In The Division 1.8 you can now build a setup around the secret set of AlphaBridge. This brings fresh air into the shared-world shooter.
If you are looking for the most powerful build in 1.8, then you should steer clear of the AlphaBridge set. Because both in PvE and PvP there are better alternatives with which you can deal more damage or be of greater help to your team.
Nevertheless, AlphaBridge is interesting: It grants innovative bonuses that allow you to create creative builds that bring variety to an agent’s daily grind. The YouTuber MarcoStyle now presents a build around AlphaBridge that can be really fun:
How to recreate the AlphaBridge build
For this character setup, you need all six pieces of the secret AlphaBridge set. This has been in the game since January 23rd and can be obtained with increased probability until January 30th through the 4th Global Event.
The AlphaBridge set grants these bonuses:
- 2-set bonus: +100% health regeneration
- 3-set bonus: +5% weapon damage
- 4-set bonus: Talent – If the primary and secondary weapon belong to the same category, the equipped weapon receives the third (always active) talent of the weapon that is not in use. Additionally: All talent requirements will be irrelevant for all weapon talents.
- 5-set bonus: +25% health regeneration; +10% weapon damage
- 6-set bonus: Inactive versions of the individual skills rotate every 6 seconds and can be activated by killing hostile agents or veteran/elite NPCs. The individual skill that is due to rotate when an enemy is killed will trigger for 10 seconds if all primary attributes are balanced. The times shorten, depending on the differences in the primary attributes. You can no longer activate individual skills yourself or benefit from those of allies.
The bonus to health regeneration is unfortunately not as good as one might think. Because you still have to wait about 5 seconds after a hit for the health regeneration to start. The bar fills up faster, but it doesn’t start filling earlier. In many situations, you have little benefit from this.
The bonus to weapon damage is significant. A strong advantage!
And what does the 6-set bonus mean? You cannot trigger the individual skills (like the recovery link) “normally” with the 6-set talent, but only by killing certain enemies. Which skill is then triggered depends on a rotation, more or less at random. Under the grenade indicator is a symbol that stands for the respective individual skill and changes every 6 seconds: However: They are only “mini versions” of the normal individual skills. They are not as powerful as usual. They heal less, increase damage less, or provide less damage resistance than their normal counterparts.
Additionally: To ensure the mini version of an individual skill lasts long, the primary attributes must be balanced. For example, if firearms, stamina, and electronics are each around 5000, you will benefit from it. You will have disadvantages if the attributes differ greatly. If firearms are at 8500 and electronics at 3000, the skill lasts only about one second, according to MarcoStyle. However, we don’t have exact statistics on this.
For this build, the firearms are at 6100, stamina at 5300, and electronics at 4600:
This required balance is actually a significant disadvantage for the build. Because to trigger the individual skills you need kills, which means you should significantly increase the firearms. However, if you increase them too much, resulting in a significant difference from the other attributes, the skills will only last for a short time – and the build becomes useless.
These stats are needed on the armor pieces:
- Chest Piece: Stamina with health, exotic damage reduction, and ammunition capacity
- Mask: Firearms with crit chance and damage against elite
- Knee Pads: Stamina with health and three resistances
- Backpack: Electronics with health and one resistance
- Gloves: Firearms with assault rifle damage, crit damage, and crit chance
- Holster: Firearms with crit chance
When it comes to mods, you need to ensure that the attributes are balanced. But focus more on firearms. Also increase crit chance.
The Weapons of the Build
The best weapons in The Division 1.8 are currently the M4 assault rifles. Therefore, focus on these weapons:
- M4 – Lightweight version with Deadly (increases crit damage), Vicious (increases crit chance), and Responsive (Damage is increased at a distance of less than 10 meters to the target)
- M4 – Lightweight version with Competent (weapon damage is increased after using a skill), Expert (using a skill increases critical hit chance) and Vengeful (damage is increased based on missing health)
Thanks to AlphaBridge, Responsive and Vengeful are always active on both weapons.
For mods, focus on crit damage and crit chance. Since you cannot increase firearms at will, you must do as much damage as possible through crits.
The Skills
The Skills:
- Pulse with Disruptor
- Boost Station with Immunizer
- Recovery Link, Tactic Link, and Survival Link rotate through
The Character Talents:
- First Aid: Use first aid kit at low health to increase damage resistance by 20% for 10 seconds
- Counter: At low health, the cooldown time for skills is reduced by 20%
- On the Move: Killing an enemy while moving reduces damage taken by 15% for 10 seconds
- Precision: A headshot on an enemy triggers a Pulse effect.
Conclusion: AlphaBridge is only recommended for solo players, as the set only provides bonuses for oneself and you cannot benefit from the individual skills of allies. You can create a solid, innovative build that constantly empowers you in battle with boosts from the individual skills, but it is not an overpowering build. Recreate it if you want a bit of variety.
