The Division 2 - State Of The Game 2/19: Learn More About The Factions In The Upcoming Expansion

The Division 2 Warlords of New York is set to be released in less than two weeks from now, specifically on March 3. In this week's State of the Game, we take a look at the different factions players get to meet. While there are going to be new factions, the ones making a return should pose a challenge as they are now tougher and smarter.

Returning Factions

The Warlords of New York expansion sees the return of factions from the original The Division game. This time around they've been given the AI upgrades found in The Division 2. In terms of story, the factions have managed to adjust and recruit more members, making them even more dangerous. The returning factions are:

• Cleaners
  • Background
    • They are former sanitation workers and first responders.
    • The faction's original leader was Joe Ferro, who took drastic measures in trying to eliminate the Green Poison.
      • The Division eventually killed Ferro.
  • They had to regroup after the loss of their leader, and they are now led by Vivian Conley.
• Archetypes
  • Assault
    • Equipped with a flamethrower
  • Rusher
    • Wields a shield and axe
  • Tank
    • Flamethrower-equipped Heavy with destructible armor and multiple weak points.
    • Carries on their back:
      • Molotov bag
      • Flamethrower with a fuel tank
      • Axe
      • Oxygen tank
• Thrower
• Sniper
  • Deploys a Firebrand jumper car that follows them and launches itself at players who try to rush them.
• Controller
  • Pilots a bomb-dropping drone
• Engineer
  • Equipped with a turret that launches napalm shells that can trap players in place and block off cover points.
• Rikers
• Background
  • They are escaped prisoners from Rikers Island.
  • Bolstered by new recruits trying to fit into the faction’s convict theme.
  • After the Green Poison hit, they went on a violent campaign of vengeance and destruction led by Larae Barret.
  • The Division killed Barret, leaving the Rikers leaderless and causing them to split into many sub-groups.
  • One of the sub-groups moved to Lower Manhattan, and now led by James Dragov.
• ​Archetypes
  • ​Assault
  • Rusher
    • Dual-wields SMGs
  • Thrower
    • Equipped with proximity-triggered nail bombs
  • Sniper
    • Carries a taser and a shield
  • Tank
    • Has nailgun and shield equipped with a flasher.
    • Concentrating fire on the flasher can blind the Tank and everyone behind them.
  • Heavy Weapons
    • Can set up a stationary machine gun.
    • This usually makes them ideal targets for sticky bombs.
  • Leaders
    • OG Rikers who’ve been around since the beginning. Leaders can:
      • make better use of cover
      • lay down covering fire for their teammates
      • give their fire team an overheal buff.

New Faction

As mentioned, there's also a new faction that players are going to meet in Lower Manhattan. These are the Elite version of the Black Tusk and can be found on Legendary Missions. Some of the faction's members are former Last Man Battalion members. Their archetypes are:

• Assault
• Rusher
  • Uses an assault rifle at a distance and a shotgun up close.
  • Elites also throw a flashbang at close distance.
• Thrower
• Sniper
• Tank
  • Has a Wasp hive and continually tries to close the distance with Agents.
• Support
  • Deploys a support station that heals everyone nearby.
  • Elites add overheal to it.
  • If the support station is not destroyed before enemies are wiped out, it drops medpacks.
• Controller
  • Operates a mini tank
• Drone Operator
  • Controls a suicide drone
• War Hound
  • Grenadier
    • Moves to different positions and fires three-grenade volleys.
    • Normal ones fire explosive grenades.
    • Elites fire shock grenades.
    • Can be disables by shooting weak points on their backs.
  • Minigun
    • Moves constantly and fires its minigun continuously.
    • Shooting the red weak points on their legs can make them collapse.

It's not all about fighting though, as there is also a friendly faction known as the Peacekeepers. These are civilians and JTF veterans who banded together. After being able to survive for at least eight months, they now have better training. Players should find them useful.

Are you excited for the expansion? Which faction are you most interested in meeting? Let us know in the comments section below.