Senior Member
I solo'd the beta from 1-7 only answering a call for help once to see how it worked (couldn't ever figure out how to leave the group though, so after a minute or two I just logged off and back in). Due to being out of town, I only had about 7 hours total playtime but did get to do a single endgame mission as well. I never died a single time on 1-7 but died a couple of times in that room where you had to disable the disrupt devices. I had to be in the open to shoot them. After I did, enemies spawned all over. That by itself wasn't an issue, but I don't know if it was a specific enemy or what, but something kept shooting me with something that kept staggering me which left me taking forever to get back to cover.
In another room later that same mission, I was getting grenade spammed as well. After literally more than a minute of shooting down drones, rolling away from grenades, etc I realized I was not going to get anywhere continuing to do this. So, I fell back to a hallway choke point and easily took them down now that I couldn't be spammed from grenades. They may be fine once we get equipped in the end game, but with the loadout we were provided for the endgame, they were way OP.
Speaking of choke points, I found that was a tactic I used, or felt I had to use to solo some of the areas. I would run forward, trigger the spawn, fall back. Shoot at one, then draw them to me to clear them out. Use that tactic, and play this game more like Sniper Elite or some other game like that where once the enemy is on to you and converging then it is game over. If you play it like that, it is much easier. You can practice this in TD1. Just equip a character without much stamina and reduced firepower and take them down. I think using something like a Tac build but not using skills would emulate it well.
I solo a lot too, but I do group up when either I am bored, or need a group for the content. If you are on PC and want to add me, my name is the same as here.
Senior Member
Same as others for me... It's not about difficulty but the endless stream of laser-guided AI bullets between cover. I don't understand, while even rolling between cover you soak bullets like you're magnetised or something. When an innevitable grenade knocks you dizzy for a moment the slow medkit animation is useless and you have to take the death on the nose. It's more about bad mechanics than level of difficulty.
I prefer to die through bad decision making on my part, not code that says: target is moving, bullets follow with zero delay.
Nacnaz's post was on point.
Senior Member
I posted a while back about this on another forum. I highly doubt any companies will make any games like this, but I used to play one that had normal easy, normal, and hard levels like usual but they had a slider for a linear difficulty path.
What that means is lets say you start out on Easy. After you gear up a bit, you try hard and repeatedly get wiped. So, you go back to easy. In most games, you just play it too easy until you get geared up even more. Whatever game it was (can't remember the name but it was from late 90's early 2000's - it might have been a Red Faction game), it allowed you to use a slider to adjust between those levels. In other words, easy was too easy, hard was too hard. So, you could adjust the slider to the right making the game harder, but it still used the 'easy' NPC's and AI logic. It would also slightly increase drop rates. Once you play that for a while, you then switch to normal which introduces the new NPC AI and if needed, you could slide the slider to the left. This reduces the enemy hitpoints, accuracy, etc and also the drop rate. Then, you can slowly move the slider to the right as you get better playing at the normal level. At some point you'll switch to hard and again can slide the slider down if needed.
Supposedly that was achieved by using simple percentages with zero changes to the games mechanics itself.
Other games use dynamic difficulty which gauges players ability and adjusts accordingly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynami...ulty_balancing
Junior Member
Happy to do so! This is another incredibly long response (I never plan it that way, it just happens).Originally Posted by Ubi-RealDude Go to original post
Regarding non-firearm options, I'll start with skills first. I ran the assault turret and healing drone the entire beta, so my answer is inherently limited, but as I said in my previous post, these seemed pretty necessary for me personally and the approach I was taking to combat. The reason I stuck with the healing drone while running solo I think is obvious. The reason I stuck with the assault turret specifically was because it really did act as almost a second AI partner. It drew aggro, it fired at enemies automatically, and worst case scenario, I could redirect its focus. Sometimes it did something weird, like trying to shoot an enemy behind a wall instead of the guy a little farther away but out in the open. In those instances, thanks to the fact that enemies weren't entirely focused on me, I had time to redirect it to a more appropriate enemy. I didn't have personal use then for the sniper turret since the TTK is pretty low anyway on the assault, and it required less attention on my part. Combat felt so much better when the turret was active. It acted as a reliable diversion that allowed me to really take some control over the situation, where otherwise I was mostly just scrambling around trying to avoid whatever the enemy was giving me in that moment. An emphasis on being tactical has been floating around in regards to TD2, and with the assault turret engaged, it definitely felt tactical. I was able to post up in a situation, get an initial read on the room, and determine where I should place it based on current enemy position. I was able to have a strategy that felt reliable. Things like "Okay, I want to attack to the left, so I'll throw the turret right to cover my back." Or "I'll throw it far out ahead of me to pick off any rushers and/or draw fire while I attack the rushers." It was a lot of fun, and really where combat shined for me. If my solo experience was me saying to myself "come on, man, something's gotta give," using the turret was that give I was looking for. Combined with footage I saw on streams/youtube of two man groups doing missions, this is what led me to believe that combat is really geared for more than one player.
