The second major update that Ubisoft is planning to release for Tom Clancy's The Division will look to address several widespread bugs and issues in the title, in addition to introducing new incursions for gamers to tackle.
Patch 1.2, also known as the Conflict update, will be arriving on May 24 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC as a free update.
One of the major questions that gamers have for the coming Conflict update is if it will be addressing problems in the game's loot system.
In a post on the official Ubisoft blog, the company revealed that in the Dark Zone, players can now hijack the loot from other player by cutting their extraction rope, a process that will take 6 seconds. However, once players attempt to cut the rope, they enter into a rogue status timer of 19 seconds, and then with a timer of 90 seconds if the hijack was successful.
More importantly than the new loot hijacking system, however, is the fact that developer Massive is looking to revamp The Division's loot system by increasing the generosity of drops. Massive did the same thing for Patch 1.1, but that did not turn out well for everyone.
At the game's launch, gamers who have reached level 30 found it nearly impossible to receive High-End items, so they had to focus on only crafting. Patch 1.1 made crafting more difficult though, but in exchange, tagged a High-End item as a drop on all enemy bosses.
However, players found that only the lowest level of the High-End items are appearing most of the time, with the higher level High-End items mostly only acquired through the Incursion activity. In addition, exploits were found that would allow players to quickly acquire maxed gear.
The Conflict update will look to fix the messy loot situation of The Division, with Massive first deciding not to increase the Gearscore cap or requirements as initially planned for the next Incursion in Columbus Circle. Instead, Massive will be making adjustments to the loot table to give away loot depending on the activity and its difficulty.
The problem with the new system, according to Forbes' Paul Tassi, is that it creates too many levels of RNG, or random number generator, as gamers play through difficult activities and hope to get the maximum level of gear, while also hoping that the gear comes with the stats and perks that the gamer wants.
In addition, the system removes the incentive of playing through easier activities once a gamer has acquired gear that is better than what they could get from that certain activity. Instead of playing through an easier activity just to play away the time, it instead becomes a waste of time because there is no chance to receive any good loot.
All that said, gamers will be the judge of the new loot system as it arrives alongside the Conflict update on May 24.
