Division 2 Thread
Discussion
Well i'm enjoying it. back with a party for the first time in a year. Been enjoying single player stories more recently and apart from a few niggles such as unable to log in friday it's been fun.
Had the odd sound glitch and gunman shooting me through the way but i was unable to kill them.
Had the odd sound glitch and gunman shooting me through the way but i was unable to kill them.
Crafty_ said:
I've started a clan on PS4 (I assume they are different on each platform), just press square and search by name for "Pistonheads".
You need to do the "Viewpoint" mission first and then go to the settlement and recruit Grace Larson before you can join any clan.
I'm already in a PS4 clan but, feel free to add me on PSN (username:Speckle). You need to do the "Viewpoint" mission first and then go to the settlement and recruit Grace Larson before you can join any clan.
I've played an unhealthy amount of Division 2 over the last few days, currently at level 21 having avoided side missions for the mostpart until I hit level 19. The only exception to this was the 'department of justice' side mission, which rewards an extended mag for auto rifles. The idea being that the side missions will now help ease the grind levelling from 20 to 30
So far, I am still every bit as impressed as I was initially. The city is positively buzzing with life and things to do, the main missions are brilliantly constructed with some proper 'set piece' arenas. I've done a few of them solo but, team play seems far less stressful and is certainly quicker. Completing the one solo where the big dude with the rocket launcher spawn after a huge explosion and all the lights go out....yeah, that was a lengthy battle of attrition. I wish I had discovered the Hive reviver at that point!
Goodbye social life, hopefully I'll see you again in a few months
Edited by Speckle on Tuesday 19th March 09:26
dieselgrunt said:
would you recommend this for the single player campaign? would not be touching the multiplayer side of it....
Definitely. The single player campaign is exceptional - one of the best I've played so far, much like the first game. If you like looter shooters with cover mechanics. Most of the time, I have been playing solo, exploring the open world, capturing control points and getting into random firefights.If you find a mission tough, you can matchmake with randoms but, you absolutely do not have to talk to them at all. I don't think anyone I've matchmade with so far has said a word, which suits me fine
People just matchmake for a bit of backup and strength in numbers - it isn't the least bit initimidating.Im now level 25, the randomers matchmaking is quite good and the netcode seems to handle cross continent playing well.
If you liked the first one, you'l love this one. It seems to be a straight continuation but with many many QoL improvements.
For solo play, perk wise id recommend the 1st chem launcher (insta heal/buff) and the 2nd pulse (scanning beacon).
The shields quite fun and the flamethrower turret is amazing at area denial.
Worth noting also that if you hit a grenadier when they're about to throw a grenade, they'll drop it. You can also shoot grenades out of the air.
If you liked the first one, you'l love this one. It seems to be a straight continuation but with many many QoL improvements.
For solo play, perk wise id recommend the 1st chem launcher (insta heal/buff) and the 2nd pulse (scanning beacon).
The shields quite fun and the flamethrower turret is amazing at area denial.
Worth noting also that if you hit a grenadier when they're about to throw a grenade, they'll drop it. You can also shoot grenades out of the air.
Loving this game so far - level 20 now and feel I should slow down a little, just to take in the surroundings and explore a bit more - great fun playing in a clan too - There’s a few bits I don’t really understand though:
1) How do you raise your skill points (they seem to fluctuate) - I have mods for the skills but can’t use them until skill level is in the hundreds, and I can’t get above 90.
2) What’s best, a purple piece of armour, or a lower level blue piece with a higher ARM rating? Same goes for weapons etc.
3) Is there really any point in crafting or should I just collect/scavenge everything?
1) How do you raise your skill points (they seem to fluctuate) - I have mods for the skills but can’t use them until skill level is in the hundreds, and I can’t get above 90.
2) What’s best, a purple piece of armour, or a lower level blue piece with a higher ARM rating? Same goes for weapons etc.
3) Is there really any point in crafting or should I just collect/scavenge everything?
Joyrider1 said:
Loving this game so far - level 20 now and feel I should slow down a little, just to take in the surroundings and explore a bit more - great fun playing in a clan too - There’s a few bits I don’t really understand though:
1) How do you raise your skill points (they seem to fluctuate) - I have mods for the skills but can’t use them until skill level is in the hundreds, and I can’t get above 90.
2) What’s best, a purple piece of armour, or a lower level blue piece with a higher ARM rating? Same goes for weapons etc.
3) Is there really any point in crafting or should I just collect/scavenge everything?
1+3 is all endgame. At level 27 you start to get equipment pieces with 400+ skill power. So you can build a skill build with them. If its like D1, most of the endgame is crafting specific items to spec out how you want to build, and then spending lots of money re-rolling the stats.1) How do you raise your skill points (they seem to fluctuate) - I have mods for the skills but can’t use them until skill level is in the hundreds, and I can’t get above 90.
2) What’s best, a purple piece of armour, or a lower level blue piece with a higher ARM rating? Same goes for weapons etc.
3) Is there really any point in crafting or should I just collect/scavenge everything?
2, Purple I'd expect but its build dependant again. White < Green < Blue < Purple < Gold. ARM is just one factor. Purple and Gold gear will have perks on it, so they give extra bonuses there. Plus, you get manufacturer perks from having multiple pieces of equipment from a single manufacturer.
I have occasionally found myself sticking with a lower level bit of armour as the perks seem worth the hit on armour.
I'm trying not to over think it at this stage (level 25), or hoard too much gear as I'm sure there won't be any shortage of loot after level 30.
Not sure I like the positive/negative attributes on weapon mods as I can never decide if they're worth it and generally take the easy choice and have no mods (apart from the extended mag, that's a no brainer!)
I'm trying not to over think it at this stage (level 25), or hoard too much gear as I'm sure there won't be any shortage of loot after level 30.
Not sure I like the positive/negative attributes on weapon mods as I can never decide if they're worth it and generally take the easy choice and have no mods (apart from the extended mag, that's a no brainer!)
State of the game update:
Server patch on the way for:
Progress blockers like “Talk to the Division Coordinator” / “Talk To that Person” will be addressed.
Daily and Weekly Projects that are not resetting (They are not resetting when you are not online)
Clan XP progress:
If a player with stuck CXP stays in the clan, then any missing CXP/progression will be applied to their clan after the fix is deployed on their next login.
If a player with stuck CXP leaves and rejoins the clan, then they will be able to earn CXP/progression again immediately, but any missing CXP/progression will be permanently lost.
Group Scaling when you play with a different leveled player is also not working as intended. The NPC tuning is wrong – they are doing to much damage. This will be changed but it will not fix all the issues. There is also a problem with item scaling because a green item buffed to level 30 has not the same stats as a high-end item on level 30. But this needs a client patch
Next client update will fix:
Rest of the Skill-reset reasons will be addressed
The rest of the group-scaling issues (the item quality part)
The issue when your character suddenly looks different will be addressed
Lost skins should be returned
And some stats, since launch:
Headshots - 5.5 Billion
Bullets Fired - 123 Billion
XP Gained - 4.2 Trillion
NPCs Killed - 3.9 Billion
Birds Shot - 1.3 Million
Server patch on the way for:
Progress blockers like “Talk to the Division Coordinator” / “Talk To that Person” will be addressed.
Daily and Weekly Projects that are not resetting (They are not resetting when you are not online)
Clan XP progress:
If a player with stuck CXP stays in the clan, then any missing CXP/progression will be applied to their clan after the fix is deployed on their next login.
If a player with stuck CXP leaves and rejoins the clan, then they will be able to earn CXP/progression again immediately, but any missing CXP/progression will be permanently lost.
Group Scaling when you play with a different leveled player is also not working as intended. The NPC tuning is wrong – they are doing to much damage. This will be changed but it will not fix all the issues. There is also a problem with item scaling because a green item buffed to level 30 has not the same stats as a high-end item on level 30. But this needs a client patch
Next client update will fix:
Rest of the Skill-reset reasons will be addressed
The rest of the group-scaling issues (the item quality part)
The issue when your character suddenly looks different will be addressed
Lost skins should be returned
And some stats, since launch:
Headshots - 5.5 Billion
Bullets Fired - 123 Billion
XP Gained - 4.2 Trillion
NPCs Killed - 3.9 Billion
Birds Shot - 1.3 Million
I quite liked the current scaling, it is broken but if you're a lower level you are effectively a glass cannon.
You deal lots of damage as I think scaled up guns are too scaled, especially if you have a purple etc at level but conversely the NPCs kill you really quickly which makes the multiplayer/tactical gameplay scale more worthwhile.
You deal lots of damage as I think scaled up guns are too scaled, especially if you have a purple etc at level but conversely the NPCs kill you really quickly which makes the multiplayer/tactical gameplay scale more worthwhile.
We tried to kill a Hunter today.
It did not go well.
I answered a call for assistance, imagining a chilled out side mission or control point perhaps. Get a bit of loot, gain a few levels before work, I thought!
Nope. 4 of us were trying to kill this damn Hunter for 90 minutes! It was hilariously tough. All of us were being 1 shot killed. All offensive skills were turned against us. At one stage, I pretty much emptied an entire LMG clip into this guy and it hardly even tickled him!
Level 28 is too low, clearly. But, still we kept going back and trying again because I'm far too stubborn for my own good
Think I'll level up a bit before I go see him again.
It did not go well.
I answered a call for assistance, imagining a chilled out side mission or control point perhaps. Get a bit of loot, gain a few levels before work, I thought!
Nope. 4 of us were trying to kill this damn Hunter for 90 minutes! It was hilariously tough. All of us were being 1 shot killed. All offensive skills were turned against us. At one stage, I pretty much emptied an entire LMG clip into this guy and it hardly even tickled him!
Level 28 is too low, clearly. But, still we kept going back and trying again because I'm far too stubborn for my own good
Think I'll level up a bit before I go see him again.
Last night was incredibly productive.
I joined some clanmates in world tier 4 (I was level 28) to kill some hunters. Or, more accurately, to watch them kill some hunters
I got a few of the masks and a bit of XP but, more importantly, they dropped me some level 30 goodies to give me a leg up when I hit max level
Fast forward to this morning....I hit level 30 and immediately equipped some of my new gear. What hadn't properly registered at the time, is that their gear was all dropping at their level , ie. Gear Score 450. So, my new MK16 assault rifle literally does 10 times the damage of my previous assault rifle (a level 25 ACR). That did 1.1k damage and the new gun does over 11k - it's insane!
I realise it will become less and less effective as I progress through the world tiers but, I did a quick test in a side mission and could easily take down yellow bars in a single clip!
Looking forward to tackling my first stronghold later
I joined some clanmates in world tier 4 (I was level 28) to kill some hunters. Or, more accurately, to watch them kill some hunters
I got a few of the masks and a bit of XP but, more importantly, they dropped me some level 30 goodies to give me a leg up when I hit max level
Fast forward to this morning....I hit level 30 and immediately equipped some of my new gear. What hadn't properly registered at the time, is that their gear was all dropping at their level , ie. Gear Score 450. So, my new MK16 assault rifle literally does 10 times the damage of my previous assault rifle (a level 25 ACR). That did 1.1k damage and the new gun does over 11k - it's insane!
I realise it will become less and less effective as I progress through the world tiers but, I did a quick test in a side mission and could easily take down yellow bars in a single clip!
Looking forward to tackling my first stronghold later
A quick roundup of my thoughts, now I've finished the story, done all the side missions and hit world tier 2;
I will preface this by saying that I played The Division when it first dropped, thought it was extremely good for about 2 days then realised once I finished the story that there was nothing left to do except try to find the ultimate piece of level 30 loot. New York City looked amazing and was fun to explore, but the lack of upwards progression after completing the story killed it for me. I did play after some of the mini-raid updates and had a little bit of a go at the underground area they added in the expansion but the game lost me early on and I never really came back, so I was a little cautious going into TD2.
Well, now it's here and it's in Washington D.C., perhaps a little less iconic a city than NYC but still with a lot of instantly recognisable landmarks. The fact it's set seven months after the dollar flu epidemic rather than immediately following it shows, with a lot of areas of the city being reclaimed by nature, with plants growing up and covering many structures and the formation of the fortified settlements.
The game world in this looks truly incredible on any platform. I've been playing on the Xbox One X and I think this is one of the best looking games I've ever seen on it. The level of detail in the environment is just beyond incredible, particularly the story mission areas where they've really gone to town to make everything look super realistic. In particular, there's a side mission that takes place in the Museum of Native Peoples and after I'd cleared the hostiles out of the area, I spent probably ten minutes just walking around and reading all of the displays and exhibits - it was interesting stuff and beatifully made. There's a nice variety of places to go to and crucially they all feel like real places. Out on the streets, there are more open areas and overall the buildings are not as tall as NYC, so the map feels more open and less claustrophic.
