The Division 2 DPS Builds Guide For New Players

The Division 2 DPS builds guide would help you make a good DPS build as it is one of the most important types of build in the game. DPS (Damage Per Second) is all about raw damage and this damage directly comes from the weapon, unlike skill build. Certain builds depend on skills to some extent for more damage but the primary function of a DPS build is weapon damage. A DPS build includes critical hit chance, critical hit damage, and weapon damage. For maximum damage, players have to use all red cores.

Red cores (damage cores) are important for all types of DPS builds. It doesn’t really matter if you are using an LMG, Rifles, SMG, Marksman Rifle, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, or Pistol. The Red core would impact the amount of raw damage that your weapon does. The number of red cores you use depends on the type of build you are making. The goal of a DPS build is doing maximum damage in the shortest amount of time. If you want maximum damage then red cores are the way to go.

The Davison 2 DPS Builds Guide (Damage Types)

There are multiple ways to make a DPS build but the basic strategy is similar. A DPS built primarily depends on critical hit chance and critical hit damage. However, other types of damage types also play a key role in a build. The Division 2 has several types of damage types for weapons which include damage to target out of cover, damage to armor, critical hit damage, headshot damage, weapon damage, and damage to health.

The most common types of damages are critical hit damage, weapon damage, and headshot damage. Damage to health, damage to armor, damage to target out of cover can only be found on specific pieces. In TU 12.1 Damage to Target out of Cover is only available on weapons and a named overload knee pad called Fox’s Prayer.

The combination of different damage types would result in a DPS build. The Division 2 DPS builds guide helps you make builds with different types of damage, gear pieces, and weapons.

Critical Hit Chance and Weapon Handling

Primarily, players use critical hit chance and critical hit damage along with weapon damage for a DPS build. However, you can add different damage types for an extra buff to the build. Critical hit chance is not a damage type but rather a chance to do extra damage. It gives you a chance to do Critical Hit Damage. The maximum cap for critical hit chance is 60% and you can’t go beyond that. It means that every six shots in ten will do critical hit damage. Talents can give an extra buff to your critical hit damage making it even higher.

Weapon handling has no direct impact on the output of a player’s damage. However, it does play an indirect role in increasing the number of shots you land on enemies. Weapon handling includes three attributes accuracy, stability, and reload speed. Stability is recoil and adding more stability to a weapon would reduce its recoil.  Accuracy is the landing of bullets inside the crosshair. With more accuracy, the bullets will travel straight inside the crosshair. Reload speed is the amount of time it takes to reload a weapon. The combination of all three attributes would not only help you land more shots but also let you spend less time on reloads. The Davison 2 DPS builds guide helps you understand the types of damage and the amount of damage.

Different Weapon Types

The basic concepts of for all the DPS build is similar but the types of damage you use would change the outcome. Each weapon type has two base cores and an extra slot for different types of attributes. One of the two base cores is weapon damage which is the same for all types of weapons. The second base core is different for each weapon type but it’s the same for weapons of a similar class. You can change the third core of all weapons to a different type of damage or attribute. The Division 2 DPS builds guide will help you understand the damage of each weapon type.

Assault Riles have damage to health as their secondary core. No matter which assault rifles you equip the secondary core for AR would remain the same.

LMGs have damage to target out of cover as their secondary core. DMG to target out of cover on an LMG not swappable. The extra core is the only changeable attribute on LMGs.

SMGs have critical hit Chance as their secondary core and it cannot be changed. The third core can be swappable with any other type of attribute.

Shotguns have damage to armor for their secondary core. Damage to armor on a shotgun cannot be changed. Just like other types of weapons, you can change the third core of a Shotgun.

Marksman Rifles have headshot damage as their secondary damage type. You cannot change headshot damage on Marksman rifles but like other weapon types, you can change the third core to any other.

Rifles have critical hit damage as their secondary core. The critical hit damage cannot be changed but the third core of rifles can be changed to any other attribute available.

Understanding the Damage and Gear Pieces

The Division 2 DPS builds guide will help understand the gear pieces. There are different gear pieces with different attributes. Each gear piece has one primary core and two secondary cores. All of the gear piece’s cores can be changed to other types of attributes. Even the primary damage core can be changed to a blue armor core or a yellow skill core. All gear pieces have three attributes. Equipping one gear piece will activate the first attribute. The second will unlock the second attribute and the third piece would unlock the third attribute.

Gear pieces with red cores usually have damage attributes that complement other attributes of a build from different pieces.  A gear piece with a red core will have weapon damage, critical hit damage, critical hit chance, damage to armor, damage to health, headshot damage, or weapon handling. Depending on the gear pieces you can make a DPS build with a different type of damage.

The Division 2 DPS builds guide (Talents on Weapons and Gear Pieces)

Each weapon has talent and mod slots. There are different talents and depending on talents, a weapon could function differently. Some talents work best with skills while other work on their own. There are two types of talents for a DPS build. Some talents would activate just by firing a weapon while other need kills. Such talents only activate after you achieve a kill. Any subsequent kill after that would refresh the buff as long as the requirements of that talent are met. Weapon talents have a large impact on the playstyle and effectiveness of a build. You have to use talents that work best with the type of build you are using.

