henke on 18/12/2017 at 12:46
Quote Posted by Malf
To be honest, while it initially
seems to be an exercise in clearing icons from the map, it's a lot less important here than in other Ubi games.
I'll have to disagree with that. In most Ubi games you don't gain anything significant from clearing icons, progress in the main story is never dependent on it. In The Division you gain XP from clearing icons, which is crucial since progress relies so heavily on your level. So I really think that clearing icons in The Division is
more important than in other Ubi games.
Malf on 18/12/2017 at 13:06
I'll concede that the icons are fairly important while you're levelling to 30, but past that it's all about the combat and gear grind. Last night doing the West Side Pier was the first time I'd chased icons in The Division for ages.
You get a collectable in every Underground mission you do, but as those missions are procedural, the collectables are always very obvious with little to no hunting required. They basically appear at the mid-point of every "phase", where it's an atmospheric area featuring non-combatants.
That's not to say I don't use icons on the map; I do. But they're all waypoints indicating the location of targets or missions.
It's hard to put in to words, but it's definitely not a typical UBI map-clearer.
Edit:
Mind you, I'm also very aware that all my commentary might come off as overly defensive, which can be as much a turn-off as anything else. And I guess I'm just a bit worried that if you don't like it, I'll have to play multiplayer with strangers.
Thirith on 20/12/2017 at 09:09
Heh. Don't worry, Malf, now that I've switched to KBAM, I'm definitely sold on the game - not as much as various other MP games we play, but enough to want to play it with you guys.
A couple of random thoughts:
* Ubisoft did a great job with the graphics and accordingly the look and feel of the world. At the same time, I realise that I find flat, grid-based US cities quite boring in terms of topography. Not a huge issue for this particular game, but I miss the greater topographical complexity of Ubisoft's historical locations.
* I'm pretty tolerant when it comes to user interfaces - I even found Skyrim's original interface bearable - but The Division's UI deserves to be shot in a dark alley and fed to the dogs.
* I like the turret. I've read that it becomes pretty much useless at higher levels, but right now, at level 8, it's the only way I can beat some of the mission bosses when playing on my own.
* Do you guys play with neutral lighting on or off? I kinda like the more muted, realistic feel it provides, though I've yet to explore any of the darker areas with it. They may well be too dark.
Malf on 20/12/2017 at 17:57
The nice thing about the grid is when the devs play with breaking it up by adding shortcuts across rooftops and through back alleys & buildings. The Dark Zone is particularly brilliant for this. And it gets even madder when you take a trip underground, where it can become very easy to get lost.
While I agree the character management and inventory menus are a bit of a pain (comparing gear between your inventory and stash is a particularly horrifying nightmare), I think the AR interface during actual gameplay is pretty damn good. It makes it particularly easy to throw grenades or place skill items like the support station or turret, and the pack-attached overlay is very handy for quickly assessing ammo, health and cooldowns.
I used the turret up until very recently, and I'd say it's viable up to about world tier 3-4. But to be honest, you should be ditching it before then and playing with skills and gear that promote a more active play-style.
The turret and support station are crutches that reinforce the idea you should be hiding behind cover all the time, while high level play is much more mobile. I now play with my two skills being pulse and med kit. I've also slotted talents that help with a less cover-based style, such as the one that reduces incoming damage by 10% if you kill an enemy while moving. My gear also helps with keeping me alive, as I've equipped a set that heals me for a third of health when I kill and enemy, and 2 pieces from another set to increase health regeneration speed.
This more mobile style of play has also made me aware of the value of SMGs; they have nowhere near as much recoil as assault rifles, and so are easier to keep on target when in close quarters.
As for the neutral lighting, I've read about it but not tried it. I haven't really felt the need; the game looks so damn good already.
henke on 1/1/2018 at 11:42
[video=youtube;bq5bdFjMy5s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq5bdFjMy5s[/video]
Malf on 23/1/2018 at 15:23
The new Global Event starts today, and runs for a week, Ambush.
It's only available to players at level 30, but gives them a higher chance of getting classified set pieces from four gear-sets focussed on more cover-based builds, such as snipers and turret/bomb users.
When you choose to do an activity with Ambush bonuses active, you get various buffs and debuffs, which drastically change the way the game's played:
Ambush:Increased damage while stationary. A bar fills up the longer you stay in one place, and the larger the bar, the more damage you do. The bar diminishes when you move.
Covert Ambush:In addition to the Ambush Buff, when you play missions with Covert Ambush active you take damage if you move around while the buff bar is empty.
Strategic Ambush:And this is the top level one, which is hardest but with the greatest rewards. In addition to the buffs and debuffs listed above, this also adds a penalty from being too close to team members, where the buff bar diminishes when you're within range. Meaning, if you're all huddled behind the same piece of cover, you could very well end up taking damage for it.
You get to choose what level of Ambush you'd like to play with when choosing to replay a mission, or when setting up an Underground run. Not sure how the system works in the DZ.
The classified gearsets that are available through Global Event Caches are:
Firecrest:Provides massive buffs to Flame Turret and allows you to hold more Incendiary Grenades.
Alphabridge:Gives you bonuses from using the same type of weapon in each of your weapon slots and does some weird things with Signature Skills (basically "Ultimates").
Hunter's Faith:The most obvious Sniper's set, this one focusses on increasing headshot damage, damage from consecutive hits and weapon range. You lose bonuses when missing shots.
Tactician's Authority:Probably the one I'll be going for, this focusses on increasing the power of your skills and how often you can use them. I quite fancy building a Seeker Mine / Pulse build around this.
If you're not allergic to Reddit, more info can be found (
https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision/comments/7s0r2d/global_event_4_ambush/) here.
Malf on 24/1/2018 at 09:50
Had some grand fun with this and three others last night. One guy I met in the DZ on Monday, and a couple of randoms (who are now on my Friends list).
We did one of the "Legendary" difficulty missions several times, as well as some high-value targets, and in all I made enough to open 6 superior caches, which got me 4 classified pieces.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Legendary difficulty wasn't stupidly difficult. In most MMO type games, the "high-end" content too often equates to playing these types of missions with very specific parameters, such as amount of players, their builds, gear and skills, and with little to no variation.
This was a refreshing change, with enemies being a bit wilier and no more spongey than Challenging difficulty. With the exception of one enemy who could only be killed by damaging his weakspot, but as soon as you'd hit it enough to set off the explosion, he instantly died.
It felt really good to beat this, and really felt like teamwork was really making a difference. Again, something I've found less consistent in more traditional MMOs. This really felt like my skills as a player rather than my character's skills were making the difference.
I played on a little after the group disbanded, and was able to start really getting used to the first 6-piece set I've acquired, the Striker's set. I got to a stage where I was tearing through Challenging missions that I'd found, well, challenging before.
The Ambush rules are quite interesting as well, and getting used to how they work was very fun. None of my best gear builds are really tailored around popping things from cover, yet they didn't fair too badly.
All in all, really, really loving this game at the moment.
Thirith on 24/1/2018 at 18:42
This reminds me that I should really get back to The Division so I can join you higher-level guys... These days when I play on PC (other than our Saturday sessions), it's almost always VR or Dead Cells.
Jeshibu on 1/3/2018 at 19:30
Invite me over with you when you do, if I'm around.
