The Division 2

This guy is part of the ETF, he released this video before that started. It is one of the more constructive of all I've seen. After the ETF started he Tweeted how impressed he was with what they were seeing (NDA, so no details yet). Hopefully we'll hear some specifics in the Stream slated for this week, but for now just some food for thought:

 
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Wow thanks for sharing. I've not seen that room before. I remember the devs mentioned how every little secret in the map has yet to be discovered

I hadn't seen it either, and couldn't find any other videos on it, so thought it was worth sharing. Now I'm going to have to pay more attention in other missions, lol.
 
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State of the Game - September 11th, 2019
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Massive // Massive Response
State of the Game
This State of the Game was the first stop in the Title Update 6 / Episode 2 information roadmap and it focused on loot, gear and recalibration.

=> Information Roadmap



Summary
Housekeeping
Maintenance


These are some issues that were fixed over the past few weeks:

Added Fixes

  • The problem where the Raid was reset once a player left has been fixed

  • Some of the Audio issues were fixed (still under observation)

  • Collectibles and Classified Assignments were fixed


The Known Issue list was also updated: Link



They also hear the feedback about the Shepherd system and there will be changes to that system down the road.



PTS
  • There will be a PTS for Title Update 6, currently we don’t have an exact date, but that will be announced asap.

  • Narrative Content (missions etc.) will not be part of the PTS this time around.

  • There will be phases on the PTS where specific aspects are being tested.


Title Update 6 / Episode 2
As announced in the State of the Game, the next Title Update will drop in October and just to avoid any confusion - Title Update 5 and Episode 2 is the same update.



These are the announced changes so far:



Gear Sets
  • With Title Update 6 you no longer need 6 items to complete the Gear Set but only 4 to unlock all the bonuses.

  • This also allows the combination with other high-end pieces or exotic items.

  • The Chest and the Backpack will get additional high-end gear talents that usually roll on these items.

  • The Raid Gear Sets will now be available in the general loot pool – the chest and the backpack item will stay exclusive to the raid. But since you only need 4 items to activate the Gear Set you can still play with those without participating in the raid. Only when you want to unlock the full potential of the Raid Sets (as in getting the chest and the backpack) you need to participate in the raid.

  • With TU6 – you will also get the craftable Gear Sets and the sets that were previously assigned to the Black Tusk from the general Loot Pool.


Brands Sets
  • With Title Update 6 all brands have items for all slots.

  • With that change, you will be a lot more flexible when you put together your build.

  • This is one less thing you need to keep track off that is also not documented in-game.

  • One Exception is the 5.1.1 Set because that is a real-world reference and they only make the specific items that are in the game now.


Named Items
Over the course of the campaign, you get some “Named Weapon” like Emeline's Guard P90 that have specific look and a story behind them. But currently, they are basically a reskin of existing weapons and are also not more powerful than the normal weapons. That is why they want to revamp those, add more and also make them more interesting to acquire.



  • There will be 35 new Named Items (weapons and gear) that will be added to the game.

  • Some of these items will have unique sources where you can farm them.

  • They will also be very rare drops and they will be an incentive to play the more difficult content of the game (Heroic Missions / Higher difficulty checkpoint). The specific sources are still WIP

  • There will also be a visual indicator so that you don’t miss the drop.

  • The special thing about these Named Items is, that they have a unique Talent on them that is basically a “perfect” version of existing high-end talent. For example, when the normal talent does 10% weapon damage under specific conditions the perfect version does 15% on the Named Item.

  • While one Talent is fixed per item, the rest of the stats on the Named Item are still RNG. So you will be able to get different qualities of these weapons.

  • That special Talent can’t be recalibrated away to other items.


Targeted Loot
When you are in World Tier 5 after Title Update 6 goes live, you will have a new way to target specific loot. This system will allow you to hunt for certain loot types, such as specific gear slots, brand items, weapon type, and mods. Every mission and named zone will have a specific type of loot associated with it. Several zones and missions might offer the same loot, and so you can choose which activity suits your playstyle best: replay missions or complete open-world activities in named zones if you're after specific items.

For convenience, there will be information on the mega map to communicate which missions and named zones have an increased drop chance for which item types. We have also included a timer to ensure players know how long the currently targeted loot rotation is active.



