Tom Clancy's The Division

[bkrich83]

Spent some time in DZ today and got my ass kicked. Had a blast the whole time.

I finally made it to LVL 15. An achievement for me for sure.

[Sudz]

It's not so much that you can't accomplished difficult missions going 'Solo', but for me playing with others is so much more fun accomplishing those same missions.

I play 99% of my time on a smaller TV with the sound off next to our larger TV in the living room while my wife and I watch TV. Hard to do co-op w/o sound.
And if i speak out of turn she beats me.

too f***in funny!!!

She does alert me to when tits are on the main screen though.

"hey Dan, tits."

[Sudz]

Spent some time in DZ today and got my ass kicked. Had a blast the whole time.

I finally made it to LVL 15. An achievement for me for sure.

The DZ seems harder than the beta. I was able to get in and explore during the Beta. Now I get in and get about 60 yards before I'm in deep s***.

[Diablo25]

Spent some time in DZ today and got my ass kicked. Had a blast the whole time.

I finally made it to LVL 15. An achievement for me for sure.

The DZ seems harder than the beta. I was able to get in and explore during the Beta. Now I get in and get about 60 yards before I'm in deep s***.

Looking forward to giving it a go in the Dark Zone tonight. In kinda scared. 10spro and I might coop so we can die together

[TCrouch]

Game scales so beautifully, and the more I play, the more impressed I am. Playing solo is easily doable, but with some of the story missions you'll need a heal and a turret to cover your flank. With one other player, you get the same enemy count, but they all have a bit more health and hit a bit harder. Just enough to keep it challenging, but not making it mechanically different than soloing. When you get to three players, things change. You get more enemies, usually an extra elite purple-health-bar enemy with each big fight, and the bosses get significantly tougher. So again, it's got some good balance where a 3-man team has to work together.

Then, my brother bought the game last night almost on a whim after hearing about it. I didn't talk to him about it much at all, but I guess it's hard to get away from discussion about this game. When you have 4 players in a team, the proverbial sh*t hits the fan. Tons of enemies, multiple enemies of each type. Battles usually have a few blitzers that rush you, a few snipers, guys flanking and throwing grenades...and that was in the TUTORIAL MISSION! We struggled through the Precinct Siege in the tutorial, because there were just SO MANY bad guys, it was utter chaos...and awesome. But for a brand new player, I guess it was pretty overwhelming. He had to take a break after that, so I may have dampened his enthusiasm. It's like "Here, play war. Guess what? As your first act as a soldier, you're going to storm the beaches of Normandy! Have fun!"

After more time, though, the co-op stuff is beautifully done. It seems that if you're playing with high level guys and low level guys, the group itself is averaged, and plays at that level. So a level 18, 12, 9, and 8 can all play together--and they play as a level 12 group. Enemies don't scale, so you're still going to mop up in a level 8 mission, but it allows you to have a wide spectrum of people to play with, WITHOUT having to have a separate toon for each one. Naturally, I learned this after leveling like 8 guys to level 10 for playing with different people.

Game is brilliant (ESPECIALLY in co-op), and one of the only ones that I've stayed up way-past-my-bedtime on work nights in the past year or two.

[pk500]

My only fear about The Division is that anyone who waits for a price break or until the discretionary budget increases will be easy meat for the sausage grinder since all the early adopters will be leveled up, big time, especially in the Dark Zone.

True or false?

[TCrouch]

From what I saw pre-release, once you hit level 30 you get your own version of The Dark Zone which is all end-game-oriented. So you wouldn't be squaring off with min/maxed characters. And the Dark Zone itself is tiered, where southern sections are lower level than northern sections. You'll always be in danger of getting ganked by somebody, but it won't be the crazy grinders who already hit max level, at least.

They actually were pretty intelligent in how it's designed. If somebody goes rogue (shoots you more than a few times in succession), then they're shown on everybody's map, and the self-appointed "police" players will hunt them down mercilessly. There's a big incentive to NOT do that, and everybody there generally wants the same thing--get in, get some good loot, and get out alright.

