New The Division 2 update 'The Pact' focuses exotic farming in the right way

We've been playing The Division 2 for six years now, and Ubisoft doesn't seem to have any intention of moving on quite yet. In that time, we've seen plenty of updates, new modes, and seasonal overhauls for the Tom Clancy-branded shooter, yet there's always a lingering feeling that nothing truly changes. Alliances forge and fracture, faces one thought lost pop back up again, and the cycle continues. New Division 2 season 'The Pact' wants to change that, threatening to bring its disparate enemy factions together in an attempt to shift the balance of power divisively in their favor.

While we'll be waiting a while for Survivors, the long-requested return of the original game's extraction-style mode, The Division 2 Year 7 Season 2 is the most interested I've been in returning to the co-op game since the introduction of the roguelike-inspired Descent mode in 2023. It's got a narrative hook that could spark us along the road to an eventual Division 3, and also overhauls the fundamentals of how you'll spend your time across the open-world game.

"The Division 2 has long pit players against a diverse array of deadly factions," Ubisoft's Chris Watters says of the new update. "Those enemies are on the verge of uniting. Recent intel suggests the leadership of the True Sons, Outcasts, and Hyenas are planning to forge a pact - one powerful enough to shift the balance of power in D.C. and create the most dangerous threat The Division has faced yet."

Retaliation is a new, permanent activity that you'll encounter across D.C. (along with New York and Brooklyn if you own their respective expansions). It kicks in when a faction has become too destabilized, indicated by an 'agitation meter' seen on the map, and marks a zone where that group will attempt to re-establish its hold. All control points there will be under threat, and you'll have a limited time to retake the entire region.

To make your task tougher, enemy 'kill squads' made up of elite and named foes will ambush you as you move between the points. The good news is that they're a great source of exotic blueprints (more on that in a second). You'll also be given a set of 'maneuvers' that act as additional challenges, with more time put on the clock for each one completed.

In great news for anyone trying to perfect their loadout, which is basically anyone still playing, this new feature introduces a way to target farm exotics. Most of the exotic gear blueprints in the game are now tied to a specific faction, and you'll be able to get them both as drops from the kill squads and for completing the overall retaliation.

While you'll likely want to focus on targeting the group that pays out the gear you're most interested in, the additional crafting materials that drop can be exchanged for those relating to other factions. If you don't own the Warlords of New York or Battle for Brooklyn DLC, you can still target Cleaners and Rikers exotics through caches available from Inaya in your base.

Ubisoft also adds that the new retaliation events "are the most efficient way to earn modifier XP" for the seasonal modifiers. With the renewed focus on territory control, there are global bonuses to your combat power based on your zone progress, and active effects that can be unlocked for every rival gang. These are earned through the seasonal journey, and upgraded with the experience earned from tacking each group in turn. On top of that comes five universal and five faction-specific passive bonuses.

Expect a clutch of new gear, of course. If you like to deal with the big guns first, the Shroud exotic rifle amplifies weapon damage against the highest-ranking enemies currently in combat. Prefer to clear out the little guys at the start? The Overdogs exotic gloves offer exactly the opposite benefit, ramping your weapon damage against the lowest-ranked opponents on the field.

The Division 2 Year 7 Season 2, 'The Pact,' is live now. You can read through the full patch notes courtesy of Ubisoft for an extended run-down of changes.

Ready to return to action? Check your rig against The Division 2 system requirements before you set off. If you're in need of some extra juice, we've got the latest on the best graphics card in 2025.

Let us know what you think of the new season in the PCGamesN community Discord server, and tell us if you're excited to come back for more or whether you'd rather see The Division 3 in the works.