The Division 2 guide: How to unlock the Gunner specialization
A guide to completing the Field Research challenges required to unlock the Gunner specialization in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2.
Arriving with Title Update 4 last week was Tom Clancy’s The Division 2‘s fourth specialization. The Gunner, as you probably already know and the name suggests, carries a giant minigun that’s not only capable of dealing sustained damage but also doubles in functionality to allow for a more tankier specialization. The Gunner receives bonus armor based on the amount of specialization ammunition being carried.
To unlock the Gunner specialization, you’ll have to have first completed the campaign and reached the endgame of Division 2. If you have the Year 1 Pass, available for $40, you’ll get instant access to the Gunner specialization. This is the quickest and easiest way to unlock the Gunner specialization.
If you haven’t purchased the Year 1 Pass, you have a much longer journey ahead. You’ll need to complete five stages of Field Research, and each stage has multiple challenges that you must fulfill.
Progress on your Field Research can be viewed by pressing Triangle/Y on the Gunner while at the specializations bench in the White House. Only the currently active stage will be shown.
Stage 1, for example, includes four different challenges:
- Shocking Roach: Shock Roach twice before defeating him in Bank Headquarters (on Normal or harder difficulty)
- Downtown West Sharpshoot: Capture all Downtown West control points with the Sharpshooter specialization active
- Mounted Gunnery: Defeat enemies using the mounted gun in the Grand Washington Hotel (Normal or harder difficulty)
- Marksman Rescue: Use only marksman rifles to complete public execution activities.
The remaining Field Research stages are similar to the first and include things like capturing all Southwest control points with the Survivalist specialization active; using only a shotgun to complete propaganda activities; defeating enemies while they’re confused; defeat heavy weapons enemies in the open world; and challenges of this nature.
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The kind folks over at Reddit have actually put together a graphic with all of the Field Research challenges, so you can get a sneak peek for the types of tasks you’ll have to perform to unlock the Gunner. There’s also a useful Google Doc (created by Redditor Hanakooh) that outlines the steps for each of the five stages.
The good news is that none of these challenges seem too difficult; but, they are time-consuming and somewhat tedious. The easiest route is to probably just fork over the $40 to automatically unlock the Gunner; however, you’ll probably still want to complete these Field Research challenges even if you own the Year 1 Pass as they also provide cosmetic rewards.
The Gunner is the first of three planned specializations Ubisoft will release over the first year. The developer still has three Episodes (DLC) planned throughout the year, giving us a sneak peek at some of the post-launch content coming over the next few months.
Episode 1: D.C. Outskirts is slated to arrive this summer, but likely won’t introduce a second or third specialization. Those will likely come with Episode 2 Pentagon: The Last Castle (fall 2019) and Episode 3 Brooklyn: Homecoming (early 2020)