The Season of the Backfire SMG

The Bleeding Edge: Why Everyone’s Running the Backfire SMG in The Division 2’s Y7S1

Agents, I need to debrief with Schaeffer, NO!, I am joking but I wish the devs would fix that bug. If you’ve been dabbling in Year 7 Season 1, “Crossroads,” you’ve undoubtedly noticed a recurring theme in your team compositions, enemy encounters, and even youtube build videos: the ubiquitous exotic Backfire SMG. It seems like almost everyone has embraced the chaos of this weapon, and for good reason. Let’s dive into why the Backfire is dominating the current meta and what makes a good build for this wild card of an SMG.

The Backfire: A Double-Edged Blade (Literally!)

The Backfire isn’t for the faint of heart. Its unique talent, “Fearless,” grants a stackable 1% critical hit damage buff for every 10,000 damage dealt to enemies. Sounds great, right? Here’s the kicker: reloading the weapon applies a bleed status effect to yourself for 10 seconds, scaling with the number of stacks you’ve accumulated. It’s a high-risk, high-reward proposition that, when managed correctly, transforms you into an unstoppable damage-dealing machine.

The Rise of Hazard Protection

The key to taming the Backfire’s self-inflicted bleed is Hazard Protection. This stat, often overlooked in previous metas, has become absolutely crucial for Backfire builds. By stacking enough Hazard Protection (ideally 100%), agents can completely negate the bleed effect on reload, allowing them to maintain their critical hit damage stacks without interruption.

This shift has breathed new life into gear sets and exotic pieces that offer Hazard Protection, such as the Umbra Initiative, or specific gear pieces like the Yaahl Gear mask. Players are experimenting with various combinations, including:

• Hazard Protection Tank Builds: Focusing on high armor and maximum Hazard Protection to simply ignore the bleed and face-tank enemies.
• Striker HazPro Builds: Combining the raw damage output of the Striker’s Battlegear with enough Hazard Protection to keep the Backfire’s stacks rolling. This offers a powerful blend of offense and survivability.
• Hunter’s Fury Hybrid: Leveraging Hunter’s Fury for its amplified SMG damage and armor-on-kill, while weaving in Hazard Protection pieces to manage the Backfire’s talent.
• Memento Builds: The Memento exotic backpack’s ability to grant bonus armor, skill efficiency, and weapon damage upon trophy collection synergizes well with the aggressive playstyle encouraged by the Backfire, especially when paired with Hazard Protection.

Why the Popularity Spike in Y7S1?

Several factors contribute to the Backfire’s current reign:

1. Renewed Focus on Close-Quarters Combat: With the introduction of new content and adjustments in enemy behaviors, close-quarters engagements feel more prevalent, favoring the high burst damage of SMGs.
2. Community Innovation: Agents are constantly theorycrafting and sharing optimized builds, and the Backfire’s unique mechanics presented an exciting challenge. The community has collectively cracked the code on mitigating its drawback, making it a viable and incredibly strong option.
3. Satisfaction of Risk/Reward: There’s an undeniable thrill in pushing the limits with a weapon that demands careful management. Successfully dancing around the bleed while dishing out immense damage is incredibly satisfying.
4. Accessibility: While exotic, the Backfire isn’t as rare or difficult to obtain as some other meta exotics, making it more accessible to a wider player base.

The Backfire isn’t just a powerful weapon; it’s a testament to the ingenuity of the Division 2 community. This season, it’s a thrilling ride of high-octane combat and calculated risk. So, if you haven’t already, grab your Backfire, stack that Hazard Protection, and get ready to shred through the streets of D.C. – just try not to bleed out!

What’s your go-to Backfire build this season?

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