If you played in The Division's alpha back in December, its upcoming beta will still have some surprises for you. Patch notes posted to The Division's official forums on Monday paint the beta's changes in broad strokes while hinting at how the grand online RPG shooting machine will function.
Unlike DayZ and other games that inspired the Dark Zone, The Division's open-PvP area will be divided by level, so newbies don't have to worry about being routed by high-level characters with superior gear. The Dark Zone Map also received handy new Landmarks showing where to find the most challenging encounters and best loot. Hopefully they help create hot zones of activity between tense, quiet no man's land, rather than making the rest of the map feel inconsequential.
The Division beta goes live on Friday (or Thursday if you're playing on Xbox One), and you should be able to start downloading it soon. Ubisoft plans to release the full game on March 8.
The Division beta patch notes
Interface
Added support for multiple in-game languages:
- All platforms: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish
- PC, PS4: Japanese
Weapon and Item Mods can now be changed directly from the inventory screen
[Xbox One and PS4] Changed weapon swap button mapping to:
- [Tap] Primary/Secondary weapon
- [Double Tap] Switch to Sidearm
UI improvements for better readability and usability
Gameplay
Additional balancing of weapons, enemy NPCs, and character progression
Dark Zone
Added another Dark Zone gate to the Beta Map area
Changed Dark Zone brackets level range
- Depending on your level, you will now be matched with level 4-7 players and enemies, or level 8 players and enemies
Landmarks have been added to the Dark Zone Map area
- With these landmarks you will find more challenging encounters rewarding you with better loot
Performances
Loading of textures and models should no longer suffer delays on console
Bug fixes
More than 10,000 bugs have been fixed, including many of the most reported bugs during the Alpha.
Missing sound with specific weapons and mods combinations
Repeating audio when opening the Mega Map
Mission objectives not completing correctly
Floating characters and weapons
Character loading stuck at 95%
Broken textures
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