The Division 2's delayed update 9.1 will now arrive on Thursday, May 14. Ubisoft shared the patch notes for the update this week, detailing all the tweaks and bug fixes made to the loot shooter.
Here are the patch notes:
aNPC and AI
Developer comment:
The balance changes in Title Update 9.1 are aimed at eliminating outliers with NPC weapons, abilities and behaviors. These are custom fixes and this is the first pass in balancing outliers, if further adjustments are needed they will be made in Title Update 10. We're also looking at the global NPC balance with Title Update 10.
NPC Status Effects Nerfs
Developer comment:
Some NPC status effects were too strong. We're fixing the damage they do to players with TU9.1.
These changes also affect PvP status effect damage.
Changes:
Reduced damage to players due to typing status effect
Reduced damage to players due to Bleed status effect
NPC Weapon Nerfs
Developer comment:
Some NPC weapons did significantly more damage than others. These changes should make them more compatible with other NPC's damage output abilities.
Changes:
Reduced damage and out-of-scope accuracy of the SMG used by the red-bar Hyena Assault.
Less Cleaner Tank flamethrower.
Nerfed Hyena RC Cars:
Reduced damage of Hyena RC Car explosion.
Decreased underground fire duration from Elite Hyena RC Car explosion.
Reduced duration of burn/shuffle state applied by Elite Hyena RC Car explosion.
Reduced how often Hyena RC Cars are deployed.
Nerfed Black Tusk Suicide Drone:
Reduced damage from the Black Tusk Suicide Drone explosion.
Reduced how often Black Tusk Suicide Drones are deployed.
Fixed an issue where NPCs could throw a Firefly variant that did excessive damage to Players.
NPC Grenade Drop Sensitivity Nerfs
Developer comment:
NPCs were very accurate with grenades. These changes introduce the idea that each NPC has an optimal distance for grenade accuracy. The farther the NPC's target is, the less accurate the grenades are. Optimal distance depends on faction and experience.
For example: Molotov optimal distance of Outcast Thrower is ~20m. Airburst optimum distance of Hyena Machine is ~ 30m. If the player is 35m away, the Outcast is less accurate than the hyena at that distance.
Distance from target has less effect on accuracy of Elites, Hunters, Rogue Agents and Legendary NPCs.
Changes:
Less grenade accuracy with distance to target.
Decreased accuracy of Hyena Shooter Airburst, Black Tusk Mini-Tank's Grenade, and Cleaners Turret's Napalm Airburst.
NPC Blindfire Accuracy Nerfs
Developer comment:
NPC Blindfire was very effective. These changes reduce the potential damage output of NPCs while keeping an eye out.
Changes:
Reduced the accuracy of NPCs during sight blocking.
Note: Legendary is more accurate as long as they are blinding (but this is less accurate than before this change)
NPCs are no longer blinding with a Shotgun or Sniper Rifle.
NPCs switch to a pistol for blind fire instead.
Note: Hunters, Rogue Agents, and some bosses are an exception (and break this rule).
Tank archetypes are no longer blinding their weapons.
NPC Aggression
Developer comment:
There is no easy global fix for NPC Aggression. There was no deliberate desire to increase NPC aggression with TU8. Instead, the transition from TU7 to TU8 in global difficulty revealed underlying issues with various NPC behaviors, which can cause them to become overly aggressive. These fixes only address some sources of perceived NPC aggression, we are still investigating other sources and working on fixes.
Changes:
Reduced the frequency and aggression of NPC behavior to advance towards hidden targets (Players not exposed for a long time).
Fixed prolonged offensive circle caused by the reaction of some NPCs being too close to targets (players within ~5m distance).
This affected Hyena Strike, Clean Strike, and Outward Strike.
Fixed some status effect reactions that could cause non-tank NPCs to attack players aggressively.
The probability of Tank archetypes running towards Player Hives / Turrets to steal them has been further reduced.
Fixed status effect response priorities corrected to correct an issue that allowed Ensnared NPCs to move if Blind/Burnt.
NPC Abilities Nerfs
Developer comment:
Some NPC healing abilities were too strong. These changes reduce their power.
Changes:
Black Tusk Support Station Tune:
Support Station no longer heals mechanical NPCs (Warhounds, Mini-Tanks, etc.).
Support Station no longer heals destructible support items (objects players must destroy in a mission).
Legendary version of Support Station now controls line of sight and has healing cap amounts like the regular version.
Armor kits no longer fully heal Rewards and other bosses.
Note: Hunters still fully heal.
Player Buffs
Developer comment:
The following are the settings the player needs to improve the options in the toolkit to counter NPCs. We're reviewing more changes like these for the TU10.
Changes:
Buffed Player Skills Survival:
Reduced the damage taken by Player Skills from NPCs.
Buffered damage of Player Status Effects:
Increased
