The Division: Best Build For A Solo Character

Some folks don't like other people. If that's you, you probably intend to play The Division without a group of close pals or a bunch of random cohorts shouting at you to revive them. Firstly: I hope you are okay, you are missing out, no man is an island, et cetera, et cetera. Secondly: I am here to help you stay in splendid isolation. Here are two strong solo builds you can create.

For both these builds you are going to want to prioritise Firearms, then Stamina, then Electronics. Don't ask questions, just do it.

Self-sufficient Arsonist

Weapons: Marksman Rifle, SMG.

The Marksman Rifle is the best for quickly taking down enemies with headshots. A good rifle like the SRS A1 will let you down an enemy in two shots to the head but you have to be a good shot since it is bolt-action and fires more slowly than other rifles. An SMG like the Vector will come in useful when shotgun troops are rushing you, or when things get into close quarters. This loadout is good for any of the following builds but for the sake of variety I'm changing them next time.

Skills: Support Station (Life Support Mod) and Seeker Mine (Airburst Mod)

The Support Station is pretty much essential for solo play. You won't always have enough medkits to keep you going so relying on a wide area of regenerative cover is a necessity. The Life Support mod is your only hope of revival if you happen to get knocked down. Some people might opt for the Ammo Cache mod instead, because you will be expounding more ammo than a team will collectively but if you're a decent shot with that rifle you won't need it.

The Seeker Mine with the Airburst mod will set big groups of enemies on fire. A lot of people say the Turret with the Zapper mod is great but this does not harm the enemies, just stuns them. What's more, tanky machine gunners will simply run and stomp these quickly to death. The flames of an Airburst, on the other hand, will stop enemies from firing for a short time, prevent them taking cover AND hurt them continually until the fire is out. The idea is to keep them busy as you shoot or relocate, but if you can hurt them at the same time, why not?

Talents: Wildfire, Adrenaline, Strike Back, One Is None

Wildfire is here to compliment your Seeker Mine - it grants a 30% chance to set all enemies on fire within 10m of those already burning. For this reason, you should also prioritise the use of fire grenades over tear gas or EMP.

Adrenaline gives you an overheal if you use a medkit while at full heath, adding an extra green bar above your normal health bar. Seeing as you'll be using the Support Station for most of your healing, this gives the medkits an extra function.

Strike Back is wonderful with the Support Station, since it increases the power of your skill whenever you have low health - exactly the moment you need it.

One Is None is crazy. When you land a headshot, it grants a 50% chance of not consuming the bullet. Considering how many headshots you ought to be landing with that rifle, you stand to save a large amount of ammo, another reason the Ammo Cache mod for the support station shouldn't be necessary.

Signature Skill: Tactical Link

The damage buff granted by Tactical Link is going to make your sniper rifle shots incredibly powerful. In a boss fight (the moment you should always use your signature skill as a solo player) this almost entirely outweighs the benefits of the next best option, Survivor Link. The skill activates for 12 seconds, so you will have the chance for 3-5 shots to the head of any boss. Land all of these and you will tear a huge chunk out of their armour or health.

Murderer of Independent Means

Weapons: Assault Rifle, SMG

Focus on having an Assault Rifle modded and built to land as many critical hits as possible and making them hurt. Do the same with the SMG if you can and any gear. Weapons with the 'Deadly' talent are great for this, increasing critical hit damage by 20%. If you feel confident, you can choose to roll with a high-damage shotgun instead of an SMG.

Skills: First Aid (Booster Shot Mod) and Pulse (Tactical Scanner)

This First Aid skill will come in handy if you'd prefer to be on the move instead of sitting at a Support Station. Not only does it heal you up without using a medkit, the Booster Shot provides you with increased damage. This is something your murderer build will want to capitalise on.

The Pulse skill is all-round useful. It identifies targets and the Tactical Scanner mod gives you a massive 19% chance to land a critical hit plus 38% addition to critical hit damage. This in conjunction with the bonuses of the weapons and gear will make you twice as lethal for a short time.

Talents: Critical Save, Tactical Advance, On The Move, Evasive Action

Critical Save is useful for desperate times. At low health popping a medkit will increase damage resistance by 40% for 10 seconds. All the other skills here are about moving and murdering and keeping your damage high and your resistance up.

Tactical Advance will grant you 2% bonus damage for every metre you move during a complete cover-to-cover move. You have to move the whole way - no bugging out to change cover if you can avoid it.

Meanwhile, Evasive action will reduce incoming damage during your cover-to-cover move by 30%. You can see a theme forming here, I'm sure.

On The Move will give you another 30% damage resistance for 10 seconds if you kill somebody while on the move. This is more of a tanky insurance policy for if you have to run the traditional way but need to fire at the same time.

Signature Skill: Survivor Link or Tactical Link

I would recommend Tactical Link for the same reasons as the prior build, and considering the amount of investment this build puts into critical hit damage, upping the chance of landing these hits by 50% is a huge boon. Survivor Link on the other hand makes you even tankier, which might get you out of trouble but won't help too much on those spongey boss fights.

Obviously, feel free to mix and match and improve on these to fit your playstyle. One thing you should know is that, whatever your build, you are going to find it impossible to complete any missions on the 'challenging' difficulty. So if you get to the endgame and want to earn them Phoenix credits, you will need to find some friends. I'm sorry.

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