You might be ganked, but it's been the exception, rather than the norm. And The Dark Zone is its own leveling and rep 'faction', if you will. Most of the game is co-op out against AI. You can't level your character up in the Dark Zone, so you pick and choose when you go in and get into it.

[pk500]

Thanks. Have a five-figure college tuition bill staring me in the face for the first time starting in September, so I must pinch every penny.

[10spro]

PK, your kids' tuition is much more important than any video games. But I don't need to tell you that. The game drags a bit in the beginning, it's a straight forward shooter, no special vehicles involved, no flying. I can see how the game can get more palatable as you level up with improved weaponry. I also concur that the gameplay is better with a friend or 2.

I am only at level 9-10, and while I see myself still playing this one, deep inside I know I'll spend more time with Star Wars eventually especially with their upcoming DLC. On the fun category anyways, for me Battlefront will have more longevity.


This guys' video may clear some things for you in case you're still wondering.

[pk500]

Thanks, fellas. I'm just trying to be extra careful because of upcoming tuition payments and because I already have paid for DIRT Rally and definitely will buy Assetto Corsa.

Plus I'm heading out on the road tomorrow for another season with the racing circus, with pretty heavy travel from May through September. Not a ton of time for gaming.

Still, this game tempts me.

Are the Destiny comparisons fair? I hope not. I hated that game. Just a grindfest shooter with barely perceptible MMO and RPG traits. Perhaps the most overrated game of this generation, IMO.

[Diablo25]

Thanks, fellas. I'm just trying to be extra careful because of upcoming tuition payments and because I already have paid for DIRT Rally and definitely will buy Assetto Corsa.

Plus I'm heading out on the road tomorrow for another season with the racing circus, with pretty heavy travel from May through September. Not a ton of time for gaming.

Still, this game tempts me.

Are the Destiny comparisons fair? I hope not. I hated that game. Just a grindfest shooter with barely perceptible MMO and RPG traits. Perhaps the most overrated game of this generation, IMO.

I only played Destiny for short while but this is soooooo much better.

[pk500]

Good to know, Bill! Thanks.

[Diablo25]

Some serious fun in coop with 10s tonight. We got fried (literally) on our last mission like 5 times. Such a well done game. Really diggin' it.

[10spro]

Some serious fun in coop with 10s tonight. We got fried (literally) on our last mission like 5 times. Such a well done game. Really diggin' it.

That was hard, we need a third dude. After you left, I ventured for the first time into the 'Dead Zone' since I didn't try it in the Beta. Got my first extraction and oh baby, what a rush...You can hear the helicopter, you keep looking up but it seems like just forever.

One thing I need to keep up is my 'Tech', department up to par. Went into a mission where it suggested that you need to be at level 12 (yellow bolt) at least, but no fruition. Just kept dying. That turret does come in handy. I just couldn't find a Tech mission under level 12. Was I looking at the wrong place?

[TCrouch]

One thing you'll want to know--when you add a third player, the difficulty increases quite a bit. The same battles will have twice as many guys, and they hit harder. So, while it sounds like the best option...it's often not, if you're struggling with a mission. It'll get even harder adding more people into the team, and it usually requires a strategy change instead as a pair.

And nope, the next tech mission is 12. It takes a lot of work on that mission since you're in a completely open area with guys coming from multiple directions. I had to direct my wife around like a traffic cop to get us through that one, and we adjusted skills a little bit (I needed to have a personal heal and the seeker mine, she had the ammo/heal station and pulse), and there were numerous times we almost wiped. It was a b*tch.

[Pete1210]

One thing I need to keep up is my 'Tech', department up to par. Went into a mission where it suggested that you need to be at level 12 (yellow bolt) at least, but no fruition. Just kept dying. That turret does come in handy. I just couldn't find a Tech mission under level 12. Was I looking at the wrong place?

You can gain 60 points for your base doing the Encounters, which take about 5 minutes. By visiting safe houses in each area you can populate the map with available mini missions and intel in that area. Each Encounter icon is color coded for tech, security or medical. Side missions give you the most xp if you want to level faster for the next story mission.

