You mean you don't already have 3 other characters to run the different DZ brackets... I have 4, two of them are ranked up to 30. My main level 99 guy is for the 161-200 bracket, and my other one is for the 231+ bracket and shes a dz level 35 so I don't really care about dying a lot with her.

My other two characters a purely used for gear storage! Lol

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No, I never thought about maintaining multiple characters.  So if I follow you correctly, you can share gear between characters, and thereby control the gear score and 'customize' which DZ bracket each character is placed in?

So it's guys like you with 99 level players that grief guys like me that have barely made their way into the lowest DZ zone?

No wonder the encounters are so lopsided.

Had some fun over the weekend.  He thought he was going to be sneaky and run away....

Thinking of trading in my PS3 and picking up a Xbox one (only because some guys from work are on it).  Is this game totally worth it?  I was really excited about getting the new system and this game before it came out but life got in the way.

I think it's a ton of fun up until you hit end-game, at which point the game becomes highly repetitive, grossly unrewarding, and often downright frustrating due to the loot system's RNG. After doing end-game stuff for a bit you quickly realize the game's fun is really just hanging out with some pals and shooting the shit over voice chat, and what you are actually doing in the game is incidental. I've got 242 hours played so I feel I got my money's worth out of the game (since it was released back in March), but I don't find an urge to log in much anymore, and since I've got such limited time due to my grad school work-load and since most the people I regularly gamed with also aren't on much anymore, that urge is just magnified.  



What this game lacks once you hit end-game is that carrot that makes you keep going. In most other MMORPGs like WoW that carrot is the gear you need for progression, and the sense of accomplishment from defeating the end-game raids/content. This game really doesn't have that, so its more like Battlefield but instead of unlocking new stuff as you level your unlocks would be totally random (with 98% of them usually being useless crap that isn't an upgrade).  





 

What does this mean? I see it on Reddit all the time and have no clue.

 
The game is worth it. With the expansion pack there are plenty of things to do, even at end game.

Sorry 'bout that! RNG stands for random number generator. It is a piece of code in the software that determines what item you get, and what the stats/attributes/skills/etc. are on the item. In most MMOs the "loot table" defines a set number of items each NPC can drop after being defeated, and those items almost always have set stats.
For example, you and your party are playing a MMORPG like WoW and are in a dungeon fighting the Goblin King who drops the Staff of Nerdgasm, the Scimitar of Cheetos, and the Crown of Ever-Lasting Virginity. Each time you kill the Goblin King the game "rolls" (think dice) a random number, and each number is tied to one of the three items on the Goblin King's loot table. So maybe you have killed the Goblin King six times, but each time the RNG has rolled the number for the scimitar and crown. You really want that staff so you keep running the same dungeon over and over, killing the Goblin King over and over, until finally the game "rolls" the number assigned to the staff and it drops for you to loot. What you know in this scenario is a) what the Goblin King's loot table consists of, b) eventually you will get a "lucky" roll and the staff will drop, and c) that when you eventually get the item you want what the stats/attributes/skills/etc. on it will be (because, again, they are usually fixed).
How The Division differs is that it really doesn't have any Goblin Kings with set loot tables, and items in The Division don't have set stats/attributes/skills/etc., which means getting gear upgrades is really just a random luck of the draw kind of thing for the most part. Sure there are some incursions with somewhat defined loot tables like Falcons Lost which can drop Tacticians, Stryker, Sentry, etc. gear sets, but the sheer number of those items (packs, holsters, gloves, masks, etc.) means the likelihood of you obtaining the set piece you want is relatively low. But where The Divsion's RNG is really brutal is how it randomizes the stats/attributes/skills/etc. on each item. For example, say you really want a Tactician's backpack so you run Falcon's Lost over and over again and every 4th time one drops for you. The RNG will randomize the armor stat, primary stat, secondary stat, etc. which means every time you get one it will be different, and more than likely not one that works well with your build and other gear. You could conceivably run Falcon's Lost 50 times before finally getting a lucky RNG roll and the pack you want, with a majority of stats you want, finally drops.
At end-game the RNG is unforgiving because it is based on pure luck whether an item you get is an upgrade for you and works well with your chosen gear and play-style. Because of this you quickly realize at end-game the carrot doesn't exist and it really doesn't matter if you run the Underground, Weekly HVTs, the DZ, or Incursions because the likelihood of you getting an upgrade in any of them is equally random. And then you eventually realize the only thing those upgrades do for you is allow you to run the same things (Incursions, Underground, etc.) over again, but on challenging or heroic mode.
Which is why this all brings me back to my initial response to your OP - the game is fun up until you hit end-game, then its just fun voice chatting with pals and what you do in the game becomes incidental.
 

Thanks for the explanation. I guess with the end-game you're correct. I have something like 17 days and now I just play because my friends play and it gives me something to do. Still for the amount of money invested 17 days play time isn't that bad.

 

Lightweight.

I have 385 and still get on nightly, although only for 30-60 minutes if no one is on.

I think I just missed u last night...

Probably so.  I ran some S&D and a single 2-phase HM UG to get my intel and didn't stay on too long.  Just missed getting in with Orbis and others for a CM UG run.

Ended up getting off and staying up later than expected looking at trucks.

Godzilla's summation is right on the money. Especially the part in blue. It also explains why these high level players, selectively downgrade equipment to get into the lowest Dark Zone brackets (the Dark Zone is where Player vs. Player combat is allowed) and grief new players. Killing them all with impunity, for no real reason or gain. I have had some sessions where this is so prevalent, that any objective, or even any activity at all in the DZ was literally unobtainable. This is the only game I'm aware of with a PvP environment that allows such a huge disparity in players. And since most (if not all) of the old bugs that allowed for rank/equipment farming have been corrected, it's a looooong grind to rank up.

I would still recommend the game for the campaign portion, and skipping the end-game.

Thanks for the info.  I did play WOW back in the day for endless amounts of hours.  Is there any intentions of making expansions to increase end game content? Or is it even possible.

There are still two more paid expansions that will be coming out this year.  I assume that there will be additional free content as well.  All of the DLC (free and paid) that has been put out so far has been underwhelming IMO.  

Unless there is some fundamental changes, it may be too late.  So far the only way that they have made the game "harder" is by increasing the health pools and the amount of damage that NPC's do.  It's a little frustrating to take over a mag to kill an enemy, yet have them 2 shot you.

I still play regularly, but not near the extent that I used to.  There are some serious balancing issues, particularly in the DZ which is my favorite part of the game.

Im really annoyed at myself for not starting this when it came out.  Sort of like how I feel out of WOW for a long time and tried to come back in with no time for end game stuff.  Sort of makes it pointless. I would hate to come in now and find myself in an empty server

You don't need other players to run the single-player game to 30, and you don't need other players to run solo underground or daily missions.

Playing with others make the game better, but are not a requirement for everyone.

Man! Lightweight?  I have 840+ hours in this game, and it doesn't get better!  I'm addicted, it's like crack, but also incredibly frustrating.  I can't remember the last time I upgraded anything, hell I still have the 204 Aug from the BoO from a couple of months back.

That makes me feel a little better. I don't have any weapon higher than 204. I've played a thousand (slight exaggeration) UG hard missions and never get an upgrade. So then I tried UG on challenging, and spent the entire session with idiot teammates running ahead of the group and getting killed, absolutely no strategy or communication. So over the weekend I tried my first incursion, and spent 3-4  hours getting wiped. Finally landed on a random team where (1) a guy knew what he was doing, and (2) everyone had mikes and were willing to follow instructions, and got my first incursion completion. The drop was the same as UG hard missions...worthless.

But for some damn reason, sooner or later, I always seem to go back for another round...

Patch notes for tomorrow's maintenance:


Source


Looks good to me!

Good, that should make the underground a little more rewarding.  I still think that apart from the DZ, the four horsemen farm is probably the best way to get 229/268 gear currently.

The what?

The new incursion that the PC and XBox guys got with the DLC. Guess they kill the four bosses, collect loot then wipe, restart mission, then repeat. Without finishing the Incursion. Or something like that.

Ah, okay. I guess it would have to be done on CM or higher though to get the good drops.

Yeah that's exactly it, less the wipe.  You kill the four bosses, pick everything up and then just restart before going into the final room.  It's enjoyable for a bit, but then gets rather boring like most of the repetitive farming methods in this game.  By far the best way to gear up in PVE imo.  Maybe with the changes to the drops in underground that will be decent now as well.  

Done on heroic you get 4 229/268 drops every 8-10 minutes.

I just started playing this game last night, Ive been missing out! Only at level 7 so far KACNT4 is my name on Xbox One

Where my PS4 players at? Underground is live for us finally.

Any tips from the XB1/PC players?

1. Do not spend your intel - save it for full groups when you can run more more challenging / more phases / more directives missions.


2. Do not buy patterns for weapon kits.  They will drop frequently enough that you won't need to convert for them.


3. Get your gear score as high as possible before opening your underground chaches.  225+ has worked for me, others have said 228+.


