In The Division 2, the PvP is still dormant a month after release. However, that is expected to change. Massive apparently wants to make the PvP zone “Dark Zone” more attractive with better loot. There are also many changes to the PvP planned in the next update.
This is how the Dark Zone is intended: Originally in Part 1, the “Dark Zone” was supposed to be a central unique feature of The Division.
Players fight in the Dark Zone against NPCs and other players. They loot “contaminated loot” and must secure it to use it. However, the loot can be stolen by other players.
In “The Division 1”, the Dark Zone was quite a controversial topic at the beginning. Frustration was almost guaranteed when good loot was stolen by so-called friends who went “Rogue” and became enemies.
In the first presentations, Massive advertised this “Adrenaline and Betrayal” zone. It shaped the image of The Division.
This is the problem with the Dark Zone in The Division 2: In The Division 2, the PvP has not yet made waves. Hardly anyone is talking about the Dark Zone:
- Generally, it is said that the new Dark Zones, there are now several, are simply too empty. People can walk around in the Dark Zone forever without encountering human opponents.
- While the campaign of The Division 2 was highly praised, the PvP is unattractive.
- The PvP is considered poorly balanced. With strong DPS builds, players can kill others without them knowing what hit them. Spoiler alert: It was usually a bullet from a sniper rifle.
This is how Massive wants to strengthen the Dark Zone now: In the State of the Game, Massive presented changes to the Dark Zone that are supposed to go live soon. Currently, the changes are being tested on the test server, which will be active until May 2, but is only accessible to PC players:
- In the Dark Zone, gear with an item level of up to 515 will drop, which is stronger than what is normally available (up to 500) – except in the raid when it comes
- furthermore, the item level of all players will be normalized to 500 – weaker players will go up, stronger ones down
- the damage in the Dark Zone will decrease significantly, the modifier will drop from 70% to 40% – also the weapon types have been specifically adjusted for PvP
- players will deal less damage when firing from the hip: The damage bonus for critical hits and headshot hits will be removed
- They want to make the “Thieves Den” more attractive so that players can find special ammo there when they switch their weapons
- there should be more contaminated loot and fewer patrols
- Landmarks should have a cooldown so players do not farm the same ones all the time and move more
- the NPCs should deal less damage and be able to take a bit more
This is the big solution: Massive wants to reduce the number of “Dark Zone” brackets to two to bring more players into the Dark Zone:
- All players between 1 and 30 will play together
- and all players who are already in the world rankings will be assigned to another Dark Zone bracket
This is supposed to ensure that there are 12 people in the Dark Zone.
In the long term, further changes for the Dark Zone in The Division 2 are planned.
This is what it’s about: Apparently, the Dark Zone in The Division 2 is not functioning as planned at all. Massive seems dissatisfied with the current state. Therefore, the changes are profound.
We will report in the coming days how PC players are receiving the “new Dark Zone” on the test server.
Currently, Massive is planning numerous changes in the upcoming patches. It seems like they are going to overhaul half the game.
