Dark Zone Drops
The Dark Zone is a seriously dangerous area. Split into a number of different player level brackets, each zone contains a large amount of AI enemies out to get you. Add into the mix other players who can either be your allies or go rogue and take you down for your loot and the Dark Zone is a treacherous place to go in unprepared.
Although it’s dangerous, the rewards are certainly worthwhile. As you take down the AI enemies in the Dark Zone, you’ll notice that they’ll be dropping some seriously neat items more frequently. If you’re lucky enough an enemy may just drop a High-End weapon. It’s up to you to then secure the loot and safely extract it, but be cautious of other players who may try and take it from you as you wait for the extraction chopper to come in.
Vendors
If you’ve got the cash, vendors are a sure fire way to get yourself some pretty powerful weaponry. While the ones in the Safe Houses and your Base of Operations will net you some great gear, your best bet for purchasing High-End weapons is from Dark Zone vendors. These guys, just like they did in the beta, will have High-End weaponry up for sale but for an equally high price. You’ll need to spend a lot of time in the Dark Zone to get the funds together, but it’s totally worth it.
One thing to note about purchasing High-End weaponry from vendors is that your perks and buffs for these weapons will be the same for every agent. On the other hand, gear looted from chests and fallen enemies can have unique abilities for every single agent. So if you don’t like the stat boosts on offer with the purchasable High-End weapons, your best bet is to start searching Manhattan.
Crafting
One of the most effective ways to get high-end weapons is through crafting. Why is it the most effective? Because as long as you have the materials to build it, there is no extra cost whatsoever. Materials are easy enough to come by as you can deconstruct your old items and turn them into weapon parts, fabric, or tools depending on what the item is.
Once you’ve got these basic materials you want to head over to the Crafting Station at your Base of Operations and scroll all the way to the bottom. You’ll then see that you can crafting Specialized and High-End versions of these materials by using multiple materials of a lower quality. For example, five normal Weapon Parts will turn into one Specialized part etc.
Deconstruct as much stuff as you can and keep as many High-End materials as possible. Next you need to go hunting for blueprints. These can be found around the world of Manhattan either in loot crates or dropped by powerful enemies. When you’ve found one, head back to your Crafting Station and simply hold down X on PS4 or A on the Xbox One on the High-End item, and voila! You just crafted your very own High-End weapon.
Named Enemies
If you’re incredibly lucky, you may just find that some of the named enemies you take on in the Division will drop something that you won’t want to miss out on. These enemies are named to make sure they stand out from the rest, just in case their huge health bars and powerful weapons didn’t already do the job.
Almost like end of level bosses, these named enemies will grant you huge rewards for taking them down. It may only be a specialized weapon or piece of armor but hey, we aren’t complainin’! If you’ve already got whatever they have to offer then just deconstruct it for materials or sell it on. However, there is the incredibly rare possibility that they may drop a High-End item, especially toward the later stages of the game. Keep your eyes peeled for any glimmers of yellow!
Loot Crates
This one again will come down to luck but could save you a lot of grinding, shooting enemies and gathering crafting materials. As you make your way through, and complete missions, encounters, side missions and just generally explore Manhattan, you’ll notice a lot of loot crates lying around. Make sure to always check your surroundings and take a look down that narrow alleyway or behind that pile of boxes. Loot crates are lying dormant and waiting to be opened.
As we said, it’s very unlikely that you’ll come across High-End weaponry in loot crates, but on the off-chance that one is harboring a sweet yellow item, check every single one you see. After all, you never know.
For more guides, tips, tricks, and information on The Division, be sure to check out our wiki.
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