‘The Division’ Incursions, Dark Zone Supply Drops, And Gear Sets Previewed By Ubisoft

Ubisoft Massive detailed the upcoming The Division 1.1 update in a Twitch livestream Thursday. The free update will bring the first Incursion to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC online shooter along with new sets of gear and weapons to try out. The full details on the new Incursion, Gear Sets, Dark Zone Supply Drops, and more await below.

The Division 1.1 update will hit all platforms on April 12 for free. The game’s lead designer, Mathias Karlson, and new game director, Petter Mannerfelt, were joined by the Community Manager Hamish Bode to introduce Incursions along with Gear Sets and Gear Score.

“Falcon Lost” Incursion

Incursions add new features and activities, including something more difficult than the existing Challenge Mode. They will require more teamwork than encounters that can currently be experienced in The Division. The rewards will, of course, be better. Teams that aren’t built with abilities that synergize well can expect to struggle.

The “Falcon Lost” Incursion is the first and takes place underground in the New York City sewers. The LMB, led by Captain Perez, have taken over a water treatment facility, which forces the Division agents to root them out. This was developed by the same team that did the missions for the Police Academy, Lexington Station, and others.

Enemies are level 31, and Incursion has two difficulties. It starts on Hard mode, which will require level 31 gear. A Gear Set is recommended for Incursions on Challenge mode difficulty. Mathias says it will require a high degree of focus for a long time to complete on Challenge mode. It took Ubisoft’s best team a couple of work days to beat the Incursion the first time. One of the encounters includes a face off against an armored personnel encounter (APC) that can not be destroyed just by shooting. There are different strategies to defeat it.

There are also drones that players will need to deal with. This will prevent players from camping in a single spot, as they have to deal with enemies that can roam freely around the map.

It’s important to note that there are no checkpoints for Incursion. If a team wipes, they must start all the way back at the beginning.

Matchmaking will be available in Incursions. Hard mode has a recommended Gear Score while Challenge mode has a required Gear Score. Rewards include new high-end weapons and Gear Sets. They can be completed as much as often possible. Completing it for the first time during a week will grant bigger rewards than the second, third, or fourth play-through during the week. This is on a per-character basis, so you can get the big bonus loot once per character every week.

Gear Sets and Gear Score

Four different Gear Sets. If you equip four items from a gear set, you will get a boost from a powerful talent. They are rare drops that can be acquired from playing the Incursion and Challenge mode. Some can be obtained from blueprints that can be purchased.

One gear set is called Path of the Nomad and is useful for the Dark Zone. This also means the individual items from the set can only be picked up from the game’s PVP area.

The other three Gear Sets are Sentry’s Call, Striker’s Battle Gear, and Technician’s Authority. Sentry’s Call is tailored towards those that prefer precise weapons like the Marksman Rifle. Striker’s Battle Gear is more towards the assault role. Tactician’s Authority is for an Electronics boost.

Players that reach level 30 will see item levels removed from their inventory and replaced by Gear Score. A player’s Gear Score will be determined by the armor and weapons that are equipped and can be seen by others. Equipping a minimum of four pieces from a Gear Set will give a Gear Score boost.

Gear Score will be used in matchmaking to determine the pool of players an individual will be matched with.

Assignments

Assignments are one of the new Daily and Weekly activities that can be completed for bonus rewards such as loot, Division Tech, and credits. These will automatically show up on the map and challenge the player to complete certain goals, similar to bounties in Destiny. These are for PVE areas, Dark Zone, and crafting.

Trading

Trading is also coming with The Division 1.1 update. Players can share loot with others in their group by dropping the item on the ground. This allows a friend in the group to pick it up. Trading can only take place between members in a group. Additionally, Dark Zone trading can only occur at a gate and not inside the PVP area itself. Items can be traded between members of the group when it was dropped for up to 2 hours.

Supply Drops in the Dark Zone

Ubisoft Massive will continue to tweak the Dark Zone. Supply Drops are one of those new features that will occur roughly every hour. They come with really good loot drops that can be collected by the first individual or group that reaches it. However, the supply drop is protected by named enemies and do not require extraction.

Miscellaneous

Spectator cam is coming to The Division. This will allow players to follow teammates while they are dead. The camera can be moved from player to player in the group and be swung around at different angles.

Existing weapons and armor will not be made obsolete with the new items being added with The Division 1.1 update. The variation in talents and rolls will keep older high-end gear viable.

[Image via Ubisoft]