How would you guys feel about being able to equip multiple exotic weapons?
Whenever i need another weapon i switch in the menus anyway.
For example: switching to a nemesis for the boss in District union on legendary.
So why not just let us equip em like in Division 1 ?
They're not best in slot anyway except for maybe the regulus which is hard enough to get so why not ?
I'm not talking about gear pieces ( I'd say let us equip those aswell, but let that be another discussion).
There are plenty of arguments for and against being able to equip multiple exotic weapons or gear.
Arguments against having multiple exotic weapons/ gear equipped:
- build/ exotic combinations could be quite powerful or potentially become the new 'meta'. For example, having the Eagle Bearer and Nemesis could be a good combination to deal a lot of damage (this can also be an argument for multiple exotics equipped) or imagine having the Vile mask and Imperial Dynasty Holster and Ridgeway chest piece and (gearset) Eclipse Backpack (30% amplified damage to targets with status effects or something) and lady death. The issue here would be that some combinations would become too powerful and may require one or multiple nerfs; this may significantly impact builds that do not use exotics or at least more than one;
- If players are able to create incredibly powerful builds, this may deter players from going into the Dark Zone if the builds are overpowered.
- If players were able to equip multiple exotic weapons, why not exotic gear? This may open the floodgates to allow the first argument above to prevail.
Arguments for having multiple exotic weapons/ gear:
- expands the currently available build combinations in Division 2;
- may improve player satisfaction;
- allows for greater freedom for the player to adopt a playstyle that they desire (similar to the first point in this section);
- some exotics synergise well with other exotics (pestilence, ridgeway, vile, imperial dynasty, memento backpack etc); and
- may make difficult gamemodes/ missions / activities easier.
A better question to ask is: How can players equip multiple exotic weapons and/or exotic gear without creating more problems than benefits?
Perhaps, you can have a maximum of three exotics regardless of whether they are weapons or gear so that it at least puts a limit on the freedom that players have when creating builds while, at the same time, allowing the developers to conduct this test without negatively impacting the popularity of the game. This is merely a suggestion, yes, but it is a start. The only criticism that I have of my final suggestion is that it reinforces the first argument against multiple exotics. Another way to work around this is to only have two exotic gear pieces at a time while having one exotic weapon OR two exotic weapons and one exotic gear piece.
First of all thank you for bringing up a lot of points!
I see the argument for gear from a pvp perspective which i don't engange in personally so i don't have a good frame of reference there. But I'm trying to focus just on exotic weapons not gear. And i don't see the meta argument.
Not a single exotic (except arguably the regulus) is best in slot. The new named pistol with skill tier is pretty high up there. Even the Devs hammer this point in. Exotics are meant to give an alternate playstyle not be BIS.
- dark winter outperforms my lady death and backfire.
- eagle bearer although strong can get you killed real quick if you're not carefull. so something with dttok and in sync is a better choise.
- sweet dreams is only good for the melee( specifically in legendaries) otherwise i prefer a super 90 or a mop for consistent realistic dmg.
- Nemesis is strong but takes a long time to shoot. i prefer a white death with quick consistent headshots. And with headhunter even a mantis is a beast
- maybe a ravenous as that weapon is strong with no reds damage but again more niched towards stripping armor plates.
- Bullet king ? to surpress/blindfire more ? Pestilence only useful if you really build for for it.
With all that being said it still only takes 5 seconds to switch out an exotic for a given circumstance, so we can already do it if we want. so why not just let us have it equipped and avoid those few seconds in the menu?
At the very least auto un-equip the current exotic when selecting another one, instead of doing this memorised dance.
In my eyes build diversity is in a pretty good place yes there a some sets that don't really make sense but overall there are a lot of options. The way i want to play dictates the gear i'm using not what is supposable BIS, as nothing from my experience is best in slot anymore ( expect for a slightly higher dmg output with the fox's knees on a dps build But again you're not handicapping yourself if you don't use it) which is great.
I currently have all 12 loadouts (could use some more Massive *wink wink* ) filled with completely different builds that would not benefit at all from the so called meta combo's weapon or gear wise. All really specifically chosen weapons and gear.
the answer to that question from what i understand is gear differentiation between PVP and PVE but that is a separate argument for division 3 i think.A better question to ask is: How can players equip multiple exotic weapons and/or exotic gear without creating more problems than benefits?
was thinking about this theory build and other than being annoying how would this be too strong?Vile mask and Imperial Dynasty Holster and Ridgeway chest piece and (gearset) Eclipse Backpack
with imperial dynasty you're stuck with yellow stats, ridgeway stuck with reds. you get 30 % extra dmg with eclipse but you're base damage is lower.
I have a ridgeway build with the eclipse and the dmg isn't out of this world at all. A lot of people have hazpro builds now so that would negate that build instantly.
Lets go further and say you slap on a memento. now what ? you need to get kills to build stacks without the 30% extra damage. Slap on sawyers and btsu and you have an unusable abomiation.
I'm not saying you're wrong it'll be nice and dandy no problems at all, but i'd like to think about this thoroughly and others as well. I'd love to test it in a PTS!
maybe memento and tardigrade would build up a ton of armor?
Coyote might give some problems but with max shd getting to 60 crit chance isn't hard at all so I wonder how much Crit dmg you would benefit from.
Maybe exclude the overpowered combo's?
