ADR	All Damage Resistance	FA	Firearms or First Aid
ARM	Armor	FL	Falcon Lost
BiS	Best in Slot	HE	High End Yellow Gear
BoO	Base of Operations	HoK	Health on Kill
CHC	Critical Hit Chance	HSD	Headshot damage
CHD	Critical Hit Damage	OOC	Out of Cover (damage)
CS	Clear Sky	PFE	Protection from Elites
DN	Dragon’s Nest	RoF	Rate of Fire
DPS	Damage per Second	SP	Skill Power
DTE	Damage to Elites	STA	Stamina
DZ/LZ	Dark Zone/Light Zone	STG	Stagger
EAD	Enemy Armor Damage	TTBK	Time to be Killed
EDR	Exotic Damage Resistance	TTK	Time to Kill
ELE	Electronics	WT	World Tier

Fresh Level 30

There is no reason to not rush to T4 as soon as you launch the game, no matter where you start. Simply run missions and put on anything with a higher GS (as long as it's not electronics main-stat). Spending time and resources on gear you will not keep is silly, you want to get to T4 where gear actually matters and you're going to keep it/improve on it. Once in T4 you want to work on a basic outline of a build and get right into difficult content with a group preferably and get used to the rain of loot. Another fast way to get to T4 is earn credits and buying 229 gear at vendors located around the BoO.

1.3 vs 1.4 Gear

1.3 gear with good skill attributes on the Mask, Chest, and Gloves are going to be better than any 1.4 counterpart since they retain those stats and 1.4 gear does not drop those stats. As for Backpack, Holster, and Knees you can find replacements in 1.4 that have performance mod slots which will offer you more than 1.3 gear. As for what gearsets and guns to keep, check the detailed list below.

Where do I go to farm/get gear?

Everything is viable to farm right now. Personally see Weekly HVTs by farming in a group to be the best. Farming it with a group means you can usually purchase 3-4 Weekly HVTs, then collect intel from them and go purchase Daily HVTs. You will get about 60+ drops from doing this cycle in a couple hours or so. Typical story missions such as Lexington are great farms right now as they drop loot from boss, completion, trash mobs, and give you 30 PxC. Open world boss farming may be fun but really isn't the most efficient since you have to go from place to place to find the bosses and Incursions are not the most farm friendly due to long clear times (except Clear Sky) and only specific gear drops. I recommend only doing Incursions when you're desperate for a single type of gear set piece or need PxC in which case you should be running Clear Sky with a group and aim for sub 10 minute clear times for a whopping 100-120+boss drops in PxC. Another way to get fast PxC is buy sealed caches located in the Base of Operations and open them for PxC, as well as getting some loot to use or sell. Underground is definitely lacking a little in the amount of loot it gives but still a great start for anyone who's not a high UG level.

The DZ still proves to be the fastest loot farm, but of course with a risk. Considering ARs are actually pretty viable in PvP you can set up a pretty easy farming/fighting build as seen above to start grinding insane amounts of loot in there. Solo players can stick to lower zones if they would like and still get rained in a great amount of loot. Once you get to the min-maxing stage I highly recommend using this build to start looking for the perfect rolls. Keep your head down and avoid players, you'll be fine.

No loot is weighted in this patch, everything drops everywhere. If you're looking for something specific just keep grinding your favorite activity or run the corresponding Incursion.

What do I do with credits and PxC?

Vendors are amazing this patch. There are tons of vendors across the map all selling the highest tier of gear for considerably cheap with how much credits we earn. Downstairs in the terminal are two PxC vendors that you should always check closely and be sure to grab Firearms/Stamina gear mod blueprints because they're the only things worth crafting in large amounts. Don't be afraid to buy things that cost normal credits since they're so easy to earn, I often find myself buying extras just to roll for different stats. Be sure to check purple performance mods in the vendors as well, they often will have the same or similar stats to yellows (off by like 1%) and can still be used. These vendors reset every week at 8pm EST (Friday) so you have plenty of time to farm up for what you need.

Normal credits are used for rerolls but fortunately you won't be doing too much of that this patch considering what is BiS is very stale and flat. If you find yourself swimming in extra be sure to change it into PxC buy purchasing caches in BoO or simply buy caches to get rained in more gear. Yellow caches also drop gearsets.

PxC is a very important currency since you won't be exactly rained in it and it is used often. Between the PxC vendor and weapon rerolls I often find myself flying through this currency so unless you don't mind grinding it out spend it carefully.