=> Image

Large icons represent drops in named zones while smaller icons tell you which main missions offer which loot.



  • With Title Update 6 all of the Main Missions and the Named Zones have a certain type of loot assigned to them for a specific amount of time.

  • They also have more loot sources than items, so you will be able to target every brand/item listed below every day.

  • These are the specific loot pools:
    • Weapon Archetypes

    • Gear Slots

    • Brands

    • Gear Mods / Skill Mods

    • Possible Gear Sets (Still WIP)
  • This Mission / Named Zone assignment will rotate each day, so you will not burn out on specific missions when you are looking for specific items.

  • The targeted loot will also be highlighted in the loot pile.


Mega Map Update
=> Image

Once you have reached World Tier 5, you can switch to the mega map and activate the “display targeted loot” option. This will display exactly where what items drop and where you need to search for the specific items.



Mission Rewards Listed
=> Mission

=> Mission Selection

  • If you don’t look specifically on the targeted loot menu, you can also see when you inspect the missions what will drop.

  • Also keep in mind, that the Main Missions are disconnected from the Named Zone they are in. So just because one Named Zone drops Fenris, does not mean, that also applies for the Mission.


Targeted loot sources in Missions
You can get the targeted loot from these items, but these are dropped by chance:

  • NPCs

  • Containers


Guaranteed drops in Missions
The targeted loot will drop from this source guaranteed as additional drop:

  • Named Bosses


Targeted loot sources in the Open World
You have a smaller chance to get specific items when opening containers and looting fallen enemies in these zones.



Guaranteed drops in the Open World
The targeted loot will drop from these sources guaranteed as additional drop:

  • Named Bosses (Bounties / Control Points / Deck 52)

  • Activity Completion (open-world activities)


Dark Zone
  • The Dark Zone is considered as Named Zone

  • You have the Following loot sources:
    • Containers

    • Enemies

    • Named Bosses are guaranteed drops
  • But they will be contaminated and they need to be extracted.


Recalibration
  • The Recalibration got a completely new UI

  • Instead of selecting an item, you select the stat you want and then select the item you want to get the specific stat from.

  • The stat-restriction has been removed, so you can now recalibrate any stat to any stat. Offensive to defensive / red to blue etc.

  • The goal is to give you more flexibility when you optimize your items.

  • There will also be bore flexibility when recalibrating Talents on items. You can take a talent that is on one backpack and move it to another backpack, regardless of the brand of each backpack.

  • But the Talent restrictions still apply, so you can’t recalibrate an active talent to a handling talent.

  • They are also looking to change the color/type of your mod-slots. That is still work in progress though.


Crafting
  • They are raising the material cap that you can carry – no specific numbers as of now

  • You will also be able to share materials among your characters

  • You will get more material drops from Materials

  • Once you are full, the materials will no longer drop

  • The Scavenging containers in the open world will now drop both materials.

  • There will also be a chance that you get Polycarbonate from deconstructing items.

  • Crafting will also get cheaper and will use up less gray and brand mats

  • There will also be a complete list of blueprints in-game and where they drop. This way you see what blueprints are missing and where you get them.

 
Alright, played a couple hours of the PTS, obviously not an exhaustive test but a decent overview.

What I liked:
  • Increased crafting material inventory cap / crates drop 2 items instead of 1
  • Crafting materials can be shared between all characters IF you choose (optional)
  • Targeted item drops, meaning missions and regions will tell you what items have the highest drop rates that week (rotates)
  • Calibration lets us change 1 attribute without restriction, meaning you can change a red to a blue, etc. Still only 1 item can be altered, instead of the 1 Skill / 1 Attribute we've been asking for
  • All BP's and Vests roll with 2 Talents now, instead of just Fenris, though Fenris still gets KP that roll with 2, while others don't
  • All Gear except 5.11 can roll with any Talent now
  • Global Events
  • Firing Range upgrades (see video)
  • Stash increased to 300
What I'm neutral on:
  • More Gear & Weapon Talents
    • waiting to see if this is a good or bad thing, not sure why we needed to ADD to the Loot pool at this stage
  • New currency requirement to buy from DZ Vendors. Some type of food or ingredient, which I assume you can only find in the DZ's, but will test more later
  • Guardians (see video)
    • seems to want to force us to be more tactical. Instead of rushing in, now we have to look over enemies (tagging) to find the Guardians so we know who to focus on first
What I don't like:
  • Stat rolls on Gear and Weapons still sucks. I am still picking up GS500 items with worse rolls on them than some of the GS450 items I have in my stash.

