In The Division, we present an experimental healer build. Can it prove itself in practice?
In Ubisoft’s MMO shooter, you can equip your character with weapons, gear, skills, talents, mods, and other benefits to create a custom setup. This way, it is possible to prepare the agents for various activities in post-apocalyptic New York.
Over the last few months, the ideas about the “best build” have changed multiple times. This change often coincided with updates from Massive. At one point, everyone followed the philosophy of maximizing firearms damage, then high toughness became the ultimate goal, and when damage due to overwhelming toughness in PvP increased, more toughness was squeezed out until one ventured into realms beyond 700k. In PvE, however, skill strength is on the rise.
A high skill strength is also a prerequisite for the following build, designed by the YouTuber MarcoStyle. This is a special healer build that places the support station in the foreground.
The ultimate goal: the maximum healing range
Currently, there are basically only three or four useful skills for the most challenging activities in The Division: First Aid, the Support Station and Fixer. In some situations, the Sticky Bomb can also be helpful, especially with the blind effect.
Now, the YouTuber MarcoStyle thought of creating a healer that focuses entirely on the Support Station, the second healing skill. With the right attributes and mods, this stationary support station can achieve considerable range for healing.
The thought behind it is quickly explained: This way, he wants to sustain heal his squad members over a wide range, so that they do not need their own healing skills and can rely on other attributes and advantages. This build is specifically intended for the Dark Zone.
How the build was created
In terms of attributes, MarcoStyle aimed for around 400k toughness, as being less tough looks bad against most NPCs in the Dark Zone. After reaching this threshold, he fully invested in electronics. Once skill strength was around 45k, the rest went into firearms.
These are the skills for the healer:
- First Aid with Recovery Shot
- Support Station with Immunizer
Many agents criticize the Support Station for its healing speed being much too slow and its range being too low. Additionally, it can be destroyed quickly by enemies. This is true – unless you make a very specific setup.
The support station of the YouTuber has a range of 15 meters – that corresponds to a diameter of 30 meters! This opens up interesting possibilities: You and your team have much more freedom to move around and still receive healing. Moreover, you can drop the support station at a place where it cannot be easily destroyed.
This high range was achieved by MarcoStyle through a specific bonus of his gear: The chest piece, the backpack, and the holster can have rolls that increase the range of the support station. He searched for such items for days and weeks.
Subsequently, the YouTuber filled all mod slots with mods that also increase “Support Station Range”, allowing him to reach the maximum value of 15 meters.
All of this may seem simple and straightforward on paper, but you will need to invest a lot of time in finding the right gear and mods. There are 35 bonuses just for improving skills, and you are looking for just one: range of the support station:
MarcoStyle was lucky enough to find mods that also increase skill strength. According to his calculations, the chances of finding such a mod are 1 in 245. However, his friends helped him in the search and shared everything he could use.
To address the problem of slow healing speed, he relies on the Reclaimer Set. The 2-set bonus increases healing speed by +100%.
Is this healer build worth it?
This build can definitely be used to support the entire squad with healing. This way, team members can focus on other skills and attributes, giving them an advantage in PvP battles. In this regard, the character setup serves its purpose.
Nevertheless, the conclusion regarding this experimental build is negative: In the Dark Zone, you are in most cases too inflexible. You are stuck at this 30-meter diameter. If you yourself have to flee, you have no healing skills left in reserve. But what happens even more often: If your enemies see the support station, they can flee – and you cannot pursue. Once a chase occurs, the stationary support station becomes useless. Playing such a healer is therefore not recommended in PvP.
In PvE, it is even worse. Here, the setup is “absolutely worthless”. Because generally, all incursions are played in such a way that the four agents huddle together at one spot and take out the enemies. Sometimes one carries a fuse, or two quickly press a button. But basically, a support station with such a large range is unnecessary in practice.
Therefore, this attempt by MarcoStyle to create an “ultimate healer build” unfortunately failed. But it shows what else is possible in The Division.
Additionally, MarcoStyle created a Tank build with over 700k toughness. That is preferable to the experimental healer build.