Optimal PvE Builds

SP is no longer a good stat to spec heavily into, but still viable if you wish.

4 AlphaBridge/2 HE: Best balanced build all around for a solo player. Great utility, flexible for all gun types, great damage, and doesn't require any specific type of gameplay. This is the most popular build of 1.4.

3 Lonestar/3 Banshee: After some testing, LMGs were nerfed (fixed) going into 1.4. They still prove to be the best PvE weapons in the game but not by the longshot like they were before. This build is extremely high damage output and works best in a group. Use two LMGs with this and shred mobs apart.

3 Predator/3 Banshee: Technically higher DPS than AlphaBridge ARs, but lacking in utility. I only recommend this when running in a group and if you really enjoy ARs.

3 Hunters Faith/3 Banshee: As close as you're going to get concerning a sniper build. Make sure to stack headshot damage on our attachments and *aim* for the head. Decent amounts of damage output when paired with SVD/M44. Banshee > Sentry for 3 piece.

4 Sentry/2 HE: Using a shield with this, closest you're going to get with a Support type of build. Attempt to build increased threat and grab attention from mobs to tank and mark them. Honestly a DPS set will outperform this, but you can make this work and useful if you really wish. Run a cool-headed pistol and booster shot to spam heals. Decisive gloves are great here. Take Combat Medic (allies too) to keep your shield full health constantly. Godroll pistol and you can do quite a bit of damage with this setup.

4 Striker/2 HE: If you use specifically a SASG and fully automatic gun in second slot (like M60) this can be pretty good. Get stacks up fast then swap. This is a very interesting build to play around with and offers really good burst on single targets such as tanks.

High Ends: 2 HE > 2 piece from any gearset. Specialized is so good. Running a normal build with Specialized will grant you about 20k free skill power so you can reach around 95k. Savage gloves aren't a terrible choice if you want a small increase in damage, and all mask HE’s are very viable. Robust and Vigorous (not as good with new heal mechanics) are viable in PvE as well offering damage resis and allowing Support Station to overheal you. Use Decisive gloves if you decide to go for a shield build.

PvE Best in Slot Build

4-5k Firearms, 300-400k toughness, 95k SP

Gear Piece	Major Attributes	Minor Attributes
Chest	Armor & HoK/DTE	Ammo Capacity/Kill XP
Mask	+SP/DTE	Enemy Armor Damage
Knees	Armor	Enemy Armor Damage, Bleed Resis, Shock Resis
Backpack	Armor	Ammo Capacity/Bleed Resis
Gloves	Weapon Damage, DTE, HoK/CHC	-
Holster	Armor	-
Gear Mods	Firearms/Stamina	Armor

* Note that “/” = or | “,” = and

* All performance mod slots should be filled with First Aid Self Heal or Support Station Healing Speed

Optimal PvE Weapons/Talents

Honestly LMGs and ARs outclass everything else a decent amount. Shotguns and sniper rifles are very viable as well, but SMGs are by far the worst when it comes to PvE since they have no flat benefits to kill mobs such as EAD, OOC, or tons of stacked headshot damage. LVOA is currently best all around AR with ACR coming in as a close second while M60, Hungry Hog, and RPK dominate the LMG section. All sniper rifles and shotguns are roughly the same.

As for talents, always go for flat damage and skilled based talents such as Destructive, Responsive, Ferocious, Brutal, Unforgiving, Prepared, Competent, Skilled, Coolheaded, and Determined. Crit talents should not be specced into heavily, at the most one in the free slot on AlphaBridge. For AlphaBridge PvE what was listed above, and include Sustained if you rely on HoK.

All named weapons except a couple since the Caddy nerf can now be considered useless. My only exceptions are the Pahkan which can be viable since grips don't offer any insanely strong stats and the gun has good handling/DPS. Get the same talents on a Black-Market RPK and you're set though. The Hungry Hog as shown by WOBO can actually be useful now since its damage scaling has changed and it can get up to 10% extra damage as well.

Optimal PvE Skills

While many skills became viable, the scaling on some is still extremely poor. First Aid (specifically Booster shot) still feels like an absolute must (unless you're doing some crazy Relentless build) so opt for that and the other you can run anything that isn't exotic damage (Smart Cover, Support Station, Pulse, Flashbang, ect). If you're in a group that has a 24/7 pulse and SC going (if it's even needed) then feel free to go for some CC or stack another good as hell Support Station.

