In the shared-world shooter The Division, we take a look at the G36 assault rifles after their nerf. How powerful is the once best AR now?
Before the launch of update 1.3, Massive announced: “Guys, the G36 assault rifles are too strong. You can play with them, but keep in mind that a nerf is coming soon.”
And on July 12th, it happened: The base damage was reduced by 15%. The beast was clawed back. Many agents are, let’s say, “unhappy” about it, because it was really fun to shoot with this OP rifle. And now the fun was nerfed with the G36 – or?
Are the G36 assault rifles still worth it in The Division?
YouTuber WOBO has taken a closer look at the G36, and beforehand: Yes, the G36 ARs are still very strong. However, they have been adjusted to the other assault rifles regarding damage over time. Here are two comparison graphs:
Before the patch: You can see that the G36 stood out too much from the crowd before the nerf. And when a weapon is the only logical choice in the game, the developers usually respond.
After the patch, the “damage per time” graph looks like this: The red G36 line is still superior, but the gap is significantly smaller.
If you look at just the damage without reload time, the G36 assault rifles are slightly inferior to the M4s.
Before the patch:
After the patch:
So, if you want to deal a lot of damage with assault rifles in a short time, you should opt for the G36 or the M4, especially the LVOA-C, as the LVOA-C performs the best among the M4 assault rifles: It has no horizontal instability, but it pulls strongly upwards.
Therefore, a short comparison between these two weapons is exciting:
Damage
The G36 delivers more damage over time. The LVOA-C delivers more short-term damage (without reloading). Both weapons get a point.
Precision
The reticle of the G36 spreads further apart than that of the LVOA-C. This point goes to the weapon from the M4 category.
Stability
The vertical stability of the G36 is much better. However, the LVOA-C has no horizontal instability at all. Both get a point.
Reload Speed
The G36 reloads in 2 seconds, while the LVOA-C reloads in 2.5 seconds. This point clearly goes to the G36. This is also the important reason why the weapon can deal more damage over time.
Optimal Range
The G36 has six meters more optimal range. Point to the nerfed weapon.
Overall, the score is now 4:3 for the G36. They remain the best assault rifles in the game due to reload speed and optimal range. It should also be noted that the handling of these assault rifles feels better than that of many others.
Summary: The G36 remains the best overall package of assault rifles in The Division. They are still the second-best weapon in the game regarding damage over time. However, the gap to the M1A sniper rifles has increased.
Before the nerf:
After the nerf:
In this video by WOBO, you can watch the comparison in moving images:
Update: Apparently, there have been secret nerfs to the G36!
Do you want to know more about assault rifles? In this guide, we introduce all assault rifles in The Division and discuss their strengths.
