‘The Division’ State Of The Game Reviews PTS Update: Open World Boss Respawn Reduced, Division Tech Removed From Blueprints

With patch 1.4 for The Division still in the works at Massive Entertainment, the team is continuing to release information on the update as it changes each week on the public test server. Week three is now live on the public test server with new changes to the 1.4 update including weaker NPCs, HVTs scaling to group size, and no longer requiring Division Tech for most blueprints.

The Division team sat down during today’s state of the game to discuss the week three changes in a stream that can be viewed on Twitch. While most of what was discussed in the stream, it is also available in the week three patch notes, viewers were still informed on a few details not included in the forums. For most players, the most paramount concern is when 1.4 is releasing, however, developers stated that the update still has no official release date. It appears to still be on track for an October release, but even that was left unconfirmed at this time.

This week, 1.4 enemies are a little less dangerous. Level 31 to 33 NPCs now do 15 percent less damage and their armor has been reduced by 17 percent. Additionally, the way foes perceive threat and the way threat is generated have been readjusted in The Division. For instance, a player using a Ballistic Shield generates threat just holding the shield and even more when he or she starts firing. Conversely, players in a Smart Cover field using the Concealment mod will have reduced threat. These values and details on specific skill changes can be found on the official forums.

The Division state of the game also included news on High-Value Targets and Division Tech changes this week. Weekly High-Value Target and High-Risk Target missions will now scale to the group size letting solo and small groups complete this content each week. Not to mention, Search and Destroy missions will be slightly easier as they now include normal and veteran enemies instead of nothing but elite mobs.

On the crafting side of things, blueprints will no longer require Division Tech, however, the resources can still be converted into other materials. The developers also stated in the stream that larger crafting changes will likely come after 1.4 releases for The Division. Minor quality-of-life changes are still expected for 1.4, like a “craft all” button, but an overhaul is not planned for 1.4 in that area.

The developers touched on Sealed Caches, the respawn of open world bosses, and the improvements to named weapons in today’s state of the game. As reported by the Inquisitr, Sealed Caches can soon be purchased from vendors after 1.4 goes live. Credits, Phoenix Credits, and Dark Zone credits can be used to buy them. During today’s stream, the team pointed out that Sealed Caches bought with Phoenix Credits can target loot for players. For example, vendors will sell a Sealed Cache that only contains weapons for Phoenix Credits. They will also sell individual caches for gear, gear sets, and mods letting players narrow down their selection when purchasing caches with Phoenix Credits.

Finally, the stream also included information on world bosses and named weapons. The 24-hour cooldown on world bosses during the previous weeks of the public test server is now replaced with a four-hour respawn. In addition to adding world bosses back to the game, update 1.4 to The Division will also let named weapons reach new gear scores like 229. Players will be able to find all named weapons, expect the Damascus, at that level so long as they are playing in a World Tier four-game world.

Planning your Halloween costume? Download the reference guide here: #TheDivisionCosplay https://t.co/eWLVTlELnV pic.twitter.com/HjhFLqST6q

— Tom Clancy's The Division (@TheDivisionGame) October 5, 2016

PC players that have purchased The Division can help test the 1.4 update right now thanks to the public test server. Be sure to check out the official website for The Division to view instructions on how to get started. In fact, the live PC data was just copied to the test server again this week giving all PTS players a fresh 1.4 start with their existing characters. Keep in mind that the week three changes to the public test server reflect the game in a 1.4 state. It is also important to note that everything on the public test server is subject to change before the release of the update on The Division live servers.

[Featured Image via Ubisoft]