
Custom M44 MMR
Hunting M44 MMR

etc, etc.

It's only specific models that it doesn't work on. And none of the SMGs that I'm aware of. I recently cleaned out my stash, so I don't have every AR to test, but I'm pretty sure it works and almost all of them.

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Quick question about the Headhunter build, and rifle/MMR builds in general:

Do helmets on enemies ALWAYS stop a 1-shot kill? Or do you just have to do enough damage to slay them despite it?

Because if helmets always works, that's fucking annoying.

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The headshot thing is an interesting mini-game, but the amount of effort required to make it pay off just doesn't feel worth it. Throw in helmets and warhounds, and it's just objectively not as effective as blasting things. Sure, it can create some funny situations where you drop elites with 1 or 2 shots. But it's such a chain of events that need to line up.... uhg.

Gratz to those who enjoy that playstyle I guess. I can make it work; I have the aim and most of the gear. But maybe I'm missing something vital? Like a perfect weapon? I tried the Mantis. Those target rings are misleading. I also tried a nearly god-rolled Hunting M44. Both weapons with Aces, and a brand-only build. Both with Sawyers. I liked the branded build better. Aces did really good damage when all the buffs were up, but not so good when they weren't.

[Coldkil]

It's only specific models that it doesn't work on. And none of the SMGs that I'm aware of. I recently cleaned out my stash, so I don't have every AR to test, but I'm pretty sure it works and almost all of them.

I suppose Mechanical Animal is one of these? Don't know, but i remember trying to apply it and not having the option in the mods menu.

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The headshot thing is an interesting mini-game, but the amount of effort required to make it pay off just doesn't feel worth it. Throw in helmets and warhounds, and it's just objectively not as effective as blasting things. Sure, it can create some funny situations where you drop elites with 1 or 2 shots. But it's such a chain of events that need to line up.... uhg.

That's the reason why i run with the Gun City Holster. It scales with headhunter since it's headshot and everything, and sice it doesn't require an actual headshot, it continues the chain and works on bots etc.

[SirCowdog]

I suppose Mechanical Animal is one of these? Don't know, but i remember trying to apply it and not having the option in the mods menu.

Probably. But you could grab any other AR with Future Perfect on it. It just wouldn't be the extra little bit for the perfect version of the talent.

Not sure which combo would be better: Spotter + Future Perfect, or some other chest talent with Mechanical Animal.

That's the reason why i run with the Gun City Holster. It scales with headhunter since it's headshot and everything, and sice it doesn't require an actual headshot, it continues the chain and works on bots etc.

Are you telling me you can just swap your pistol in and out and just chain Headhunter like that? Or does the HH buff drop when you swap weapons now?

I mean...holy hell...even without HH that adds an entirely new dimension to Bulwark builds.

[Coldkil]

Probably. But you could grab any other AR with Future Perfect on it. It just wouldn't be the extra little bit for the perfect version of the talent.

Not sure which combo would be better: Spotter + Future Perfect, or some other chest talent with Mechanical Animal.






Are you telling me you can just swap your pistol in and out and just chain Headhunter like that? Or does the HH buff drop when you swap weapons now?

Well, it's one shot every 30 seconds and it's not practical, but it works. I keep it exactly for this encounters.

As per Future Perfect, the only change is that stacks last 15 secs instead of 19, and the rest is unchanged - so totally gonna go with ANY other weapon i find feasible. Would really like to use an SMG for teh lulz.