[Megathread] The Division 2

[Edge-]

So...any suggestions on Pestilence builds? Doesn't look like it benefits from status effects, looks like pumping as much raw weapon damage as possible is the way to go.

Don't have a real set yet so I added it to my janky LMG build - Momento, 2p W&H, Fox's, Contractors, and a Fenris chest with braced from other builds. Really want to replace that with maybe a 3rd W&H piece to boost health damage since I don't think I can get much more damage out of anything else (crit/crit damage apparently doesn't matter too much). Kinda feel like a shotty as a secondary might be a good option, use The Mop for some more defensive utility or Boomstick for big damage and the buff.

So far I'm kinda digging it. It shoots almost like a damned sniper rifle with braced and having that buff do straight damage to robodogs is a freakin godsend. And with Momento + Kard customs it pushes me to a T3 ballistic shield so I've got a fair amount of tankiness beyond the bonus armor and armor regen from Momento.

Edit: Played around a bit with Mop as my off weapon and swapped out the Fenris chest for a Belstone with braced and armor regen/armor on kill and it's working pretty nice so far. Damage could be better, but it's fairly tanky (1M armor, 350K health, 15K armor regen and 121K armor on kill, more with Mop) and pretty easy to get a few max debuff stacks and keep them rolling.

I'll tinker around with it a bit more but not a big fan of the playstyle. So probably will sit as a backup build as it was before Pestilence. But nice to have for when I want to toy around with it.

[SirCowdog]

there is also that mission with 3 EMP in a final fight that also has a freaking timer and new add spawns with each EMP you destroy, but at least with that one, I can get the closest tower and then set down a turret to take some heat off while I run for the others... still I avoid it solo along with Keener and Pentagon. with SO - Pentagon and that DC mission are fine. Keener sucks 100% of the time, solo or not.

I tried seeker mine/drone combo. and seeker mines STILL make me cry they used to be so amazing in Division 1.....

it doesn't help that getting good mods for skills is a PITA. and you can't even upgrade them....

You can blitz that final room. You rush up and kill the first EMP, immediately take a sharp turn right and down the second, then sprint past everyone down the stairs and kill the third. Pop all your skills at the bottom of the stairs and kill anything that dares to stick its head up. The NPCs won't know what to do. Just camp out there and don't let anyone past the Hot Gates. ;D

- - - Updated - - -

So...any suggestions on Pestilence builds?

I've always heard that Sawyer's Knees + Braced was the way to go with LMG builds. Never been a fan of LMGs, even though Pestilence is really strong in most cases, especially now that you can put stacks on mechanical targets.

[Edge-]

I've always heard that Sawyer's Knees + Braced was the way to go with LMG builds. Never been a fan of LMGs, even though Pestilence is really strong in most cases, especially now that you can put stacks on mechanical targets.

Yeah, seen a fair amount of that. Honestly I'm not a big fan of Sawyers for that, it's tankier but I'm getting plenty of armor from my chest/Momento and don't want to sacrifice the Fox's Prayer damage. I'm not overly impressed with the DOT damage, full stacked it's ticking 750K or so. Not great, but not bad.

[Haligy]

Hey folks its a still worth it start play ?

Any news if they will improve the game or they just abadoned like div 1 and announcement div 3?

[Coldkil]

Hey folks its a still worth it start play ?

Any news if they will improve the game or they just abadoned like div 1 and announcement div 3?

There are rumors about a div3 but not going to but it, since the way they managed 1 and 2.

Though the new seasons system they have in place for div2 is pretty much working with new stuff added over time, so they can bank in for longer on it imho.

[SirCowdog]

Hey folks its a still worth it start play ?

Any news if they will improve the game or they just abadoned like div 1 and announcement div 3?

Get the ultimate edition on sale for $20 or so. Includes everything. Story is worth playing once through. Some endgame activities are fun. Easily a good 30-40 hours if you've never played before.

[Mirishka]

Yeah, seen a fair amount of that. Honestly I'm not a big fan of Sawyers for that, it's tankier but I'm getting plenty of armor from my chest/Momento and don't want to sacrifice the Fox's Prayer damage. I'm not overly impressed with the DOT damage, full stacked it's ticking 750K or so. Not great, but not bad.

