With “Warlords of New York,” the hunt for the rogue Division agent Aaron Keener takes center stage in The Division 2. We explain who he is, why he is important, and take a look at how one of the new missions plays out.
What is Warlords of New York anyway? In the current State of The Game, the developers announced not only the short-term release of Episode 3, but also surprisingly introduced a major expansion for The Division 2, Warlords of New York, which will be released in early March.
This will change many things in The Division 2 and takes players back to New York in a new open world that differs significantly from Manhattan in the first part. There, agents hunt down Aaron Keener.
In Warlords of New York, Keener is the ultimate target
What are we doing back in New York anyway? In the new expansion, we are going back to New York, even back to Manhattan. But what are we actually doing there?
Without wanting to spoil too much: If you missed Division 1, the new main missions from Episode 3 lay the narrative groundwork for this development. So it’s definitely worth playing them.
In New York, the agents are to hunt down Aaron Keener, a rogue Division agent. He was thought to be missing, but has now reappeared. Now Keener not only wants revenge on the Division but has also developed his own bio-weapons and deployed them in New York.
Subsequently, players are once again sent to New York to finally take down Keener.
Who is Aaron Keener anyway, and why is he becoming so important now? Aaron Keener, codename “Vanguard,” is a bitter enemy and the main antagonist of the entire Division series.
He was once a Division agent and former soldier. He was part of the first wave of agents activated and sent to New York in response to the virus outbreak in Part 1.
His main tasks included securing the Dark Zone, a highly contaminated area of the city, and rescuing civilians from that zone. There, Keener was to support the organization CERA responsible for the rescues.
But this lost control and ordered a rapid evacuation and lockdown of the Dark Zone. As a result, the Division was also forced to leave expensive equipment, as well as civilians and comrades, behind. They gave up any hope of being able to regain control of the Dark Zone.
In this process, Keener was abandoned by the Division and left to die in the Dark Zone. At that moment, his worldview was shattered, he became rogue and vowed revenge on the Division.
After being abandoned, Keener gathered the remaining agents of the first wave and presented them with a choice: join him and his quest for revenge or die. Some joined him, others died, and others escaped and have been relentlessly hunted since.
This development ultimately led to the activation and sending of the second wave – that is, our agents in Part 1.
During Part 1, however, Keener’s trail goes cold. He managed to seize important data about the “Green Poison” as well as a key scientist and disappeared. Since then, he has been sought by the Division.
In Episode 3, he now appears along with the missing scientist, and the story of Warlords of New York reveals what he did with the data about the virus – Keener has developed his own biological weapons and does not hesitate to use them – including against the Division headquarters in Manhattan.
Now he wants much more than just revenge and intends to create a world in which only the strongest survive.
More background on Keener can be found here: The Division Story: Everything about Aaron Keener – The first rogue agent
This is how the hunt for Keener goes
The four Warlords: Although Keener is our primary target in Warlords of New York, we must first get past the 4 titular Warlords to reach him.
They are rogue agents of the first wave whom Keener managed to recruit for his cause, and who now control the 4 sections of Lower Manhattan, the new open world from the upcoming expansion, for him.
All 4 have unique abilities that define them and are specialized in different tactics.
You can find more about this here:
Only when we have confronted and taken down the 4 Warlords can we reach Keener. They work closely with other hostile factions such as the Cleaners and the Rikers. It will be anything but a walk in the park.
But the Warlords don’t immediately confront the agents either; instead, they must first be located during missions before they can be confronted.
This is how one of the new missions plays out: How the fight against Keener shapes up and whether it actually happens is still unknown.
However, the developers have already given a deep insight into how the hunt for one of the 4 Warlords plays. With the exception of some scenes that were cut for spoiler reasons, a complete mission from the new campaign was shown.
This leads the agents on the trail of Vivian Conley, one of the 4 Warlords. She is a talented chemist and cooperates with the Cleaners. Her trail leads agents to a stranded oil tanker, but the journey there is anything but easy. But see for yourself:
By the way, not only Keener, but also the mysterious Hunters are said to play a more significant role in New York. Accordingly, you can already dress like one:
