A new patch for The Division will roll out tomorrow
The Division will be updated to version 1.02 tomorrow, and as numerical increases go, that doesn't sound like much. But some substantial changes are on the way, including better rewards for venturing into the Dark Zone and an end to respawning “named NCPs,' which will “prevent situations where players were able to kill a same named NPC over and over again.”
It's not described as such in the notes, but as Kotaku points out, that's clearly a reference to farming, and that means that powering to the Dark Zone level cap in a week, like this guy did, should be significantly more difficult after the patch goes live. On the upside, players who die in the Dark Zone will lose less experience and Dark Zone Funds, the drop rate of high-end items from level 31 and 32 Named NPCs in the Dark Zone has been increased, and Dark Zone Chest item quality has been boosted as well. Plans to increase Phoenix Credits drop rates have been shelved, however, as that change was causing problems with client stability.
PC-specific updates include fixes and improvements to Tobii eye tracking, automatic application of graphics settings based on hardware config (unless custom settings have already been made), fixes to map navigation with the mouse, and the removal of the Store button from the Character Selection screen—it's now available directly from the Ubisoft Club app.
The full list of changes coming to The Division can be found here. The patch will go live during this week's server maintenance, which will take place tomorrow—that's March 22—at 4 am ET/1 am PT.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.