New to The Division? Try These 5 Tips

The Division might have had a rocky start, with servers keeling over for US audiences. However the game has seen few issues for users in other regions, including India. We're playing the game right now and after a few hours in here, we have some tips and tricks to help you survive post-pandemic Manhattan.

1. Keep your distance
   Your foes do a substantial amount of damage up close. You'd do well to keep from them, using every inch of cover to keep from getting shot. The Division's loot system appears to be rather generous allowing you to make use of its weapon modification system early on. This is crucial, and you want to get a weapon mod to attach a scope to your rifle right away. This really helps even the odds, even against enemies that are several levels higher than you.

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2. Use Pulse often
   Deep within the game's many menus lies a rather slick looking skill tree. It allows you to choose your starting set of abilities, ranging from medical, tech, and security skills. The medical skill-set is particularly important, especially the Pulse ability. This is because it lets you mark all enemies in the area, and will keep you from getting ambushed all the time. As an added bonus, this will also allow you to do critical damage to your enemies.

(Also see: The Division Might Not Officially Support Mods, But There's Already One for It)

3. Replay missions and level up
   Like every respectable RPG, The Division lets you gain experience points (XP) to help you unlock new skills and use better weapons. You gain XP for finishing missions, or picking up pieces of intel, or finding items. The fastest way to level up involves completing the game's Security Mission first, because it gives you the Experienced Agent perk, which increases XP gain from everything you do by a hefty 10 percent. You can also replay missions and adjust their difficulty before doing so to earn more XP, which will help you stay alive in more dangerous situations.

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4. Avoid stores
   To borrow a phrase from Seinfeld's Kramer, "retail is for suckers". This holds true for The Division too. Don't waste money on armour and weapons; you're better off scavenging what you can off the corpses of your enemies. Mission rewards and item drops are generous enough that you don't need to bother with the game's many merchants. Not only are the items a whole lot better, but scavenging also allows you to use your funds later at the end-game, when you'll need it to purchase rare and exotic weaponry.

(Also see: Here's What You Can Expect From The Division During the Year)

5. Don't fear the Dark Zone
   The Dark Zone is a sealed off contaminated area in Manhattan. There, you can find fantastic gear that you can palm off to unsuspecting vendors. From our experience, even loot drops that are mediocre compared to your currently equipped gear will net you a ton of cash, making it worth checking out.

What are your strategies to taking on The Division? Let us know via the comments.