The Division 2’s next big update is coming May 12, and this week’s State of the Game livestream gave players a preview of what’s changing when Title Update 9.1 arrives. With Game Designer Mackenzie Bates and Community Developer Chris Gansler in attendance, the stream delved into NPC balance changes, bug fixes, and more. Some highlights:
- A bug causing players to regain SHD Levels by using the points in Conflict will be addressed in tomorrow’s maintenance.
- Title Update 9.1 includes a wide array of balance changes for NPCs, mostly affecting accuracy and aggressiveness during combat.
- A new optional Global Event, Reanimated, is bringing enemies back from the dead as part of Season 1.
State of the Game streams on Twitch, Mixer and YouTube. To find out what was covered in the last episode, make sure to check out the previous State of the Game Recap.
PRIORITY ALERTS
Maintenance was performed yesterday.
- Added more spawn points for reinforcements during Warhound Convoy activities. This will make the activity be more in line with other open-world activities in terms of completion time.
- Fixed an issue making it possible to kill Javier Kajika in the Pathway Park Main Mission before the final encounter.
- The team is also tracking an issue that can cause multiple Kajika enemies to appear at once during this mission.
A fix is being developed for a bug causing SHD Level points to be regained by using the points in Conflict.
- The developers will deploy a fix for this during tomorrow’s maintenance.
- Usage of this bug is not considered an exploit, and no disciplinary action will be taken against affected players.
Players who have unknowingly or knowingly used this bug will see the following behavior for their SHD Levels following tomorrow’s maintenance:
- For players who have spent more points in one of the four finite categories then they have gained, all affected categories will be reset, and any additional SHD levels gained through this method will be removed. All legitimately gained SHD levels will immediately become available for players to spend on their watch.
- If no extra levels gained from this bug are present on a player’s account, no changes will happen, and SHD levels will remain the same.
The developers are continuing to investigate connection issues (Delta and Foxtrot errors) that some players are still experiencing.
- This issue is not something the team has seen before, and the underlying cause hasn’t been found yet.
- The developers made some adjustments during recent maintenances.
- Work continues to resolve this permanently.
NPC BALANCE CHANGES IN TITLE UPDATE 9.1
Title Update 9.1 is scheduled for May 12, and will include fixes for the following issues as the developers continue to work on the game’s health:
- Framerate drops in the Dark Zones.
- Friendly Oxidizers damaging ally Skills.
- Recommended Activity tab not closing.
- The Frenzy talent staying active when swapping weapons.
Title Update 9.1 will also include balance changes for NPCs, addressing enemy Skills, weapons, and abilities that stand out as causing difficulty spikes. The developers are still looking at further changes and adjustments, and the first pass includes the following:
- Nerfed damage and out-of-cover accuracy of the SMG used by red-bar Hyena Assault
- Reducing damage from Burn and Bleed status effects (also affects PvP)
- Nerfed NPC grenade-throw accuracy. Accuracy is reduced further based on the distance to target. Elites have better accuracy, and Hunters, Rogue Agents, and Legendary NPCs have better accuracy than Elites.
- Decreased accuracy of Hyena Thrower's airburst, Black Tusk Mini-Tank's grenade, and Cleaner’s napalm airburst turret.
- Reduced NPC accuracy while blind-firing. Legendary NPCs get more accurate the longer they blind-fire.
- NPCs will no longer blind-fire with a shotgun or sniper rifle; instead, they will switch to a pistol to blind-fire. Hunters, Rogue Agents, and some bosses are an exception, and can break this rule. Also, Tank archetypes will no longer blind-fire.
- Reduced the frequency and aggressiveness of NPC behavior when advancing on hidden targets (players who have not been exposed for a long duration).
- Fixed some status-effect reactions that could cause non-tank NPCs to path towards players aggressively. (Note: This fix and the one above only address some sources of the perceived NPC aggressiveness; developers are still investigating other sources and working on fixes.)
- Reduced how much damage player Skills take from NPCs
- Nerfed range of Cleaner Tank's flamethrower
- Nerfed Hyena RC Cars to reduce the damage of their explosions, the duration of lingering ground fire and the Burn/Confuse status effect, and the frequency at which Hyena RC Cars are deployed.
- Nerfed Black Tusk Suicide Drones to reduce damage from their explosion and how often they’re deployed.
- Black Tusk Support Station no longer heals mechanical NPCs or destructible props (objects players have to destroy in a mission).
- The Legendary version of the Support Station now has healing cap amounts like normal version.
- Reduced the size of player hitboxes (against NPCs) when players are blind-firing from behind cover. This should make it feel less risky for players to blind-fire at NPCs.
- Armor kits no longer completely heal Bounties and other bosses (Hunters will still heal completely).
- Adjusted status effect reaction priorities to fix an issue that allowed Ensnared NPCs to still move if Blinded or Burned before being Ensnared.
- Further lowered likelihood of Tank archetypes rushing toward player hives or turrets to stomp them.
SEASON 1 – SHADOW TIDE
Home League is currently in its second week.
- Home League runs for 1 more week.
- Complete 54 stages of Home League to earn an Exotic Cache.
- Complete all 60 stages to unlock a unique Lady Liberty backpack trophy.
- An issue has been discovered in which Rogue Agents are spawning in League-challenge missions. This will be fixed in Title Update 10.
New Global Event: Reanimated
- New enemy tech causes hostiles to reanimate after death.
- Reanimated enemies have lower health.
- To stop enemies from reanimating, take them down with a headshot.
- Headshots will cause corrosive brain matter to appear and infect anyone nearby.
- After a second takedown, enemies will stay down, so always double-tap.
- Reanimation can be activated and deactivated in the Global Event settings.
- Players can earn unique rewards for participating and finishing the event.
Season 1 Manhunt
- Next week, the fourth Manhunt Target, Mercury, and the Prime Target, Jupiter, will be available.
- Defeat all four Manhunt Targets to get access to Jupiter and the special Mission. Defeating Jupiter will grant the EMP Sticky Skill Mod.
- All Targets will be available until the end of the Season.
- There will be a way to earn the EMP Sticky Skill Mod after the Season has finished; more details to follow.
Team Spirit outfits and Tactical Response outfit are now available for purchase in the in-game store.
The Division 2 is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and is included in a UPLAY+ subscription. For more The Division 2, check out our previous coverage.
