The Division 2 released the first season for the Warlords of New York expansion earlier this week. Dubbed Shadow Tide, the season introduces new manhunts and a new reward for those who complete the manhunts. For those wondering what seasons in the game are all about, today we help get into it a little deeper.
According to a post by The Division 2 development team, one of the biggest lessons of 2019 was that the game should be rewarding to play while ensuring that players progress in a meaningful way whenever they play. In addition, the team said that "a strong narrative and living world must not interfere with players’ ability to steadily grow in power and be faced with nuanced gameplay opportunities."
Therefore, seasons are a new way to give players more chances to progress. This is why players need to finish the Warlords of New York story and reach level 40 in order to access seasons. The format is simple as it revolves around a manhunt, which is a multi-step journey that lets players hunt rogue agents. As mentioned, the first one has started and you can read more about that here.
This means that each season has players go against a new target. Manhunts takes place in locations not only around New York, but also back in Washington D.C. Throughout the season, targets are going to be unlocked. Completing the manhunt gives players a new unique skill mod that can be used by the target players are tasked with taking down. Unlike Classified Assignments which have static story missions, manhunt has narrative elements.
There are also going to be different activities spread out throughout the season that allows players to try out different gameplay styles. For example, Global Events are going to have players face new kinds of challenges. There are also going to be new gear sets added to ensure that the meta-game continues to be interesting.
So what happens in a season? Players can progress by getting season levels and unlock rewards on the season track. According to the team, "season levels were developed as a direct response to the previous years’ learnings and player feedback with the intent of making progression feel predictable, ensuring that no matter the mercy of the RNG Gods, you benefit from playing."
This is why the season track was designed to be directed, flavorful, and meaningful. There are also gear caches that contain season-specific loot tables. Overall, a total of 100 levels are available over a period of 12 weeks. According to the team, the way seasons have been developed should allow the average players to "gain a level every 30 minutes to 1 hour of gameplay with no additional experience modifiers."
Note that players that own Warlords of New York are going to access all the season content for free.
You can dig even deeper to learn more about seasons here.
