12 December 2023

10 Min Read

Project Resolve

Introducing Project Resolve - a comprehensive update for The Division 2 aimed at improving player experience and laying the groundwork for future content. With your feedback in mind, our focus is on enhancing the game's health and stability.

Starting with a Public Test this week and followed by another in January, we will release the update in full alongside Year 5 Season 3 in February for all Division 2 players. From addressing thousands of bugs to enhancing PVP, we're leaving no stone unturned.

These proposed changes are not final and are intended to provide you with a preview of the work being done in Project Resolve. 

CONTENTS

[TD2] Project Resolve - 1. Project Resolve test and learn program



PVE IMPROVEMENTS

GLOBAL EVENTS

These improvements aim to make Global Events more fun and engaging. Our goal is to leverage the success of the Golden Bullet Global Event as a benchmark and apply it to make other Global Events equally enjoyable. Our overall approach involves minimizing negative consequences and enhancing the positive outcomes when playing the Global Events, the way they are meant to be played.

The following Global Events will be impacted by the changes: Guardians, Polarity Switch, Hollywood, SHD Exposed, and Reanimated.

Guardians• When killing an angel, in addition to restoring armor to full, 50% of total armor is added as bonus armor.
• Increased damage buff from 30% to 50%.
• Minions now receive 15% of incoming damage instead of being invincible.
• Damage buff duration increased from 10 to 15 seconds.
Polarity Switch• “Damaging enemy of different color removes polarity stacks" changed to "killing enemy of different color removes polarity stacks".
• Max stacks increased from 5 to 4.
• Damage bonus per stack increased from 20% to 25%.
• Killing an enemy of the right polarity reloads the player's weapons.
Hollywood• Triple explosion range.
• Triple explosion damage.
• Fixed explosion VFX.
• Explosions generate signature ammo and grenades at the player's location.
SHD Exposed• 10x melee damage for the first melee hit after reaching 100% exposed.
• Stacks are acquired 50% faster.
• Double pulse radius.
• Players take 65% damage instead of 115% from pulsed enemies. Non-pulsed enemies still deal full damage.
Reanimated• Triple explosion range.
• The explosion damage increased by 50%.
• Enemy headshot weakness increased by 50%.

PROJECTS

We have made a few changes and additions to completion conditions and rewards to make projects more interesting and worthwhile. The changes will affect the following Projects:

  • Daily Projects
  • Weekly Projects, including Invasion and Weekly Legendary Mission
  • Season Pass Daily Projects
  • Daily and Weekly Dark Zone & Conflict Projects
  • Weekly Descent Project
  • Weekly Summit Project

GAME MODES

We are planning to introduce a Talent rotation feature in Descent and shorten run lengths to expedite encounters with the Nemesis.

Summit fans can anticipate the resolution of the LVL 100 XP issue.

Optimizations have been implemented in all three modes - Countdown, Descent, and Summit - leading to enhanced stability and performance overall.

EXPERTISE

Project Resolve makes Expertise upgrades more easily attainable to ensure that the costs of upgrading are in proportion to the benefits gained. Our intention is to prioritize the player's time by implementing this change.

[TD2] Project Resolve - New Expertise and Optimization Costs

WEAPONS BALANCING

The general buff balance pass aims to enhance the appeal of less popular weapons and make them more engaging for all Agents.

The changes made to standard weapons may have an impact on Named and Exotic weapons that are derived from them. However, to avoid unintentionally over-buffing Exotic and Named weapons, certain buffs may not carry over. While most weapons are expected to inherit the base weapon buffs, some may remain unchanged to maintain balance. Additionally, all Exotic Weapons' third attribute will be reconfigurable.

GEAR BALANCING

Our objective is to enhance the strength of the 2- and 3-piece Brand Set bonuses in order to reward players for committing to a specific Brand Set. We want to make the 3-piece bonus more enticing, while also making less utilized mechanics more relevant.

NEW FEATURES

We have made several improvements to the Inventory system. We have added a new menu called Tinkering, which combines the features of Optimization and Recalibration into one convenient location. This menu, along with the Expertise menu and the Talent/Attribute Library, now has a separate tab in the Inventory that can be accessed from anywhere, reducing the need to return to the Base of Operations. We will also adjust the Optimization costs to reduce the expenses associated with upgrades.
Additionally, we have introduced the option to directly send an item to the Stash, with a warning if the Stash is full. Furthermore, we have implemented a feature that displays the Stash item count when approaching it, eliminating the need to access it to check the inventory.

QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATES

We have made some significant changes to the loot crate system in the open world. Loot crates will now scale with the world difficulty, resulting in higher quality gear and improved stats across the board, particularly for Challenging and Heroic difficulties.

Additionally, we are introducing a new feature that allows players to instantly use an Armor kit to replenish 25% armor with a 5-second cooldown. This is in addition to the existing functionality of holding the button to replenish 100% armor.