Ugh... I don't even want to imagine how spongey the enemies are if a 750k tick is 'not bad'.

I really really enjoyed D2 for a long stretch, was basically my 2nd go-to online game, but I haven't touched it in 7 or 8 months. I've had the itch to pick it back up but a lot of what I've read about the current game suggests it is still more tedium than fun.

[Edge-]

Ugh... I don't even want to imagine how spongey the enemies are if a 750k tick is 'not bad'.

Well, this is on heroic, and compared with a full weapon damage or skill dmg build that 750K a tick (which seems to tick ever 1s) isn't much when you're pumping out millions of dps. "Not bad" comes because the weapon itself doesn't do a ton of damage, so it feels like the debuff is super important to maintain damage. Comparatively, my normal AR/Rifle setup takes down just about everything much faster than the Pestilence build does even with a full stack floating from enemy to enemy (it pulls ahead against robodogs and if you can manage to keep 2+ nearly fully stacked debuffs floating around).

It's just stat inflation mostly. Enemies generally ain't that spongy if you're keeping your damage up.

I really really enjoyed D2 for a long stretch, was basically my 2nd go-to online game, but I haven't touched it in 7 or 8 months. I've had the itch to pick it back up but a lot of what I've read about the current game suggests it is still more tedium than fun.

Hmmm, I think in the past 7-8 months all they've released really is Summit, in terms of new content. Plenty of new gear/sets/weapons, but not much to use them on that you haven't already done a bunch outside of that. And Summit is...not great, but at least more rewarding now that they added secondary challenges to it.

[Qnubi]

I bought D2 when it was on sale this Ubisoft Winter-Sale, the biggest difference to me was while leveling the enemies pose absolutely no challenge, I even booted up D1 to compare and the enemies hurt me in like seconds out of cover where in D2 I can almost always just stand without cover and shoot them down with no worry. I also tested the HC mode, but again, the enemies while leveling are no challenge at all, it doesn't feel right at all. I also can't change difficulty for main missions like I can in D1? I have stopped playing D2 around level 15, it just wasn't fun to steam-roll everything. D1 difficulty is way better imo.

Another caveat: In D1 the game would calculate more or less accurately the overall DPS by adding up the Damage + RPM, Reload etc.. In D2 I only ever get the Damage number but not the actual DPS that considers more than just raw dmg. Strange to say the least and very clunky to find clear upgrades.

[Witchblade77]

I bought D2 when it was on sale this Ubisoft Winter-Sale, the biggest difference to me was while leveling the enemies pose absolutely no challenge, I even booted up D1 to compare and the enemies hurt me in like seconds out of cover where in D2 I can almost always just stand without cover and shoot them down with no worry. I also tested the HC mode, but again, the enemies while leveling are no challenge at all, it doesn't feel right at all. I also can't change difficulty for main missions like I can in D1? I have stopped playing D2 around level 15, it just wasn't fun to steam-roll everything. D1 difficulty is way better imo.

Another caveat: In D1 the game would calculate more or less accurately the overall DPS by adding up the Damage + RPM, Reload etc.. In D2 I only ever get the Damage number but not the actual DPS that considers more than just raw dmg. Strange to say the least and very clunky to find clear upgrades.

its funny that you say D1 difficulty was better (higher) both SO and I find difficulty in D1 to be much less then in D2, mainly due to how AI behaves. also, I don't remember D1 letting you change difficulty of main missions while leveling, only at max level. which is something you can also do in D2, once you pass them once on storymode.

[Edge-]

I bought D2 when it was on sale this Ubisoft Winter-Sale, the biggest difference to me was while leveling the enemies pose absolutely no challenge, I even booted up D1 to compare and the enemies hurt me in like seconds out of cover where in D2 I can almost always just stand without cover and shoot them down with no worry. I also tested the HC mode, but again, the enemies while leveling are no challenge at all, it doesn't feel right at all. I also can't change difficulty for main missions like I can in D1? I have stopped playing D2 around level 15, it just wasn't fun to steam-roll everything. D1 difficulty is way better imo.

Another caveat: In D1 the game would calculate more or less accurately the overall DPS by adding up the Damage + RPM, Reload etc.. In D2 I only ever get the Damage number but not the actual DPS that considers more than just raw dmg. Strange to say the least and very clunky to find clear upgrades.

