In The Division, we look at the goal, the end, and the rewards of the upcoming Survival mode, which will come to the game with the Survival DLC.
On November 7th, Massive surprised everyone with a spontaneous livestream, in which they showed the first footage of Survival and announced the start of the PTS. You can find the information presented about the new Survival mode here.
The community developer Hamish Bode sat down again and played the Survival mode on the public test servers, managing to reach the end. What does the end and the goal look like – and what do you get for it?
Note: If you haven’t read the article about the Survival mode yet, you should do so beforehand, as the following information only pertains to the end of this mode.
Escape from the Dark Zone
In Survival mode, which you start from the Operations Base, you are an agent who crashes with the helicopter during a terrible snowstorm. After that, the pure fight for survival begins: you must contend with cold, hunger, thirst, an infection, and – of course – numerous enemies. If you play the PvE-PvP mode of Survival, you must also watch out for other agents. Or you can collaborate with them.
You start at the edge of the map, and here’s an essential piece of information: The entire map serves as the playing field for Survival. Not just a small section of it. Your first goal is to reach the Dark Zone. Because only there can a helicopter pick you up and rescue you.
The closer you get to the Dark Zone, the tougher the enemies become. So you should not rush directly to the DZ, but approach it slowly while upgrading your gear. After the helicopter crash, you are poorly equipped.
In short:
- The first objective is: Work your way to the Dark Zone. Once you are in the Dark Zone, you cannot get out.
- Next, the goal is: Craft a flare gun to call the helicopter.
- The end of Survival is: You get into the helicopter and escape.
But beware: In the Dark Zone, the enemies are the strongest. And keep in mind that there is no respawn. Once you die, the session is over, and you must start a completely new one. Therefore, extreme caution is advised.
The Hunters and the Loot
A significant new threat still lurks in the Dark Zone: You can’t just relax and wait for the helicopter – because the Hunters are coming. They are a new enemy faction that is formidable and wants to make your life difficult with skills, good armor, and high firepower. The Hunters are elite enemies.
In the following video by Schorri TV, you can see gameplay footage and the end of Survival:
But what about the loot and rewards? First: The items you find in the open world will disappear after the Survival session. You cannot transfer these to the “main game”.
You will only receive Sealed Containers as rewards. There are two known ways to obtain these containers:
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- In the Dark Zone: Eliminate enemies that can drop Sealed Containers. Grab the containers. If you manage to escape from the Dark Zone, the containers belong to you.
- As a completion reward: After each Survival session, your performance is measured. You earn points for various things. The more points you have, the more Sealed Containers you will receive.
Note that: If you choose the PvE-PvP mode, you will receive more points than if you play pure PvE.
In the livestream, a developer mentioned that you can receive up to 15 Sealed Containers per session.
Since the PTS are already live, some new items have been discovered, including weapons and the following gear set: D3-FNC. This set has the talent that allows you to use a submachine gun when the ballistic shield is equipped. However, the chance for critical hits is removed. In the following video, you can see some new items:
In addition:
