My squad built up a combined SHD level (like paragon levels in Diablo) of over 200 less than a week into the expansion, and yet we found it impossible to progress through an invaded version of the Roosevelt Island stronghold on legendary difficulty thanks to an endless barrage of explosive drones with obnoxiously large health pools. Even with a purely damage-focused build I found that enemies reached The Division 1’s notorious levels of resilience when playing in a group of four, which – for anyone keeping track – is a resurgent problem that the sequel had already fixed before this expansion. “The bad news is that bullet sponge is back in a big way when it comes to heroic and the new legendary difficulties. Since they can be tackled in any order you’re effectively loosed upon the whole of Lower Manhattan after the introduction, this formula works wonderfully with the familiar and enjoyable open-world distractions like capture points, chests, deviously hidden SHD tech caches, and the collectibles that litter the island. I had a blast cutting down old enemies and hunting the titular Warlords who’ve each carved out territory in a different part of the city. The Rikers and Cleaners make a return from The Division 1 with some formidable new tech, including a firebombing drone and some satisfying old gear like that ever-so-flammable gas tank. True to form, the new playable zone is a brilliantly realized cityscape filled to the brim with a freakish level of detail as well as some familiar faces… or gas masks. It presents six or so hours of blissful shooting, looting, and exploration through an impressively filthy recreation of Lower Manhattan. “Generic story aside, the Warlords of New York campaign is the series’ finest to date. Which is good news if, like me, you put down your The Division 2 character with a bloated and unorganized inventory. There, the worst of items is likely better than what you have equipped and your old gear can’t be used to augment new loot via recalibration, so aside from sentimental value there’s little reason to hang on to anything. So while I can’t see Warlords holding my interest long-term, getting to endgame in the first place was still an enjoyable fight.Whether you’ve already logged hundreds of hours with The Division 2 or are just creating your first character with the included level 30 boost, you’ll find a helicopter ready to leave today so you can be a part of it in old New York.
Unfortunately, this excellent momentum was slowed considerably by hordes of comically bulletproof bad guys in the heroic and legendary difficulties later on.
#The division 2 classified assignments series
The first dozen or so hours were far and away my favorites with the series to date and I can recommend it on the merits of that time alone. My experience with the Warlords of New York expansion to The Division 2 started out strong thanks to an excellent standalone campaign and a host of very clever revisions to existing RPG systems.