The lighting in this game is mostly superb, with great weather effects. Try fighting an enemy patrol in early morning fog with the sun behind them and you're in for a tough time. However, there are some momentary issues coming and going from light to dark rooms in buildings where the game seems to get confused for a second on just how dark or light the area you're entering should be, then it snaps to the correct lighting level, however I'm being really picky by criticising this.
The gunplay is excellent, as is standard for this series. I feel the weapon rebalancing has been beneficial, with LMGs and shotguns both noticeably more useful now. Assault rifles still tend to reign supreme but I did virtually all of world tier 1 with a LMG and a submachine gun and never felt like I missed my standard assault rifle and marksman rifle setup. The enemy AI is excellent, with most fights having a good mix of enemies and all of the different archetypes give something to challenge you, whether its grenadiers digging you out of cover, rushers charging you or even just the standard grunts trying to flank you. I like the way it promotes using cover but does it's best to stop you from turtling in one spot for a whole fight. As ever the super-tanky elite enemies are back and I still find it fun to unload a hundred round LMG ammo drum into them and see them still coming for me though I appreciate it wasn't for everyone. "It breaks the immersion and realism!", they would cry, as they rolled their autonomous seeker mine along the floor to track and destroy and enemy behind cover.
The abilites and gadgets are largely similar to TD1 but with a few changes. The healing drone that has replaced the auto-healing deployable medical bag from TD1 and is now vastly less effective. The new gas grenade gun is extremely effective, with the corrosive gas in particular being a staple for me from the moment I got it. Instant, high DOT, massively increases the damage enemy armour takes while the corrosive effect is on them so it's great for stripping down elites and the enemy just don't know how to deal with it; they either panic and run out cover, allowing you to pick them off, of they try and ride out of the damage, which either kills them or severely weakens them. I run this with an enhanced radius and damage mod and it is ridiculously powerful.
The loot system has been improved, using the world tier improvements from TD1 as a basis for tiering loot, though it doesn't always make sense - sometimes what feels like a straight downgrade can have a higher gear score than your current gear, so you really should be swapping over to it even though it feels less effective in combat. You can craft and recalibrate gear to get perfect roles and gear scores on the equipment you prefer, but this is only really worth doing at the max world tier, as you will increase gear score so quickly anyway that if you spend time and resources on crafting and recalibrating the perfect item it will be surpassed by something better within 20-30 minutes unless you're in the top world tier and at the gear cap.
The mod system is much better now - craft it once and use it on as many items as you like, rather than having to find dozens of mods to kit out all of your different weapons. A great quality of life improvement.
Going forward I'm excited to see where TD2 will go. I think the 8 man raids will have a lot of potential but at the moment I'm looking forward to hitting max world tier and then cranking the difficulty up as it's too easy at the moment. I did the story solo and it was a breeze, then did the first stronghold at world tier 1 last night as a group and we just steamrolled everything before us. Of course, the world tier system means there is little incentive to play on harder difficulties until you're at the top world tier because the higher quality loot you get on harder difficulties will be surpassed almost as quickly as the normal difficulty loot. I haven't tried the darkzones much yet as again, it's a lot of effort for "powerful darkzone gear" that is virtually useless unless you're planning on staying in the world tier where you acquired it.
Overall I think this is the new benchmark in the looter shooter genre. Destiny launched in a bad way and take about 18 months to really turn into a good game, then Destiny 2 came out, forgot all the lessons of Destiny and the franchise went to s
t again. TD1 came out with no endgame and it took a year to get it patched into something with replay value - thankfully they've used the template of the final version of TD1 as a starting point for TD2 so it feels like there's a real game here and actual fun to be had. I can't think of a reason not to recommend this game to be honest.
I will preface this by saying that I played The Division when it first dropped, thought it was extremely good for about 2 days then realised once I finished the story that there was nothing left to do except try to find the ultimate piece of level 30 loot. New York City looked amazing and was fun to explore, but the lack of upwards progression after completing the story killed it for me. I did play after some of the mini-raid updates and had a little bit of a go at the underground area they added in the expansion but the game lost me early on and I never really came back, so I was a little cautious going into TD2.
Well, now it's here and it's in Washington D.C., perhaps a little less iconic a city than NYC but still with a lot of instantly recognisable landmarks. The fact it's set seven months after the dollar flu epidemic rather than immediately following it shows, with a lot of areas of the city being reclaimed by nature, with plants growing up and covering many structures and the formation of the fortified settlements.
