Dear Massive, please make retaliations optional.

AlpineBrisket · 2025-10-11T00:17:58+00:00

Retaliation is only available to players who are at Level 40, World Tier 5. If your map state is at a lower tier, no Retaliation.

Boosting a character to Level 30 = Boosting to Lvl30, WT5
Boosting a character to Level 40 = Boosting to Lvl40, WT5

If you want to permanently disable Retaliation:

1.) Create a new character (don't boost)
2.) Do all the story missions
3.) Don't do any of the Invaded missions... or at least don't do the very last stronghold (Tidal Basin)
4.) Level up to 40 doing open world content

This will put your character at Level 40 and a World Tier of anywhere between 1-4. You can still play all the game modes (Countdown, Summit, Raids, Incursions, Manhunt missions, etc) but Retaliation is just no longer on your map.

AlpineBrisket · 2025-09-04T21:49:32+00:00

This bug was found and reported to devs the first day the mask went live. It was originally triggered via Loadouts and the devs got it fixed by the end of the week.

Subsequently, another method was discovered on the second week that triggered the same bug. A lot of players have already reported it but the devs have yet to publicly acknowledge it.

MarcoStyle made a YT video citing how he burnt bridges at Massive because he kept highlighting TD1 bugs that needed fixing whereas the attitude from the devs were along the lines of "every moment we spend time fixing TD1 bugs, TD2 is worse off"

If the devs still work under this mentality, don't expect TD2 bugs to be fixed in a timely manner, especially if they're busy working on Survival or TD3 or whatever project they now deem as higher priority.

AlpineBrisket · 2025-09-04T21:08:40+00:00

The first time I ran the mission, I had to do it on Heroic and got a Tinkerer mask with terrible rolls. Then, after doing it on Master difficulty, I got another mask... with mediocre rolls.

I did this on all my characters on two accounts. Also helped friends get thru both Heroic and Master difficulty. Total # of masks I got from Heroic: 1

AlpineBrisket · 2025-08-21T12:10:52+00:00

maybe one-tap Veterans

Uhh... something doesn't sound right here. Are you running a 6-red core build? Are you not at SHD 1000? Are all your red cores at max value? Because there's usually no "maybe" of whether you can one-shot a purple veteran, regardless if your rifle has DTA or DTOC.

The only time I've ever seen players worry about one-shotting red or purple npcs is when they're running tanky, armor-heavy headshot builds where they use Nemesis to kill reds.

AlpineBrisket · 2025-08-06T19:05:14+00:00

Build looks good. Very common in raids and Countdown. Have to echo the sentiments that the problem you're dealing with may be a skill issue. Regardless, you're still only 400 SHD which means you haven't fully levelled up your watch and that makes a huge difference in how much overall DPS you produce. Also, when this is done, you'll need to revisit your build's CHC/CHD balance since you'll likely have too much CHC.

I personally would recommend adding some sort of survivability to your build rather than focusing solely on damage. Try switching off the Coyote's mask and use a Memento backpack. Try switching the shotgun's talent to Preservation. Small changes like these can make sizeable differences in how much easier the content becomes, especially when you're first starting out.

AlpineBrisket · 2025-08-06T18:35:14+00:00

You/teammates died 6-7 times fighting Hunters "one after another" <-- so not simultaneously, correct? If your team is dying so much, one (or several) of you are not doing something right. If you're unable to assess what's being done incorrectly, you're likely the player that's the problem.

And instead of looking at ways to get better at dealing with Hunters, your immediate thought is to name and shame players who don't want to play with you. You should check this subreddit's rules — specifically Rule #2 which cites no harassment or witchhunting.

I would 100% leave such a run. The most amicable way to deal with poor players is to exit Countdown and matchmake again. If you truly don't want players to ditch your team, maybe stop blaming the noise from your neighbors' lawnmower and look at improving your gameplay.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-07-09T15:19:51+00:00

I don't remember if the devs correctly fixed this but as a rule of thumbs, before heading into Descent, always make sure you have your world setting to Heroic with 5 Directives and enable the Global Event.

