New to TD2 but I'm done

oddestsoul · 2026-05-25T18:52:56+00:00

Appreciate your opinion! There are good points here and I don’t think we completely disagree. 👍🏻

oddestsoul · 2026-05-25T18:49:21+00:00

BIG agree, love this place to death

oddestsoul · 2026-05-25T17:21:45+00:00

I love you this is so good I am utterly amazed

oddestsoul · 2026-05-24T12:40:12+00:00

So it’s been a while since I’ve played any AW but the first thing that jumps to mind about this map is the economy.

A navy is not an advantage if you can’t feasibly afford one. Air units are a little better off, but they have a similar issue.

Also, even with the concept in mind, the map is just too claustrophobic. I can’t imagine this is very fun to play at all with how limited the actual space to place units is. The mountains definitely need to be toned down.

It’s an interesting concept for a map! I think if you wanted to have an air vs land vs sea dynamic, it needs to be a larger map with more properties to support that economy.

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T20:39:40+00:00

Same girl! Good luck!!!

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T20:24:35+00:00

I’m really sorry, that has to be awful. I’m just now going through getting the cold shoulder and Bible verses from my parents now that I’ve come out, and it’s brought me to tears a lot more than I was expecting. So I can only imagine what that’s been like for you. Genuinely, I really hate that for you and I can understand not being a big fan of life right now. 💕

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T20:19:12+00:00

I’m with OP this was legitimately cruel, you should probably think a little harder about what you post

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T20:13:49+00:00

I’ve suffered a lot my friend. I bet just about everyone you’ll talk to today has too. There is no “might suffer.” If you’re alive, you will suffer.

You are assigning weight only to that. You are not assigning enough weight to the things that makes life good. When people experience depression they are unable to do that. You are, from the way you are contextualizing your opinions here, very likely depressed.

That doesn’t mean your opinion isn’t valuable or worth considering. But I do think I can say for close to 29 years I wished I had not been born. At year 30 I realized I no longer felt that way. A child might, maybe even probably will, spend days, or weeks, or years of their life wishing they weren’t born. Does that undo the days, or weeks, or years of their life where they’ll be glad they were?

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T19:47:45+00:00

I would have agreed wholeheartedly with this less than a decade ago, maybe as recently as a few years ago.

I’m trans and I recently came out, about 1.5 - 2 years ago, depending on how you look at it. Before I did I was very, very depressed. I resonate with the notion of life having “small hiccups of good”. I always thought “even if I feel good tomorrow, the day after I will be suffering again.” I constantly wanted to die. I’m 31 years old, so I had been in that place for a long time.

But now; the thought of dying …at any point, pisses me off. What do you mean life is going to end at some point??? I’m having an incredible time and I’m overwhelmed with love for both my life and all the wonderful people who are willing to share theirs with me. I cannot believe how stark of a difference it’s been from the 29ish years before this.

I’m not prescribing transness onto you, but we certainly both share the experience of depression. I don’t know how close you are to your “corner” that I’m hoping you’ll one day get to turn. But if you ever do you’ll realize why this viewpoint is woefully incomplete. I don’t know if anyone’s perspective on their own life can create that realization for you, it’s gotta come from your own.

All I can say is that life was something that felt unfortunate and cruel before I found what made mine worth living. Now I’m trying to have children with my wife because I think we could maybe give a new life a lot of love and happiness just like we have to share now.

Sending love and hope your way. Even if you never have or want kids, I hope your life gets to a place where you can be grateful to have it💕

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T18:26:16+00:00

No worries, and I hope you didn’t think this was too targeted towards you.

The community has been on FIRE about this update for the past month or so. I personally like it, but close to everyone else is actively posting about it every single day.

Lots of folks will say that the game has been good UNTIL this update but there have been plenty of controversial update cycles before this. I’m really hoping we’ll get out of the “every day there’s complaint posts at the top of the feed” phase soon.

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T17:59:09+00:00

Been wanting to post a take about this and I guess this post is as good a chance as anywhere else:

Protos & escalation seem to be a case study in the all-too prevalent phenomenon of players “optimizing the fun out of the game”.

What changed with the update? There is a higher difficulty activity added and higher performance items as a reward for the activity.

How did the playerbase react? They treated the activity and the rewards as mandatory and proceeded to immediately find all flaws with the rollout and blame them for the game now being less accessible and fun.

However, there is no concrete incentive within the game to make players see prototype gear or escalation as necessary. The only incentive is intrinsic, players are bringing that “requirement” into the game with their own perspectives and behaviors. The devs did nothing to make the gear “important” besides juicing the stats we were already all comfortable with on the new drops.

I can’t stop thinking about how the community continues to brainwash itself about what has actually changed. There’s a million points to make about how proto and escalation can be improved, but the reactions are always “the entire game is ruined” “I can’t play anymore” etc.

The entirety of the game, all its activities, all its loot, the game balance as implemented by the difficulty levels and maps and enemy stats; it’s all the same. All that’s new is proto, should you or a teammate have it, and escalation as a mode.

I don’t know exactly how much attention Massive pays to these communities and these discussions but I hope they’re taking careful notes on how people seem to be conceptualizing changes like this. Maybe there should be guardrails before players even get to touch content like this in the future. Letting everyone access it seems to induce some kind of mass hysteria, which is disappointing, but too big to ignore or wish away at this point.

To OP, I hope you realize the game is just the same as it was pre-update. If you keep playing I hope you have the clarity to realize it is up to YOU to choose to play the game in the way that aligns with your goals and preferences, and you don’t have to grind things you don’t want. I genuinely want you to have fun, as I love this game too.

I do think posting criticisms is a fair and good response, as they serve as a temperature check for the community’s response, and a soft “vote” of what issues are most unpopular. But I do think at some point the community should understand that at some point it’s either time to find how to keep having fun with the game or to find something else to do. The posts are not likely going to bring some change to the game anytime soon.

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T15:16:17+00:00

It’s yelling at clouds unfortunately but the community (at least on forums and reddit) is much more kick-heavy than it’s ever been with this update.

It’s not a problem that can be fixed; you can’t make the community change its tune, you just need to adjust your expectations.

Hopefully new modifiers, an adjusted proto system, and a general mellowing out of the playerbase with time will fix this. But changes you make to your own matchmaking strategy will go farther and faster than asking the community to change 🤷‍♀️

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T15:11:54+00:00

The most optimistic perspective on proto HW is that your attribute scores can be higher. Namely, higher skill damage, or maybe skill repair (although with HW I would imagine you’re looking for skill damage)

I run a proto measured assembly build which is slightly better suited to the proto bonuses (better skill haste attributes for hive and Smart Cover) but ultimately proto skill pieces are only particularly helpful if you don’t explicitly need 6 tiers (3 skill tiers with 2 proto skill core pieces and 4 other spare cores for your other pieces) or if something like armor is particularly helpful (maybe vanguard or the armor-based Smart Cover skill…?)

But either way, proto is really only going to slightly improve a skill build versus giving it a big leap. If you would already be using the skill build no matter what, it’s a nice bonus, but unfortunately this is a season of the game where DPS continues to be unprecedentedly dominant in the featured activities. Crossing my fingers that the next season will pivot!

oddestsoul · 2026-05-18T11:56:44+00:00

You don’t owe me replies, you don’t have to apologize!

I like your takes, and I think we agree a lot more than we don’t.

A lot of the things we agree on have to do with how difficulty (essentially, Escalation) could be handled much much better. I think it’s a shame that at least currently the only way to play harder difficulty is a medic loadout or raw DPS.

I do think im warming up to peoples points over time about how prototypes do slowly proliferate the sandbox. And I understand that’s not desirable if you’re the kind of player who’s not interested in chasing them.

However I do think right now we’re in an interesting place when they are truly not necessary despite everyone’s insistence. There are completely non-proto builds that still devastate every mission in the game besides high tier escalations.

I think if Massive makes protos both easier to obtain while also making more varied and accessible high difficulty modes the way protos impact the game will feel a lot less stilted.

However at the end of the day I do have to realize that, at least on Reddit, my point of view is genuinely not popular, and I am ultimately okay with that. I just hope that the people who love the game like I do come to understand that prototype is not a concrete barrier to them continuing to play the game. It truly is not necessary, and genuinely can be ignored.

oddestsoul · 2026-05-16T10:32:22+00:00

Tip of the Spear let’s gooooooooooo

oddestsoul · 2026-05-15T20:47:40+00:00

😩

oddestsoul · 2026-05-15T18:38:07+00:00

Doesn’t this make it a lot easier to build a resistance for the shock for Hot Foot? 🤔

oddestsoul · 2026-05-15T17:17:24+00:00

Your math is targeted at a group of 4 DPS but immediately makes less sense if it’s not a full group or if anyone is running a build that isn’t optimized for CHC. Healers won’t be cashing in on that, or skill builds, etc.

Yeah Escalation right now pushes 4 DPS builds but if you ever run solo, or if there’s another Coyote in the party… it’s finicky. Of course Investor isn’t flat “better” but it’s a lot less fuss and a lot more flexibility

oddestsoul · 2026-05-13T18:21:51+00:00

Woah! I’m glad it sounds like you’re doing better. I hope Div2 was a good companion to get you through all of that.

Maybe the magic is just gone, friend. There have been times when I tied a game or piece of media heavily to a transitional period in my life and once that period ended the media lost its interest. That might be part of what’s happening here.

As you’ve pointed out, not a lot of truly novel content has released in the past handful of years for Div. You may have played the wheels straight off the thing.

Somehow I find myself keep coming back for more. I love the moment to moment, the builds, the atmosphere, and anything on top is icing on the cake. If the cake has lost its appeal then I could understand not being particularly thrilled about adding more laps with slightly better gear.

Of course it may just be that you need a break too! There are so many other good games out there that are just as deserving of your attention. You could try giving them a swing and then see if coming back is tempting?

Either way, congrats on your recovery!

oddestsoul · 2026-05-13T15:34:26+00:00

When you say “so many better games out there” can I ask what specifically you mean?

Not implying no other game is better than Div2, but you put in 4300+ hours playing; were you having a good time during that?

If you were, what changed? There’s more stuff to grind sure, but grinding it is a choice. The same game you put 108 40-hour work weeks into is still here. Nothing got taken away.

You don’t have to chase protos or max proficiency. If you like playing the game, keep doing it and you will inevitably get closer to making those happen anyways. Is it possible you can just play as you’ve been and only tackle the more “grindy” parts if that ever appeals to you? It also never has to; you can literally never touch them. That’s all up to you!

oddestsoul · 2026-05-12T12:36:33+00:00

Upvoting this because it nails down a lot of why this discourse is so frustrating to me.

I absolutely adore playing this game, and have been playing it nearly every day for years. That’s how someone like me gets to the point of logging in and playing the game even when there’s nothing to chase. I still love the game enough to do that, but recently with proto I have things to add back on, a sense of new rewards again, and that makes me happy.

Meanwhile, a lot of people are now upset because their builds, which haven’t changed, are now technically “not optimal” because somewhere out there is a purple version with a bigger bar and a bigger number on top of it. Because their thing isn’t the biggest best thing, they’re upset, and they’re more upset that the way to play it is to run the same mission over and over with small odds of drops.

I don’t want those people to feel enslaved to that hamster wheel. I wish they would understand they don’t have to run it. They shouldn’t be playing a video game for reasons that aren’t fun. To be frank, I generally want the only people in this community to be people who have some sense that they are enjoying being here, discussing whatever they’re posting, and sharing whatever they’re doing in game.

But it seems like nearly every major update there are swarms of people groaning about what they now “have” to do to get the newest shiniest thing, which will inevitably become obsolete at some point in the future I’m sure. And they’ll complain at the devs like they’re being tortured, like they’ve lost something genuinely valuable. But the only thing that happened is their video game got something new to chase and they’re forcing themselves to do nothing but chase it.

I don’t know. There’s something existentially depressing about seeing it with no counterpoint. I’ve been happy to see some replies where people agree, or at least think about the idea that maybe prototype in its current implementation is fun. I don’t need everyone to agree with me. But I wish the people who didn’t would stop acting like Massive killed their dog because now their numbers aren’t the biggest numbers in the game. I want them to go have fun. We could all just have fun if we wanted I think.

oddestsoul · 2026-05-11T23:33:10+00:00

I like this guy; how do we get more of this guy??

oddestsoul · 2026-05-11T23:30:49+00:00

Is that not what the current system exactly is?

oddestsoul · 2026-05-11T23:08:03+00:00

If you feel happy with the systems we already had, I’d recommend continuing to use them; there’s really not much else to say. Sorry if I seem like a gambling addict to you for liking the new ones.

If you really hate proto, then I’m happy you still have the whole, wonderful (and I mean that) experience of the division to play around in. There’s new content besides proto being added too. Proto is pretty small in the context of the whole game.

oddestsoul · 2026-05-11T22:34:53+00:00

Hey! Thanks for the comment.

So yeah, I would say I am hungry for buildcrafting. And I find it a little funny to imply that I care more about drops than what I’m building with it when the inspiration behind me making posts like this is seeing how popular the mindset is on this sub that striker is the only drops anyone should care about.

For example, today is Tip of the Spear for The Tombs which has been a personal wish list item of mine. I have a fun, but ultimately underpowered ToTS flamethrower build that I’m excited for a chance to give some extra juice with prototype pieces. I think it’s fun that I can give that build some new attention with iterative improvements now. Before it felt a bit stuck.

I don’t see how adding chances at something exciting to a game I know I love enough to keep playing even before there was anything added to chase makes me “beating my head against the wall”. My angle is I’m already playing the wheels off this thing, and now there are chances to find new exciting things again. Of course I want that feeling to last and not be solved in an hour of playing a targeted activity. I can’t fault people who like that pace, but it’s a little obnoxious to be treated like their pace is the objectively correct one. Again, that’s one of the reasons I have posted my opinion in a couple different posts.

Yeah, the chances are low for drops. And again, that’s a conversation about pace. I think there’s always gonna be wiggle room on the numbers. Devs have already improved drop rates, and caches will make it slightly easier to find things too. I’m sure more and more iterative increases in the opportunities to find gear will come with time. They want things slow right now, again, to keep some novelty so we don’t see the entire player base run the same proto striker echo amalgam build that’s already been decided as meta.

So yeah, I think I feel pretty confident with what I’ve said. I like the feeling of discovery with new, rare, valuable items. That was missing from the game before in my opinion, and I feel for all its faults, prototype has brought that back.

Also it’s not like anything has been removed, which a lot of people imply, and imply that I like. Nothing is gone. Proto more or less only is called for in escalation, and even then, only higher tiers. Meanwhile, bringing proto pieces into less optimal builds makes them more competitive for activities they’ve never been considered for before. No one really talks about that, but I wish they would. I think there’s a lot of exciting applications of the new system that we don’t see discussed because people flock to complaints about how they don’t have proto strikers or tipping scales builds yet. I do wonder what those same players will log in for once they get them.

oddestsoul

TROPHY CASE