In 2 hours game time I kept 1 item, that was marginal, everything else I still looted as junk. None of these changes mean a thing to me if the loot is still going to be garbage. This is far and away the largest complaint by the community and still being ignored. My time spent in this game will be sparse until they pull their head out of their collective asses and get this fixed. This is aggravated by the fact I'm playing on Challenging and Heroic, which is supposed to drop "the best quality loot". If I'm just going to get 'more' GS450 quality loot playing Heroic, then why bother? I'm just done with Massive when it comes to this, I don't understand why they have to all but lose their entire player base before they start listening. This is what an ETF & PTS are supposed to accomplish, and they damn well better or I'm moving on.

EDIT: the gist of it:



 
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Thing is if you give players the loot they want they stop playing as there is nothing more to gain, if you don't, they stop because they can't get what they want.

I do admit that even with 4 max lvl toons, I vendor/destroy about 99.9% of all loot I get and would like to see a way to get better stuff but not sure how to do that.
 
All quite sad to read that not much has changed for the better. I'm definitely not a top tier player but TD2 is still not anywhere close to what TD1 is at this stage. I might just have to reinstall TD1 to get back to having great skill kills with the LZ bosses.
 
All quite sad to read that not much has changed for the better. I'm definitely not a top tier player but TD2 is still not anywhere close to what TD1 is at this stage. I might just have to reinstall TD1 to get back to having great skill kills with the LZ bosses.

I'm kind of amazed at how much interest I've lost in this. I hope that changes.
 
Thing is if you give players the loot they want they stop playing as there is nothing more to gain, if you don't, they stop because they can't get what they want.

I do admit that even with 4 max lvl toons, I vendor/destroy about 99.9% of all loot I get and would like to see a way to get better stuff but not sure how to do that.

This is true, and a difficult balance to find for sure. Despite my frustration I am still here for that reason. Still, I think they should be targeting better RNG. I don't mind scrapping 85% of what I pick up, if the 15% is actually an improvement to one of my Builds. People would experiment more, not get stuck in the "meta" as much, or at least be able to compete with the meta if that is what they want. As it is, you still have to be a Tuber with 8-16 hrs a day to spend in this game, and a friend's list willing to drop stuff for you to increase your RNG. The average person with 2-12 hrs a week to spend in this game is not getting any where but frustrated.

All quite sad to read that not much has changed for the better. I'm definitely not a top tier player but TD2 is still not anywhere close to what TD1 is at this stage. I might just have to reinstall TD1 to get back to having great skill kills with the LZ bosses.

Well, I hear you believe me, but consider how many more positives I listed opposed to the negatives. The negative is a key one, and a linch pin for sure, but we are still gaining ground. TD1 took 2 years to get into that condition. That should have given this game a head start, but let's face it, they added new features and changed up some formulas so this wouldn't just be a Division 1.5. That is a good thing I believe, but now we have to work through this game's resulting issues. The game is less than a year old and we're on our second PTS & have an ETF, so they are trying. Still, for the core fanbase it just feels meaningless atm, because the loot pool is so big, and the stat rolls so wide, that the chances of getting something we need have the odds of a lottery ticket. I don't need to be showered with loot, but if I have to grind for months to complete a Build, only to have it nerfed by the time I get halfway there, then something if fundamentally wrong. This is hardly the only Looter Shooter. There are other's who's successes this game can learn from, and it needs too if it is going to compete. With Borderlands 3 out now, the heat is going to be on. Completely different feeling to that game, so not a direct competitor, but still the same genre. It's all shiny and new, so we're going to lose a chunk of players to it no matter what, but we'd retain more overall if this game's Loot Cycle was more satisfying. For me, this should be their highest priority, they rest of it would just be bonus at that point.

