After the heavy buffs to skills and their mods in the last major Title Update 5 of The Division 2, skill builds are finally a real alternative to the previous meta setups. This can also be seen in the raid “Dark Hours”.
The current state of skill builds: Builds with a high number of skill attributes, i.e., skill builds, were long considered useless in the Division community. Most agents therefore relied on red or blue builds, focusing on damage (red) or armor (blue). Even after Title Update 5, where skills were significantly strengthened, some agents are still skeptical about skill builds.
The talents that must be sacrificed to allow an effective focus on the yellow skill attributes are too valuable for many players. A pure focus on skills seems not rewarding enough for them.
Nevertheless, since the update, pure skill builds can now also prevail, which increasingly focus on the yellow attributes and skills.
How strong skill builds have become: A build with high skill strength and some powerful mods has become a truly effective all-round weapon since Title Update 5. For example, with a skill build, the chem launcher heals a good portion of armor in fractions of a second, and a drone keeps helpless enemies at bay for several minutes.
The fact that yellow builds are now a serious alternative in even the most demanding activities and no longer just a gimmick is demonstrated by the video of a dedicated team around YouTuber “Alldayanyday On The PS4”. In the following clip, his fireteam defeats the raid Dark Hours exclusively with skill-oriented builds and thereby impressively underscores the current strength of skills:
In the video, the 8-member task force dismantles the raid bosses in a choreography of explosive skill fireworks and relentless fire. “Alldayanyday On The PS4” and his team reportedly took about 40 minutes for the run. While that’s not a record time, it’s still respectable considering that the raid on console was once considered almost impossible.
Why was this not possible before Title Update 5? In short: The skill-based builds were simply too weak. A talent like “Berserker”, available on the vest and activated after seven red damage attributes, gave a gun-happy player at best 50% extra weapon damage. In contrast, yellow talents like “On the Ropes”, available on the backpack and activated after seven yellow skill attributes, offered a maximum of a 25% increase in weapon damage.
The performance difference between the talents was too great and was not compensated for by correspondingly strong skills. The developers recognized the lack of balance and significantly improved this in the course of Title Update 5.
Due to the strong buffs, players are no longer faced with the choice – short cooldown or high damage. The cooldowns have also been completely overhauled. Furthermore, the damage and skill duration of most skills have been revised. In addition, the skill mods, which require a certain skill strength to be used, have been massively strengthened as well.
Don’t have a skill build yet? Here’s why it’s worth it now: Even now, six weeks after the release of Title Update 5, the positive development of skill builds has not sunk in for many players.
Skill builds have now become a considerable alternative and can even overshadow some pure damage builds. Moreover, they provide a welcome change to pure gunplay and can, in some situations, be even more effective than using firearms from cover.
If you need more information about skill talents or are looking for an effective skill build, check this out:
- With this skill build, you have a fantastic drone in The Division 2
- These are the best armor talents for your skill builds
Are you already using a skill build or are you still skeptical and sticking to the usual talent/attribute combinations?
