Our author Schuhmann did something he hasn’t done in a long time: Played significantly longer than he wanted. The reason: The mission “Roosevelt Island” in The Division 2 was much tougher than expected.
This is how I play The Division 2: I’m not an incredibly good player in The Division. But for casual play, it’s enough:
- The other day, Ubisoft told me in an email that I had spent about 70 hours in The Division 1.
- In part 2, I now have 37 hours under my belt.
Usually, I play after work until a maximum of 1 AM and rarely go overboard. I don’t play long sessions like I used to, but I do play regularly every night.
In The Division 2, I’m making good progress: I found a combination of assault rifle and sniper rifle that allowed me to complete most missions fairly easily.
I played the main campaign solo and actually barely died after I found my way:
- With the sniper rifle, I easily take out most normal enemies and enjoy the sweet sound of a headshot
- For medium and close range, I switch to the assault rifle and set it to “F for Peace”; in full-auto, the danger melts away quickly
Only when I experimented with new weapons did I often bite the dust; otherwise, the last days in DC were smooth sailing.
But last night, I came up against my limits again.
This kept me awake: After completing the normal main missions in The Division 2, strongholds in The Division 2 open up: the Strongholds. There, you are supposed to take out the bosses of the enemy factions. Ultimately, that is the way to unlock the specializations.
After I could easily take down the hyenas (I was level 29 and the mission is intended for 25), I went up against the Outcasts (mission level 28 – I just became 30).
I must admit: That pushed me to my limits last night.
The mission “Roosevelt Island” started off wonderfully – until the final battle. But the final fight is divided into about 4 or 5 phases – really many enemies come, two turrets cover the battlefield, new reinforcements constantly swarm in and at the end, one of those heavily armored guys with a sledgehammer appears.
I felt like in “Groundhog Day”
The problem: Every time you die, this part of the mission resets to 0 and you start over.
The solution: At some point, I felt like I was in “Groundhog Day” because I already knew the opening sequence with the first enemies by heart. Ultimately, those are rehearsed sequences to complete the mission:
- First take out the guy at the turret with a sniper headshot and a second shot to the chest
- Then deal with the charging thugs
- Then a smoke grenade flies left
- I roll to the right
- Two Outcasts are waiting for me, and I switch to the assault rifle
Because reinforcements constantly come, after this start, a relatively long sequence begins where you have to stay focused for minutes and can only make relatively few mistakes.
Roosevelt Island – the hardest mission in The Division 2 for me
Why did I fail? I became reckless repeatedly and allowed myself to be tempted after the initial part to quickly take one down without cover. But then reinforcements came and I bit the dust.
Or I missed the second shot on the turret guy and that messed up my timing, or I got overwhelmed or something else went wrong.
And when I finally made progress, a heavily armored boss suddenly appeared close to me and knocked me out.
My strategy for these heavily armored bosses is usually:
- Run away from them and get to safety
- Then gun them down from a safe distance with the assault rifle until the magazine is empty
- Run away while reloading
- The loop starts over
But it took me really long to get to this tank guy who knocked me out.
I thought: well, I probably won’t have to start all over again… but yes, that’s exactly what happened.
I was actually a bit hurt in my gamer pride. It was already late, I was tired and somehow felt too old for this stuff.
It was annoying that during one of the first runs, a “high-end item” had already dropped an hour earlier at the turret – but I couldn’t get to it to pick it up.
It sparkled at me gold glitteringly for hours while I missed the guy at the mounted turret twice.
A change of plans brings victory
This is how I managed it after all: Eventually, my pride was too great, and I took a closer look at the scenery: So back in “Groundhog Day” mode, I went through the opening sequence again, played especially defensively, and retreated and healed at every problem.
Then at the crucial point, I broke the pattern and didn’t do the same thing anymore. I took a different path and made the mission significantly easier by first destroying the left and then the right fuel tank.
This changed the starting situation for me.
I swung onto one of the enemy turrets and mowed down the big boss and his boys from there: Instead of 10 minutes of continuous running around the boss and playing “catch me,” just continuous fire from a safe distance.
It may not be special for some, but I had a nice evening yesterday – sometimes you can also play a bit longer, even if it goes against principles.
Death feels good in The Division 2
The interesting thing about The Division 2: The deaths feel somehow “earned” – you feel like you’ve made a mistake, not thought something through enough, or overestimated yourself.
That probably fueled my ambition to finish it.