Yeah - no worries. It's always good to have an open discussion
Within PvP, the Lady Death still appears to be the main SMG used. While the Dark Winter is without a doubt a good SMG, the Lady Death offers immediate and constant amplified damage. Personally, I feel like most people sleep on the Dark Winter a bit much because it has a lot of potential (PvP and PvE). You would be surprised that the liberty pistol is incredibly powerful as well, although it may or may not be best in slot it is easy to obtain. I agree exotics are meant to alternate playstyle rather than be BIS. But, sometimes this does not happen - particularly, with the Lady Death in PvP settings. The Backfire is a completely different and disappointing story (personally, it could receive improvements).
The Eagle Bearer is pretty balanced - or, at least, versatile - for an exotic. So, I agree with your points about that weapon. I agree with your points about the Sweet Dreams too. On the nemesis point, you can one-tap players while running between 4-6 defensive core attributes and not invest in any headshot and marksman damage (surprisingly), but yes the powerup time is long. Even with the Bullet King and Pestilence, having them together does not appear to be an issue.
'With all that being said it still only takes 5 seconds to switch out an exotic for a given circumstance, so we can already do it if we want. so why not just let us have it equipped and avoid those few seconds in the menu?'
There could be many reasons for the developers to steer away from this idea. Even though you want to specifically look at exotic weapons there is always that risk of others wanting the same treatment but for exotic gear (and if that happens, you (or the developers) will have to and should consider the implications of allowing this to happen in PvE and PvP) [I won't go into this anymore because I know your focus is on Exotic Weapons only].
But, at least, I agree with you on how tedious it can be when switching exotic weapons around.
Build diversity is pretty good in PvE - just not in PvP.
'The way i want to play dictates the gear i'm using not what is supposable BIS, as nothing from my experience is best in slot anymore ( expect for a slightly higher dmg output with the fox's knees on a dps build But again you're not handicapping yourself if you don't use it) which is great.'
- a good example where this is not the case is using semi-automatic snipers or any other sniper that does not deal a significant amount of damage (e.g Mantis, Nemeis, White Death or M44 variants)
Loadouts
- Yeah - it would be cool if there were more loadout slots.
Gear Differentiation for PvE and PvP
- a good starting point is how the developers reworked Striker in Division 1 (keeping the powerful version for PvE while modifying it separately for PvP. See patch notes from Patch 1.8.3 Division 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision...3_patch_notes/. Here, the developers specifically added a nerf to a gearset piece only when you are in a PvP mode.
Vile mask and Imperial Dynasty Holster and Ridgeway chest piece and (gearset) Eclipse Backpack
I think this could be strong in PvP (I should have been more specific on that point). The Hazard Protection build is definitely a counter to anything to do with status effects. So, there is another counter-argument for you to use when advocating for equipping multiple exotics.
"Lets go further and say you slap on a memento. now what ? you need to get kills to build stacks without the 30% extra damage. Slap on sawyers and btsu and you have an unusable abomiation."
Perhaps, this could be a reason why the developers did not want to explore this: because it would be pointless (but they allowed this to happen in Division 1 [another counterpoint]). I could well and truly be wrong in any regard, but brainstorming the arguments for and against will help you build a stronger case when you are trying to get the developers to allow you to have multiple exotics equipped. All of this goes back to my initial statement: 'There are plenty of arguments for and against being able to equip multiple exotic weapons or gear.' This is true. But whenever you encounter an argument against what you are advocating for, find a way to negative (eliminate) the opposing argument. All of this will make your points persuasive as well as probative.
Yeah - maybe memento and tardigrade would build up a ton of armor; there are plenty of combinations that are effective while there are others that are completely pointless (Vile mask, Imperial Dynasty Holster, Ridgeway chest piece and (gearset) Eclipse Backpack, Memento, Sawyers and BTSU Gloves).
Maybe exclude the overpowered combo's?
The only way to deal with overpowered combos is, to begin with seeing:
1. how many powerful combinations there are;
2. how many exotic pieces are required in each of those combinations; and
3. what is the best course of action to prevent builds that are too powerful from being created (e.g restrict the number of exotics you can have equipped; this is something the developers may have done and is a valid point for you to consider when arguing for multiple exotics)
Essentially, I agree with you that it would be great to have multiple exotics equipped (Weapon or gear), but after exploring this with you this discussion demonstrates that a lot of thought and planning is required to make your point persuasive without running the risk of being disputed. All in all, I hope this experience has been engaging as well as fun for you when exploring the possibilities of having multiple exotics.
yea man it would definitely take some planning to do something like this, the point was to bring the idea to the table and see if others are interested as well. I'm not a game developer so i'll leave that to the people who get payed to be.Essentially, I agree with you that it would be great to have multiple exotics equipped (Weapon or gear), but after exploring this with you this discussion demonstrates that a lot of thought and planning is required to make your point persuasive without running the risk of being disputed..
On a side tangent , what is the current "meta" in the pvp area , just curious.
Well, at least the point is out there now.
The main build I have been seeing in the Dark Zone:
- Armour regen crit build (Lady death, crusader or striker shield, intimidate, adrenaline rush, all secondary attributes are crit chance (enough to get between 50-60%), the rest is invested in crit damage and armour regen, brandsets focus around armour regen, core attributes are defensive). This essentially makes you tanky as hell, regenerate between 60,000-80,000+ armour per second while out DPSing red builds).
I made a post earlier in Suggestions & Feedback indicating that you can gain 2 extra stacks of damage for the Lady death through the crusader shield animation without actually moving (you get 4 when bringing out the shield and putting it away).
This is one of the main and popular builds to run, probably the meta only because I have not come across anything else that really stands out - hope this helps.