Gamescom gave us a lot to talk about this year. We shared more on what is ahead for The Division 2, including Crossplay, our next DLC, a first tease of Season 4, and, of course, Red Horizon. If you missed the panel, you can catch up on everything we covered here.
Now it is time to turn our attention back to Washington, D.C., where the Cleaners are making themselves very much at home.
So, grab a cup of Kerman Coffee, get comfortable, and let’s get into everything waiting for you in Red Horizon.
The Cleaners are moving into Washington, D.C., and their presence will be hard to miss. They are becoming the main threat in Retaliations this season, with 95 Company Elite Squad becoming part of the threat.
Their growing presence sets the stage for this season’s Modifiers, and the heat does not stop with the Cleaners.
Under Pressure revolves around a Pressure Gauge that builds as you fight. Kills, headshots, multikills, Skill kills, Status Effect kills, fire kills, and kills made by other players in your group all contribute to the Gauge.
The more Pressure you build, the stronger the bonuses you receive.
By default, the Pressure Gauge provides Status Effects as its primary bonus. If Status Effects are not what your build needs, some Passive Modifiers can replace the Gauge's primary bonus with Signature Weapon Damage or Hazard Protection instead.
Your Pressure Gauge is also used to activate one of the season's three Active Modifiers.
Unlike previous seasons, this time Active Modifiers do not have a general cooldown. Once you have enough Pressure, you can activate one when you need it. The Gauge resets once the Active Modifier ends.
Secondary Attribute: Armor Regen.
While active, it gives you increased Armor Regen and Damage Resistance, with additional protection while sprinting. Enemies that get close to you are also set on fire the first time they enter the Modifier's range.
At higher levels, its defensive bonuses become stronger, and burning unique enemies can also regenerate Bonus Armor.
Secondary Attribute: Headshot Damage.
Landing a headshot on an enemy that is already burning also applies Burn to nearby enemies. As the Modifier levels up, this effect reaches a larger area.
At its highest level, headshots can apply Burn directly.
Secondary Attribute: Skill Efficiency.
While active, it improves your Signature Weapon performance, Shield Health, and Shield Active Regen. Kills made with a Signature Weapon, or while using a shield, refill your magazine without consuming ammo from your reserves.
At its highest level, these kills can also extend the duration of the Active Modifier.
Red Horizon comes with 20 Passive Modifiers, and they can help you adjust how Under Pressure works with your build.
Some can help you build Pressure faster or hold onto it for longer, others add new interactions with fire, Skills, grenades, shields, and Signature Weapons.
The default primary bonus of the Pressure Gauge is Status Effects, but with Passive Modifiers like New Formula: Beta and New Formula: Gamma, you can swap it for Signature Weapon Damage or Hazard Protection.
Hostile Modifiers will also play into the Pressure Gauge this season, with enemies able to drain your Pressure or make certain actions work against you.
Setting an affected enemy on fire is the only way to permanently remove or reverse the effect.
Draining Presence drains ammunition from your magazine and reduces your Pressure while the affected enemy is close to you.
Achilles' Heal restores Health to the affected enemy and nearby allies when you break their weak points or armor pieces, while also reducing your Pressure.
Thousand Cuts reduces your Pressure whenever the affected enemy hits you and applies a stacking Damage Reduction debuff.
For Gear Sets, we are continuing to rebalance them around the idea that the more difficult a set is to use at its full potential, the more it should give back in return.
For Red Horizon, the updates focus mostly on Red Core Gear Sets, with Ortiz: Exuro and True Patriot also included. Blue and Yellow Core Gear Sets will be addressed in future updates.
Brand Sets are also getting some changes. Bonuses such as Shock Resistance, Health, Incoming Repairs, and Swap Speed are being removed, and Protection from Elites now added as a new Brand Set bonus.
We have also reorganized weapon bonuses so that, for each weapon type, at least one Brand offers that bonus as its 1-piece bonus and another as its 2-piece bonus.
You can find the full breakdown of all Gear Set and Brand Set changes here.
There’s also one broader change to how we’ll handle Brand Sets going forward. Starting with Red Horizon, instead of adding new Brand Sets, we’ll add more Named pieces with Perfect Talents or Attributes to existing Brands.
Steel & Sons ACR
Base Stability has been increased, reducing vertical coil.
Maximum stacks increased from 3 to 4.
Destroying an enemy weak point now causes them to take +30% Amplified Damage from you for 5s, up from 10%.
Determined will now function like Perfect Determined, meaning a kill from a converted headshot will no longer trigger another guaranteed headshot.
The ability to chain body shots as headshots is not going away completely. That functionality is moving to the new Iron Will Exotic Chest through its Resolved Talent. Iron Will lets your next body shot count as a headshot without requiring a headshot kill first, and can be paired with Exotic MMRs or High-End MMRs using Talents other than Determined.
To support it, we are also buffing several MMR-related Gear Sets and Brand bonuses.
For more on the thinking behind the Determined changes, you can read our Developer Notes.
Fafnir Exotic Shotgun | Talent Dragon's Breath
This weapon fires Dragon's Breath shells. Each shot has a 40% chance of applying Burn to the enemy.
Weapon Damage is Amplified by 50% of your Status Effect bonus.
Weapon Stats and Mods Optics: +15% Crit Chance Magazine: +5 Rounds Underbarrel: +10% Weapon Handling
Note: Fafnir’s Burn application is still affected by the usual Status Effect diminishing returns on enemies. Because of this, you may sometimes see Burn applied less often than the 40% chance would suggest.
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Iron Will Exotic Chest | Talent Resolved
PvE version: Your next body shot will be considered a headshot. Cooldown: 2s
PvP version: Your next body shot will be considered a headshot. Cooldown: 3s
Requires MMR, Rifle or Pistol. |
Ember Engine | 2 Pieces equipped give 8% Skill Efficiency 3 Pieces equipped give 30% Status Effect 4 Pieces equipped unlock a new unique talent.
Talent “Spontaneous Combustion” Every Status Effect you apply has a 40% chance of also applying Burn to the enemy.
If the Status Effect initially applied was Burn, the enemy will receive +25% Burn Damage for the duration of the Burn.
Chest and Backpack Talents:
Chest Bonus - Talent “Flashpoint” Increase the chance of applying Burn of Spontaneous Combustion to 60%.
Backpack Bonus – Talent “White Hot” Increase the Duration of the Burn Damage debuff of Spontaneous Combustion by 50%.
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Trick Shot Named Imminence Armaments Chest | Talent Perfect Reassigned
Killing an enemy adds 1 round of a random special ammo into your sidearm. Cooldown: 8s.
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Rushdown Named Richter & Kaiser GmbH Chest | Talent Tag Team
The last enemy you have damaged with a skill is marked.
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Melon Baller Named Airaldi Holdings Backpack
| Talent Perfect Concussion
Headshots increase total weapon damage by 20% for 1.5s. 5s with marksman rifles.
Headshot kills increase total weapon damage by 15% for 10s.
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Keeper Named 5.11 Tactical Backpack
| Talent Perfect Protector
When your shield is damaged, you gain +25% bonus armor and all other allies gain +35% of your armor as bonus armor for 3s. Cooldown: 3s
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Teapot | Talent Perfect Boiling Point
The first 48% of your magazine will have -100% Critical Hit Chance. The rest will have 100%.
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Steamer | Talent Perfect Boiling Point
The first 48% of your magazine will have -100% Critical Hit Chance. The rest will have 100%.
|
Talent “Boiling Point” | The first 53% of your magazine will have -100% Critical Hit Chance. The rest will have 100%. |
It's been one year since Retaliation launched, and to mark the occasion, you'll be able to take on a special Project Chain from September 8 to September 22.
The objectives will send you back into Retaliations against different factions. Each completed Project comes with useful materials and caches, with an Outfit Token waiting at the end as the main reward. You can use it to unlock one eligible outfit of your choice from the store.
And there’s more to earn during the first week. From September 8 to September 15, Retaliation Surge will be active, doubling the Retaliation Faction Materials you earn from all sources.
Red Horizon brings Blackout into the Dark Zone rotation, and Toxic DZ remains as a permanent PvE variant.
Dark Zone variants will rotate weekly across DZ West, East, and South, with one PvE and two PvP Dark Zones available at any given time. Toxic and Balanced will remain active each week, while Blackout and Classic will alternate on a weekly basis.
The Toxic Dark Zone is here to stay. With the Into the Dark seasonal Modifiers no longer active, we have made a few changes so it can continue as a permanent PvE Dark Zone:
Other factions can now appear in the Toxic DZ, including Black Tusk.
Sample Canisters and Surge have been removed.
Toxicity has been adjusted, and extracting your gear will now clear your Toxicity level.
Normalization remains active to scale players and their gear to level 40. However, PvP-specific overrides for talents, Gear Sets, skills, and weapons are not active, meaning these will use their PvE values against enemies. Prototype Gear will remain normalized, similar to Raids and Incursions.
Landmark chests in the Toxic Dark Zone now have 20% chance to drop a contaminated cache. These caches use the same special loot pool as the PvP Dark Zones, including Exclusive and Raid Gear Sets, legacy DZ-exclusive weapons, Named Items, and Exotic.
(PvEvP / Non-Normalized / Global PvP Balance: Active / SHD & Expertise: Active / Rogue Protocol: Active)
For those of you who have been asking for a fully uncapped Dark Zone, Blackout is exactly that. It completely removes stat normalization, so you can use the full power of your build, including your SHD Watch and Expertise upgrades.
The zone is permanently Invaded, with Black Tusk as the main enemy faction, and you’ll also encounter tougher Veteran, Elite, and Named enemies.
Rogue Protocol remains active, and Global PvP Balance still applies to weapons, gear, and Skills. Prototype Gear and Weapons can also use their full base stats in Blackout. Their Augments, however, will still use the PvP-balanced values.
Blackout loot drops at Heroic quality, matching the other PvP Dark Zones. There is also a 20% chance to receive an additional contaminated item from the special Dark Zone loot pool, including Exclusive and Raid Gear Sets, legacy DZ-exclusive weapons, Named Items, and Exotic.
With Red Horizon, Ortiz: Reficere, Caduceus, and Nurse's Kneepads have also been added to the special loot pool for PvP Dark Zones.
Prototype Gear and Weapons can also drop as contaminated loot from enemies, with stronger enemies offering better chances and higher stat rolls:
Normal Enemies: 0.2% Chance for Prototype Drop - Mid Stat Rolls
Elite Enemies: 0.5% Chance for Prototype Drop - Mid Stat Rolls & 0.2% Chance for Prototype Drop - High Stat Rolls
Boss Enemies: 1% Chance for Prototype Drop - Mid Stat Rolls and 2% Chance for Prototype Drop - High Stat Rolls.
Exotic Component drop rates match the other PvP Dark Zones:
Challenging Landmark Phoenix Crates: 33%
Challenging Landmark Bosses: 40%
Heroic Landmark Phoenix Crates: 40%
Heroic Landmark Bosses: 48%
Our Global PvP Balance work continues in Red Horizon with another round of improvements.
The goal remains to make PvP fights less about taking someone down instantly and give you more time to react and fight back. We also want more Talents, Weapons, Skills, and Set Bonuses to feel worth using, rather than having the same few choices
Skills have received adjustments to both their base values and how they scale across Skill Tiers. These changes apply to Conflict and all PvP Dark Zone variants.
Gear Set and Brand Set bonuses have also been adjusted separately for PvP where needed. New Talents have been balanced for PvP as well, together with adjustments to some existing outliers.
You can find the full list of Skill changes here, and the full breakdown of Gear Set, Brand Set, and Talent changes here.
PvP weapon damage values will now be displayed directly in your Inventory alongside their PvE values. Your stats will also automatically switch to their corresponding PvP values when entering a PvP environment.
You can now test PvP Normalization stats and Global PvP Balance overrides directly in the Shooting Range by enabling the PvP settings before heading into Conflict or the Dark Zone.
The Inventory Normalization button will be temporarily unavailable while we make updates to the UI.
True Patriot and Ongoing Directive materials and blueprints have been added to the General Loot Pool.
The following blueprints have also been added to the General Loot Pool:
Unit Alloys
Royal Works
Edelweiss
Concentrated Company
Core Strength
Ortiz: Reficere
The following blueprints are now available from Inaya*:
Agitator
Investor
Caduceus
Nurse's Kneepads
Whiplash
Underboss
Caduceus and Nurse’s Kneepads have also been added to Targeted Loot.
*You need to own the respective item for its blueprint to appear at Inaya.
Fixed an issue with the Tinkerer Mask's "Abridged" Talent working across different weapon types. [TCTD2-1405]
Fixed an issue with the Tech Plate and Nanite Carrier dropping or spawning as Prototypes with incorrect Talents.
Fixed an issue with the Whiplash Exotic Pistol and Underboss Exotic SMG missing their Reconfigure Blueprints. [TCTD2-4729][TCTD2-6102]
Fixed an issue with Prima Donna stacks transferring to the Gear Shift Named LMG. [TCTD2-6056]
Fixed an issue where one of the Beaver collectibles could appear floating in the air. The Beaver has been moved to a nearby location.
Fixed an issue with the mission objective not updating after defeating the Chainsaw boss in Broken Rain while wearing the Dilemma Gear Set and Turmoil Kneepads.
Fixed an issue with menus becoming inaccessible after being forced out of the Deconstruct Confirmation pop-up.
Fixed an issue on PlayStation with confirming a Commendation also equipping its Arm Patch due to both actions being bound to the X button. [TCTD2-54]
Fixed an issue with the Skins and Dyes submenu in the Apparel section not allowing manual scrolling by dragging the scroll bar with the mouse.
Fixed an issue with the Mega Map displaying an incorrect timer for free Classified Assignments. [TCTD2-6076]
Fixed an issue with fire and its effects remaining active longer than the corresponding visual animation. [TCTD2-166]
Fixed an issue with Mari Singh being missing from East Mall.
Fixed an issue with players being able to clip through an environmental door at the Toxic Alley Control Point. [TCTD2-1585]
Fixed an issue with Into the Dark Season bundles purchased on Steam appearing as not owned in the in-game Store. [TCTD2-4499]
Fixed an issue that could cause players on Steam Deck to be kicked by EAC. Easy Anti-Cheat should now work correctly on Steam Deck.
Fixed an issue with Kitsune Event Caches preventing players from opening Gear Caches.
Two new Classified Assignments will be available during Red Horizon: The District Mall Inferno on August 27 and The Georgetown Dead Zone on October 15.
The first sends you to the District Mall after Agent Felix McNally is attacked while trying to recover broad-spectrum antivirals, with the Cleaners closing in and an unknown assailant linked to a SHD anomaly still unaccounted for. The second takes you into an area of Georgetown completely uncovered by the SHD network, where a JTF engineer team sent to install new tech has gone missing.
Classified Assignments can be accessed through the dedicated Assignments tab on the map once they become available. Access unlocks at Level 30, and Assignments can be purchased and launched from there.
The optional Season Pass is available to all The Division® 2 players starting at Level 1 for 1000 Premium Credits ($9.99 or your regional equivalent) in the in-game Store. While the Season Pass is accessible from Level 1, some of the rewards will be usable only when you reach Level 40.
Players with the Season Pass can unlock premium track rewards such as:
2 Prestige Arm Patches
Red Horizon Seeker Mine Skill VFX
Richardson Outfit
Kernwell Outfit
1 Extra Copy of the Fafnir Exotic Weapon
Hot-Rigged Exotic Weapon Skin
10 Gear Dyes
10 Universal Weapon Skins
3 Exotic Caches
9 Optimization Material Caches
9 Crafting Material Caches
400 Premium Credits
The free track also includes rewards such as:
3 Arm Patches
Red Horizon Drone Skill VFX
Beaufort Outfit
Iron Will Exotic Chest
Fafnir Exotic Weapon
Drag On Universal Weapon Skin
2 Named Weapons
4 Named Gear Items
2 Exotic Caches
18 Red Horizon Caches
3 Named Item Caches
The Red Horizon Bundle, available for $29.99 or your regional equivalent, includes:
The Premium Season Pass, with 100 Tiers of rewards to unlock.
Two Classified Assignment missions, with one available at launch and the second coming later in the season.
+15% Season Pass XP boost.
An exclusive Cleaners-themed outfit.
20 Tier Skips.
The Red Horizon Supply Drop, available for $49.99 or your regional equivalent, includes everything listed above, plus 5000 Premium Credits.
If you already own some of the included content:
If you already own the Premium Season Pass, purchasing either offer will grant you 1000 Premium Credits back in-game.
If you already own the Red Horizon Bundle and purchase the Supply Drop, you will receive 3000 Premium Credits, on top of the 5000 already included.
If you already own the Red Horizon Supply Drop, you will receive 3000 Premium Credits instead of the Red Horizon Bundle.
If you do not receive an in-game notification for the offer, check the Special Deliveries tab in your inventory.
Don’t miss out on this exclusive One Time Offer, available for $19.99 or your regional equivalent. It includes 2000 Premium Credits and 600 bonus Credits, plus the Classic Mask, because some looks are classics for a reason.
Halloween is not too far away, and we’ll have more to share soon about what we’ve prepared for the occasion.
As always, if you run into any issues while playing, please report them through the Bug Reporter so the team can investigate.
Good luck out there, Agents.
/ The Division 2 Team
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