DPS - a class focused on dealing damage | Roles and character builds The Division Guide

Last update: 03 June 2016

General information

A class oriented around dealing damage with a firearm is probably the most popular one in the game at the moment - you won't need a good team for it to work, it can be used while playing solo, and it's quite effective when venturing to the Dark Zone and fighting with other players (PvP).

Your main goal will be to get the highest possible damage output (DPS), while still having a fairly decent amount of health in order to not die from a single bullet. Unfortunately, focusing on extremely high damage will require you to fight from a considerable, safe distance, while staying behind a solid cover, otherwise you will be dying all the time. This can be solved by playing in a team with a good tank, who will attract all the enemy attention to himself.

What is important about this build is how customizable it is - you can sacrifice some of the damage in order to get more health, or do something completely opposite, focusing solely on damage output while risking getting killed from a single bullet.

Key attributes

Things that are required for this build to work are as follows:

• High DPS value - depending on the weapon you will be using, as well as the amount of health you want to have, this value will reside between 120,000 to even 200,000 DPS. The higher the value, the better. Remember to not increase it by any means - more on that subject can be found in the "Weapon parameters" chapter.
• Focusing on Firearms stat. Your absolute minimum will be to reach about 2,300-2,400 points in Firearms, but you should aim to reach, or even break the 3000 points barrier. Remember that each point of Firearms increases the damage of your weapon by 1%.
• Armor. Everyone needs it, and a character focusing on getting the highest DPS possible is no different. This will decrease the amount of damage you receive from enemy bullets. Remember that armor has no impact on the amount of damage received from other sources (you will need exotic resistance for that). An optimal value should be between 4,500 to 5,000 points of Armor. You shouldn't increase it further, as the amount of damage reduction quickly diminishes with when armor value exceeds 5,000 points. You can also play while having a lot less armor that the recommended amount, but some of the enemies will be able to kill you with a single bullet as soon as you poke your head behind a cover.
• Damage vs Elites. Most of high-leveled enemies are classified as "elite", which means that you will be dealing more damage to them with this attribute. Each 1% of "Damage vs Elites" will increase the amount of damage you deal against those foes by 1% as well. The more bonus you can accumulate, the better.
• Enemy armor damage. Practically any high-leveled enemy will have an armor, which will decrease the amount of damage your bullets deal. The bigger the bonus you can have, the easier it will be for you to break through their protection.
• Health. A bare minimum ranges from 50,000 to 60,000. You shouldn't go below that, as some of the enemies will be able to take you out with a single bullet.
• If possible, Skill Power ranging between 15,000 to 20,000. The higher the value, the bigger the benefits of skills (such as the Pulse) you will have.

Naturally, you will be able to play having lower values than those recommended above, especially because reaching them will take some time, but the above ones should be your final goal - if you manage to do so, your character will be extremely effective as a class focused on dealing damage.

Abilities and talents

Depending on whether you will be playing in a team, or solo, your abilities will differ slightly. However, the one you should always have on you is the Pulse, with the Tactical Scanner mod. It's one of the most powerful damage-enhancing abilities in the game - additionally, enemies marked by the pulse will be easier to spot.

As far as the second ability goes, you can choose:

• A Turret with the Dragonbreath mod. This ability is extremely effective if enemies rush you constantly and attack you from a close distance. Enemies set on fire will be unable to do anything for a few seconds.
• Smart Cover with the Recharger mod. This ability gives all the things that you might need, it reduces incoming damage, increases your own damage, and the Recharger mod decreases cooldown times of your abilities and will replenish some of your health.
• Support Station with the Ammo Cache mod. In your case this ability is not about healing (but it surely comes in handy nonetheless), but about replenishing ammo (each time you reload your weapon while in the Support Station zone you will get a free magazine for your weapon) and reducing cooldown times of your abilities.

The selection of the second ability depends solely on whether you will be playing solo (Turret is the best for this scenario), or in a team - and if you're part of a team, check what abilities your allies use and pick those that are needed the most.

When it comes to the Signature Skill, you should without a doubt take the Tactical Link. This will give you (and your allies) a tremendous boost to damage output, and this whole build is all about it.

Talent which should be taken with this build are as follows:

• Tactical Advance - moving from cover to cover will give you a damage boost for every meter you run. Extremely useful when you are changing covers constantly.
• Wildfire or Steady Hands. The former should be taken when you are using a Turret with the Dragonbreath mod (it gives a chance to set adjacent targets on fire), whereas the latter should be taken when you aren't using a turret (it gives a bonus to accuracy after taking cover).
• Stopping Power - suppressing an enemy with fire will give you a boost to headshot damage.
• One is None - each time you hit an enemy in the head has a 50% chance to not use a bullet.

Equipment

You should focus on using a Marksman Rifle, coupled with an Assault Rifle (for medium-long range distance combat), or with a SMG (for short-ranged combat). Given your low health pool, you should keep your distance as much as you can - which means that an Assault Rifle will be a better choice here. Assault Rifles will deal less damage, as SMGs have a bonus critical chance stat on them, but you will be a lot safer fighting from a longer distance.

As far as weapon mods go, if you are playing in a team, you should install a silencer on it, with the Reduced Threat stat - this will make the enemies less likely to attack you. If you are playing solo, install something that increases your damage (giving, for instance, a chance to critically hit). In general, you should focus on: increasing the chance to critically hit, increasing the size of your magazine (available only to the magazine extension) and increasing accuracy (as you will be fighting from a long range).

The rest of your gear should have stats mentioned at the top of this chapter, and as far as their talents go, you should look for the following ones:

• Body Armor -Reckless talent. It's a double-edged sword, but it gives a huge boost to damage. Your character won't be the most durable either way, so you won't suffer much from the increased damage you will take.
• Mask - Rejuvenated talent. This will cause the medikits (upon usage) to remove all crowd control effects (which prevent you from using abilities, and, in most cases, from attacking).
• Backpack - Specialized talent. This will give a portion f your Firearms and Stamina as an additional Skill Power.
• Gloves - Savage talent. This gives additional damage against targets that are out of cover. If you want to get pure damage, take the Reckless talent (see Body Armor).
• Knee Pads - pretty much any talent you wish to use.
• Holster - Sturdy talent. This will give you a bonus to armor after staying behind the same cover for a few seconds, which nullifies the negative effects from the Reckless talent(s).

How to play

Your main task is to deal the highest possible damage with your weapon, and to get rid of enemies before they reach your position - which will end in you dying in a split second. In order to do this:

• If you aren't playing with your friends who are familiar with your playstyle, tell your allies that you are using a character that is built around dealing the highest possible damage and let them know which abilities you are planning to use. Thanks to that they will be able to take other skills, support you, and prevent you from dying.
• Don't' split from your team, as it will end up badly - in a quick death. You should stick to your team, who will be able to divert the attention of your enemies from your character, while you focus on dealing damage.
• Use your Pulse ability whenever it is ready. Not only that it will increase your damage significantly, it will allow you to spot enemies behind cover easily. Thanks to that you will be able to avoid a situation in which an enemy suddenly appears next to you.
• Place your Turret with the Dragonbreath in narrow passages, so that the enemy rushing your position will have to go near it. When the enemy is set on fire, focus all your attention on him to quickly get rid of the threat.
• If the enemy is firing at your position and suppressing you, hide behind cover and wait for a few seconds - someone from your team should attack that enemy as well. Thanks to the attention of the enemy will be diverted from you, allowing you to resume fire after a short while.