‘Tom Clancy’s The Division’ Update Review: ‘Underground’ DLC Bullet Sponge Issues Resolved In 1.4 Patch — Improved PvE Gameplay For Non-PvP Enthusiasts?


Tom Clancy’s The Division gameplay had its trials and tribulations, and hopefully, the 1.4 update will please players. Ubisoft PR reps recently spoke with Kotaku in regards to their challenging period leading up to the patch. Since its launch in March, the Tom Clancy game has garnered success among gamers, but the MMO wasn’t without its obvious bugs and exploits.

The interviewer, Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo, is good at following up with Ubisoft and keeping a finger on the pulse with what’s going on as The Division progresses during their gameplay revision process.

Underground Expansion Issues And Updates

Unfortunately, in this first DLC, the end game required a very powerful agent to take on the missions and reap the rewards. The only problem was that the rewards given were the very pieces of equipment they had to obtain to accomplish those missions. In other words, it was a catch 22 situation.

There was an alternative method of getting this gear to pump up your character, but it involved exploring the daunting Dark Zone, and with the rogues wreaking havoc and the added stress of a cut loot line, this made such a task undesirable. No one needs that kind of aggravation, but this is to be alleviated in the 1.4 update.

With The Division’s 1.3 patch, players were jumping ship, as the frustration wasn’t likely worth the gameplay grind. Ubisoft delayed the other two DLC expansions, so hopefully whatever was alleviated with Underground allowed preparations for the remaining two expansions. Massive producer Cristian Pana gave his take on this prep work.

“We realized that we needed the update 1.4 in order to bring the game back to full health and prepare us and the players for Survival and Last Stand.”

There was the issue of so-called “bullet sponges,” where it took an ample amount of ammo to take out enemies and bosses. According to Game Rant, the test server version proved this action should alleviate the problem. The health of the player was improved for the purposes of longevity or survivability as seen in the character stats. In turn, enemy health was reduced, and “time to kill” was lessened.

Underground director Gilles Matouba spoke of how Tom Clancy’s The Division 1.4 update should take care of the bullet sponge issue, as it’s at “the center of the incoming 1.4 update.” The following is just a snippet from the update notes regarding the Underground rewards. Hopefully, the gameplay will be desirable this time around.

Updated Rewards for all Underground Operations:

  • Directive now rewards with Phoenix Credits, not items.
  • Normal Mode (boss drop): 1x Superior or High End and Chance for High-End Mod.
  • Hard Mode (boss drop): 1x High End or Gear Set, 1x Gear Set, and Chance for a High-End Mod.
  • Challenging Mode (boss drop): 2 High End or Gear Set, 1x Gear Set, and Chance for a High End Mod.

PvE Desirability Increased for Non-PvP Players

The Division’s gameplay progressed to an unfavorable outcome through the summer. Players who obtained the best gear wound up circling the high-end loot areas of the Dark Zone. Lower-level agents who were still trying to advance their characters needed to explore these locations and, unfortunately, weren’t up to par with the optimized rogue players. Basically, there was serious difficulty getting past them to acquire the desirable gear, which left some discouraged with the gameplay.

According to Kotaku, “Some bailed and others turned on the game.”

A commenter at Kotaku remarked what was wrong with The Division’s Dark Zone environment and referenced how the only time players could join together outside of the PvP or Dark Zone is when they would have to play co-op. Massive had wanted it to be Dark Zone-focused for end game content, but hopefully, the PvE venue will be favorable in the patch.

Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD talked about how The Division should follow more of the rules regarding MMOs.

“They needed to take a page from MMOs and have other players in the same instance, fill the PvE zones with emergent quests of actual value, world bosses… things that allow you to interact with other players in a cooperative atmosphere, maybe form alliances or guilds that segue into factions that fight for control of sections of the Dark Zone.”

Tom Clancy’s The Division game update/patch comes out today, October 25, so hopefully, the 1.4 gameplay is more balanced.

Will The Division’s 1.4 patch help you? How much have you prepared your current character, or do you desire to start with a new agent from the ground up?

[Featured Image by Alexandra Wyman/AP Images]

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