How does loot in The Division actually work? What is the difference between public and private drops? What should I pay attention to regarding loot in the Dark Zone? Here are the answers.
The Division is an MMO with RPG elements, so loot is probably one of the most exciting aspects of the game. Players want rewards for their efforts and achievements. Good weapons and armor parts should drop; otherwise, it’s only half as fun. Let’s take a look at how loot works in The Division.
Private and Public Drops
First, it’s important to distinguish between private and public drops:
- Private Loot: This includes all drops that only you can see. This can be compared, for example, to the engrams from Destiny, which occasionally drop from enemies when you kill them. Only you can see and pick up these drops. Your team members also have their own private loot.
- Public Loot: This is directly the opposite of private loot: everyone can see and pick up the drops – yes, admittedly, not particularly surprising. The exciting part here is: only the first person to pick up the drop gets it. The other agents are left out. First come, first served!
How does loot behave in the PvE area?
Every drop in the PvE area, that is, outside the Dark Zone, is private. This loot belongs only to you. Just you. No matter if you are in a story, saving civilians, or opening chests.
How does loot behave in the Dark Zone?
In the Dark Zone, it gets a bit more complicated: When you kill NPCs, that is, non-human enemies, the loot is private. Each agent gets their own drop.
However, if you kill another agent who is carrying loot, that loot is partially public. It doesn’t matter whether that agent is rogue or not. Every agent now has the chance to grab that loot. So hurry up before someone else picks up the items right in front of you. There might be a high-end weapon in there.
Warning: Every loot in the DZ is contaminated and is therefore stored in the yellow container on your backpack. It must be picked up in the extraction zones by the helicopter before it is transferred to your possession and can be used. Until then, an agent who does not mean well with you can steal the loot.
Not every drop from an agent in the Dark Zone is public
If an agent loses loot through his death, it is classified as public and private. Your opponents can only pick up the public loot. They cannot see or steal the private stuff. What is private and what is public is not by chance – your rogue rank decides:
In the main game, you have 9 slots (only 6 in the beta) available in the Dark Zone where you can store DZ loot. If you are a decent agent and die, you will lose a maximum of three items from your loot, while six will remain private. You can return to the location of your death and pick up that private loot again. Only the three public items will likely be in the possession of another agent.
If you go rogue, the drops work as follows:
- Rogue Rank 0: Public 4, Private 5
- Rogue Rank 1: Public 5, Private 4
- Rogue Rank 2: Public 6, Private 3
- Rogue Rank 3: Public 7, Private 2
- Rogue Rank 4: Public 8, Private 1
- Rogue Rank 5: Public 9, Private 0
In short: The higher the rogue rank, the more you can lose.
This is how loot works in The Division. Especially in the Dark Zone, the behavior of drops is a bit more complicated. In the following video, you can watch it all in English with moving images.
In this article, you can see, among other things, the first TV spot for The Division.
Are you interested in the open beta? Here you can find all the information you need.