4. If your mission has a timer, don't lose sight of the timer when trying to kill mobs.


5. Don't be afraid to retreat to a better position.


6. Hard difficulty is not that hard if you have decent gear, but don't think you can run challenging without a team.


7. Don't forget to ammo up (2 pc lone star + policemans backpack) before starting and at each ammo cache.

One other thing I'd say if the objective is to "investigate the area" you can just run through it without fighting the enemies.

Great tips. I'm going in at 225 GS so hopefully I'll get something to bring me up 228+ quickly.

Eta: do I get 2x rewards for doing everything on an alt?

You'll want 2 skill build players, and 2 dps guys on your team for the incursion...  Both skill guys run support station w/ immunizer and atleast one with smart cover w/ recharger and maybe a pulse. The dps guys can run pulse and heals w/ overdose or defib. I switch out my survivor link for recovery link.

The fuckin incursion is soooooo fuckin glitched though... All of a sudden my skills will be unavailable, so I have to get "downed" and revived. I got stuck at the bottom of the hole you jump down to get into the firetruck room... And my buddy fell through the escalator!

ETA:

PSN gamertag is slowkota

155k dps, 242k toughness, 64k skill... Thats my support/ 231+DZ solo build

ETA 2: We ran our support stations with the coverage overlapping similar to a venn diagram in the firetruck room... So both button pushers have immunity.

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Thanks for the tips. I'm at UG level 25 and still learned something from your list. Specifically, I didn't know the underground caches were linked to your GS. I've been opening them all along as I get them. And I also have a policeman's backpack somewhere but didn't know it increased ammo capacity.  I assume it works like the 2 pc lone star where you swap gear before reloading at each ammo cache, and then swap back to your normal gear afterwards?

Almost 250 GS and the only Incursion I've completed is Falcon Lost

Wish I had read these about a week ago before opening a bunch of caches. Oh well. Good info though.

That's right.  I run about 1750 AR rounds, about 1930 SMG rounds and I think 250 sniper rounds.

Preferably, a LS chest piece with two mod slots, and another LS piece with a mod slot, all three with gear mods that also have +ammo in them. MY G36 holds 2008 rounds plus 58 in the mag. Think my SMG is about 2300 or so, and my M1A is roughly around 320.

Pfft Ive never completed a single one.

I need a PS4 crew to farm the 4 horsemen on heroic... Everybody always needs a high SP support guy ;)

All my friends seem to be dickin around in the UG

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And if you have some extra pieces with mod slots, go find (buy) some purple +10% ammo gear mods to stick in there. Then switch to those gear pieces, plus your 2x Lonestar, and police backpack when doing a full restock. And carry around 2x Alphabridge pieces, and the Paramedic pack to get your 9 med kits. I get over 2k SMG/AR/LMG rounds, 300+ sniper and shotgun with the Lonestar, police pack, and 6x 10% ammo mods. And usually carry one of each weapon type.

I can't be the only one who has never seen a paramedic or police backpack....


I only play dz.........

These are items at the BoO reward vendor.

Dang Brother, how long does it take you to do a restock?  

My teammates complain I take too long now, and I just swap 2 pieces of LoneStar out and back with my regular gear.  I think I have a couple of Alphabridge pieces, so I'll start swapping those too. The police backpack doesn't work for me because of the 36 item limit. I carry around a lot more crap than that.

I usually only do a full restock AFTER im done for the night, or am really blowing through ammo. If I'm farming Lexingtonor Lincoln Tunnel,  then I'm running a 4pc Tac set plus two Lonestar, so I can get by with not swapping anything out. With that build I get around 1500 rnds for my primary and about 200 for my sniper and shotgun. I usually run a G36 and a Shotgun when farming for PxC.

Over under that this game will be toast in the next 1-2 months that it takes them to sort everything out before releasing patch 1.4?

The "fixes" aren't due until October. The game has already lost a lot of the player base. The only thing I was playing for, the Showstopper was given to me by some random dude I matched with after running Lex event hundreds of times. The underground to me is monotonously boring after reaching level 31. The only reason I play now is because of friends. It's a good game but you can only do so much. I shouldn't bitch too much I got my monies worth with something like 21 days played.

Is there anyone playing this piece of shit anymore other than squeaky voiced 12 year old shitheads hacking?

Wall to wall rogues and a few hackers too........game is dead

I'm on a few nights a week but only do underground with a few incursions every once in a while. Fuck the DZ.

I stopped checking...my FL has been dead for a couple weeks now. I either missed you or checked nights that you weren't on. Chordinates hasn't even been signed in when I check.

I've been killing time in Elite Dangerous till BF1 hits...

Think this game might be dead!

I just got it for the xbone and have been enjoying it I'm only on level 7. Im a pretty novice game player.