The Division 2 Endgame - World Tier guide, Black Tusk and World Tiers explained

With The Division 2, Ubisoft and Massive have paid special attention to improving upon the glaring issues of its predecessor; and nowhere is this more evident than The Division 2 Endgame. Once players hit Level 30 and complete the Main Campaign, they'll be greeted with a variety of special Endgame missions and objectives to tackle, as well as a brand new ultra-powerful faction to deal with. Our The Division 2 Endgame and World Tiers guide will walk you through how the game changes once you complete the main campaign, and how to deal with the new Black Tusk faction and unlock the four (soon to be five!) different World Tiers.

If you're after a more general overview on Tom Clancy's latest open-world loot-and-shooter, check out our main The Division 2 guide, which is packed with beginner's tips and links to our sections of our guides series, from stats and explanations of the different The Division 2 weapons/guns to all The Division 2 best builds, and much more.

The Division 2 Endgame guide - World Tiers, Gear Score, Black Tusk explained

There's quite a lot to explain about how The Division 2 changes and opens up once you hit Level 30 and venture into Endgame territory. Click on any of the links below to skip straight to a particular section.

Unlocking The Division 2 Endgame and World Tier 1

To unlock the Endgame, you have to complete the final Main Mission in The Division 2's campaign. This mission is based in Capitol Hill on the far east of the map, and you need to be at Level 30 in order to begin this final objective.

Once you complete the Capitol mission, the map will start to change. Numerous areas across the map which you had previously taken from Hyena, True Sons, and Outcast forces are now under the control of the Black Tusk - the new Endgame faction for The Division 2, containing the toughest and most organised enemies you have faced so far. After a brief cutscene, you will enter World Tier 1 - the first of the four Endgame chapters in The Division 2.

While the Main Missions of the game are now at an end, you'll have your work cut out for you dealing with the various Invaded Missions and Strongholds that have cropped up while you were off saving the world. The structure of each World Tier is actually very straightforward; with each World Tier you will unlock two new Invaded Missions, and completing these Invaded Missions will allow you to take on the Black Tusk Stronghold for that Tier. With each conquered Stronghold, you will progress to the next World Tier, and the next level of difficulty for the Endgame.

The Division 2 Gear Score explained - How to increase your Gear Score

However, each Stronghold also requires you to achieve a certain Gear Score before you can attempt to conquer it. Gear Score replaces your Level once you hit Level 30, and all your Gear now has an associated Gear Score based on its general power (taking into account all stats, Attributes, and Talents). Your total Gear Score is based upon the cumulative Gear Score of all items both on your person and in your Stash.

You must attain a certain Gear Score in order to unlock the final Stronghold for each World Tier and progress to the next Tier of The Division 2's Endgame:

• World Tier 1 has a max Gear Score of 300, and its Stronghold requires you to have a Gear Score of 275.
• World Tier 2 has a max Gear Score of 350, and its Stronghold requires you to have a Gear Score of 325.
• World Tier 3 has a max Gear Score of 400, and its Stronghold requires you to have a Gear Score of 375.
• World Tier 4 has a max Gear Score of 450.

It should be noted that completing the two Invaded Missions usually provides you with most (if not all) of the Gear Score you'll need for the corresponding Stronghold, but you may need to go hunting for other activities in order to make up the final few points on your Gear Score first.

The Black Tusk faction and archetypes - The Division 2 Endgame faction

The Black Tusk are described as a "private military organization that operates on an unknown agenda. They are disciplined and highly organized, and their unparalleled equipment make them the biggest threat The Division has ever faced". They took advantage of your weakening of all the other factions to swoop in while your back was turned and take hold of all the Strongholds and other areas of interest you had previously cleaned out. Bad day for you, agent.

All the usual enemy archetypes you encountered during your trek to Level 30 are still present in the Black Tusk, but many of them have one or two new tricks up their sleeves, and all of them are more powerful and dangerous than their equivalents from other factions. We'll briefly go over what we know of the different archetypes below (and if you want to know more about all the enemy types in general, check out Dave's The Division 2 factions guide):

• Assault - Bogstandard Black Tusk member, fond of Assault Rifles and wide flank attacks.
• Thrower - Grenade-touting Black Tusk enemy that fire air-burst grenades which explode on impact. Elite Throwers can launch multiple grenades in a short space of time.
• Rusher - Everyone's favourite rusher enemies are even more powerful when it comes to the Black Tusk, as they come equipped with SMGs and explosive drones which they deploy two at a time to try to overwhelm you with attacks from multiple fronts.
• Medic - Black Tusk medics are better at staying behind cover while they revive their allies, deploying their revival drone to do all the heavy lifting while they stay protected. They can also throw EMP jammers that will inflict the Disrupt status effect on players (for more information on status effects and debuffs, check out our The Division 2 status effects guide).
• Sniper - Black Tusk snipers are fond of setting up decoy lenses that can momentarily fool and distract you while they take aim from elsewhere.
• Controller - Black Tusk controllers operate the most dangerous of remote vehicles armed with both a grenade launcher and a machine gun. Fun times.
• Warhound - Warhounds are heavily armoured "robotic quadrupeds" armed with a powerful cannon that can deal extreme damage and Bleed effects on enemies. When they finally die, they'll deal an EMP Disrupt effect upon you if you are nearby, jamming your Skills for a short time.
• Tank - Very heavily armoured enemies in any faction, the Black Tusk tank is the hardest to kill, and comes armed with a Gatling Gun.

World Tier 5 - Tidal Basin Stronghold

For the time being, the Endgame in The Division 2 is capped at World Tier 4, with a maximum Gear Score of 450. This will soon no longer be the case, with the Tidal Basin content update releasing on April 5th. This free update will extend The Division 2's Endgame by adding World Tier 5, and increasing the Gear Score cap to 500. You'll gain access to new Invaded Missions and the Tidal Basin Stronghold - for all intents and purposes the Black Tusk Base of Operations.

With the Tidal Basin you should expect to have to deal with the strongest of NPC forces that the game has yet thrown at you, and probably in greater quantities than anything you've previously experienced too. With this update there will also arrive new Invaded Missions that rotate on a weekly basis to provided ongoing content and challenges for the Endgame.

All this you can read about in more detail with our The Division 2 Year 1 guide. Hopefully this is enough to help you understand exactly what's in store for you once you hit The Division 2 Endgame, and how The Division 2's core structure changes once you hit Level 30 and complete the main campaign.