Larae Barrett’s bulletproof vest is one of the most sought-after items in The Division. What can this thing do?
Since the 1.5 update, you wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of the Rikers leader Larae Barrett. She is the final boss of the “Lexington Event Center” mission and is currently being taken down extremely often by agents. There are two reasons for this:
- The mission is considered an efficient way to quickly get a lot of good loot.
- Here you have the chance to acquire “Barret’s bulletproof vest”.
This vest is part of the named gear pieces that have been available since the 1.5 update in The Division – and is as rare as it is coveted. Massive revealed last Thursday that Barrett has been defeated over 2.85 million times since 1.5, as agents eagerly hunt for the item.
How to obtain Barret’s bulletproof vest?
You have three options to obtain the vest:
- Larae Barrett: Start the “Lexington Event Center” mission on World Tier 5. For an increased chance, the Challenge Mode is recommended. The vest can only drop directly from an NPC, specifically from Larae Barrett.
- Survival mode: In the sealed containers you receive as rewards in Survival, there is a chance to acquire the item.
- Sealed containers through experience points: If you generate enough XP, for example by replaying “Lexington Event Center” repeatedly, you will receive containers. This way, you can also get the bulletproof vest.
The most important factor here is luck. Whether you receive the vest depends on chance – and the drop rates are very low. Massive stated they currently have no plans to increase the drop probability. Given the loot rain, there should also be items that are rare and bring joy when obtained.
What does Barret’s bulletproof vest do?
Like every named gear piece, the vest has a unique talent. This talent makes the item so desirable because it is well-thought-out and offers exciting benefits in practice.
This is what the talent brings:
- If no skills are on cooldown, skill power is increased by 10%.
- If a skill is on cooldown, damage is increased by 5%.
- If two skills have an active cooldown, armor is increased by 10%.
Important note: Only one of these three bonuses is active at a time. For example, once two skills are on cooldown, the damage bonus is deactivated and only the armor is increased.
That’s why this talent is so well-thought-out: Many agents run around with a healing skill and a second skill designed to deal more damage. When you’re just before or just after a fight, the skills are (again) fully charged. The next use of a skill will be more powerful thanks to the increased skill power. When the fight begins, you use your damage skill, such as a turret or a pulse. Damage increases, and now you can deal substantial damage. Once you need to activate the healing skill, it means you’ve taken a lot of damage yourself. Now the increased armor kicks in and boosts your chances of survival. Practical!
By the way: The other bonuses and attribute increases on this piece of armor are random.
Currently, the stat increases provided by this talent are not correctly displayed in the UI. They are functioning, but a client patch is required to fix the display. Tip: If you switch out the body armor and then return directly to the Barret vest, the UI updates and shows the increased value.
Conclusion: Yes, Barret’s bulletproof vest is a strong item that you can rightly be happy about when you obtain it. However, it is not a “must-have” item, as there are currently many other gear set combinations possible to create strong builds.
Do you have the vest in your possession? What do you think of it?
You can find the locations of all named gear pieces here.