The game world in this looks truly incredible on any platform. I've been playing on the Xbox One X and I think this is one of the best looking games I've ever seen on it. The level of detail in the environment is just beyond incredible, particularly the story mission areas where they've really gone to town to make everything look super realistic. In particular, there's a side mission that takes place in the Museum of Native Peoples and after I'd cleared the hostiles out of the area, I spent probably ten minutes just walking around and reading all of the displays and exhibits - it was interesting stuff and beatifully made. There's a nice variety of places to go to and crucially they all feel like real places. Out on the streets, there are more open areas and overall the buildings are not as tall as NYC, so the map feels more open and less claustrophic.
The lighting in this game is mostly superb, with great weather effects. Try fighting an enemy patrol in early morning fog with the sun behind them and you're in for a tough time. However, there are some momentary issues coming and going from light to dark rooms in buildings where the game seems to get confused for a second on just how dark or light the area you're entering should be, then it snaps to the correct lighting level, however I'm being really picky by criticising this.
The gunplay is excellent, as is standard for this series. I feel the weapon rebalancing has been beneficial, with LMGs and shotguns both noticeably more useful now. Assault rifles still tend to reign supreme but I did virtually all of world tier 1 with a LMG and a submachine gun and never felt like I missed my standard assault rifle and marksman rifle setup. The enemy AI is excellent, with most fights having a good mix of enemies and all of the different archetypes give something to challenge you, whether its grenadiers digging you out of cover, rushers charging you or even just the standard grunts trying to flank you. I like the way it promotes using cover but does it's best to stop you from turtling in one spot for a whole fight. As ever the super-tanky elite enemies are back and I still find it fun to unload a hundred round LMG ammo drum into them and see them still coming for me though I appreciate it wasn't for everyone. "It breaks the immersion and realism!", they would cry, as they rolled their autonomous seeker mine along the floor to track and destroy and enemy behind cover.
The abilites and gadgets are largely similar to TD1 but with a few changes. The healing drone that has replaced the auto-healing deployable medical bag from TD1 and is now vastly less effective. The new gas grenade gun is extremely effective, with the corrosive gas in particular being a staple for me from the moment I got it. Instant, high DOT, massively increases the damage enemy armour takes while the corrosive effect is on them so it's great for stripping down elites and the enemy just don't know how to deal with it; they either panic and run out cover, allowing you to pick them off, of they try and ride out of the damage, which either kills them or severely weakens them. I run this with an enhanced radius and damage mod and it is ridiculously powerful.
The loot system has been improved, using the world tier improvements from TD1 as a basis for tiering loot, though it doesn't always make sense - sometimes what feels like a straight downgrade can have a higher gear score than your current gear, so you really should be swapping over to it even though it feels less effective in combat. You can craft and recalibrate gear to get perfect roles and gear scores on the equipment you prefer, but this is only really worth doing at the max world tier, as you will increase gear score so quickly anyway that if you spend time and resources on crafting and recalibrating the perfect item it will be surpassed by something better within 20-30 minutes unless you're in the top world tier and at the gear cap.
The mod system is much better now - craft it once and use it on as many items as you like, rather than having to find dozens of mods to kit out all of your different weapons. A great quality of life improvement.
Going forward I'm excited to see where TD2 will go. I think the 8 man raids will have a lot of potential but at the moment I'm looking forward to hitting max world tier and then cranking the difficulty up as it's too easy at the moment. I did the story solo and it was a breeze, then did the first stronghold at world tier 1 last night as a group and we just steamrolled everything before us. Of course, the world tier system means there is little incentive to play on harder difficulties until you're at the top world tier because the higher quality loot you get on harder difficulties will be surpassed almost as quickly as the normal difficulty loot. I haven't tried the darkzones much yet as again, it's a lot of effort for "powerful darkzone gear" that is virtually useless unless you're planning on staying in the world tier where you acquired it.
Overall I think this is the new benchmark in the looter shooter genre. Destiny launched in a bad way and take about 18 months to really turn into a good game, then Destiny 2 came out, forgot all the lessons of Destiny and the franchise went to s
t again. TD1 came out with no endgame and it took a year to get it patched into something with replay value - thankfully they've used the template of the final version of TD1 as a starting point for TD2 so it feels like there's a real game here and actual fun to be had. I can't think of a reason not to recommend this game to be honest.Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff