The Division 2 adds new weapon types, promises more interesting exotics

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 isn’t set to release for a few months, but developer Massive Entertainment has already started dropping news on the small changes to the franchise. In a blog post called an “Intelligence Annex,” the studio goes over how weapons will be changing in the sequel. Most notably, there’s a new weapon class coming, as well as more interesting exotics.

The Division 2 will be adding rifles as a new weapon type to the game. While The Division had assault rifles and marksman rifles, semi-auto or burst fire rifles got lost in the mix. These weapons will now be in the rifles category, and have their own set of perks and balancing statistics.

The team was clear that this is mainly a balancing change, so that these weapons can operate independently of their other rifle cousins. The goal is that each of the three rifle classes should feel unique and can be balanced on their own scale, rather than burst and semi rifles being resigned to the fate of another class.

Massive also went into detail on how exotics will be changing in The Division 2. The post starts by talking about how the team has built exciting new exotic weapons for the sequel, but there isn’t much discussion about the perks on the weapons. Instead, the team spoke about how each exotic will look unique and have a story somewhere in the world to discover.

The grenade system is also changing from The Division, and will instead offer players only two grenade types at once. Before players choose their specialization — a reversible decision made at level 30 — they’ll have access to concussion grenades.

However, once their specialization is unlocked, they’ll also gain access to that class’ unique grenade. Sharpshooters will use the flashbang, Demolitionists will use incendiary grenades and Survivalists will use frag grenades. When players change their specialization, they’ll also change their grenade type.

The Division 2 will be released on March 15, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.