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  1. #521
    Sircowdog1's Avatar Senior Member
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    @ VirtualChris

    Made a vid using Perfect Glass Cannon for you to look at. Just trying to get some context for what you feel "too much sponge" is.

    I used a M1A CQB because I didn't have a Mk17, but I think it should showcase rifle damage on challenging pretty well. I did the Pentagon Mission because it has a lot of robot enemies, and that stupid giant drone at the end.

    Let me know what you think. Are you 100% against using the Memento backpack? If so, you could always go with Vigilance. I tried to use the shield as little as possible to emulate what I thought your playstyle might be like, but Vigilance + Shield is really a strong combo.

    Sorry if you can't quite view the vid. It still has an hour left to upload on youtube, but I have to leave for work. Maybe give it a bit to process the HD version as well, before watching.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxnmOal_2VQ
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  2. #522
    Virtual-Chris's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Sircowdog1 Go to original post
    @ VirtualChris

    Made a vid using Perfect Glass Cannon for you to look at. Just trying to get some context for what you feel "too much sponge" is.

    I used a M1A CQB because I didn't have a Mk17, but I think it should showcase rifle damage on challenging pretty well. I did the Pentagon Mission because it has a lot of robot enemies, and that stupid giant drone at the end.

    Let me know what you think. Are you 100% against using the Memento backpack? If so, you could always go with Vigilance. I tried to use the shield as little as possible to emulate what I thought your playstyle might be like, but Vigilance + Shield is really a strong combo.

    Sorry if you can't quite view the vid. It still has an hour left to upload on youtube, but I have to leave for work. Maybe give it a bit to process the HD version as well, before watching.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxnmOal_2VQ
    I'll definitely check it out.

    ps. I see what you mean about Kenly... some of those missions are just garbage. No replay value there.
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  3. #523
    Virtual-Chris's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Sircowdog1 Go to original post
    @ VirtualChris

    Made a vid using Perfect Glass Cannon for you to look at. Just trying to get some context for what you feel "too much sponge" is.

    I used a M1A CQB because I didn't have a Mk17, but I think it should showcase rifle damage on challenging pretty well. I did the Pentagon Mission because it has a lot of robot enemies, and that stupid giant drone at the end.

    Let me know what you think. Are you 100% against using the Memento backpack? If so, you could always go with Vigilance. I tried to use the shield as little as possible to emulate what I thought your playstyle might be like, but Vigilance + Shield is really a strong combo.

    Sorry if you can't quite view the vid. It still has an hour left to upload on youtube, but I have to leave for work. Maybe give it a bit to process the HD version as well, before watching.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxnmOal_2VQ
    Watching your video... a couple of thoughts...

    Enemy Sponge:
    - For some reason, it seems like dogs are particularly spongy.
    - Interestingly, you mow down yellow enemies very quickly, and sometimes I notice that red enemies take nearly as many shots (e.g. 5) which is more than I would need to take down a red. But you take out purple and yellow enemies in a few shots sometimes. So maybe it's the difference between crits and no crits?
    - Check out the red enemy with the WiFi antenna icon at 12:46... I think it takes 6 rounds to down them, which is the same for the yellow enemy in the middle of the room. Another rusher with lightening bolt icon takes 5 rounds. It seems Reds have more sponge than most which is odd. Is it possible that Challenging balances enemies out more?

    Armor:
    - You have some armor regen which helps, but you still get wiped out just as easily as I do. The cursed drones that drop incendiary bombs with the yellow lights take us within a hair of death

    Style:
    - You play a LOT more aggressively than I do. I have noticed I seem to do more damage up close, so maybe that's another factor here?
    - I have noticed the enemies are not as lethal as you'd expect up close... they actually seem relatively slow to shoot at you when you're close - they don't spas out - which is good.

    Other comments:
    - Love the selfie about mid-way through... nice!
    - The mini-gun is hilarious! Imagine packing that thing around.
    - I see what you mean about going for center-of-mass
    - You handled the ending battle much better than I did... I had to use my God Mode gear to get through that... although you did need a revive so I don't feel too bad.
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  4. #524
    Sircowdog1's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Virtual-Chris Go to original post
    Watching your video... a couple of thoughts...

    Enemy Sponge:
    - For some reason, it seems like dogs are particularly spongy.
    - Interestingly, you mow down yellow enemies very quickly, and sometimes I notice that red enemies take nearly as many shots (e.g. 5) which is more than I would need to take down a red. But you take out purple and yellow enemies in a few shots sometimes. So maybe it's the difference between crits and no crits?
    - Check out the red enemy with the WiFi antenna icon at 12:46... I think it takes 6 rounds to down them, which is the same for the yellow enemy in the middle of the room. Another rusher with lightening bolt icon takes 5 rounds. It seems Reds have more sponge than most which is odd. Is it possible that Challenging balances enemies out more?

