The Division: crafting changes include guaranteed High-End drop from named NPCs
With update 1.1 for The Division arriving soon, Ubisoft Massive wanted to explain some of the Crafting changes included with Incursions.
If you want a quick breakdown of the crafting changes, instead of reading my wall of text below, watch Arekkz's video above for a more cohesive explanation of the changes.
According to the developer, the new Crafting options "will change the end-game experience significantly." As part of the end-game, players will need to obtain equipment by trying to beat Activities in order to receive the rewards attached.
Specific items will contribute to a player's equipment build, and looking for these "very specific" items will be tedious, but "extremely satisfying" in the end.
At the moment, many of the loot drops are rare and "disappointing" with too much emphasis on crafting. Massive said the end result isn't "fun" and it doesn't justify the time spent.
A graph showing how level 31 High-End items were acquired through crafting compared to items acquired as loot drops was provided. As you will see, around 23% of High-End items were dropped by killing an NPC, compared to item constructing which sits around 47%.
Because of this, with Update 1.1, killing a named NPC level 30+ will grant players a guaranteed High-End drop.
The gear score of said High-End will be determined by the level of the NPC, and new drop tables have been designed to help players focus on specific NPCs. Each NPC will now have more chances to grant a specific type of High-End item.
Crafting will now be considered an alternative as well.
Many of the crafting changes have been covered in the patch notes, but a more organized list of items and the cost has been provided:
- 10 Standard (Green) materials instead of 5 to craft 1 Specialized (Blue) material
- 15 Specialized (Blue) materials instead of 5 to craft 1 High-End (Gold) material
- 10 High-End (Gold) materials instead of 8 to craft 1 lvl 31 High-End (Gold) item
- Deconstructing a Standard (Green) item yields 1 Standard material instead of 2
- Deconstructing a High-End (Gold) item yields 1 High-End material instead of 2
The changed conversion rates should help "encourage players" to use low level materials while leveling up, instead of saving them until level 30. It will also give players a better idea of whether to sell or deconstruct low quality items.
The developer said lowering yields when deconstructing items will also lower the "efficiency of item farming." Most High-End materials should come from deconstructing High-End items.
Other changes in Crafting with Update 1.1 include changes to item drop rates. Those are below.
- Increase drop rates of High-End items on named NPCs (100% drop rate, actually)
- Increase drop rates of Division Tech, to make it less of a bottleneck than it currently is
- Modify loot tables for each named NPC, to make the hunt for loot more controlled
- Increase conversion costs of lower quality materials to high quality ones, making it harder to convert low quality materials into high quality ones
- Decrease construction yields, making it less interesting to farm lower quality items in order to obtain crafting materials, and because you’ll get more High-End items as a whole
- Increase cost of crafting High-End items, because High-End materials will be much easier to come by
Massive feels the changes will make Crafting and drops "more coherent" and more fun and rewarding.
The Division Update 1.1 - Incursions releases on April 12, and for a more cohesive breakdown of what to expect next week, check out our Everything You Need to Know post.
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