The Division Weapon Balance Changes Detailed: LMG Buff, SMG and Special Ammo Nerfs

Hope you weren't too fond of your Striker/Sentry gearsets.

Posted By | On 23rd, Jun. 2016

The Division Underground_01

Ubisoft Massive hosted a special State of the Game following the conclusion of maintenance for Tom Clancy’s The Division. In it, senior game designer Fredrik Thylander talked about weapon balancing and changes that were being made.

Weapons without additional perks were looking to be buffed but the biggest changes will be made to LMGs and Shotguns. LMGs will deal roughly 20 percent increased damage to targets out of cover and Shotguns will now stagger enemies in PvE. In PvP, there will be a 30 percent damage increase to players (the dev is also looking into adding player staggering in the future if it works out).

Assault Rifles have received an armour penetration bonus of roughly 20 percent depending on how the weapon is rolled but only for PvE enemies. SMGs will have Critical Hit Damage bonus as opposed to Critical Hit Chance (but this will not be retroactively changed on existing guns). However, the Vector and Aug guns will now do 10 percent less damage and that goes even for existing weapons. The M1A will also become less accurate the more you spam your shots. It was noted that all of these changes will only apply to guns that drop after patch 1.3.

Special Ammo is perhaps one of the bigger changes. Along with a 75 percent nerf to damage, burning effects will now last 30 percent of what they originally used to. Explosive ammo will also scale 1:1 and do the same damage as the original bullet (but over a larger area). If that weren’t enough, Sentry’s Call and Striker’s Battlegear will have their four piece bonus partially transferred to five pieces. That means you’ll pretty much need an entire set to take advantage of their bonuses.

But hey at least the Showstopper AA-12 shotgun has been confirmed. It seems update 1.3 has been slightly delayed for PS4 though platform owners will need to wait a bit longer for it (but definitely not till August 2nd when the Underground DLC arrives on PS4). Thoughts on these changes? Let us know in the comments.


Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

The Rogue Prince of Persia is Now Steam Deck Verified

The Rogue Prince of Persia is Now Steam Deck Verified

Evil Empire warns that Steam Deck players "may experience occasional drops in frame rate" in some sections of ...

Guilty Gear Strive – Queen Dizzy Revealed in New Gameplay Trailer

Guilty Gear Strive – Queen Dizzy Revealed in New Gameplay Trailer

Dizzy is available for Season Pass 4 owners on October 31st and remains as potent as ever with freezing, weapo...

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Has Sold Just 1 Million Units – Rumour

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Has Sold Just 1 Million Units – Rumour

It's claimed that Ubisoft expected the title to sell as well as the bestselling Metroidvanias out there, thoug...

A Rayman Remake is in Development – Rumour

A Rayman Remake is in Development – Rumour

Some of Prince of Persia: The Lost crown's recently disbanded dev team has moved to the project, which is in t...

Monster Hunter Wilds Trailer Showcases Oilwell Basin, Azuz, and New Monsters

Monster Hunter Wilds Trailer Showcases Oilwell Basin, Azuz, and New Monsters

Rompopolo and Ajakaran are two new threats, but there's also the Black Flame, a mysterious threat that awaits ...

PS5 Pro – 10 More Things You Need to Know Before You Purchase

PS5 Pro – 10 More Things You Need to Know Before You Purchase

Learn all the crucial details about Sony's upcoming mid-gen hardware refresh ahead of its imminent release.