The Division 2 has 3 Dark Zones located in different areas of Washington D.C. What sets them apart, you can find out here.
What is the Dark Zone? The Dark Zone is a confined area with a particularly high level of contamination from the Green Poison that causes chaos in the world of The Division. In the game, the Dark Zone mixes PvE and PvP. This means that players can hunt AI enemies but also fight against other players.
In New York, there was a large, contiguous Dark Zone that stretched from north to south through the center of Manhattan. However, The Division 2 takes place in Washington D.C. Recently, we learned that there will be even three Dark Zones there. But what distinguishes them from each other?
The 3 Dark Zones
The Dark Zones are spread across different corners of D.C. They are the result of a failed attempt to combat the Green Poison with a remedy. This is called DZ 62 and has proven to be almost as deadly as its original target. The remnants of this substance were stored in the Dark Zones.
How do they differ? In a dev blog post, Ubisoft revealed some details about the different DZs:
- Dark Zone West – Georgetown: DZ West is divided into two areas by a canal. It is located in Georgetown, a former residential area. There are many indoor areas and winding alleys.
- Dark Zone South – Waterfront: It is apparently the smallest of the three Dark Zones and therefore provokes fights in tighter spaces. There are also many indoor areas and narrow spots where things can get tricky.
- Dark Zone East – Capital Station: This is likely the largest Dark Zone. Players often have wide fields of vision and move through overgrown parks.
Thus, the Dark Zones differ primarily in their environment and gameplay.
Normalization in the Dark Zone
New in the Dark Zones is the normalization of equipment. It is intended to ensure fairness among players.
This is how normalization works: The equipment of the players is adjusted by setting all values to the maximum. This means that there is no advantage for players who have been active longer and have already optimized their equipment. This is meant to highlight the players’ skills.
Builds still work as desired by the player. Thus, a clever assembly is still an advantage. Normalization does not affect any set bonuses or other attributes. However, there is a deviation even in the rules that apply in the Dark Zone.
Occupied Dark Zone – the “pure” form of the DZ?
This is how the occupied Dark Zone works: “Occupied” means in this case probably something like “occupied”. During this event, all rules are thrown out the window. There is no separation between Division and Rogue agents.
Thus, in the occupied Dark Zone
- there is no Rogue status,
- a limited notification system,
- active friendly fire
- and no normalization of equipment
One of the three Dark Zones is therefore occupied in rotation, ensuring that there is enough variety. Whether this event is constantly active or starts at certain intervals is currently unknown.
With the occupied Dark Zone, they want to appeal to hardcore fans of the PvP experience in the Dark Zone. Even in the original Dark Zone of The Division 1, there was the Rogue system and friendly fire was only against players who were not on the same team. Then came Rogue 2.0 and revamped the whole system.
You can read about the 8 biggest changes to the Dark Zone here.