--

On a more fun note, during the PTS I heard the band playing at the Campus Settlement. I only recall hearing them once during the game's campaign. It was too good to be a one time event, so hopefully these guys will have a random chance of playing if you visit at night. Maybe there already is and I have just missed it, but this was a cool moment I had to capture.

Tom Clancy's The Division 2_20190918_082724.jpg
 
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State of the Game:



The tl:dr



Almost entirely PvP focused, so apart from the Eagle Bearer nerf and some UI quality of life changes that will trickle over, you can skip if you're not into PvP.

--

Wave 2 of PTS will go live Monday. Here is the Recalibration Station changes in detail:



Lastly, in regards to the new secret room vid I posted about a week ago, there has been an update for the Invaded version if you want to check that out.

 
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Btw not sure someone noticed but something seems off with the exotic holster quest, I did it a second time and it was still a couple hours b4 noon when the patrol was there (it was visible on my map they were there) which could explain why I did not find it the previous day when it should have been there.

Anyways, q done, 2nd holster aquired , now waiting for the patch to drop so I can keep my setbonusses and use it.
 
Frraksurred I'll give the game a try once the new content is released & see how it goes. A lot of my friends have quit playing since they got burned out with the past & present state of the game.

I still have hope for better days since I put a good chunk of cash into it. I wonder if the NYC content will allow me to relive TD1 with TD2 features & enjoy it thoroughly.
 
Frraksurred I'll give the game a try once the new content is released & see how it goes. A lot of my friends have quit playing since they got burned out with the past & present state of the game.

I still have hope for better days since I put a good chunk of cash into it. I wonder if the NYC content will allow me to relive TD1 with TD2 features & enjoy it thoroughly.

I'm of the same mind. I return when there is an update and when a friend wants to play, pop in from time to time, but overall I'm off to other things while I wait. I know I came off pretty critical with my earlier post, so I wasn't trying to persuade you to play one thing over another (play what you like man), just to not let something I said make your opinion of the game worse than it may have been prior. I think we are all a bit burnt out with this game atm and are "hoping for better days". I'm sure it will get there, just impatient. :yawn:
 
There are lots of Gear & Weapon balancing changes coming with TU6. One change I noticed however, will shake things up more than usual:

Gear Talents (if implemented) will no longer stack with each other. So, for instance if you have Hard Hitting on 3 pieces of Gear, it will only recognize one of them, the other two will be wasted. This will change how we plan Builds if it makes it into the main game.
 
Agreed Frrak. I didn't know the unique talent thing was coming into the game. To offset that a little bit they are increasing the value of those stats.

I'm actually looking forward to this patch. A lot of builds are going to be reworked. Is this patch the equivalent of 1.4 from Division 1?
 
Agreed Frrak. I didn't know the unique talent thing was coming into the game. To offset that a little bit they are increasing the value of those stats.

I'm actually looking forward to this patch. A lot of builds are going to be reworked. Is this patch the equivalent of 1.4 from Division 1?

We'll see, huh? Hope so, but if I were to hazard a guess, it will start to process, but take another patch before we start saying "now we're talkin'". At least things seem to be on the right track.
 
Hey Frraaksured. Just letting you know, I still want to be in the TD2 clan . There's other games I'm playing such The Division 1 because there's a Global Event this week. Also Ghost Recon Breakpoint open beta from the 26th to the 29th.

I will come back to The Division 2 later
 
Hey Frraaksured. Just letting you know, I still want to be in the TD2 clan . There's other games I'm playing such The Division 1 because there's a Global Event this week. Also Ghost Recon Breakpoint open beta from the 26th to the 29th.