Furthermore, we will be implementing a cap on the SHD watch HP bonus at Level 2000 and an increase in the HP gain. From Level 1 to 1000, players will gain 30 HP per level and 1 Perk point. From Level 1001 to 2000, the HP gain remains at 30 HP per level. Beyond Level 2000, there will be no additional HP bonuses. These changes aim to enhance the gameplay experience and provide a more balanced progression system.

To avoid duplicates that clutter the mod space needlessly, we want to make Skill Mods inventory management more efficient. Each bonus can only be owned once and the value of the roll updates when a better one is obtained by the player.



PVP IMPROVEMENTS

CONFLICT

Our objective is to strengthen the identity of Conflict as the purest PvP experience available in The Division 2 by making it more balanced for all players, regardless of the time they have invested in the game. Thus, all Agents joining Conflict will have their Expertise and SHD Watch bonuses removed.

The caches that Agents can obtain in the mode will offer a greater quantity and improved quality of rewarded items.

Changes affecting the Spawn Area include the plan to add turrets to all spawn points to prevent spawn camping and forbid equipped items and loadouts from being changed while in Conflict. Loadout switching and individual pieces of gear will be allowed only once per spawn.

STATUS EFFECTS

Status Effects adjustments prioritize the PVP experience.

All the changes to Status Effects included in Project Resolve are focused on reducing their impact and introducing counterplays. The intention is to make Status Effects in PvP more manageable and provide Agents with additional options to counteract them. Even though these changes primarily target the PvP experience, we will also monitor their impact on PvE.

Diminishing returns have been added for all Status Effects in PVP, categorized into Crowd Control (Shock, Ensnare, Blind) and Damage Over Time (Bleed, Burn, Poison). Diminishing Returns will not apply in PvE.

Diminishing returns means that each subsequent application of the same category of Status Effect will have a reduced duration until full immunity is reached.

Plague of the Outcasts in PvP is also affected by diminishing returns, with stacks being halved upon transfer.

Additionally, the severity of immobilizing Status Effects has been reduced, 50% hazard protection for 5 seconds has been added once per target for all Repair Skills, Poison has been included in the list of effects that the Booster Hive cleanses, and boost duration now scales with skill tiers, ranging from 5 seconds to a maximum of 6.5 seconds at skill tier 6.

TALENTS

We aim to make certain Talents more viable for PVP and address some balancing issues. Agents can expect the following Talents to get a revision both in PVP and PVE:

Weapon Talents

  • Doctor Home
  • Actum Est PvP Only
  • Future Perfection
  • Swift
  • Thunder Strike and Perfect Thunder Strike
  • Big Game Hunter
  • Breathe Free
  • Perfect Preservation
  • Flatline and Perfect Flatline

Gear Talents

  • Glass Cannon and Perfect Glass Cannon
  • Intimidate and Perfect Intimidate
  • Makeshift Repairs
  • Process Refinery
  • Improved Materials
  • Obliterate:
  • Unbreakable and Perfect Unbreakable PvP Only

DARK ZONE

Project Resolve introduces a more distinct contrast between invaded and uninvaded Dark Zones, allowing players to customize the intensity of their gameplay experience. Our goal is to increase accessibility to the Dark Zone for a wider audience, while also providing a dedicated space for those seeking a more intense experience. 

Here are the changes that Agents can expect in the non-invaded DZ:

  • The activation time for "Going Rogue" has been increased to 5 seconds from 0.75 seconds.
  • The duration of the first Rogue rank has been extended from 20 to 30 seconds.
  • Players with the Rogue status will be unable to switch loadouts or individual gear pieces for the duration of the Rogue status.

We also plan to forbid equipped items and loadouts from being changed while in the Dark Zone. Loadout switching and individual pieces of gear will be allowed only once per spawn.

FIXES

Among the numerous fixes included in Project Resolve, here are a few that PVP players would appreciate the most:

  • The issue that allowed agents to aim from cover without being seen and exposed to enemy fire with the Striker Ballistic Shield active while using the C79 scope has been fixed.
  • The issue that allowed agents to shoot using any scope while their hitbox is fully protected by props when using any shield has been addressed.
  • The issue that allowed agents to retain the increased magazine size from the True Patriot Gear Set even after swapping loadouts has been resolved.
  • Lastly, the issue that allowed glitching through a ladder when entering cover directly behind it has been fixed.

To learn more about the proposed changes and upcoming fixes, watch the most recent livestream on our Twitch channel.

We appreciate your input and will continue to incorporate it through Project Resolve and beyond. Stay informed with detailed Patch Notes and frequent updates on the PTS phases starting December 15th. Preload the PTS on December 14th to be ready for action. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you in the game!

/ The Division 2 Team

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