With the update 1.4, significant changes are coming to your agents in The Division. Almost all stats and items will be overhauled.
No, the statement “Everything changes” is not an exaggeration in the headline. Massive has released a lengthy list of changes regarding how character balance will be altered in the October update 1.4. And it’s substantial.
With these changes, the developers aim to address the drastic differences between optimized builds and non-optimized builds, restoring the shooter feel, and providing agents more choices on how to skill their character in the endgame.
First, a note: Specific numbers for many changes are not yet mentioned. The update 1.4 is still under development. Feedback and data from the PTS will be utilized to eventually determine the specific numbers.
Changes to Equipment with 1.4
The attributes firearms, stamina, and electronics will gain importance. These are expected to influence the SPS, health points, and skill strength more than before. The stats on the armor pieces, however, will lose significance.
- Every dropped item from World Tier 2 will have all three attributes, with one of the values being higher than the others. This aims to create a more balanced foundation to improve the survivability of all agents. These base stats will increase with a higher gear score.
- Other stats, like critical hit damage or headshot damage, will be scaled down, as they can currently become too powerful. (Keep in mind that foes will also be adjusted. Extremely high values as before are therefore not necessary).
- All armor pieces will lose skill bonuses. Instead, backpacks, holsters, and knee pads will receive new performance mod slots, giving you more choices and combinations for the mods. This also reduces the influence of randomness and luck in acquiring the item with the desired roll.
- The current performance mods will lose their main bonuses, and skill bonuses will be rebalanced. Massive recommends collecting these mods now, so post 1.4 you have a good chance of getting the mods you wish for. Because all your current mods—and also your weapons and armor pieces—will be partially rerolled, balanced, and adjusted.
The equipment values on your gear sets will change as follows:
- 191 to 163
- 214 to 182
- 240 to 204
- 268 to 229
They will not become less powerful but will be adjusted to the values of high-end items.
Additionally:
- The talents of high-end armor pieces will be revised. How the bonuses will change is currently unknown.
- Scavenging, the “rag collecting”, will be completely removed. Attempts to reasonably overhaul it have failed, and results were never satisfactory.
Changes to Weapons with 1.4
The Division should feel more like a shooter again. The following changes are coming:
- A new SPS formula is being introduced. The new numbers are not buffs or nerfs, but just a new formula.
- The damage output and rolls of some weapons will be changed. There will be buffs and nerfs.
- Named weapons will not be changed in 1.4. But they will be looked at more closely in the future.
- Weapon mods will only provide a main bonus and a few smaller bonuses that depend on the quality of the mod. All current mods will be rerolled.
- Some bonuses that weapon mods currently grant will be completely removed. For example, initial horizontal (normal) stability will be summarized into “stability”.
- Overall, with 1.4, you will have to make tougher decisions regarding mods. You cannot raise every value anymore. For example, if you want to maximize damage, stability or magazine size will suffer.
- Damage bonuses are additive – and will not be calculated with multipliers. Extremely high values can no longer be achieved.
- The firearms value will become a significantly more important source for damage output than before.
- Weapon talents will be rebalanced.
The new armor value
The armor value will lose significance. Instead, stamina will become more important to increase toughness. The armor value will also be influenced by the world tier, affecting how much damage resistance it offers.
Gear Set Rebalancing
You should have more choices with the equipment sets:
- The talents (4-set bonuses) of all sets will be adjusted. For example, the “Guardian’s Call” is too powerful. Others are too weak.
- The 2-set bonuses should focus on “utility” rather than stat bonuses.
- The 5-set bonuses will be removed.
Skills after 1.4
Currently, only a few skills are used in the endgame, as others simply aren’t useful. The following changes are coming here:
- Electronics will be the most important resource for skill strength.
- Skills will be reworked to avoid being overpowered, underpowered, or bugged. You should have greater choices in the endgame again.
- The First Aid skill will no longer provide a multi-heal. Instead, it delivers an instant heal.
- Moreover, numerous bugs affecting the skills will be fixed – particularly the ballistic shield.
All individual skills will be adjusted:
Survival Link: This is currently the most frequently used skill. Therefore, it will be weakened. Damage resistance will be reduced from 80% to 50%. Duration will be decreased from 15 to 12 seconds.
Recovery Link: Range will be increased. It revives downed teammates outside the Dark Zone. It provides more healing overall. Additionally, a new feature is being tested that will be interesting for solo players: When about to die, this skill will automatically trigger to save you from dying. However, this feature still needs adjustments.
Tactical Link: Damage buff will be reduced from 50% to 30%. The chance for critical hits will be completely removed. Instead, three new buffs will be provided: weapon fire rate, reload speed, and weapon stability. This is meant to put you in a “feeding frenzy” mode for 12 seconds. Internal tests have indicated that this new feature was fun and satisfying.
Changes to Consumables
Fire and explosive rounds are being significantly overhauled. They are intended to convert a portion of the damage into fire and explosive damage, i.e., exotic damage. Until now, the effects of special ammo were overpowering in both PvE and PvP.
Overall, your agent should feel more powerful in combat against enemies. The massive stat numbers will disappear. Still, the progression and increase in your agents’ power will be noticeable.
Massive emphasizes at the end that all your existing items will undergo these changes. There will be no overpowering weapons or armor pieces from before 1.4. The developers expect this to be a shock for many agents at first, but they are confident that update 1.4 will improve the player experience and bring back the fun.
What do you think of all this news?
