On March 12, during a brief server maintenance downtime, Ubisoft stealth patched "Tom Clancy's The Division" game. Among the few changes implemented included are disabling the "Trained Talent" perk from any in-game weapon and nerfing the Phoenix Credit drop rate for Dark Zone bosses.
According to GameRant, the "Trained Talent" was disabled to prevent players from abusing the Midas SMG. However, the second change that consists in nerfing the Phoenix Credit drop rate has created controversy.
Previously, per each Dark Zone boss kill, players could get 10 Phoenix Credits and up. After the latest patch, that tally has dropped down to 1-3. This is certainly a harsh drop and "The Division" gamers community did not receive well the change.
Ubisoft explains the new patch on its "The Division" game forum, but did not offer a valid reason for its decision of nerfing the Phoenix Credit drop rate. Game experts believe that this measure might be motivated by a need to slow players' progress.
With Phoenix Credits dropping in large numbers and at such a high rate, players were able to pick up all of the best loot by quickly farming the end game currency. Any player who was able to reach end game status before Friday was likely to possess a full suite of high-end gear.
After the patch, it will be longer for a player to reach such status. Phoenix Credits are still available in Challenge Modes and Daily Story Missions, but certainly, new players will find themselves at a disadvantage. For a new gamer, it will take a substantial amount of hours just to achieve the same Phoenix Credit balance as those who used to farm pre-patch Dark Zone bosses.
Many new "The Division" players may never even know that Ubisoft nerfed Phoenix Credits. However, this is still a controversial move for the studio. There are some pretty disappointed players who feel that there were better ways to address things and who feel now at a disadvantage compared to others.
