As for those overhauled mechanics? A lot has changed, and it's mainly for the better. There have been "many improvements" to enemy AI, and it takes less time overall to kill them. Scavenging has been removed from the game entirely, for that matter, and you now progressively heal when you're outside of combat. Weapons and armor have seen significant rebalancing as well. To top it off, skills behave very differently -- there's no longer a cap, but you face diminishing returns the higher your skill levels get.

It's hard to say if the update will inject new life into The Division, although it at least clears the way for the DLC that Ubisoft had delayed for the sake of the new patch. From a cursory glance, though, the update appears to tackle some of the biggest complaints with online role-playing games of all kinds, especially shooter RPGs. You not only have more reason to play past the usual endgame, but should spend less time grinding or licking your wounds.