In The Division 2, there was a lot of tension after the big Title Update 9 (TU9). This was particularly due to a severe nerf of a popular weapon, which caused a lot of anger. Now, the developers have commented on this and want to revert the controversial change – at least partially.
What is the reason for the anger? On April 21, the extensive Title Update 9 for The Division 2 was released, which brought numerous changes. And these changes were far from well received by everyone. The nerfs were said to be too severe, popular builds were broken, and motivation was lost. Numerous angry players and heavy criticism followed.
You can read more about it here: The Division 2: New update makes players angry – “This is unacceptable”
This caused the biggest criticism: The biggest issue was the initially secret nerf of the popular rifle series around the M1A Classic and its named variant Bakers Dozen.
Initially, the nerf was really harsh; the weapon was weakened by about 40%. A nerf was expected, but not such a severe one. This didn’t just weaken the weapon; it effectively made it completely useless and uncompetitive, as the consensus goes.
Additionally, the way Massive communicated this nerf was heavily criticized – namely, not at all initially. The players found out about it by themselves, as there was no mention of it in the patch notes at first.
Only retroactively was this change provided – only after the rising criticism and heightened emotions. This now puts the developers in a bad light for many.
This is what Massive says about the most controversial nerf of TU9: In the current developer blog “State of the Game”, Massive commented on this perhaps most controversial nerf of Title Update 9 on April 22.
In general, the M1A was considered too powerful before the nerf in TU9; it simply stood out too much. However, it is acknowledged that the nerf was too severe and turned out to be harsher than originally planned. This will now be reverted – at least in part.
Because the 40% nerf was not intended as a final solution, but due to the circumstances that developers are currently working from home because of the coronavirus, the weapon could not be adjusted and tested as thoroughly as it should have been.
The fact that the nerf was not initially communicated was not intentional, but is attributed to internal problems and processes. At Massive, no one seriously believes that such a harsh nerf of a popular weapon could be concealed, and they wouldn’t even attempt to do so. They now want to improve their internal processes and ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.
What will happen with the M1A now: The nerf is expected to be rolled back this week (probably Friday). The M1A will therefore soon be as strong as it was before Title Update 9 – at least in PvE. In PvP, it will continue to be weakened, but by 20% instead of the previous 40% after TU9.
In the long run, however, the weapon is still set to be adjusted. Because it stands out too much in its pre-TU9 form compared to all other weapons. In a future update, it is expected to receive a proper, less drastic power reduction. Always with the aim of establishing good weapon balance, so that the next raid becomes the challenge it should be, according to the developers’ statements.
What else changed with Title Update 9: The major Title Update 9 also brought numerous other changes beyond nerfs, a new feature for Exotics, and various bug fixes. You can find an overview of the most important adjustments in this article: The Division 2: The most important changes from TU9 – Patch Notes in detail