As for links, I see no reason for a group to do anything besides 3 Tactical and 1 Recovery. Skilled and cycling through them to clear content quickly and you really shouldn't ever be going down + Survivor link is terrible at the moment. Solo players should always take Recovery just incase, but elite players can feel free to go Tactical.

Optimal PvP Builds

4 AlphaBridge/2 HE: Legacy SMG with easily max CHC and Brutal, Deadly, Responsive, Unforgiving, Competent, Vicious is absolutely tearing through everyone and everything. Specialized to hit 95k SP and Savage for more damage. I wouldn't ever touch them in PvE but in PvP I don't mind using them since they benefit well from 6 talents and can be used well on the move. Example of mine during PTS

4 Predators Mark/2 HE: Very good as well, in my opinion the best 1v1 set. Proc bleed nonstop on the opponent and simply dance around them. Not so great against groups who will constantly reset your stacks. Both 2/3 piece are good for PvP in general so I can see it staying a popular set. Notice how much Bleed Resis I stack on BiS PvP gear, simply due to this set. Shrapnel talent can sometimes overwrite bleed making it do less damage, beware.

3 Lonestar/3 Banshee: Great in PvE due to the OOC damage, and even better in PvP. While you're not getting much utility but pumping 440 rounds of sustained damage. Often might lose in face to face burst type fights but is the god of sustained damage.

3 Sentry/3 Hunters Faith: Shotguns if anything with this build do even more damage than 1.3. I have around 415k toughness (pretty normal for a meta build) and some people can basically two shot me if they hit the head/even chest sometimes. This flat 30% headshot damage, with headshot damage on mods, booster, and competent is a one shot machine and I can only imagine will run console.

3 Hunters Faith/3 Banshee: My favorite build for sniper/automatic gameplay. This set can one to two shot players using the M44 and provides extremely strong face to face stats to a gun like the LVOA. I have been using this the most by far, if you can hit headshots with the M44 I recommend this strongly since you can kill downed players much easier now which makes snipers very viable.

4 Firecrest/2 HE: Actually...pretty good. If you understand how/when/where to place the turret you can really do damage to groups. Personally love this with a SASG so you can just spam people and hit that extra damage. Make sure to get performance mods with extra turret damage and truly be a new form of cancer. You can be countered easily by immune so be careful, best CQC set if played right.

4 Banshee/2 HE: OOC damage from set on top of LMG, on top of 4 piece bonuses is pretty damn good. Im sure farm heavy players will opt for this set as well and honestly the 2 piece isn't a complete waste considering all of the insane vendors around the map selling stupid amounts of gear.

4 Reclaimer/2 HE: It's...okay for a Support PvP set. If you build tanky and provide consumables at the right time you can still be a powerhouse. For PvE Reclaimer is dead because you can't keep consumables up 24/7 but you don't need them up 24/7 for PvP. Soda and Canned Food is extremely good so this is the only type of Support I can recommend.

High Ends: Specialized backpack is still best yellow to have here, and the other is really personal preference. You can go any of the really interesting Mask talents or even Robust/Rapid. I run Savage even if it gives only a tiny bit of damage. I dislike Vigorous right now because you can't run in and out of heals so its benefit is lackluster.

PvP Best in Slot Build

4-4.5k Firearms, 350-420k toughness, 95k SP

Gear Piece	Major Attributes	Minor Attributes
Chest	Armor, Health	Ammo Capacity
Mask	+SP	Burn Resis
Knees	Armor	Burn Resis, Bleed Resis, Shock Resis
Backpack	Armor	Bleed Resis
Gloves	Weapon Damage, CHC, CHD	-
Holster	Armor	-
Gear mods	Firearms/Stamina	Armor

* Note that “/” = or | “,” = and

* All performance mod slots should be filled with First Aid Self Heal or Turret Damage if running Firecrest

* You need only ONE firearms major roll on gear, then 4 firearms mods to hit around 3900. Rest are stam major and one stam mod.

Optimal PvP Weapons/Talents

Everything is actually pretty evenly viable in PvP. LMGs do best if hitting head, ARs do best when hitting body. Shotguns can demolish people up close, and M44 is deadly if you can hit good shots. After some testing by WOBO and I it seems that firearms scaling has changed so Legacy SMGs might not be OP as we all thought since they are going to scale to much lower base damage and crit in general is a bad stat. Legacy SMG feels alright in PvP so far but if you do use one be sure to hit 60% CHC cap. LVOA is an amazing AR for PvP, feels like an Mp7 from last patch and blows people up if you hit the head.

