The Division 2 revealed that Phase 1 of Title Update 10 PTS testing is set to end today. For those who didn’t get a chance to try it out, not to worry as there’s going to be a Phase 2. It starts tomorrow, May 29, at 7:00 AM ET. In order to play Phase 2, players will not need to re-download the PTS client, though they may need to download a patch.
So how was Phase 1? According to some players, it appears that the game felt too easy. In a post, The Division 2 team admitted that this lack of difficulty was expected considering that “player power is being significantly increased in Title Update 10.” However Heroic difficulty should continue to pose a challenge, particularly for players who have yet to full optimize. Legendary difficulty, meanwhile, should always be a challenge.
Another observation in Phase 1 is related to PVP time-to-kill (TTK). Players revealed that TTK is lower, resulting in faster kills. The team said that in relation to this observation, this has yet to be confirmed in their findings. However, the adjustments made for Phase 2 should have an impact on this. For example the balance adjustments to Marksman Rifles should help alleviate the situation.
Other player observations in Phase 1 include:
- Rifle
- Rifles appear to be too weak under the PTS.
- Walker, Harris & Co Brand Set
- This set didn’t appear to be strong enough.
- Outshined by a combination of Named Items.
- Foundry Bulwark Gear Set
- Too powerful in PVP.
- The set repairs 40 of any damage to its wearer or their shield over 10 seconds.
- Wearing the chest piece and the backpack make that 60% over six seconds.
- In PVP, the damage players do to each other is reduced.
- The set wasn’t taking that damage reduction into account.
- It was repairing 100% of damage and resulted in unkillable Agents.
With all of these observations, what can players expect in Phase 2? Senior Game Designer Nikki Kuppens shared some plans for loot generosity:
- Minimum item power for all caches is increased.
- Spread of item power between minimum and maximum rolls is updated.
- All containers in missions now scale their regular and targeted loot with difficulty.
- Minimum and maximum crafting results increased.
- Weighting added to allow for better spread between them.
Learn more about what’s happening in The Division 2 here.
