We’re almost midway into April, and one of the best games of March 2019 kind of feels…not as swell as it originally was. The Division 2’s first big update may have added some hefty new content to the ruined streets of Washington DC, but not all of the changes introduced have gone over well with fans. While you can now amp up the difficulty to World Tier 5 or tackle the Tidal Basin stronghold, doing so might prove a bit more challenging.
Here’s the problem, according to players. With skills having been substantially reworked, agents are now able to more easily mod their signature abilities without needing to hit sky-high requirements that usually results in them sacrificing health and armour to do so. The problem here, is that developer Massive’s tweaks have also resulted in those skills being much much less effective in practice.
The biggest casualty here? The Chem Launcher, which has fans divided over its effectiveness. Usually a handy save that can be modified to drop armour-restoring quick fixes in a pinch (or any of its other variants), the chem launcher now works differently following the Invasion for DC patch. Per the official patch notes:
Revamped the Chem launcher skill platform.
- Pressing the skill button will now equip the chem launcher similar to swapping to a weapon. The player can aim and shoot with normal weapon controls, as well as run with the skill and blindfire it.
- Quick deploy at the agents own position is still available for the repair version of the chem launcher, using the same controls as before.
- Unequipping the Chem launcher can be done using the skill button, the B (XBOX) / Circle (PS4) button or just using the weapon swap controls.
Now that’s not too bad. Whereas a single tap of LB/L1 just sets the launcher up for use as a weapon as opposed to holding it down to use it and fire, you can quickly double tap the action button to still get a quick drop of armour. According to players, that skill has been utterly nerfed with one redditor claiming that the the potential radius has dropped from “+140% radius +17.7%”. Other players claim that using the chem launcher is now a chore, while other complaints seem to focus on Exotic weapons have been rendered near useless following the patch.
The gripes go even further, with the sub-reddit also having a few bones to pick regarding the equipping of gear sets, whose various stats are now also noticeably less potent than they were pre-patch. The community’s solution? Implementing a public test server so that Massive can get community feedback on how these changes will impact players:
With this patch, you can see a lot of mixed receptions to many of the changes. Lots of feedback from many different perspectives. If this patch was on a test server for players to give feedback before hand, the devs could have made those changes to address concerns and prevented some of the negative reception to some changes have received, like special ammo not dropping, enemies T-posing, skill and weapon mod changes, balancing, ect.
Without this test server, we will have to wait till the next patch before we see any improvements, and if those changes bring new issues, we’d have to wait again till the next patch. Where as the test server, devs can receive the same player feedback, and react to the issues and be addressed right then and there before the patch even comes out.
Did Massive ever say anything about having a player test server for the division 2???
I’m still busy carving into The Division 2’s new update, of which there are plenty. Some of it I like! Not having White House staff constantly scream at me to check out their wares is a neat touch while changes to the Roosevelt Island mission that gives solo players a fighting chance is kind of great as well. Some of the changes have left me baffled, with the game difficulty also seeming to be on the rise thanks to my agent being able to absorb fewer bullets thanks to how gear and skills have been reworked.
Hopefully, these are all issues that can be fixed sooner rather than later as The Division 2 is still a heck of a live service to jump into.
Last Updated: April 8, 2019
Allykhat
April 8, 2019 at 11:10
I was dead-set on not buying this game. Buddy of mine swore blind that is was great and much better than Div1. Bought the game, played 3 hours last week, got to level 12-ish. Stopped playing.
I sorely regret wasting my money.
Admiral Chief
April 8, 2019 at 11:18
Why?
Allykhat
April 8, 2019 at 15:08
I burned out on the first game before patch 1.8 dropped. I came back after 1.8 and it felt a lot better, but didnt ring any of my bells and stopped playing after 1 or 2 play sessions. Because of that I wasnt going to get Div2, but most of my Destiny raid team got it and one of them was lobbying that the game was frikking amazeballz… and my brother was keen (Game share) so I bit the bullet and got it only to realize that Division really just isnt my game. The bullet sponges, the enemies that just rush up on you that I can’t kill fast enough before they shotgun me to death, the focus on cover based gameplay where the game actively forces you out of cover because of the previously mentioned rushing enemies.
I hear the endgame is where the game shines, which is great to hear, but I’m struggling to muster up the interest to slog through the piss poor campaign and levelling to get to an endgame I may not enjoy either.
Admiral Chief
April 9, 2019 at 08:25
tl;dr
GIT GUD
Allykhat
April 9, 2019 at 09:42
I have no problem putting effort into gitting gud if a game interests me 😛
I’m busy grinding out Comp in Destiny for pinnacle weapons now. That is a soulsucking grind, but I’m actually having fun while doing it… Can’t say the same for Div
Admiral Chief
April 9, 2019 at 09:42
Such a destiny-slut Alex!
Allykhat
April 9, 2019 at 14:22
Unashamedly so 😛
Yahtzee
April 8, 2019 at 11:26
Best part off the new patch is getting to log out after a pointless grind.
Admiral Chief
April 8, 2019 at 11:41
xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2019 at 11:34
This is the benefit of my muddling around & not racing straight for the finish. All I’ve seen of the changes are a mod stat change and some dudes with bows.
Kromas
April 8, 2019 at 11:02
And here I am clearing Heroic difficulty invaded missions. Not saying there are no issues. Just saying people are unhappy with change.
Nikola
April 8, 2019 at 12:01
I love the new patch think it brought very good changes with new gear etc. Also the UI looks much better. I actually also like that difficulty of hard and challenging missions have increased which is great:) Gun mods are also a lot better now! Resided the occasional lag we have I am loving the game, no complaints lots of fun gameplay is tight, shooting feels great, guns and looting is awesome. Can’t wait for everyone to get to Tier 5 so we can tackle on Heroic difficulty missions , level 4 control points and raid when it comes!!