I didn't use the seeker mine because it would mean giving up either the healing drone or the assault turret, which both seemed so essential - in retrospect I probably should've used it at least for sake of curiosity and feedback, but regretfully I did not.
Grenades: I don't use grenades too, too much in general. That's a bad habit as a player, of course, no fault to the game. I tend to forget that they're there in the midst of everything, but I do use them once I've widdled a room down and there's just a couple enemies left stubbornly sticking to their cover. For those purposes, it worked well. I also have a natural inclination to use finite items as a little as possible, and only when absolutely necessary (unlike games where grenades are on a recharge, in which case I use them pretty freely). Maybe more grenades drop the more you use them and I'm just not trusting the game enough to provide me with the tools needed. If there was some assurance I'd be able to pick up more, or if they refilled at restock boxes, I'd be more inclined to use them. Again, that could just be a "me" problem and the way that I play. I don't really think I have enough info/knowledge to say otherwise.
Regarding solo vs group, knowing I was going to be playing solo the very vast majority of the time, I didn't group up. Again, maybe I should've for sake of testing, however, when watching streams/videos of two man groups, it just looked like players had so much more agency (no pun intended) over what was happening. Very similar to how combat felt when I had the assault turret deployed. The balance of power felt pretty spot on. I noticed this as well during one of the missions (I think it was the first of the beta), in the boss fight area where we meet up with a friendly ally who fights alongside us. That was the best part of the beta for me. It was a huge open area, lots of enemies, great cover to utilize and take advantage of, I had to move around a lot and play smart, I was reacting to what was happening on screen but in a deliberate way. Part of that, of course, was the really wonderful design of that section of the mission, but I gotta say if I didn't have that friendly AI, and instead had all of those enemies focus firing on me the whole time...I suspect it would've felt pretty overbearing to me.
My ideal experience is a...pretty big question haha. I think to put it simply and avoid speaking too abstract of terms, I'll put more directly the theme that's arisen in this post. The ideal solo experience for me personally would be a situation where the game somehow allows some of the give that playing in a group does. I think it kind of has to, in some ways, to be specifically solo friendly. Because we draw all the aggro, we can't revive when downed, we have two skills running instead of as many as 8. And while I do understand it's not a direct comparison, and that enemies (best I can tell) scale exponentially to account for these elements of running in a full group, a solo player is still inherently far more limited than even a 2 man squad. Just being able to revive and have another player there to split the aggro (as well maybe throw out an assault turret or even have two players rotating their turrets while the other is on cooldown) is a huge leap. In my view, strictly from a resources and gameplay/tactical options standpoint, this makes the jump from solo to 2-man a bigger gap than 2-man to 3-man, and 3-man to 4-man (enemy scaling also plays into this, but that is a different discussion altogether, one I don't think I'm qualified to have as I didn't play in groups, which is why I limited my observation strictly to options/resources). The culmination of all this is that solo players have very little safety net compared to even a 2-man group. That was true in TD1 as well, but I think it was less impactful; with the changes made to enemy AI and player power in TD2 beta, I think that shows more than ever, and is more of a detriment than in the first game. The possible solutions for this could go on and on and on. Some might suggest more survivability, which, while I wouldn't mind it, I'd also be hesitant to fully endorse - too much survivability off the bat would undermine the tactical goals of the game; I'd rather see solo players given more power in terms of tactical resources to balance out the inherent disadvantage, especially in regards to enemy aggression. However, I'm not sure simply turning enemy aggression down would be in the best interest of the game either. I do respect the vision and goals of the game, which is why I'd like to just see more options to deal with that aggression and help that vision be more fully realized in the solo experience.
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Originally Posted by nacnaz Go to original post
I'm the same in this respect … I am much more cautious about using finite items … I end up rarely using my grenades … I have NEVER used a 'Consumable' in the 3 years I have played The Division, as far as I am concerned, they are simply for giving to 'Citizens in Need' - additionally I have never yet used the explosive/Incendiary bullets … but that's usually because I forget I have them, and I have no idea how effective they might be. I like, in Division 2, how they are ustomatically added to your current weapon when picked up.