Leveling, yeah. You're basically an unkillable god and bad gear doesn't mean shit. I'd like a bit more challenge, but it's a game where the leveling process is just designed to get you to the real endgame. That's where things get much more difficult as you ramp up enemy difficulty (more damage/hp, better accuracy, more aggression) and put directives on and shit to make it harder.

And IIRC the dps numbers in D1 weren't too accurate, no? Especially since they only calculated the weapon DPS which didn't help too much when you're looking at modifiers that have different impacts on weapons with different RPM's etc. I wish they'd improve stats across the board and make damage calculations a bit more transparent though, the stat screen and the items leave a lot to be desired there.

[Qnubi]

its funny that you say D1 difficulty was better (higher) both SO and I find difficulty in D1 to be much less then in D2, mainly due to how AI behaves. also, I don't remember D1 letting you change difficulty of main missions while leveling, only at max level. which is something you can also do in D2, once you pass them once on storymode.

Well if you can't remember that D1 lets you change difficulty in main missions to "Hard" your memory is pretty bad. All enemies in main missions are purple or yellow, not one is a normal red enemy on Hard. Go boot up D1, set difficulty to Hard and get your butt wrecked. And this is no new feature, I have played D1 for 200 hours years ago prior to D2 and then checking D1 again to compare them accurately.

And IIRC the dps numbers in D1 weren't too accurate, no? Especially since they only calculated the weapon DPS which didn't help too much when you're looking at modifiers that have different impacts on weapons with different RPM's etc. I wish they'd improve stats across the board and make damage calculations a bit more transparent though, the stat screen and the items leave a lot to be desired there.

D1 calculates the Damage + RPM + Reload Speed but not additional modifier like talents. D2 calculates pretty much nothing and relies on 3rd party sites. In D1 at least they tried to give you an idea what weapon is better, In D2 it seems like they didn't even attempt to try and said fuck it.

Which in itself is fine, WoW is also very bad at giving players an idea what item is better. I am just disappointed that the predecessor is superior in that regard when it should be the other way around.

[Witchblade77]

Well if you can't remember that D1 lets you change difficulty in main missions to "Hard" your memory is pretty bad. All enemies in main missions are purple or yellow, not one is a normal red enemy on Hard. Go boot up D1, set difficulty to Hard and get your butt wrecked. And this is no new feature, I have played D1 for 200 hours years ago prior to D2 and then checking D1 again to compare them accurately.



D1 calculates the Damage + RPM + Reload Speed but not additional modifier like talents. D2 calculates pretty much nothing and relies on 3rd party sites. In D1 at least they tried to give you an idea what weapon is better, In D2 it seems like they didn't even attempt to try and said fuck it.

Which in itself is fine, WoW is also very bad at giving players an idea what item is better. I am just disappointed that the predecessor is superior in that regard when it should be the other way around.

hey if we are flinging hours played e-peens around I have 345 hours on steam alone (I also played it on ps4, but far FAR less)

while leveling? lets see /fires up the game since I still have it installed for the purposes of occasional Survival because why the heck not. granted, its been a while since I actualy leveled in Division 1 (and when I say a while, I mean last time I leveled in D1 was when it just released), but I do have a lvl 11 character that I can test this on. ok, so you can switch story missions to hard . doesn't change that AI in Division 2 is far FAR more proactive, and more challenging to fight against.

now, I'm not 100% sure why they make you finish missions on story first, and only then unlock ability to switch difficulty in D2. but that ability IS there. I never used it myself, I tend not to replay missions while leveling, but I just checked on lowbie D2 character that I created to collect outfit pieces - and its there.

and playing them back to back, D2 is more challenging. IMO. at least at max level

[Edge-]

D1 calculates the Damage + RPM + Reload Speed but not additional modifier like talents.

IIRC it did...for the weapon, but it didn't calculate all the additional bonuses from gear etc. so it wasn't even really useful. You'd have lower DPS weapons outperforming because they had greater benefits, or you'd have weapons with higher/lower RPM's benefit more/less from your bonuses which cause the DPS calculation to be misleading.

