There’s just over a week until the release of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. With that in mind, Ubisoft have released a bit more about the upcoming looter shooter with the game’s launch trailer, more details about the endgame and a mobile app. We’ll start with the trailer first. Set to a remix of Bob Dylan’s “Master of War”, the trailer features plenty of shooting, explosions and everything else you’d expect from something with the Tom Clancy name attached to it.
Ubisoft have already provided some information about their endgame plans for The Division 2 as they’ve been building the game with an “endgame first” mentality. In their latest “State of the Game” video broadcast on Twitch, senior game designer Trick Dempsey joined Hamish Bode to discuss the endgame some more. For those who may not have a spare thirty-five minutes or so to listen to it in detail, a helpful summation was provided on the game’s subreddit.
Strongholds vs. Missions
Strongholds are vastly bigger, and meaner, than missions. Strongholds will be important to the plot development of the game and are extremely significant. Missions will need to be completed before attempting Strongholds. The concept of Strongholds are introduced very early on in the main campaign, but the concept becomes ramped up in the Endgame.
What happens when you hit level 30?
- During the main campaign you’ll be working thru a bunch of Missions and a handful of Strongholds to get to the final Stronghold that remains locked until you reach level 30. At that point, it will be unlocked and revealed. Once that final Stronghold is completed, World Tier 1 is unlocked, Tidal Basin is revealed and the living world will completely change.
- Previously established control points that you’ve captured suddenly become dynamic as the Black Tusk faction comes into play and factions are pushed into the open world. Previously established fast travel locations are no longer available and must be re-established. Most importantly, due to the influx of the Black Tusk, Specializations are introduced because “you’re gonna need a bigger gun.”, and you’re vastly weaker in relation to the new faction.
World Tiers 1-3 Unlocked
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3 Strongholds, that were previously faction based Strongholds, will now be repopulated with Black Tusk and need to be retaken. Those will have 2 invaded missions that are tied to each Stronghold.
- After completing the first Stronghold, you’ll progress to the next World Tier 2. Finishing the second will push you into World Tier 3 and finishing the last of the 3 Strongholds will push you into World Tier 4.
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“The Snitch” & The Deck of 52 becomes active
- 52 Named bosses, each faction matching a suit, that will award you loot and commendations for “completing the deck” and getting their cards. They won’t spawn again until your deck is complete.
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Cassie Mendoza “The Gun Runner” is revealed
- A roaming random spawn vendor that cycles every day and a half that will have special loot/guns that scale to your World Tier.
World Tier 4
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Priority Target Network - An interconnected set of 7 tiered Bounties inside of different named zones that scale in difficulty as you progress thru them (progression similar to the “hard”, “challenging” & “heroic” ways that were familiar to players in TD1).
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A final Stonghold “Tidal Basin” will need to be completed to move into World Tier 5
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Bounties (this is not endgame, but was discussed after the Priority Target Network to explain how they happen)
- During the campaign you’ll meet Otis Sykes and you’ll get access to bounties that you spend Target Intel to play.
- Target Intel is garnered thru mission completion and endgame content.
World Tier 5
TBD later - gotta keep you guessing and excited.
Finally, there will be the mobile app called ECHOs. Accessed through Facebook Messenger as well as combining augmented reality and geolocation tech, users will be able to unlock over fifty “Echo Stories” that showed what happened in Washingto n D.C in the seven months following the initial attack on New York City in the original game. These stories will be unlocked by players travelling to specific points of interest — in participating cities, at least — like schools, stores and banks and doing so will unlock exclusive rewards in the full game. You can see the idea in action in the trailer for ECHOs below.
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will release on March 15th.