Additionally I also ran with the Assault Turret/Fixer Drone … with only a limited amount of Armour Packs and how quickly armour is ripped away (usually within seconds of starting combat) I don't ever see myself not using the Fixer Drone … I always like to have a 'Self-Heal' on me … so even when I played Sharpshooter for an Invaded mission I could not test out the 'Scout Drone', as Division 2 only allows you to have one drone out at a time … I honestly was not aware of the Healing Seeker Mine, though, so I may look into that on Survivalist.
I ditched the turret for the seeker mine in the alpha, but for the Private Beta the mechanics had changed, so you had to manually target mobs/area … too much micromanagement in the midst of battle … numerous times I would be in the process of using the mine, working on where to throw it when a Drone/Grenade/RC car would explode & knock me out of cover … making the Seeker Mine near impossible to use properly, where the Assault Turret was one of the few skills I could just 'fire & forget'.
I played both solo, co op (with my brother) and in 4-person pug teams … with the pug's I'd replay Jefferson Trade Centre & the Hotel mission over & over … I know both those missions back to front now, having run them over and over in both the alpha and Private Beta … totally enjoyed those … I played the Invaded mission 4 times in total (one on pc) … those drones are a pain in the *** … they stay yellow & indestructible until very near a member of the group … when they finally go red there is usually a group member within blast range when I shoot them out the air, they may not take full damage but are guaranteed to take some. In the Jefferson Invaded mission, the bit after the bar/chemical lab area (the area before the final battle area) cover is of very little use … between RC cars, drones, grenades and mobs rushing up the stairs with shotguns being behind cover is lethal. Best place is back on the stairs near the ammo resupply box … good cover, wide firing arc and the ability to fall back if necessary. I did not try the Invaded mission solo, always with a pug.
With the solo you have to be ever so watchful … ensuring not to get too close to the mob groups that they can start flanking you … the largest threat was always the grenade thrower - so always my first target … but as others have said, even the most basic mob has far superior training to the agent … their accuracy is 100%, they NEVER miss … that, with the grenade spam, and keeping a watchful eye on the melee mobs make solo play much harder than Division 1. Without the grenade's Red Circle it's much harder to know where grenades land, especially when having to keep a watch on the mini map for other groups joining in behind you, or from an adjacent street …
There is so much more to watch out for in Division 2, which is great, but the grenades never stop … if there is more than one grenade thrower in a group, or another one joins in from a nearby group it's usually going to result in the agent dying … even basic Hyena's are better trained than SHD agents and the LMB … their accuracy is superior to any mobs in The Division.
Personally I found the Autumn Hotel mission a nightmare to solo - tried it co op too with similar results … the mobs always rush you - 3 or 5 at a time, and when you have 3 or 4 shotgunners on either side of you and a couple melee mobs smacking you, death is seconds away. I REALLY hate that mission, and most annoyingly I can't just get a pug together for it … only story missions & street killing …
Did I mention I REALLY hate the Autumn something Hotel mission?
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Out of curiosity, how much content were you able to complete solo? (anyone feel free to answer this question)Originally Posted by DONTMAKEMEPUTT Go to original post
- Scottie
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Originally Posted by UbiSc0ttie Go to original post
I was able to solo all the level 1 - 7 content except Empire Autumn Hotel … I tried multiple times, multiple methods, but there are simply too many mobs who rush you … who rush your position … with unerring accuracy, grenade spam and 4 or 5 mobs rushing my cover, I had zero chance of survival - I will be giving that a miss until I am level 30 in top tier gear when the game is released. I won't be doing that mission again until then - unless you allow me to call other agents at the entrance like the story missions … I REALLY HATE Empire Autumn Hotel.
I did not try the Invaded mission solo - after experiencing it several times with pugs, and hearing about other players solo experience on here, I am glad I did not try it solo
Additionally, having played the Private Beta on PC and PS4 I found my experience on PC to be by far easier than ps4 … the reaction times are slower on ps4, the difference between the two platforms is like night and day … and I used an Xbox 360 controller on pc, so it was nothing to do with keyboard and mouse.
Senior Member
Div 1 solo was so easy. Not a challenge at all really. IT was like killing a bowl of hot cereal on a cold morning.
Please oh please do not make this Div 2 any less challenging. Let the complainers play the game in easy, hold yer hand mode. Let them play Story Mode.
We should have none of this charge right in and blast everyone to pieces. You charge in you will get your backside handed to you in a basket. Thats the way it should be.