D2 calculates pretty much nothing and relies on 3rd party sites.

If you want to do the calculations, sure. But you'd have to do them in D1 too to account for all the other bonuses. Honestly I like having the raw damage/RPM and reload speed front and center, because it makes it easier for me to napkin/mental math some shit. Like my main AR build uses an AK-M because I get more overall benefits from it compared to just about any other AR from what I can tell. Lower RPM means more uptime for Strained at 50% bonus crit damage, most of the downsides you can't calculate like accuracy/stability and stuff you can calculate like its slower reload speed are all offset by Braced (vs. Obliterate which would be more raw damage), and with a higher base bullet damage I get more benefits out of my crit damage than I do out of faster shooting weapons.

In D1 at least they tried to give you an idea what weapon is better, In D2 it seems like they didn't even attempt to try and said fuck it.

Oh don't get me wrong...overall the stat system in this game is a god-damned nightmare, terribly presented, remains opaque and unexplained without going online to find the theorycrafting and damage calculations folks have worked out (damage to armor is calculated after everything else? increased vs. amplified means what? etc. etc.) and missing gobs of information left and right. But IMO I feel no less informed in D2 than I did in D1, probably more informed actually.

Which in itself is fine, WoW is also very bad at giving players an idea what item is better. I am just disappointed that the predecessor is superior in that regard when it should be the other way around.

A lot of games have this problem, sadly. Looking at PoE, which is supposed to be one of the more transparent (though still confusing) games on this just take the term "Nearby". It's on dozens of skills/items/talents, and depending on which one it is it has vastly different ranges that aren't explained at all.

We all just need to accept Ion's tooltips and call it a day. "Does some more damage, but not a lot more, just a bit. And sometimes procs a buff which makes it do some more damage, a lot more."

[dope_danny]

Well they just announced the studios making a Star Wars game which was probably what they were hiring for and not a new Division game. I never get drawn in for the long grinds whenever i revisit either Division but theres always been a strong skeleton of an idea here they have just kept trying to reinvent to make it have a big splash in the mainstream and at this point with Warlords basically forgotten i don't think thats going to happen and a niche product versus "tom clancys the rebellion" or some other star wars riff on their usual stuff will just have a far bigger audience than a division 3 could have.

[Haligy]

I think this year will come second dlc for div 2?

[Nutri]

https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-mas...142056025.html

With Massive working in Avatar and now Star Wars too, I have little hopes for anything Division related any time soon.

[Edge-]

Apparently there are rumblings Red Storm may be coming back, updated their Twitter profile to have Division images or something.

I'm not entirely sad if Massive fucks off to work on other/bigger projects, honestly I think they've needed new blood working on the game for a while. And if there is no Division 3...oh well. If there's the long-ago hinted solo spinoff from Red Storm or someone else, cool.

I'm pretty fuckin down to have a shooter Star Wars psuedo-MMO, even with some of the janky/bad design Massive seems to like.

[dope_danny]

https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-mas...142056025.html

With Massive working in Avatar and now Star Wars too, I have little hopes for anything Division related any time soon.

Well star wars money aside can they really sell a game where people want to raid the capital during a pandemic any time soon and still pull the "its apolitical" card? I think a Division 3 would need to completely drop the viral pandemic stuff. Maybe even Final Fantasy it and set it in a different world where the first two games never happened which is risky but i just don't see any company green lighting anything close to that for a long time. it would just be another Six Days in Faluja at this point.

[Nutri]

Well star wars money aside can they really sell a game where people want to raid the capital during a pandemic any time soon and still pull the "its apolitical" card? I think a Division 3 would need to completely drop the viral pandemic stuff. Maybe even Final Fantasy it and set it in a different world where the first two games never happened which is risky but i just don't see any company green lighting anything close to that for a long time. it would just be another Six Days in Faluja at this point.

I can get into that to some extend.
But in that regard any war, epidemic, terrorist attack, hijacks, bombings, natural disaster game or move will hit at least some people on the shins.

People quickly forget. Division 3 could be 3-4 years away. There will be other shit going on in the world and this current crisis might be long forgotten already.
I don't think you could transform Division into Anthem (so to speak) altho the settings of Far Cry 1 and it's sequels are completely different as well so who knows.