The Division Releases Test Server for Update 1.4
By Derek Nichols 25 September 2016
After a slight delay, Ubisoft launches the Public Test Server for Tom Clancy’s The Division, inviting PC players to help test the major upcoming changes in Update 1.4.
So far, 2016 has been a sort of rollercoaster ride for Tom Clancy’s The Division after rocketing out to an impressive start at launch and releasing consecutive months of free and paid DLC to its players. Since its last update in June with the paid expansion Underground, Ubisoft recently made the tough call to delay all the future content that The Division has planned in order to give the developers time to fix numerous lingering issues holding the game down. Part of that plan is a brand new Public Test Server for PC players, which has just been made live.
After a short two week delay, the Public Test Server is going live today for all players on the PC in order to help the studio test upcoming changes to Tom Clancy’s The Division. To help facilitate the process, players who join the server will be granted access to a level 30 character, equipped with superior gear, to help test the brand new World Tier system being introduced in Update 1.4.
Players who are interested in helping test the upcoming changes on the newly launched server will need to download The Division PTS from My Games in UPlay, or from the Library section of Stream. Since this is considered a new game, players need 45GB in order to install the client separately from the base game. Thankfully, this also means that player saves in The Division will not be affected or altered in anyway.
Update 1.4 introduces massive changes to the game, intended to fix many of the current issues plaguing the experience, including the steep difficulty curve with the end game. Four new World Tiers allow players to set the difficulty in their world, which not only changes enemy levels but also affects the gear score in dropped loot. In addition, time to kill has been decreased, meaning enemies no longer act like a bullet sponge and player characters aren’t so squishy even on higher difficulty levels.
Alongside the world difficulty levels improving game balancing, Massive Entertainment is also altering the loot system, as enemies will drop more loot on higher difficulties than on lower ones. The living world component is also getting a boost as the infamous Bullet King and other patrolling boss characters are making their return to the game in update 1.4, although it’s almost undoubtedly safe to say that there will be anti-farming measures in place.
Are these changes enough to bring you back or is it a case of too little, too late? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Tom Clancy’s The Division is available now on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
Source: The Division News Page
