The Division – Update 1.8.3 Nerfs Striker, Brings Bug Fixes, and More

The Division 2 is set to release next year, and Ubisoft has been ramping up the hype for the game, also having recently even released a new trailer for the game at this year’s Gamescom. Even as they are working on this sequel, though, they are still rolling out new updates for The Division and they’ve just now released update 1.8.3 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One that introduces some balancing changes, bug fixes, and more.

The most notable changes that the update brings are to do with some nerfs to Striker in PvP modes in the game. Players have been asking for some changes to Striker, since many often considering it to be one of the most dominant builds in the game, perhaps even overly so. Striker’s EMP will now pause stack accumulation, and also stop healing and bonus damage. Along with this, Classified Striker heal rate is also reduced. However, these changes are exclusive to PvP modes, since players apparently want things to stay the same in PvE aspects of the game.

For all of the changes that the update brings, you can check out the entire patch notes below, as provided by Ubisoft.

Striker’s Battlegear

• EMP now pauses stack accumulation and bonus damage and healing are not applied. Existing stacks are lost with time and by missing shots.
• Classified Striker bonus heal rate is reduced and shots landed only add +1 stack to each bonus when playing in the Dark Zone, Last Stand, and Skirmish.

Showstopper

• Fixed an issue where the Showstopper could fire extra rounds. Note that while the extra shot does not go off, the sound and controller rumble for that extra shot are still present in the game.
• The snap aim of the Showstopper has been adjusted.

Support Station Master Mod

When disabling a Support Station with the Master Mod the heal now scales depending on how long the skill has been active.

Gameplay

Fixed an issue that caused players to appear running in place when using a skill under certain circumstances.

Striker Changes

PVP Meta

• They wished that there was more build diversity.
• But players go for the most efficient option and it is understandable that Striker is currently as dominant as it is.
• That is why Striker was rebalanced

Striker Balance

The changes to Striker are two-sided – general changes and PVP changes:

General Balance

EMP now pauses stack accumulation and bonus damage and healing are not applied. Existing stacks are lost with time and by missing shots.

PVP Balance

• Classified Striker bonus heal rate is reduced
• Each hit only adds 1 stack instead of 2 and only increases the bonus damage by 1% (also for Classified Gear)
• Shotguns can still give you one stack per pellet – so you can get up to 8 stacks per shot when all pellets hit the target.
• These changes only apply when you enter Last Stand / Skirmish / Dark Zone
• The changes are marked orange:

Stats:

• Set Bonus (2):+20% Stability
• Set Bonus (3):+10% Enemy Armor Damage
• Set Bonus (4):
• Every consecutive hit deals 1% more damage. Stacks up to 100%.
• Missing shots drops bonus by 2%. The bonus is reduced by 1% every second.
• It is not possible to gain stacks and bonus damage is not applied while under the effects of EMP.
• Bonus is lost when exiting combat.
• Classified Set Bonus (5):+10% Stability
• +5% Enemy Armor Damage
• Classified Set Bonus (6):Talent: Striker’s Persistence
• Every hit adds 2 stacks of a self-healing bonus.
• Each stack is worth 0.01 of max health per second.
• Stacks up to 100 hits.
• This bonus is increased by 0.05% per stack for every 3000 Stamina.
• Missing shots drop the bonus by 1 stack and the bonus is reduced by 2 stacks every second.
• It is not possible to gain stacks and the self-healing bonus is not applied while under the effects of EMP.
• Bonus is lost when exiting combat.

PVP Balancing

While in the Dark Zone, Last Stand or Skirmish – each hit only adds 1 stack instead of 2 and the healing rate is reduced

Why PVP exclusive changes?

• People asked for separate PVP / PVE balancing for a long time
• This is a good opportunity to test how the community responds to these PVP exclusive changes
• Because they wanted to keep Striker as it is in PVE / it was just too strong in PVP
• Based on the results and the reactions, they will decide how they will handle the balancing in The Division 2

Gameplay Changes

• Change to the Support Station Master Mod
• They did not like the drop/pop tactic in with the Support Station, where you have a low Electronic Support Station and just blow it up to get the healing from the Master Mod
• This way you could get more healing than using First-Aid and that is not really what they intended
• When disabling a Support Station with the Master Mod, the heal now scales depending on how long the skill has been active.

Bug fixes and Quality of Life changes

• Showstopper Bug Fixes
• There was a bug in auto aim
• There was also an RPM issue with Showstopper, that allowed players to shoot faster than intended
• Both issues were addressed – (it will still sound like it shoots faster but it doesn’t)

Gameplay

Fixed an issue that caused players to appear running in place when using a skill under certain circumstances.

Quality of Life changes

Skirmish Expansion Stash will be given to everyone in Update 1.8.3.

Rainbow Six Commendation – will read “Equip 6 different quality pieces of gear (grey/exotic, green, blue, purple, orange and gear set)” to help players with four characters who are unable to earn grey items.

Added fixes for crashing issues.

Division 1.21 update has added performance and stability improvements.

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