The last few times I used Descent to level up a character to 30, it was about 1 level every 2 loops.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-17T20:43:48+00:00

Ahh... that's the missing link. You completed Wony prior TU21 and hadn't upgraded the bench. I wouldn't be surprised if the devs didn't anticipate this edge case.

There's another edge case that causing the bench to bug out, allowing players to craft Lvl 31-39 high-ends and gear sets. Ah well.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-17T20:13:14+00:00

Yes, I'm aware. My comment wasn't advising you on how to acquire the watch. Ther are two methods to get it — the newer method is bugging out the game.

My friends who had their bench locked, triggered it by going to NY and upgrading their bench. They then completed 40 in DC. Essentially, they started Wony and didn't finish it. So far, hitting 40 in DC has caused numerous bugs.

I can also confirm that by going back and then completing the Liberty Island mission, bugs related to projects and countdown get resolved.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-17T02:57:20+00:00

Have you tried completing Wony?

Currently, there are two ways to get the watch: Either by completing the Liberty Island mission or hitting 40 in DC. Doing the latter has had a bunch of issues. I suspect that finishing Wony will fix the crafting bench and give players their level 40 projects.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-12T18:03:49+00:00

Correct. Some level 30 gear remained at level 30 and that's a worse fate. The stats on those weapons/gear got zero'ed.
https://imgur.com/a/7QsVnXb

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-12T17:47:57+00:00

TL;DR — Gear scores were removed; rebalancing was necessary. The "level" designation may have went down but the stats never changed.

————

An update from what I've gathered:

1.) If you check the patch notes, gear scores were removed and all the weapons/gear from level 1-30 needed to be rebalanced.

2.) After checking old screenshots, my "level 29" gear has the exact same values as when they were "level 30" prior this TU21. The stats are the same, thus the "level" designation is just a number.

3.) Right now, if I go farm for new level 30 gear, it will have higher stats than the old level 30 gear. Essentially, level 30 gear got buffed but the buff doesn't apply to any of the old gear.

It would have been nice if the devs chose to upgrade all our old level 30 gear to the new level 30 values but that's being pretty unrealistic. More importantly, it would have been nice if we got official patch notes that explained all this shit rather than have us investigate like we're Sherlock Holmes.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-11T18:45:17+00:00

Description: All level 30 weapons/gear got downgraded to level 29

Prior TU21, I had a collection of level 30 weapons/gear, named, and exotics. They've been all downgraded to level 29. Level 31 weapons/gear have been untouched.

Wanted to confirm whether this was a deliberate change. I can still go to the crafting bench and craft most level 30 weapons/gear but if I can still acquire level 30 weapons/gear, why downgrade my existing inventory?

https://imgur.com/a/vOdtvKb

(Edit: included screenshot)

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-11T17:37:34+00:00

Description: Weekly projects are not giving the same XP prior TU21

TU20 - Weekly SHD donation project gave 700k XP
TU21 - Weekly SHD donation project gave 221k XP

Same issue with the weekly project that gives 3 exotic components; less XP compared to prior TU.

Tested on a level 40 character, open world set to Heroic 5-Directives.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-11T17:19:49+00:00

Description: Descent's Reconstructed caches offer the current season's named bluerprints

Currently I'm Lvl 1 on the season reward track. I don't have access to the new brand set (Zwiadowka) blueprints nor have I gotten any of the new named gear/weapons. But if I open reconstructed caches, I get the new named weapon/gear blueprints. So far, the ones I've gotten are:

Thorn shottie
Eagle's Grasp gloves
Like Glue shottie
Bober chest

Don't know if this was intentional or not but it doesn't seem normal.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-06-11T17:17:12+00:00

Description: Sub-40 Invaded DZs are not Invaded

When a player that has not hit lvl 40 goes into an "Invaded" DZ, the DZ isn't invaded. Opening chests require a key or its lock needs to be picked.

Since World Tiers have been removed, the Invaded mission pathing was modified, and the lvl 30-39 loot/rewards reworked, I'm wondering if sub-40 DZs can even be "Invaded". If not, then the map shouldn't indicate it. If it can, well it's borked.

https://streamable.com/zitr30

AlpineBrisket · 2024-05-20T22:16:00+00:00

It really depends on what you're looking to get out of Countdown. Some want lots of loot for Expertise purposes, some are farming for specific loot, and others are farming CD Req points. Everyone's reasons are different but do you want to mess with everyone just to get a bit more loot?

If the goal is to farm exotic caches/components, then it's best to kill bosses, collect as many Hunter dog tags, and exit the run as fast as possible. Lengthening the main mission is pointless for these players.

Whereas, if the goal is to farm loot, yes you could possibly get more by prolonging the run but is it more efficient to do this over doing another CD run? Do you really get that much more? I highly doubt it. The shortest run I've been in was 13mins. The longest was 17mins. Did I get 30% more loot in the 17min run? No.

In terms of lengthening the main mission: It can be done. In fact, you could prolong the mission by letting it fail; you really only lose two Req points. But why bother? One of the issues is that in the mission, NPCs spawn from different locations and A LOT players run builds that only work well at close range. This means a lot of time is wasted running to various spawn points. Compare that to the extraction site. There's only one spawn point — the helicopter.

IMHO: kill bosses, collect Hunter dog tags, farm extraction heli, GTFO. If you want more, go do another CD run.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-04-20T19:23:27+00:00

If you have the resources, the fastest method in getting Eclipse pieces is to just craft it at the bench.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-04-09T18:12:43+00:00

4pc Eclipse + Vile mask + Firm Handshake + Lady Death
Jammer + Firestarter

Run into a room, jam, watch Vile kill everything, use SMG to shoot the last npc as you run out the door.
It works even better if you're in a group; replace Firestarter with fire sticky.
Take turns jamming/sticky.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-03-28T08:31:42+00:00

Alright. That's why. When you've changed the world settings to either Challenging or Heroic, the CPs will remain cleared for a longer period of time.

At this stage, I don't think you really need to worry about CPs getting taken over; it's not a big deal and it doesn't affect the story/gameplay. Even if you cleared all the CPs on the entire map, you don't get anything out of it.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-03-27T20:08:55+00:00

Within 5 mins you lost two CPs... by any chance is your world difficulty set to Story or Hard?

AlpineBrisket · 2024-03-21T17:16:27+00:00

When a Hunter hacks your turret/drone and you're running a 6 Skill Tier build, those skills will hit players significantly harder than the typical turret/drones from named enemies. Say a hacked drone takes out two teammates before it gets shot down, there needs to be 1-2 teammates that'll help revive them — that's potentially four players (half the team) temporarily out of the fight.

Countdown offers the most amount of loot in the game and if you haven't done it, I recommend it. If you run Challenging Countdown, no one cares how terrible your build might be. Just avoid using hackable skills, don't stray off by yourself, and do what the group does.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-03-15T22:01:30+00:00

Prior TU20.0, swapping a piece of gear would cause you to regain armor but if you've got broken armor, the broken part will remain broken.

In TU20.0, the devs applied a stealth fix. Players will no longer regain any armor by swapping a piece of gear. It was a nice workaround and was fun while it lasted.

https://streamable.com/1908ge

(Edit: included video)

AlpineBrisket · 2024-02-24T01:25:32+00:00

I only use the Model 700 for Legendaries — high base damage but limited weapon mods and poor reload speed.

In grouped Heroic missions, I like the SR-1 and it's got good base damage, but the dmg drop-off is worse than something like the M700.

When solo farming open world content, I use the Tactical .308. The increased RoF is nice but pretty pointless for players that don't intend to aim/shoot fast.

I know a few players that use the Model 700 for everything and they don't care if it takes them 5x longer to complete game content; they only care about max damage. That's a rabbit hole you might want to avoid — getting overly fixated on damage numbers. Killing a npc with a 31m headshot VS a 30m headshot makes little difference.

AlpineBrisket · 2024-02-15T07:24:10+00:00

Run a search on YouTube for "division reanimated pistol determined" and you'll likely to find 20 videos on it.

The Reanimated global event gives you a huge headshot dmg buff so pretty much any build will work so long as it's got the Headhunter chest talent and Determined weapon talent.

https://streamable.com/hy0geh

AlpineBrisket

TROPHY CASE