The Division - Angry Joe Gameplay Impressions

[Apocalypse 31]

Also learning to be more particular about acquiring gear in the DZ. Some stuff just isn't worth extracting, and currently there's no way to sort acquired loot while on a sortie.

I had a great experience the other night in the DZ where I linked up with 6 other players. We tried to tackle DZ6 but got our butts whipped. We ended up getting in a 30 minute firefight with NPCs in which we ran out of ammo twice. Some of the NPCs that you will encounter in the higher DZ levels are extremely challenging

The DZ, much like everything else in the game, requires risk.

[glen55]

Level 28 now, and plan on hitting level 30 today.

The weaponry at this level is impressive, and can kill most enemies in one or two shots. I have all kinds of critical hit bonuses that are also helping.

I'm 90% complete upgrading my tech wings - with only one small 200 point upgrade per wing remaining.

I've completed all of the story missions, thru matchmaking, not solo..that would be insane. They are challenging but if you keep your weapons and gear current with your rank you should have no problems. I would highly recommend against it solo, though. At the map screen you can click on the missions and matchmake - aka - jump on with another player. This is good, even for completed missions as it gives you good XP.

I tried to tackle the DZ solo last night. I was doing well until I called an extract and got swarmed by NPCs. Still a bad idea trying to solo in the DZ.

I'm only level 9, but I've done all solo so far - I don't even know how to get to the dark zone, and I'm not that curious.

Maybe things will change, but the game has been relatively easy so far.  I am leaving plenty of side missions undone, so I'm optimistic that when it starts getting harder I can just be a little more completionist and still solo things.

Of course, all that has a chance to change radically before I get to level 28.  But at least up to this point, it is working just fine and dandy as a single-player game.  I love it.  This is one of the best CRPGs ever, no doubt about it in my mind.

[Skoop]

It's crazy, I can spend hours just building items with crafting and modding my weapons and gear before I even get ready for a mission.  It reminds me of fallout with the scavenging for crafting. 

[Apocalypse 31]

I'm only level 9, but I've done all solo so far - I don't even know how to get to the dark zone, and I'm not that curious.

You're only playing 50% of the game then.

The game really shines in cooperative mode.

Also - the Dark Zone is not the PVP Murderzone that you think it will be. I've only had one experience where someone went rogue...and I'm not even sure it was on purpose. The AI is challenging enough to warrant an enjoyable experience. Teamwork is essential, and the rewards are great.

[glen55]

I'm only level 9, but I've done all solo so far - I don't even know how to get to the dark zone, and I'm not that curious.

You're only playing 50% of the game then.

The game really shines in cooperative mode.

Also - the Dark Zone is not the PVP Murderzone that you think it will be. I've only had one experience where someone went rogue...and I'm not even sure it was on purpose. The AI is challenging enough to warrant an enjoyable experience. Teamwork is essential, and the rewards are great.

I'm sure it's great and I'm missing plenty - and maybe I'll try it one day, this game just might be good enough to get me to.  But generally, multiplayer just doesn't work for me.  You have to commit to playing the game for the next two hours, and that's just not my gameplaying style.  I play a little bit, do an errand or surf the web, play a little bit more, see what's on TV, play a little bit more, etc. 

I'm having a blast playing the game singleplayer.  It's right in my sweet spot in a number of ways.

[JudgeDredd]

I played one co-op game - the first mission to get the medical centre online by rescuing the nurse.

It seemed to me that the enemies were stronger in co-op, which makes some sense. I've played that mission solo before.

The co-op went well. No issues with the people I met up with. There were 4 of us. It certainly helped to have other bullet magnets. I even rescued a couple of people

But I have been playing almost exclusively solo

[Apocalypse 31]

The amount of enemies will increase, and I have found that their difficulty level will be the average of the group.

That just means more XP.

[Skoop]

I'm only level 9, but I've done all solo so far - I don't even know how to get to the dark zone, and I'm not that curious.

You're only playing 50% of the game then.

The game really shines in cooperative mode.

Also - the Dark Zone is not the PVP Murderzone that you think it will be. I've only had one experience where someone went rogue...and I'm not even sure it was on purpose. The AI is challenging enough to warrant an enjoyable experience. Teamwork is essential, and the rewards are great.

I'm sure it's great and I'm missing plenty - and maybe I'll try it one day, this game just might be good enough to get me to.  But generally, multiplayer just doesn't work for me.  You have to commit to playing the game for the next two hours, and that's just not my gameplaying style.  I play a little bit, do an errand or surf the web, play a little bit more, see what's on TV, play a little bit more, etc. 

I'm having a blast playing the game singleplayer.  It's right in my sweet spot in a number of ways.

Cool that your enjoying it as a lone wolf, it seems the game has a little something for every one.  There's no shortage of stuff to do solo, besides the main missions, there's tons of exploring, scavenging, and evidence retrieval to do.  Not to mention encounter missions or the random confrontation on the street.   

[JudgeDredd]

There is one thing annoying me rather.

As a "completionist" (from a mission perspective), it's annoying me a bit that icons don't disappear once they are discovered. As an example, there's a Tools icon not far from my main base of operations. I go there and collect the tools from the 2 boxes that I find. When I move away, there's still an icon there. I suppose it's entirely feasible that there's another tool box somewhere, but I have not been able to find it in over a dozen visits.

This means the icon always stays on the map and it just "flashes" to me, like a light to a moth and like a moth to a light, off I go, trying to find whatever is there - only to find the two empty boxes I emptied and no more.

If there's a third box there, please tell me where it is...'cos currently I just think it's a ruse.  ;D

[Rizik6]

You can re-collect the loot every two hours.  I have a little collection route that I take every once in awhile to get supplies for crafting.

(After I posted the above, I realized that you already knew this.)

[JudgeDredd]

^ Yeah...thank you, but it's not the fact I can re-collect, it's the fact that EVERY TIME I re-collect, the icon remains, suggesting there's something else there...but there's not

I try to ignore them...but I'm kind of "oooh....more stuff, wait...have I not collected all that there? Well, maybe I missed something"...and of course, I don't think I ever have  :P

[spelk]

It seemed to me that the enemies were stronger in co-op, which makes some sense. I've played that mission solo before.

I thought the enemies scale to the leader of the group's level. So if the leader was higher than you the enemies in the mission would be stronger.

I was auto-matched into a group of 11 and 12, and I was 8. I could barely touch any of the enemies presented.

[JudgeDredd]

^ that could well be true. I didn't read up on it and I've only done a "match up" once.

All I really knew was I had played that mission several times and I noticed a ramp up in enemies. I didn't take note of the levels of people around me.

[Apocalypse 31]

While playing solo I got my first High End loot drop from a subway boss in the Dark Zone today.

Teamed up with a group of 6 last night and hit DZ6. It's fun stuff when you have the correct weaponry.

[Skoop]

I got the gold Uzi from a random drop of a boss that was attacking the extraction zone....my best score so far.