UPDATE 1.7: CLASSIFIED GEAR
Agents, we have a brand new intel briefing on Update 1.7 coming your way and this time were focusing on Classified Gear!
Weve covered the upcoming Global Events and the upcoming Commendations System, now on to the hardware your agent will be hunting in Update 1.7, Classified Gear!
The Objective
The team has set out with a distinct goal for introducing new gear into The Division:
Create More Variety
Expand on Already Growing Build Diversity
Create More Rare Options in the Loot Pool
Give Players Something to Hunt
The answer? Classified Gear.
Classified Gear was designed from the ground up to be something players could hunt for in the end game, while at max gear score without a negative impact on their existing gear. All Classified Gear drops at gear score 256, regardless of World Tier. More on that later.
We wanted to hit the check boxes mentioned above, while also preserving the value of your existing loadout while you hunt, and Classified Gear offers an opportunity to extend the stats of your build in a seamless flow. Gear score at 256 is hard capped at the main stat level, but not 256 Classified Gear.
Stat Ranges
Classified Gear will ALWAYS roll a higher value than the standard gear equivalent. Currently, gear in the max level drops with a main stat range of 1114-1272. Classified Gear, however, drops with main stat rolls within a higher range, 1273-1328. Meaning that even at the lower end of that range, a piece of Classified Gear is a guaranteed buff to your build. This increased range is an actual 35% buff to the available main stat ranges in game. While in any Normalized modes like Last Stand, Classified Gear acts like a standard 256 gear set piece, so that the expanded stat range does not create an imbalance when facing off against 256 standard gear. The Classified Gear 5 and 6 piece bonuses, if unlocked, DO take effect even in Normalized play, creating a still unique element to the set.
Classified Bonuses
With these new gear options in 1.7, we will introduce an expanded range of bonuses as well. First off, keep in mind that Classified and Standard gear can be mixed to obtain the standard 2-4 piece bonuses for that gear set. This is a great method to make incremental increases to your loadouts power by adding these Classified pieces in, with their higher main stat rolls. Once you gather up a full 4 piece of Classified Gear, the higher main stat rolls are essentially creating a stronger, more powerful version of your loadout.
Once a player hits the 5 and 6 pieces of Classified Gear in a single loadout, things really start to accelerate. The 5 pieces of Classified Gear of the same set bring a buff to the 2 and 3 piece bonuses, with some particular consideration to the individual bonuses. 2 and 3 piece bonuses from our existing gear cannot all be buffed exactly the same as that may cause some inconsistencies in the gear and balancing, but stay tuned for more details on those specific aspects.
The 6 Piece
Classified Gear brings something that many in the community have been asking for, a full matched set 6 piece bonus! This set bonus was designed to motivate players to fully invest in the gear set of their liking, with a gear set specific bonus that is in line with the identity of that set. So, for example if you run Striker, the Striker 6 piece can be expected to be a natural evolution of the existing identity of the Striker set.
Classy Recalibration
The team wanted to ensure that Classified Gear would be a major find for all builds, players, and kits. In order to add an extra layer of value and versatility to every Classified item found, weve decided to make two stats of each piece of Classified Gear able to be rolled at the Recalibration Station! What this means is that not only will the Classified Gear have higher ranges for their main stats, players will also be able to roll one main stat AND one major/minor stat on each Classified piece in order to min/max their build like never before.
How to Get Classified
Classified Gear is introduced as part of a Global Event, with the selected Classified Gear not only being the reward to kick off the event, but the debut of said Classified Gear. Throughout a Global Event, players can use their earned Tokens to purchase Global Event caches. These caches vary in Token price, but the chances for Classified Gear grows with each higher price cache. If a player chooses to participate in the Global Event at a lower than max (World Tier 5) tier, they will earn Tokens at a slightly slower rate. This is due to the fact that all Classified Gear is at the 256 level. Slower earned Token rate, slower rate of caches purchased means a slower rate at earning Classified Gear in lower World Tiers for the sake of balancing out and preserving the 256 only aspect of the pieces. With this structure, players can gamble on more lower price caches at the chance of Classified loot, or they can stockpile their Tokens and buy the highest price caches possible to maximize their chances. How you grind is up to you.
If the Global Event ends and you havent stocked up on the full Classified Gear Set you were hunting, have no fear. Classified sets from events get added to the common loot pool after the conclusion of the event, with a drop chance similar to Exotics in just about anything you do in game, including Field Proficiency caches and the like. This also allows the team a new route to incentivize different activities further down the line of The Division, by introducing options to earn Classifieds in new and interesting ways.
The Classified Firsts
To start with on the PTS at launch, well be introducing six Classified Gear sets for testing purposes:
Classified Lonestar
Classified Final Measure
Classified Deadeye
Classified Sentrys Call
Classified Striker
Classified Reclaimer
The team is still hard at work finalizing the specifics of these Classified sets and we plan to update you all on their attributes in the first round of the PTS patch notes. For now, we wanted to give a glimpse of the options that will be available for testing inside of the PTS. The introductory six sets are being implemented for testing purposes, with Classified Gear sets being introduced three at a time in the live environment, post Update 1.7.
Classified Gear presents a unique opportunity for Agents of The Division to hunt for an all new and exciting type of gear, while preserving their hard earned builds. As always, all of this is still somewhat subject to change pending a successful run of our Public Test Server. The team is looking forward to your results of that PTS as well. Please be sure to hit up the Official PTS Forums, once the server is live and be heard!
Thank you, Agents, for your support and dedication.
/The Division Dev Team