The Division gets a list of upcoming changes that leaves many very unimpressed

This week’s State of the Game is in and whilst some of the big planned changes to The Division have people jumping for joy, one nerf in particular is starting an eRiot on the ‘streets’ of New York.

If you have spent countless hours repeating the mind numbing Falcon Lost incursion over and over and over again, to get that last 214 gear piece, you are likely to reach for your pitch fork after reading this too……

  • The Sentry’s Call 4 piece bonus will now only work on semi-automatic weapons. 

I know, I know, but at least it still works on semi-automatics, right? Now before you dash off to the comments section to ‘shoot the messenger’ be sure to check below for the full list of proposed changes and other updates that were provided in this morning’s State of the Game update:

Greetings Agents!

In last week’s State of the Game update we provided a brief look into some of the changes coming in 1.2 and deployed a fix for the missing Daily Missions. The fixes and improvements don’t stop here however. We continue to work hard to make sure every player has the best possible experience! 

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the latest podcast to find out more about our online infrastructure and anti-cheat. 

For everything discussed this morning make sure you check out today’s State of the Game stream below!

[05-12-2016] TodayDivider

The maintenance today was utilized to make further optimizations to the servers and clean up the databases. While no changes were made today we have some exciting news for you!

Season pass holders will be receiving the monthly loot drop today. Be sure to check out your reward claim vendor in the base of operations for two new weapon skins and 5 of each high-end crafting materials! Expect another monthly content drop in June as well as information about additional benefits for season pass members soon.

Additionally, Hamish and Yannick were again joined by Quentin this morning on the State of the Game livestream to discuss the first phase of the combat rebalancing plan. Below you will find a list of some of the balancing changes we are making with update 1.2 that were discussed!

  • Balanced. Fixing the weapon talent Balanced to work as it was initially designed. This should shift the meta-game away from the M1A and towards more variety.
  • The Brutal weapon talent will be additive and be properly indicated in the UI DPS.
  • Reckless is addressed and will be working correctly.
  • The Sentry’s Call 4 piece bonus will now only work on semi-automatic weapons.
  • Overall buff to Performance Gear Mods to increase their effectiveness.
  • New Gear Sets that focus on certain weapon types. The goal is to encourage more build and playstyle diversity.
  • Increasing the armor cap to 75% to increase survivability as the damage player’s output increase. Reaching this level of armor is also much more difficult and will require you to sacrifice stats in other areas to do so.
  • Toughness will now be displayed instead of health in the UI. This is a combined number that shows the combination of your health and armor, or effective hit points.
  • Fixing Character Talent stacking to make sure it’s not possible.

[05-12-2016] LookingForwardDivider

Update 1.2 is looking great and continues its journey through extensive QA testing to ensure we provide the absolute best experience possible.

Many of you are rabid for more information about update 1.2 which was extremely evident from the reaction of last week’s livestream where we talked about improvements and changes to the loot system.

Weapon balancing has also been a major discussion topic within the community for a while now. This is definitely at the forefront of our plans to create a more unique and diverse experience; however, it will not be included in update 1.2. A balancing pass on weapons requires not only a lot of work and resources from the teams but it’s also crucial that it’s done correctly and not rushed.

We can’t wait to see where the future takes us!

[05-12-2016] HotTopicDivider

There are a number of discussions ongoing within the community we would like to provide an update on. This feedback is crucial to the development of the game and we are always on the lookout for it in the Suggestions & Feedback section of our forums.

Sentry stacking

We are aware of the issue with the Sentry’s Call 4-piece bonus showing up on players without being shot. This is actively being fixed as soon as possible.

Scavenging

The effectiveness of scavenging has been a long discussion within the community. With the changes made to loot in 1.1 the benefits have diminished slightly. This is something we are aware of and are working on to improve in update 1.2.

The Strength of Shotgun and Sniper NPCs

We are adjusting the damage output for the level 34 variants of these NPC types. Their damage was too high due to the difference in level between the player and the NPC, making tank stats less rewarding. We are reducing the damage they do to allow for players who focus on tanking stats to have a more effective role.

[05-12-2016] CommunityLoveDivider

Let’s start this week off with a quick guide from Choa Tan’s where he shows us how to quickly level in the Dark Zone.



Officerfunznuts sticks it to a few Rogues in the Dark Zone.
Rosa (Eunche) Lee shows off some awesome concept art! [5-12-2016] RosaFanArt750w

 

If you want to share your creative content with the chance of being featured in our State of the Game updates (or in our Community Wrap-Ups), be sure to tweet your awesome content to us on Twitter using the hashtag #AgentHighlights. We look forward to seeing your creations!