The Division 2 guide: How to quickly raise your Gear Score

Looking to quickly raise your Gear Score in The Division 2? There’s a fast option, but requires the help of a friend in a higher World Tier.

For many games, once you complete the main story and hit max level, it’s the end. But in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, it’s just the start of a new beginning.

Once you hit the level cap in The Division 2, it’s on to the official endgame. Assuming you’ve completed all of the main missions and conquered the strongholds, the Black Tusks have arrived and you’re now in World Tier 1. This is the first of numerous endgame tiers that offer increased difficulty.

To progress through the different World Tiers, you’re required to complete two Invaded missions and clear a stronghold. Additionally, each World Tier has its own required Gear Score level that must be hit in order to attempt the stronghold.

For example, in World Tear 3, you’re required to have a Gear Score level of 325 before completing the stronghold. World Tier 4, which is the current highest (before next week’s update and the arrival of Tidal Basin), requires a Gear Score level of 375, and is maxed at 450 Gear Score.

The good news is your Gear Score should increase naturally just by playing the game. As you complete Invaded missions and defeat enemies, you should receive armor and weapons that are better than the ones you currently have equipped; it’s a natural progression system that rewards you just by playing the game. However, this natural process can require a little grinding.

If you’re looking to quickly raise your Gear Score, there is an alternative option; however, it requires that you have a friend already in a World Tier above you.

Basically, loot that is dropped in each World Tier is capped. In World Tier 1, for example, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get weapons or armor with Gear Score above 300. A workaround for this is to join a friend’s game who is already in a World Tier above that.

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Joining that friend doesn’t necessarily guarantee that your drops in that World Tier will have a higher Gear Score; however, the drops they receive (assuming they already have a high Gear Score than you) will match their level.

In other words, if your Gear Score is 300 and theirs is 400, the drops they get will be on their level; yours will still be around your level. So the trick is to have them drop the loot they get for you so that you can equip it and easily and quickly raise your Gear Score.

I can confirm this method works as I was raised from 300 to 400+ Gear Score in less than an hour of farming. My friends, who were already equipped with 400+ Gear Score, simply teleported around the map, looting the various caches and sharing their drops with me. It required no work on my end.

So to quickly recap, Gear Score is the average value of all of your highest gear. To increase Gear Score, find and equip better weapons and armor – determined both by your own personal Gear Score and the current World Tier you are in. You can bypass this by joining a friend’s higher World Tier and having them drop better gear for you, assuming they are a higher Gear Score level.

It should be noted that the lower World Tier player must join the higher World Tier player’s game. A higher rated player joining a lower World Tier will result in loot with a Gear Score maxed for that World Tier.

The Division 2 is currently capped at World Tier 4 and 450 Gear Score, but that’ll be upped to World Tier 5 with an update slated to arrive next week on Friday, April 5. This will bump up the max Gear Score to 500.