Talents can only be found on the chest pieces and backpacks. No other armor piece has talent on it. Before The Warlords of New York talents were present on all pieces but that’s not the case now. Talents also play a major role in increasing the efficiency of a build. For a DPS build you need a talent that gives you weapon damage. The most powerful talent for weapon damage is Glass Cannon. This talent gives you 25% weapon damage (30% with Perfect Glass Cannon). At the same time, it increases the damage you take by 50% (60% with Perfect Glass Cannon).

Glass Cannon talent is only available on the chest piece. The talents make your character extremely fragile. Other talents can also give you extra damage. However, other talents either take time to activate or their damage is lower. Talents for backpack and chest pieces are different. A DPS build can change depending on the talents you are using.

Mods and Attachments For Weapons and Gear

Players can use different modes to increase the efficiency of their builds. Attachments are universal for both weapons. You can use any attachment with any weapon regardless of the weapon type. However, certain attachments are not available for some weapons. Certain variants of under barrels and muzzles might not be available for some weapons. Some weapons might not even have a slot for an under-barrel or muzzle.

You can use different attachments to increase critical damage, critical chance, reload speed, optimal range, magazine size, headshot damage, stability, accuracy, rate of fire, and weapon damage. Certain attachments are specialization exclusive, so you would need to activate the specialization of that mode to unlock it. Attachments are items that can’t be discarded and they can be used with every weapon regardless of their level.

Mods are available on only three pieces of the gear set. Mask, Chest piece, and Backpack are only gear sets with a mod slot. One mod can be placed in each piece. For a DPS build you would need to equip critical hit damage mod, critical hit chance mod, or headshot damage mod depending on the requirement. These three are the only damage mods available for builds in TU12.1. Attaching a good mod can give a massive boost to a build depending on the quality of the mod. The Division 2 DPS builds guide will help you understand the importance of mods.

Named Items and Exotic Items

Named items are high-quality items that excel in one of the attributes. A named weapon or gear piece would have a perfect version of talent or an attribute that is not available on any other gear piece or weapon. Fox’s Prayer is named Overlord knee pads that have damage to target out of cover. This damage type is not available on any other gear peace. Contractor gloves are named Petrov gloves with damage to armor. A named chest peace or a backpack will have the perfect version of a Talent. Chain killer is a named chest piece of Walker Harris & Co. and it has Perfect Head Hunter talent. The Sacrifice is named Providence chest piece with Perfect Glass Cannon. Named gear pieces would have better attributes and talents than a normal one. The specific attribute or talent of a named piece cannot be changed.

Exotic items are high-quality guns and gear pieces with exceptional talents and attributes. An exotic piece would have a talent even if it is a mask, kneepad, gloves, or holster. Exotic gun or gear piece will have unique talent or attributes or both making them more powerful. There are different types of exotic pieces and weapons.

Every type of weapon has an exotic gun. There are exotic Assault Rifles, Rifles, SMGs, LMGs, Shotguns, Marksman Rifles, and Pistols. Players can only equip one exotic gear piece at a time. At the same time, players can only equip one exotic weapon at a time. So a player can equip one exotic gear piece and one exotic weapon at a time.

The Division 2 DPS Builds Guide For Different Types of Builds

Now let’s discuss the process of making a build. Generally, three gear pieces of Providence perform well for a common DPS build. Providence gear set has three of the major attribute required for damage. One-piece would give you 15% headshot damage, Two pieces would give you both 15% headshot damage and 10% critical hit chance, Three pieces would give you 15% headshot damage, 10% critical hit chance, and 15% critical hit damage.

You can use Fox’s Prayer for 8% damage to target out of cover. It will also give you 10% rifle damage. Along with that, you can either use Contractor gloves, Ceska Yaroba gloves, or Grupo Sombra S.A. gloves. Contactor gloves are named Petrov gloves. It would give you 8% damage to armor and 10% LMG Damage. A Grupo Sombra S.A. piece will give you 15% critical hit damage and Ceska Yaroba would give you a 10% critical hit chance. You can use any one of these parts to max out your critical hit chance and critical hit damage. If you want more weapon damage then you can use a Walker Harris & Co. piece or any other weapon damage piece. Using a Coyote mask is also an option as it gives extra buff to critical hit chance and damage.

Summary of The Division 2 DPS Builds Guide

The Division series has one of the most amazing build systems in looter shooters. In fact, it is one of the most complicated build systems in video games. Updates have made it easier to make builds and in TU 12.1 the build system is simpler than ever before. The ability to save multiple builds and change them on the go makes it all the better. Even after all the updates the game still has a complicated build system compared to other games. The Division 2 DPS Builds Guide gives you all the basic information to help you in making your DPS builds.