Division players best go convert all their materials tonight

It’s the smart thing to do

People who play Tom Clancy’s The Division would be wise to take a break tonight from saving New York City from looters and ne’er-do-wells. Instead, they should play the part of imaginary Jo-Ann’s Fabrics employees, laying all the crafting supplies out in the most efficient way possible.

With the arrival of Division update 1.1 tomorrow, the game’s crafting system becomes exactly half as economical. Right now, it takes five standard (green) materials to craft one specialized (blue) material; from there, five specialized materials are needed to craft one high-end (yellow) material. As of tomorrow, that ratio doubles to ten to one.

Making matters worse, getting materials is less efficient too. Deconstructing items will yield half the materials that they once did. For instance, deconstructing a superior (purple) backpack now gives two specialized fabrics; tomorrow, it will give just one.

The trade-off is that named enemies will now have a 100 percent drop rate of high-end items when defeated. Ubisoft is looking to refine the end-game loop and make it more reliant on killing rather than crafting. The idea is that if players aren’t getting the gear they’re trying for, they’ll eventually have enough materials to just make it. The developer doesn’t want players to craft as a first resort.

That’s tomorrow, though. In the meantime, players can (and should) hit the Base of Operations’ crafting station and break down everything and convert it to the highest tier possible. It’s just the smart and efficient thing to do.