Talents are the same deal as PvE, flat damage is key! Brutal, Responsive, Competent are 3 best in slot talents for most weapons but Unforgiving is extremely good as well.

Optimal PvP Skills

As tradition, go for booster shot and almost whatever you want. Pulse isn't completely bad, SC is sort of okay for farming, and CC is always helpful. As a solo player I currently love Immune Station. Completely counters Predators Mark, Firecrest, and grenades (which are really good now) as well as giving a pretty strong heal. Groups running triage will run lots of boosters and CC so be aware. Considering the new heal changes I think solo vs group play is even more difficult now. BFB got a massive PvP nerf and requires stupid amounts of SP to even damage a player so personally would never build for this, but some builds can take advantage of it if they really spec into it and can follow up with damage.

Tactical link for solo/group play is really strong right now. Tactical just gives stupid amounts of damage and Survivor can be burnt through so easy. It's easier to turn a fight via Tactical than Survivor link. Recovery is good for solo player still and useful in face to face “stat” fights, especially when running Battle Buddy which gives 50% ADR after Recovery proc.

Weapon Attachments Best in Slot

Basic outline for all mods except Magazine is Headshot damage > CHC > CHD > Handling

Type	Major & Minor Attributes
Scope (Large)	HSD, CHC, CHD
Scope (Small)	CHD, CHC, HSD
Muzzle (Large)	HSD, CHC, CHD, Reduced Threat
Muzzle (Small)	CHC, HSD, CHD, Reduce Threat
Grip (Small and Large)	CHD, Opt Range/Accuracy, Reload Speed/Stability
Magazine	Size, CHC, RoF

* Note that handling > damage is okay if you feel you need it to hit targets

* You only need 12 (15 including pistol) mods total to have a BiS mod for each weapon(s) you'll use if you switch them

Character Talents

These are currently the strongest: One is None, Critical Save, Triage, Strike Back, On the Move, Battle Buddy (works on solo Recovery link), and Precision. Some really strong ones also worth running in some situations are: Tactical Advance, Tech Support, Steady Hands, Combat Medic (heals shield), Death by Proxy, and Chain Reaction for EDR talents.
Death by Proxy is great in situational PvE missions/incursions since you’re constantly destroying the enemies skills and can keep a 20% SP bonus up often. Note that Combat Medic works on your shield and all your skills, so use a medkit to heal them often. Also note that Critical Save now only works on medkits as intended, no longer all heals.

Grenades

Grenades are useful once again! All of them apply very important status effects that are vital in both PvP and PvE as well as quite a bit of damage. Make sure to use these a lot, they can save your life, secure you a kill, or apply constant CC better than most skills currently can.

TLDR

1.4 has shifted the meta concerning building, how to build that gear, what's best, and many other formulas to make the game more additive than multiplicative. Right now the basic guidelines are AR/LMG (flat damage talents) for PvE with armor rolls everywhere, SP on mask, enough FA or a little more to unlock talents, dump into stamina, and Specialized backpack to reach around 95k SP. Booster shot and anything is alright, specifically Smart Cover, Pulse, Support Station, and CC are good. Farm anywhere, check your vendors, and be picky with loot! There is so much being dropped you want to always be improving yourself and keeping your inventory as clean as it can be.

Have fun, and good luck Agents.

References

Division Reset Timers: https://division.zone/reset-timers/
Weekly Vendor Reset: http://rubenalamina.mx/the-division-weekly-vendor-reset/
Spydr’s Division Skill Calculator: https://goo.gl/ymgnxq
Official Division Discord: http://www.discord.gg/thedivision
Official Division subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision/
Full Patch Notes: https://goo.gl/Dq7StK
WOBO’s Youtube Channel: https://goo.gl/O5qua9
My 1.4 Meta Post: https://goo.gl/oj2rZp
My Current Builds: http://imgur.com/a/6q4Ld
Contact me: @rezhyn#5797 on Discord and /u/Rezhyn on reddit

* Note that this manifesto is updated often and will always feature up to date information

* Google Docs is not an excellent formatter and may lead to format issues on different platforms