I have been playing coop with a group of 3-4 similar ranked friends. We can tackle story missions 1-2 levels higher and its a good challenge.

We made our first visit to the dark zone last night. First extraction all hell broke loose between AI and rogue player. Rogue guy then apologized, said he shot me by mistake. Second extraction, this time he ambushes us with two of his friends. Third time we took them out.

[Bakes]

Thanks, fellas. I'm just trying to be extra careful because of upcoming tuition payments and because I already have paid for DIRT Rally and definitely will buy Assetto Corsa.

Plus I'm heading out on the road tomorrow for another season with the racing circus, with pretty heavy travel from May through September. Not a ton of time for gaming.

Still, this game tempts me.

Are the Destiny comparisons fair? I hope not. I hated that game. Just a grindfest shooter with barely perceptible MMO and RPG traits. Perhaps the most overrated game of this generation, IMO.

While there are some elements of Destiny in The Division they really don't feel similar at all to me. The world and story in the Division are completely different (and more interesting IMO). The PvP options are also totally dissimilar. In the Division the Dark Zone is really more of another PvE area with some possible PvP interaction mixed in.

I'm actually a big Destiny fan (still play occasionally) but the Division is a refreshing experience. I just hit level 28 and the game just keeps getting better. I hope the end game content keeps me interested long term. If anyone wants to play some on xbl I'm - bakes716.

[Macca00]

Thanks. Have a five-figure college tuition bill staring me in the face for the first time starting in September, so I must pinch every penny.

PK,
This is why God gave us 2 kidneys. One for you. One for your children's education fund.


I'm absolutely loving this game. Playing on PC and mostly doing solo but for the 'story' missions I just enter matchmaking and team up with a bunch of randoms and it's great. Terry's spot on about the scaling with extra players - I did the early subway mission with 4 players and it was insane (but great fun).

Still haven't ventured into the Dark Zone because I'm only level 9......and a massive p***y. lol

Graphically, it's stunning at times - the reflections and blowing snow (in particular) are incredible.

[Diablo25]

I was too tired to play last night. Definitely want to get after it tonight...gotta level up!

FWIT, I read that selling your excess stuff is the wrong way to go. The best thing to do is "deconstruct" your stuff for materials to "craft" new weapons etc. New "blueprints" open up in the crafting center as you level up. I haven't bought anything from a vendor yet but I've built several new weapons and gear.

[TCrouch]

Macca, my Uplay ID is "Ragehawk". Add me if you want to team up on PC sometime. I only doink around on there when I'm away from the PS4 and playing with the wife so I'm still a really low level on that platform.

And Diablo--absolutely. Crafting mats are harder to get than credits, and there's never any need for money anyway. You can deconstruct even simple greys for the parts, and then take 5 of those parts and make a next-higher-tier part. So even the crappiest stuff you find can be used to pool together for much better gear later on.

And always do the side missions--they also reward you with crafting schematics that can sometimes be worlds better than stuff you might find out in the world at the same level (not just from leveling necessarily). I generally stay a level ahead on schematics, and constantly look forward to that next level so I can use that shiny new gun I can craft.

So the short version:

Story missions give you about 40-45% of a level in XP. Best way to get a big boost on XP if you're at the level. It will only reward this once, though (subsequent runs, even on hard mode, do not give an XP award. Only an item.).
Side missions have the second best XP return, and a schematic.
Encounters give trivial amounts of XP, but always give wing supplies to upgrade a particular wing.

So if you need a level fast, find a story mission that you can tackle. If you don't have any, focus on side missions.
If you want to craft, focus on side missions.
If you want to level up your base, do the encounters non stop.

