Ubisoft details changes coming in The Division 2’s Open Beta

Ahead of The Division 2’s Open Beta, which kicks off this week, Ubisoft has released a massive list of what has been fixed since the Private Betas.

Prior to this week’s Open Beta for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Ubisoft hosted a Technical Test and a Private Beta. These allowed them to gain valuable feedback from those who participated, hopefully providing a better launch experience for all.

But first, we have an Open Beta, and this should offer our first look at how quickly Ubisoft has addressed some of these known issues.  One of the primary focuses of the team was on improving “server and client stability,” hopefully resulting in fewer crashes. This was a major issue for the most recent Private Beta; so much so that Ubisoft actually posted a workaround while they were working on fixing the problem.

“For the Open Beta, we have made many improvements to The Division 2 based on the testing and feedback from the Private Beta,” Ubisoft said in a blog post dedicated to the upcoming Open Beta. “Overall, we have worked hard on the technical side of the game and further improved server and client stability and performance. We have also made further optimizations to make the game run smoother.”

The post contains a massive list of bug fixes and improvements ranging from issues experience in missions to the Dark Zone and overall gameplay. Some technical issues were also resolved, including a fix for a crash that “would happen when a bird plays a damage animation near a player.”

In addition to this massive list of fixes, the Open Beta will see a slew of balance changes. Most of the attention seems to have been given to enemies, with Ubisoft adjusting their overall behavior, decreasing the health and armor of certain NPCs, and tweaking various enemy attacks.

“Our game design team has worked hard on the balance of the game as well and we are testing those changes during the Open Beta,” the developer continued. “This is a very important part of the game experience and we really want to hear your opinion on how it feels. You can see the full list of the balance changes below, for both NPCs and weapon balance. Based on player feedback, we have also made changes to the Call for Backup system.”

As for the contents of the Open Beta, it seems Ubisoft has expanded upon what was offered in the Private Beta. A new mission, Viewpoint Museum, has been opened up, and you will now be able to play Capital Ruins in Skirmish, one of the game’s two organized PvP experiences. The level cap has also been raised from seven to eight, with the “Chem Launcher” skill now becoming available.

More from App and Gaming News

• Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.1: Last major update released
• GTA 6: Who is Lucia and what is her role?
• Sonic Dream Team review: A welcome surprise to Apple Arcade
• Is GTA 6 coming to PC at launch in 2025?
• GTA 6 trailer arrives early, confirming 2025 release: Watch it here!

This is in addition to everything that was offered in the Private Beta. This included two main missions available in Story, Normal and Hard mode, five side missions and “additional activities.” We’ll also get another look at The Division 2‘s endgame content, as the beta will boost players to the level cap (30) and unlock the Survivalist, Sharpshooter or Demolitionist specializations.

As a reminder, this is an Open Beta, so issues are expected to come up – especially as this marks the first time the servers will be live for everyone. Of course, this is a sequel so Ubisoft should already be adequately prepared to handle a large influx of players. Still, unexpected issues do tend to arise in these betas. The key is to get it fixed before launch.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2‘s Open Beta will run from March 1 through March 4. The game will officially launch on March 15, 2019, for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.