Massive has now announced a specific date for the next major patch for The Division 2. Title Update 9.1 is set to be released next week and will mainly improve the balance in the game. We show what will change in detail with TU9.1.
The next major update is on the way: After The Division 2 already received two significant patches in April with Title Update 8.5 and Title Update 9, the next major update – Title Update 9.1 – is already scheduled for May.
After all, Massive’s shooter still has numerous issues, which are being diligently worked on. TU9.1 is set to bring the next batch of fixes and balance changes.
By the way, maintenance is also scheduled for today, May 7th: The Division 2: Maintenance, Server Down on 07.05. – Patch Notes and all info
When exactly will Title Update 9.1 be released? After the developers recently provided a first glimpse into Title Update 9.1 and mentioned a rough timeframe, there is now a specific date.
TU 9.1 is set to be released on Tuesday, May 12th. The accompanying maintenance is expected to begin at 9:30 AM German time and end around 12:20 PM. During this time window, the patch should also become available.
This will change with Title Update 9.1 (TU9.1) for The Division 2
What’s included in the new patch? Besides the date, Massive has now also presented most of the changes that come with TU9.1.
The focus of the update is primarily on adjustments to the balance of The Division 2. Numerous annoying issues that the community has been pointing out for some time will be addressed. For example,
- enemy skills
- enemy weapons
- and enemy abilities like grenades
will be revised. This is the first round of balance adjustments, with a second expected to follow with Title Update 10. The intention is not to make the game easier, but to address existing frustration factors.
Below you will find the most important changes from TU9.1 that await you on May 12th.
General Fixes
- Framerate drops in the Dark Zones.
- Friendly oxidizer skill deals damage to allies’ skills
- “Recommended Activity” tab does not close
- The talent Frenzy remains active when switching weapons
NPC Balance
- Damage and “out of cover” accuracy of submachine guns used by Hyena enemies with red health bars have been nerfed.
- Status effects from NPCs
- Fire damage has been reduced
- Bleeding damage has been reduced
- This also applies to PVP
- The effect duration will remain the same with TU9.1
- Grenade accuracy of the NPCs
- The grenade accuracy will be nerfed
- The accuracy decreases further with increasing distance to the target
- Less grenade accuracy with Hyena throwers
- Less grenade accuracy with Black Tusk mini-tanks
- Less grenade accuracy with Napalm turrets of the Cleaners
- Elite enemies have higher grenade accuracy
- Hunters, Rogues, and legendary NPCs have higher accuracy than elite enemies, but even here the difference to the current status quo should be noticeable
- NPC accuracy when blind firing:
- This will be reduced. This should be noticeable especially with legendary NPCs. However, with increasing fire duration, this will slightly increase again after 5 to 6 seconds.
- NPCs will no longer blind fire with shotguns or sniper rifles. Instead, they will switch to blind firing with pistols. Hunters, Rogues, and some bosses will, however, break this rule and can do so. Additionally, tank enemies will no longer blind fire.
- NPC aggressiveness:
- The aggressiveness and frequency of NPC attacks on hidden targets have been reduced, and the enemies’ approach has been revised
- Attack units of the Hyenas, Cleaners, and Outcasts had a bug that caused them to be very aggressive against players within a radius of 5 meters, circling around them until they ran away. That has now changed; they can also retreat.
- Non-tank NPCs affected by the blind or burning status effect will no longer rush at players. They will either hold their position or retreat.
- The range of the flamethrower from Cleaner tanks has been reduced
- Remote-controlled explosive model car of the Hyenas
- Explosion damage has been reduced
- The duration of the subsequent flame has been reduced.
- The duration of the resulting status effects (burn and confuse) has also been reduced
- Spawn frequency has been reduced
- NPC skill balance
- Suicide drones of the Black Tusk deal less damage and their deployment frequency has been reduced.
- The Black Tusk support station no longer heals mechanical NPCs (warhounds, mini-tanks) or destructible items.
- The legendary healing station now has a healing cap – just like the standard version.
- Armor kits for NPCs: These can no longer fully heal NPCs. Exceptions are bounty targets and some bosses. Hunters can still fully heal themselves.
- New priorities for status effects for NPCs: Stuck NPCs (from foam) will no longer be able to run around if they have been on fire or blinded.
- NPC firefly skills will no longer deal excessively high damage (no more one-shots against players)
- The likelihood that tank enemies will rush the players’ drones or towers to stomp them has been reduced
Player Balance
- The enemy damage to player skills has been reduced
- Status effects caused by players have been buffed (only in PvE)
- Bleeding, poison, napalm, and sticking now deal more damage to NPCs
- The size of the player hitbox has been reduced (against NPCs) when players fire blind from cover. This is meant to make blind firing against NPCs less dangerous.
- Damage from burning and bleeding against players in PvP has been reduced
What about loot adjustments? Loot will not be addressed in Title Update 9.1, but it is a topic for TU10 (likely in June), according to the developers. There, more global changes are planned.
If you want to know what to expect in Season 1 until then, check out this article: The Division 2 now relies on seasons in the endgame like Destiny – Here’s how the first one runs
