The Division 2 has been going from strength to strength lately, and this week we have a huge update coming to add more endgame content and balance things up. The Dev’s spoke about what was coming in their livestream this week, and we can expect the content this Friday 5th (or tomorrow!).
Today, I’m going to run you through everything you can expect in the update and talk about what it all means for the Division 2. It’s a lot of stuff, and it all looks pretty damn exciting. A few disclaimers first, though; the content isn’t out on the day I’m recording this and so I can’t show you the new stronghold or changes just yet. There is going to be gameplay in the background to liven things up, but it might not be as relevant as it usually is.
But, without further ado, lets dive into those changes…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG-wvVzBAN4
Changing for the Better
Firstly, there are a ton of balance changes coming. A lot of weapons have been looked at, with nerfs to the M700 Sniper, MK17, as well as to the stat rolls for Crit and Headshot damage, which were scaling a bit too high. There’s also a cooldown being added to a few talents that were being abused lategame, such as the Safeguard talent, and the Demolitionist’s Crisis Response. Those are fair, I feel. While they sting at first, they are also in the interest of creating more potential diversity in the game, which is great.
On the more positive side, there are buffs for quite a few weapons, including the AA-12 shotgun, M4 AR and MG5 LMG. The Sniper Rifle signature weapon is having its accuracy significantly increased, which is ace. They’re also increasing the usability of a few talents, namely the Sniper Turret (which will function more like the regular one, with the ability to aim for headshots too), as well as making the Firefly and Chem Launcher much more intuitive to use.
Dev’s also said they’ll be rebalancing Skill + Weapon Mods, and that they might seem initially weaker. Nonetheless, they’ll have much more usability and should be easier to farm the right stats without the negative stats added on (which is nice). They said they wanted to make earning and using the mods more rewarding – and that’s a win in my book. I actually think they’re going about it in the right way too, making loot feel ‘better’ instead of just increasing its power. That reduces the effects of ‘power creep’ while making loot better for everyone.
We’re also going to see the addition of ‘Scoped-In’ sensitivity sliders, and FOV sliders to increase our Field-of-View. Plus, multiple bug fixes, including one to sort those misaligned Workbenches stuck in previous World-Tiers.
These are bold, highly requested changes, and even the dev’s acknowledged the fact that they’re trying to listen extremely closely to all forms of player feedback, across all channels. That’s great to see, and that’s also before we’ve even started to discuss the upcoming content.
More to Play, for FREE
This update is a massive win for those already chipping away at endgame, and is also completely free to everyone. It will provide a new World Tier (5), which increases the Gear Score cap to 500 (from 450). Tidal Basin is the new Stronghold, and will provide a significant challenge for those even at the current max power cap of 450.
The update will also come with new, repeatable Invasions. These are great ways to earn high-tier loot and challenge yourself to push the higher difficulty content. Friday’s update will also introduce the Heroic Difficulty for missions. The dev’s said this is easily going to be the most challenging yet, and will provide increased loot and rewards. The extra challenge will come from harder enemies, but also a complete lack of checkpoints – making these marathon runs of survival fit for well-put-together teams. It sounds like a pretty cool challenge.
Despite that, there’s no sight of the 8-player raids yet, but those aren’t due for a little while. They’re sure to be ace when they eventually turn up, but sadly no news yet.
What’s this about Item Sets?
Now, onto what might be one of the most exciting parts of the update for me – item sets. There are three sets coming, and each of them is aimed at focusing on a certain element of gameplay to buff up considerably.
Only one set is confirmed so far, the Patriot Set. This one will stack up buffs for your team that are applied when you’re all hitting the same target. This will be great against bosses and tougher enemies – especially as end-game see’s you ploughing your way through your fair share of tanks. The other two are rumoured to be: ‘Ongoing Directive’ – a set for buffing your resource collection and providing powerful special ammo types mid-fight, and ‘Hard-Coded’ – a skill-buffer that will reset your skill cooldowns and shock enemies nearby your emplaced skills.
These sets remind me a whole lot of how Diablo 3’s work, and that’s really awesome. You’ll be able to collect them by playing through the new Stronghold (Tidal Basin), which means you’re going to have to power up to 450 and really get your teeth stuck in.
Big Changes, Big Improvements
Overall, it seems like a great set of changes that provide a massive chunk of quality of life improvements alongside new things to do at endgame. While there have been complaints about Destiny’s updates locking updates behind ‘Power-Walls’ (and similar ones for the Division 2), I think the great thing about these ones is that there’s just so much to do on your way to end-game. It’s not like you’re just mindlessly grinding the same exact content (Anthem, I’m looking at you here), you’ve got a lot to be getting on with if you aren’t at the recommended power yet.
Add that to the great changes for loot, balancing, bug-fixes and usability improvements and it’s clear that the dev team are really listening to the community. I can’t wait to dive in when the update launches, I’m sure it’s going to be epic.
Ok, that’s going to be it for this update. If you enjoyed the video, dropping us a like really helps us out, and Subscribe for more Division 2 content coming right your way. The next video will be a guide on the skills you need to be using!
Thanks for stopping by, I’ve been FaultyOptics (you can follow me on twitter @Faulty_Optics), and I’ll see you all next time for more gaming guides and news.
Hungry for more Division 2? Check out our other coverage:
