Division 1.4 update release

It's official, 1.4 drops for all platforms next Tuesday, October 25th:

http://www.inquisitr.com/3616374/the-division-1-4-patch-dated-during-state-of-the-game-expect-world-tiers-and-more-on-tuesday/

The update will be about 11 GB on PS4, about 6 GB on XB1, and probably somewhere in between for PC.  No official release date was given for Survival, just that it should be this year and that it will release on XB1 and PC first and then PS4 a month later.  

On a side note, for those of you that are baseball fans (#GoCubsGo), Game 1 of the World Series will be that night in Cleveland.  Unfortunately for me, I had a comp day to schedule for next week and poorly chose Monday the 24th, so it will be probably not until the weekend before I'll get to enjoy the shinny newness that is 1.4.

1.4 dropped. HUGE changes to the game.

Fixed a lot of stuff that needed tweaking but also rebalanced wpns and AI. Elites and Vets show up everywhere so you will run into major firefights just trying to get from one mission to another (much like DZ). And the LMB swarm like locusts. Ammo conservation and stealth are more of a high pri now even after the bump up in how much you can carry.

AI wpns are more deadly (I hate those Riker shotties) and Armor is the new coin of the realm, not so much DPS, although you can get huge jumps in DPS levels when you mod wpns versus before. I had to redo my entire arsenal and change out all my gear items (vest, gloves, kneepads, etc.). Loot drops everywhere, especially in caches (field proficiency, combat, etc.) that give you significant wpn and gear level items and credits.

Much of this is predicated on where you set your world level. They downgraded everyone's gear level, i.e. I went from 220 pre-drop to 205, so now you can set the game to a specific world level that will then configure AI, gear levels you can get and other backoffice stuff. While in the map, you hold the Y button and a menu comes up that IDs each world level and recommends what gear level you need to be and what you can get. World level 4 is the highest (much like setting normal, hard, challenging, etc.). I'm in WL 4 bc my 205 level allowed me to select it and HELLO! Missions I had wired before left me bleeding in the streets. (HINT - set one of your talents for support station - I revived myself multiple times while it was deployed which saved a few HVT missions for me.)

You can gain more Credits in multiple ways which is better especially since they hiked the prices on what you can buy with credits - same for cash (prices are mid-high 6 figures for everything high end). Consolidated some vendors and offer more items to purchase.

Don't know what the new DZ and UG look  like yet.

I'll echo what  Cav says.  There's a lot of much needed changes that were made that have made the game more like a Diablo looter - tons of loots that are level appropriate and you just have to decide what you want to play.  I ended up getting a handful of high end items that I paired with some gear sets for my alt and when I set her up with some new weapons and swapped her skills she's a ended up with a better build than my main, and she still needs some tweaks and fine tuning.

With the roaming mobs and bosses in the LZ dropping level appropriate loot, I haven't taken the time to venture into the DZ, Underground, or try the daily missions.  I've done some HVT to get PC so I can buy items from the various vendors, but often times by playing for an hour or two someone in the group will get the item you want to drop. I am curious to see how Underground and the dailies will feel in 1.4, so I'll probably give them a go soon, but it might take a bit before the BF1 shiny wears off.