    Armor:
    - You have some armor regen which helps, but you still get wiped out just as easily as I do. The cursed drones that drop incendiary bombs with the yellow lights take us within a hair of death

    Style:
    - You play a LOT more aggressively than I do. I have noticed I seem to do more damage up close, so maybe that's another factor here?
    - I have noticed the enemies are not as lethal as you'd expect up close... they actually seem relatively slow to shoot at you when you're close - they don't spas out - which is good.

    Other comments:
    - Love the selfie about mid-way through... nice!
    - The mini-gun is hilarious! Imagine packing that thing around.
    - I see what you mean about going for center-of-mass
    - You handled the ending battle much better than I did... I had to use my God Mode gear to get through that... although you did need a revive so I don't feel too bad.
    There are a bunch of things at play here.

    As I've mentioned a few times now, I highly question the actual hit detection of weapons in this game. This is especially true of high ROF rifles. There are many times where I swear I should have landed a shot, but didn't.

    Next, with boomerang you have normal hits, headshots, crits, then boomerang hits. This makes the outgoing damage high, but very unpredictable.

    If you haven't noticed, rusher NPC's have significantly less armor/HP than everyone else.

    Robo dogs have spots where damage goes directly to their health, bypassing their armor plating. Mostly the legs, but IIRC there are spots at the hips and underbelly too.

    My personal damage output also changes based on Memento pickups. Both the longer duration stacks and the temporary buff when I pick up a trophy mid-combat.

    Lastly is the large amount of Damage to Targets out of Cover exacerbating all of that.

    Overall this is why I've moved away from rifles in general. As strong as they have the potential to be, I much prefer the consistently of high RoF automatic weapons.

    And yeah, that damn missile strike got me and I sloppily let myself get flanked. It happens.
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  5. #525
    Virtual-Chris's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Sircowdog1 Go to original post
    There are a bunch of things at play here.

    ...

    Overall this is why I've moved away from rifles in general. As strong as they have the potential to be, I much prefer the consistently of high RoF automatic weapons..
    I see. That makes sense why I was seeing such inconsistency. I don’t blame you for preferring full-auto in light of that.

    Thanks for showing this mission/build on video. I think it reinforced that I’m in a good place.

    I’m really enjoying my build and Hard difficulty. I may not be getting great loot, but frankly, I don’t need better loot. My build is great for me and what I’m trying to accomplish with it, which is minimal sponge and as much realism as possible. I have three named items with perfect talents and great rolls and the other few items are also well rolled/recalibrated. If I could just optimize a couple attributes on a few items, I’d be pretty maxed out. I feel like I’m not using anything magical... every thing is working towards my goal of minimal sponge very nicely. I enjoy most missions... and if I want a great fire fight, taking a Control Point at level 3 is where I go. And if I get frustrated by a stupid boss fight now, I’ve always got my god mode gear

    I’m off to NY to play that again to finish the Jupiter manhunt. It will be interesting to see how some of those missions play out this time.
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  6. #526
    Sircowdog1's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Virtual-Chris Go to original post

    I’m really enjoying my build and Hard difficulty. I may not be getting great loot, but frankly, I don’t need better loot. My build is great for me and what I’m trying to accomplish with it,

    This is the best way to play the game, honestly. Too many people obsess over legendary and getting perfect God-rolled gear and stacking up DHD levels to 10k
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  7. #527
    Originally Posted by Sircowdog1 Go to original post
    ... obsess over legendary and getting perfect God-rolled gear and stacking up DHD levels to 10k
    Hehehe... I don't care that much about the level (once I will be past 1000), but my OCD takes over re. best possible rolls for gear and weapons.
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  8. #528
    Virtual-Chris's Avatar Senior Member
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    Just capping off this amazing thread... over 500 very thoughtful and helpful posts... with a special thank you to all of you that contributed and helped make the Division 2 a great experience for me.

    I finished the Jupiter man hunt last week and I’m taking a break from the Division now.

    But thanks everyone! I really enjoyed this game even though I was skeptical, I was able to find a way to enjoy it thanks to all of you.
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  9. #529
    Sircowdog1's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by Virtual-Chris Go to original post
    Just capping off this amazing thread... over 500 very thoughtful and helpful posts... with a special thank you to all of you that contributed and helped make the Division 2 a great experience for me.

    I finished the Jupiter man hunt last week and I’m taking a break from the Division now.

    But thanks everyone! I really enjoyed this game even though I was skeptical, I was able to find a way to enjoy it thanks to all of you.
    No problem! I also suspect that this thread will be used as reference for many other new players.

    Keep an eye on the forums and twitter. At some point down the road there will be a new game mode/progression mode released later on in the year. And the next season is starting soon as well, if you were interested in getting a little more out of the game.
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