Over the last few weeks, The Division 2 has struggled to offer its players an experience that is challenging, rewarding, and worth returning to. The hope is that the upcoming Title Update 6 will bring excitement back to the game, but first developer Massive Entertainment wants to put the patch through its paces with another PTS.
This week, Massive revealed its plans for The Division 2’s Update 6 PTS including what changes are being made in the test realm. It’s a lot of smart tweaks to the game and changes that should improve the appeal, but there is one change that has caused controversy within the community.
In the Title Update 6 PTS patch notes, Massive reveals plans to nerf the Eagle Bearer Exotic Assault rifle by 15%. It’s a change that makes sense in the context of how the weapon is used but there are other factors that make this Division 2 nerf a big head-scratcher.
In order to get the Eagle Bearer, Division 2 players need to complete the Operation Dark Hours raid. The weapon is a random (and rare) drop from the final Razorback encounter, which is challenging in and of itself. However, getting Eagle Bearer becomes extra difficult because it only drops from the non-matchmade version of the Operation Dark Hours raid.
If players turn the Discovery difficulty on, which allows for matchmaking and lowers the difficulty, then Eagle Bearer cannot drop. It is one of the exclusive items that can only be obtained by a pre-made raid team.
Given the amount of work necessary for the average player to get the Eagle Bearer in Division 2, it then doesn’t make sense for Massive Entertainment to nerf the weapon. For all intents and purposes this is one of, if not the rarest items in the game and now those that were lucky enough to get it are deflated. Not to mention those that are still grinding the raid in the hopes of getting Eagle Bearer are discouraged from trying.
Admittedly, the Eagle Bearer is strong and the reward matches the rarity, but in the Dark Zone it is a little too overpowered. Unfortunately, getting the weapon back to a manageable state means ruining the fun in PvE. Balancing PvP without ruining the experience in PvE was a problem that Division 1 had and now Division 2 is struggling with it too.
But fear not, as this change is only part of The Division 2 PTS right now. Massive will take in feedback from players and determine whether the nerfs and changes are too harsh. Prior PTS sessions have resulted in Massive dialing back its planned changes, so hopefully, it finds a middle ground that doesn’t nerf one of the rarest guns in the game.
The Division 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.