[TCrouch]

...and while I'm at it, another couple of less-obvious tips:

1) Hold the Options (or the 3 lines button where Start used to be on XBox, I guess) button to go straight to inventory, and skip the "menu tiles".
2) Use Up on the D-Pad to mark an enemy. This helps greatly in knowing who's shooting who.
3) Goes along with #2, HOLD UP on the D-pad to mark an enemy, and start a 5 second countdown that will show all players in your fireteam when to open fire. I cannot tell you how much cooler this makes encounters. Everybody sets up, timer ticks down, bad guys fall in rapid succession. Everybody marks their guy, they know who they're attacking, then the counter ticks down and fights go like a well trained SEAL team. When I've played with guys and there's no marking (or no voice comms, sorry Dan!), it's a lot more chaotic and a lot LESS efficient.

[Diablo25]

...and while I'm at it, another couple of less-obvious tips:

1) Hold the Options (or the 3 lines button where Start used to be on XBox, I guess) button to go straight to inventory, and skip the "menu tiles".
2) Use Up on the D-Pad to mark an enemy. This helps greatly in knowing who's shooting who.
3) Goes along with #2, HOLD UP on the D-pad to mark an enemy, and start a 5 second countdown that will show all players in your fireteam when to open fire. I cannot tell you how much cooler this makes encounters. Everybody sets up, timer ticks down, bad guys fall in rapid succession. Everybody marks their guy, they know who they're attacking, then the counter ticks down and fights go like a well trained SEAL team. When I've played with guys and there's no marking (or no voice comms, sorry Dan!), it's a lot more chaotic and a lot LESS efficient.

Awesome. I knew #1 but not 2 or 3. Flyers Blackhawks game is keeping me from playing tonight. Damnit!

[10spro]

Geez Diablo, remember that b!tch of a mission 'Napal Production Site'? Since I didn't see you online, so I decided to do it with a random and remember where we kept on dying, that was just scratching the surface.

They were so many more little missions past the flameblowers, where we kept on dying too. After midnight the dude had to go and I was on my own fighting the big boss. It was insane. It was probably around 1:30 AM where I finally passed that mission. I just kept on trying knowing that the end was close yet it required a bit of strategy beating the flameblowers along the big guy in the end.

You ought to try it now. Man, that was hard.

I am on level 12 now, and I was using the blue M60 that had a mag of 100 with 488 DMG. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what assault weapon works well for you? I know it's a personal preference but if I didn't switch weapons half way thur the aboved mission, I don't think I would have made it.

[TCrouch]

Marksman rifles are my bread and butter, especially with the Cleaners. They always have a tank somewhere (I'm assuming the big guy you fought was Joe Ferro, and even he has tanks on his hips that can explode and do big damage to him), and the marksman rifle helps me pick those apart. I fire until I get the tell-tale "quad yellow flash" that I'm hitting an explosive, and then keep at it. Can do the same thing with grenades. I've actually shot a grenade out of a bad guy's hand multiple times

But when I'm playing solo or with a team, my backup weapon changes. If I'm solo, I'll keep a high damage SMG as a secondary. When they get close and the marksman rifle is too slow, I'll swap to the SMG and shred them in close quarters using blind fire. In a team, I use an LMG almost exclusively. What the stats DON'T show you is that an LMG can suppress enemies in about 1/4 of the time that other weapons do. So I'll mark an enemy (telling my team I'm suppressing them) and the others can run right up to them and unload clips into the bad guys, while they can't do a thing. You can suppress an entire wall of enemies if they're in cover behind something, leading to fish-in-a-barrel moments.

But overall, I stick with Marksman/SMG or Marksman/LMG for 90% of my play time. When you get an LMG with a compensator and a stability under-barrel mod, you can hold the trigger with very little drift, making it a nasty weapon.

[10spro]

Thanks for the tips Terry. I forgot about marking the enemy as you were describing yesterday, so it's basically by hitting the start button and hitting Up on the D pad correct? The big boss was indeed Joe Ferro. One thing I keep doing when I check on my arsenal is which weapon gives me the most mag and the reload factor. That's why I never thought about the rifle but I know they can do heavy damage from a distance.

Funny thing the dude I was playing, kept saying at one point that he wanted to get an extra hand since we were so close but I remember you saying that in theory the AI can can get twice as difficult when you get more people so we stuck at it between us until he had to go.

I guess if I had the rifle, it could have saved my mission by 45 minutes.