The Division 2 has been struggling with some issues since the major expansion “Warlords of New York.” Now, the developers have provided an outlook on the next Title Update 8.5 and show a long list of planned changes.
What announcement was made now? Today, on March 31, a scheduled maintenance took place in The Division 2, and the developers took the opportunity to share new information about the future of the loot shooter. Since the extensive Warlords expansion, the game has been plagued by some annoying bugs and balance issues, which Massive is now systematically addressing.
According to them, two major updates are coming in April that will address the current weaknesses of the title and fix bugs that sometimes made being an agent remarkably difficult.
At the beginning of April, Title Update 8.5 will arrive with a larger update. Check out what the developers have planned for it.
What’s included in Title Update 8.5
What adjustments will be made with TU 8.5? In the Ubisoft forum for Division 2, the developers have already revealed a lot about the upcoming update and shared the changes and fixes in 4 main areas:
- Bug Fixes
- Gameplay Changes
- Balance Changes
- Exotic and Talent Changes
What bug fixes are planned? In total, there are 4 points found here. A graphics issue that causes crashes on PCs will disappear. Here are those 3 additional fixes:
- Striker Set – There is an issue with set talent. After the update, these should stack correctly.
- Sometimes agents cannot revive their teammates.
- Incorrect representation of the progress in the current league. Agents often thought that progress was lost.
The Striker Set was supposed to enhance the gear sets of Division 2. However, it unfortunately came into the game faulty, making it hardly usable. With TU 8.5, that might change, and we could get a strong set that might be interesting for damage builds.
What changes will gameplay see? Not much. The control points can be reset after TU 8.5 by changing the global difficulty. However, if we only set a different directive, everything remains as it is.
Healing Kits, Status Effects, Enemy Types – Enemies Will Become Weaker
What changes are happening with balance? This list is already considerably longer; here’s a summary of the most important things:
- BTSU Healing Kits: These stable devices will receive a substantial nerf. Only one enemy can receive an overshield, and the amount of healing a particular enemy can get from the kit will be limited. The tick rate of the healing will also decrease.
- Warhounds: The “Black Tusk” robotic dogs will also receive a nerf. The special attacks with the minigun and the 3-grenade attack will be better recognized and weaker.
- Tanks – The heavily armored enemies now check more distances, for example, between the agents and their skills. This results in tanks not rushing directly at agents and destroying their devices. Additionally, they will change their targets less frequently.
- Outcast fire, Molotovs, and poison: The burn status effect from Molotovs and fire attacks from Outcasts, as well as the poison status effect, will deal less damage. The duration and damage of these effects will be reduced.
- Assault Turret and Drone: The two Assault variants will aim better, and the drone will fire more.
These are mostly changes that have been explicitly requested by the community. Complaints have been made about the fact that status effects deal too much damage and the poor healing kits from the Black Tusk can absorb too many bullets.
All changes sound sensible and could make fights more manageable and thus somewhat easier, especially at higher difficulty levels.
Many Talents and Exotics Will Get Better
What changes will happen with talents and exotics? A lot is happening here. Not only buffs but some exotics are even getting a complete overhaul.
These exotics and talents will become stronger:
- Imperial Dynasty – Shorter cooldown
- Dodge City Holster – Shorter cooldown
- Ruthless & Relentless – Increased explosive damage
- Reassigned – Shorter cooldown
- Empathic Resolve – Longer buff duration
- Stealthy Death – Larger radius, shorter cooldown
- Change Squad – Marks remain when no skill is on cooldown.
And these will be quite different:
Sawyer’s Kneepads: After the overhaul, the exotic knee pads will help during explosions and strengthen agents who stay behind cover for a long time.
- After explosions, you can no longer be knocked back
- Each second in cover increases damage by 3%. Maximum 10 stacks.
Diamondback: After TU 8.5, this exotic rifle will deal more critical damage.
- After hitting a marked enemy, guaranteed critical hits will occur for 5 seconds.
If you want to see the entire list of balance changes and fixes, you can find it here in the Ubisoft Forum.
What comes next? In the forum post, the developers also announced the next major update:
Furthermore, we are bringing another update which is currently planned for a later date in April. However, please note that this schedule may still change. We will keep you updated on any changes.
Community Manager Ubi-Lucipus in the Ubisoft Forum (translated)
While there are no details yet, it seems that Massive wants to demonstrate that they are aware of the problems in the game and continue to work on issues arising from the Warlords expansion. They have now also demonstrated this with their tough stance on the DPS glitch, which was demanded by many players and met with much support, but also criticism.
The bugs following the major overhaul of the gear system are being fixed gradually. However, whether this will be enough to keep a large portion of returnees longer remains to be seen.
