MarcoStyle, a YouTuber who claims to have unlocked all weapons in the Closed Beta of The Division, took a closer look at the weapons. And he found: They are not that different.
The following should actually be quite logical: Standard weapons are worse than Specialized weapons. Superior weapons are stronger than Specialized weapons, and High-End weapons take it a step further. All tiers are represented in different colors, making clear categorization immediately noticeable. However, sometimes it pays off to keep a green (Standard) weapon and dismantle the blue (Specialized). How is that?
MarcoStyle found that, for example, a 586 Magnum in the Standard version can deal more damage than the same weapon in the Specialized edition. But are higher-tier weapons not fundamentally better?
The damage of a weapon depends on many circumstances – mainly luck
No, higher-tier weapons do not necessarily have to be better than lower-tier weapons! At least not when it comes to the damage the weapon deals. Randomness plays a significant role; as is often the case, you just need luck with the drop.
Within a certain range, the damage value can vary when dropped. In the following table, MarcoStyle presents some values of the T821 depending on weapon tier and level.
Attention: He does not guarantee the accuracy of these values. Furthermore, it should be noted that much can change before the release.
As you can see, a Standard weapon can deal greater damage than a blue weapon, and a Standard weapon at level 4 can be equally powerful as one at level 6. Even if these numbers are not official, they at least illustrate that a higher-tier weapon does not necessarily have to be “stronger”. It depends, as so often, on luck and randomness.
What about the other properties of a weapon?
Weapons obviously have other properties than just the damage they deal. From magazine size to range and stability, the weapons have individual values.
However: These are completely independent of the level. They remain the same. Only the damage varies depending on the level, as can be seen in the following graphic.
The weapon tier is completely irrelevant for these properties. They do not change, regardless of whether they are Standard or Specialized, etc. All statistics of a weapon, except for the damage value, are therefore the same for every drop.
Are the High-End weapons like Caduceus and Cassidy unique?
A somewhat disappointing fact is that the High-End weapons are not as special as they might seem.
The Caduceus, a highly sought-after and popular High-End weapon from the Closed Beta, has nearly identical values to the SCAR-L except for the damage. Both weapons were level 8 in the beta.
The Cassidy is just a slightly upgraded Double Barrel Shotgun – the statistics are identical, just differing in the damage value.
The only way to change these values is through modifications by swapping out the stock or similar parts on your weapon. Such modifications can increase stability or range, for example. There are quite a few of these additional parts, giving you many options to customize your weapon.
Higher-tier weapons fundamentally have two advantages:
- Damage value: The chance for higher damage is greater than for lower-tier weapons.
- “Talents”: While Standard weapons have no talents at all, Specialized weapons always have one talent that is completely random; Superior weapons have two and High-End weapons have three talents.
For pistols, the situation with talents is slightly different. They always have the talent “Expert” even in the Standard version. With this, the weapon deals 100% more damage when the target is below 30% health. According to MarcoStyle, this talent is present on every pistol, without needing other attributes. Only the pistol with which you start the game does not have the “Expert” talent.
Sniper rifles always have bonus damage on headshots. The magnitude of this bonus varies from weapon to weapon. Submachine guns also have a bonus: they possess a unique chance for critical hits.
The video from MarcoStyle is here:
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