New information about Update 1.3 for The Division. The developers explain the updates regarding weapon balance.
In today’s State of the Game, Community Developer Hamish Bode talked with the “weapon types”, the Senior Game Designer of Massive, about the upcoming weapon balancing.
New weapon bonuses will only come with weapons that drop after 1.3
Massive explains that they generally do not want to weaken the existing weapons in The Division. Rather, the goal is to enhance the currently unpopular ones with additional bonuses. We have summarized the weapon balancing with 1.3 here.
A brief discussion on the main updates:
- LMGs will deal more damage when you shoot at enemies out of cover. The amount of this bonus depends on the respective roll.
- Shotguns are now supposed to be very effective against “rushers” in incursions by staggering the NPCs. This “stagger” effect does not work against other agents in the Dark Zone. In PvP, there is supposed to be a damage buff.
- Assault rifles become more valuable when used against elite enemies and named ones, as they can break their armor more efficiently. Again, this bonus only applies to NPCs.
- The bonus for SMGs will change from “increased chance of critical hits” to “increased damage from critical hits.”
In addition, the difference between SMG and assault rifle will now be highlighted. Submachine guns will have their damage sharply reduced at a certain distance. Assault rifles remain useful even at larger distances.
However: All these (new) bonuses will only be available once you receive the weapons after update 1.3. “For technical reasons,” they cannot be transferred to already existing weapons in your inventory.
This means: The SMGs in your possession retain the increased chance of critical hits. And the LMGs and shotguns you currently have can essentially be thrown away. A Hungry Hog and similar weapons will only become usable once you receive them after update 1.3.
Changes to individual weapons with update 1.3
In addition to the general changes to weapon types, three weapons will receive special treatment. They are three of the best weapons in The Division.
- Vector submachine guns: The base damage of these SMGs will be reduced by 10%.
- AUG submachine guns: These SMGs will also have their base damage reduced by 10%.
- M1A marksman rifles: These snipers will become less accurate when you keep firing at enemies. The reticle will expand more after shots than usual.
With update 1.3, you can re-roll weapon talents
The developers also discussed additional changes that update 1.3 will bring. Bode is particularly excited about the possibility that you can re-roll the talents of the weapons. This will allow you to obtain your desired weapons faster.
Until now, it was only possible to re-roll the bonuses of armor pieces at the improvement station. Now this will also be possible with weapon talents.
Further updates with update 1.3:
- Some weapons will always come with fixed talents.
- Changes will be made to special ammunition. The effect of explosive and incendiary rounds will be reduced. It will no longer be possible to eliminate other agents with a single shot using a M44 and explosive rounds.
- “Call of the Watch” and “Striker’s Gear” will be “weakened”. More set pieces (5) will be required to achieve the full effect of the sets.
- The weapon “Battle Rifle”, which is tailored to a gear set, as shown in the gameplay material for “Underground”, will not come with update 1.3. However, it will be integrated into The Division at some point.
- The weapon “Showstopper” is coming. This was supposed to come with 1.2, but it needed further adjustments. This weapon is designed to become more accurate the longer you shoot with it.
Note: All these changes coming with update 1.3 will also appear on PS4. However, not on June 28, as the PS4 patch is delayed. When this will be rolled out is still unclear. More information will follow shortly.
What do you think of these changes?
