Understanding Global Difficulty in The Division 2: A Comprehensive Guide
Global difficulty in The Division 2 allows you to customize the challenge level of the entire open-world map rather than just individual missions. This system, unlocked after completing the Warlords of New York expansion and reaching level 40, enables players to increase or decrease the difficulty of all activities outside of specific mission instances. This includes open-world roaming, control points, resource convoys, bounties, and more. By manipulating global difficulty, you can tailor the game experience to match your preferred style of play, whether you are seeking a casual stroll through Washington D.C. or an intense, high-stakes challenge. The system also provides an incentive to push the difficulty boundaries as higher difficulty levels yield increased rewards.
How Does Global Difficulty Work?
To access and change global difficulty settings, you must open your map. Within the map interface, you’ll find the option to adjust the global difficulty. The available difficulty levels typically range from Normal to Heroic, with Legendary being reserved for specific missions.
- Normal: The base difficulty, suitable for solo players or those still learning the game mechanics. Enemies are weaker and less aggressive.
- Hard: A noticeable step up from Normal, enemies are more resilient and deal more damage. Requires more tactical play.
- Challenging: A serious test of skill. Enemies become much more aggressive, and their health and damage are significantly increased. Teamwork and proper builds are crucial.
- Heroic: The highest global difficulty available. Enemies are extremely tough, and even the smallest encounter can be deadly. Only recommended for well-geared and highly skilled players.
Importantly, global difficulty affects all open-world activities. This means control points, resource convoys, bounties, and even just random encounters will be more or less challenging depending on your chosen global setting. The difficulty is applied consistently, so there is no variability between different zones.
Directives: Adding an Extra Layer of Challenge
Alongside global difficulty, you can also implement Directives. Directives add specific modifiers to the gameplay experience, making the game harder in various ways. These modifiers include:
- Fog of War: Removes enemy markers from your minimap.
- No Regen: Your armor does not regenerate naturally over time.
- Special Ammo: Enemies utilize special ammunition such as explosive or incendiary rounds.
- Pistol Only: Forces the agent to use only sidearms.
- Armor Break: Enemy armor breaks faster, making them more vulnerable to damage.
These directives can be combined with your chosen difficulty setting for an even more tailored experience. For example, you can play on Challenging difficulty with the Fog of War directive for a stealthier and more immersive experience.
The Impact on Rewards: Does Global Difficulty Affect Loot?
One of the major reasons players engage with higher difficulty levels is the increase in loot quality and quantity. The article is correct in that you get more loot the higher the difficulty setting you choose. While the quality is still randomized and luck-dependent, playing on higher difficulties provides a better chance of dropping better gear, including high-end and exotic items.
Essentially, the loot system rewards risk. The more challenging the game is, the better the rewards. This makes playing at higher difficulties an optimal strategy for players looking to acquire the best possible gear. However, it’s important to note that the drop rate for specific exotics is usually not directly tied to global difficulty, with the notable exception of the Bighorn exotic which has a higher chance to drop from legendary final bosses.
Benefits of Customizing Global Difficulty
- Personalized Experience: Play the game at your own pace. Tailor the challenge to match your skill level and preference.
- Increased Loot Potential: Earn better and more plentiful loot by playing at higher difficulty levels.
- Dynamic Gameplay: The game world can feel very different depending on the difficulty and directives being used. This adds replayability.
- Practice and Skill Development: Pushing yourself to play at higher difficulties is a great way to improve your skills, builds, and overall game knowledge.
- Increased Challenge: For those seeking a greater challenge, the highest difficulties offer a true test of skill and teamwork.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Global Difficulty in The Division 2
1. What exactly is Global Difficulty?
Global difficulty allows you to modify the difficulty of the open world in The Division 2, affecting all activities outside of instanced missions. This setting scales up or down the strength and aggressiveness of enemies in the open world.
2. How do I unlock Global Difficulty?
You need to complete the Warlords of New York expansion and reach Level 40 to unlock the Global Difficulty system.
3. Where do I change the Global Difficulty settings?
You can change global difficulty by opening your map and using the menu options found there.
4. What are the different Global Difficulty levels?
The levels are Normal, Hard, Challenging, and Heroic. Each level represents an increase in enemy health, damage, and aggressiveness.
5. What are Directives, and how do they relate to Global Difficulty?
Directives are gameplay modifiers that you can apply along with global difficulty to make the game more challenging. They add unique restrictions and obstacles.
6. Can I change Global Difficulty mid-game?
Yes, you can change the global difficulty at any time from the map. The changes will apply immediately to the open world.
7. Does Global Difficulty affect loot?
Yes, higher global difficulties generally increase the quantity of loot dropped. Although the quality is randomized, higher difficulties increase the likelihood of finding better gear.
8. Does the drop rate of exotics change with global difficulty?
Most exotic drop rates are not significantly affected by global difficulty, with the exception of the Bighorn exotic, which has an increased drop chance on Legendary missions.
9. How does Global Difficulty affect Control Points?
Global difficulty scales the difficulty of control point encounters. Higher difficulty means tougher enemies and more challenging scenarios.
10. Can I do Legendary difficulty on the open world?
No, Legendary difficulty is only available on specific missions, not for the open world. You set the global difficulty separately.
11. What is the best global difficulty to play on?
The “best” difficulty depends on your skill and preference. Start on a comfortable difficulty and gradually increase it as you improve your gear and skills.
12. Can I play solo on higher global difficulties?
Yes, you can play solo on any global difficulty. However, higher difficulties will require careful planning and good gear.
13. Does Global Difficulty affect resource convoys?
Yes, resource convoys also scale with global difficulty, making them more challenging to complete.
14. Is it better to play at the highest possible difficulty?
Playing at higher difficulties provides better loot, but it’s important to balance risk with your capability. Choose a difficulty that is challenging but not overly frustrating.
15. How does Global Difficulty differ from Mission Difficulty?
Global difficulty affects the entire open world, while mission difficulty affects the difficulty within specific story missions. You can adjust these separately.