I will come back to The Division 2 later

You're in now correct, or do you still need an invite? If you're worried about getting kicked for being inactive, don't sweat it. We're no longer full and 98% of us are "inactive", lol. We're loitering in the background some where, but largely inactive. If we miraculously fill up and I've got Forums members breathing down my virtual neck clamoring for admittance, then I'll let you know. :p
 
Tons of info in this week's State of the Game:



  • PTS ends Oct. 1
  • TU6 Mid Oct (likely 15th)
  • Weapon balancing & making more guns viable
  • Talent buffs, but no longer stackable
  • Targeted Loot locations on Map & in Missions (including Gear Sets)
  • A whole slew of PvP changes I cannot be bothered with
  • New Tutorial system for new players
  • Stash size from 150 to 300
  • 35 new unique "Named" Weapons with 1 "perfect' Talent (higher percentages)
  • Episode 2 - New Raid, new story content (they haven't detailed yet)
 
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It seems you may be able to utilize DirectX12 now after the patch. So far I have been able to with out issue(s) for many hours now. Although, I am waiting for TU6...report if you are good, so others can finally, especially nVidia users, switch over to 12.

Maintenance - September 24th, 2019
Patch Notes

  • Made improvements when using the game with DirectX 12.

  • Fixed an exploit that could cause players to gain an unintended amount of armor.

  • Fixed an issue that could cause the client to crash when navigating the Map Menus on console.

  • Apparel Event #4 - Explorers will be live after the maintenance has ended! More information can be found in an upcoming article released later today.
 
Some things I forgot to mention in my previous post, there are some key changes coming to Gear in general:

  • Vests & Backpacks will now all spawn with 2 Talents. Previously only Fenris did. The one exception is 511, as that is based on a real world brand that does not make all items.
  • Gear Sets will now roll with a Talent. Previously they could roll with higher stats than standard Gear, but since the RNG in this game is so bad, it rarely, RARELY, actually did. This will help them to be more viable.
  • Gear Sets will now drop as part of the open world loot pool, meaning they will become a part of the Targeted Loot system.
    • This includes Hard Wired, which could previously only be crafted
    • Also includes Vest & BP from Aces & Eights, the Raid set. The other pieces will still only drop in the Raid.
 
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Didn't notice this detail in the Patch notes (PTS), but it looks like we may potentially be getting some new Blueprints, and the Crafting Station will now show us the BP's we haven't found yet as locked, as well as where to get them.



Nice quality of life change.
 
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6pc Fenris with 12 Talents. This is supposed to be the "Balancing" patch, lol. Massive just cannot help from creating more work for themselves. How long before you think these changes will get nerfed?

 
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It seems you may be able to utilize DirectX12 now after the patch. So far I have been able to with out issue(s) for many hours now. Although, I am waiting for TU6...report if you are good, so others can finally, especially nVidia users, switch over to 12.

Maintenance - September 24th, 2019
Patch Notes

  • Made improvements when using the game with DirectX 12.

  • Fixed an exploit that could cause players to gain an unintended amount of armor.

  • Fixed an issue that could cause the client to crash when navigating the Map Menus on console.

  • Apparel Event #4 - Explorers will be live after the maintenance has ended! More information can be found in an upcoming article released later today.

I put it back on DX12 after reading this and must say, so far I have not noticed any stutter as I used to with DX12. Still will wait a bit for my final judgement on this.
 
I put it back on DX12 after reading this and must say, so far I have not noticed any stutter as I used to with DX12. Still will wait a bit for my final judgement on this.

If you do happen to crash, and have an issue loading the game. Use Explorer to go to "<Drive>/Documents\My Games\Tom Clancy's The Division 2\ShaderCache" and delete the cache files in the folders for 11 and 12. You can also use disk clean up to clear the Direct X shader cache. But the first step should allow you to load back with out issue. Restart the system after the changes and reverting, or you will still crash continually.


Had one on my team crash. So, may not be time yet......sucks
 
Ah finally the new drivers have been released and the issue is considered resolved:

Changes and Fixed Issues in Version 436.48 The following sections list the important changes and the most common issues resolved in this version. This list is only a subset of the total number of changes made in this driver version. The NVIDIA bug number is provided for reference. Fixed Issues in this Release  [UBOAT]: The game crashes due to memory allocation issues when launching Sandbox mode from the main menu. [2694301]  [Tom Clancyʹs The Division II]: The game may crash when played in DirectX 12 mode. [200406322]  [Vulkan-based games]: Error message appears in the game when invoking GeForce Experience Freestyle or Ansel using the hot keys. [200549987]  [Tradesmen OS3DE]: Some objects are missing in the game. [2691363]  [Cinema4D]: Brushes produce a ghosting effect. [2633267]
 
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