Division 2: Done with Soloing

I don’t mean ‘done’ in a bad way, though! I’ve reached the end-game! Not just level 30, but also World Tier 4 is unlocked. There was a mad rush to keep up with friends and clan-mates, to not fall behind. This meant when I had a free moment to play anything, it was The Division 2.

I posted a little while ago about learning to love the journey — but the structure of The Division 2 made this quite difficult for me. If you’re not aware, The Division 2 has gear stratification in terms of your World Tier progression. This is not a difficulty setting you change as in Anthem’s Grand Master or Diablo 3’s Torment difficulties.

Rather it is a linear progression. You complete the story (including the 3 Strongholds), you progress to World Tier 1. You gear up a little, complete two invaded missions (same locales as story missions, but with a different faction, different purpose, etc) and then the nearby invaded stronghold. You progress to World Tier 2. You do this again for World Tier 3, and again for World Tier 4.

Everything up until that point is eminently disposable. You might have some stats or sets or other aspects you prefer when the option is available, but there is ‘no point’ in trying for anything resembling a build, or playing anything other than the bare minimum to progress through the earlier tiers.

I put ‘no point’ in quotation marks of course because there is the obvious: Fun. But:

• I get the most enjoyment out of the Looter-Shooter genre when I’m progressing. This comes to a screeching halt if you stick around any longer than is necessary in a given tier.
• I recognise that I have a limited attention-span for any given game. Reaching 100+ hours for any title in one ‘stint’ is a rarity for me. I feel like I would be wasting this limited resource, my interest in the game, playing around in the lower tiers.

So! With World Tier 4 reached, I no longer feel that almost obligatory push to keep going. I feel comfortable playing in a more at-ease/casual way only when my friends are also on and wanting to play. Outside of that, it leaves me open to revisit other titles and scratch the itch for variety a little more. ;)