‘Tom Clancy’s The Division’ 1.6 PTS Game Update Review Of Legendary Difficulty, Contamination Events, And Dark Zone’s Northern Front


Tom Clancy’s The Division 1.6 Last Stand revealed an update which reviews a ton of changes and new game content. The PTS update is free and will be released at the same time as the Last Stand Expansion III DLC, according to the Ubisoft website.

News of the expanded “Northern Front” in the Dark Zone with three additional zones will come with challenging NPC occupied landmarks and other great adversarial venues that lie within the region north of the Midtown East district.

There’s also an introduction of the “Legendary” difficulty that goes beyond the Heroic incursions, which has been added to the three existing missions, but with smarter NPCs. With the advancement of the AI these days, there’s no telling what to expect in The Division 1.6 update, but the PTS is coming soon.

There will also be new gear sets and exotic items, some of which cannot be found anywhere else along with Contamination Events that serve the underground areas of the Dark Zone. These areas have a concentration of a virus so lethal that no advanced or high-level mask that can serve as a barrier. So at the same time you take on the Cleaners, you’ll also have to manage your health. This would probably give a Survival feel to the event.

It is exciting to know that this area of the map has almost doubled the size of the Dark Zone. This is mostly due in part to additional exploratory underground venues, rooftops, and interior buildings with spacious areas. Zones seven, eight, and nine will be added, and with it, more challenging landmarks with waves of incoming NPCs after the initial NPCs are taken out.

The further north you go through these areas, the more challenging it gets with NPCs inundating this region of the map. Some rewards in this area are directly added to your inventory, bypassing the need to extract.

  • The Dark Zone has been expanded with three new areas, Dark Zone 7-9, north of Dark Zone 6 and Midtown East.
  • New Landmarks feature waves of enemies.
  • Landmarks award you with additional loot placed directly into your inventory.
  • Fast travel between Dark Zone checkpoints has become available.

Cleaners And Contamination Events

The story behind this theme is that the Cleaners have taken over the underground areas of the Dark Zone. These areas are riddled with dead, infected bodies with biohazard contamination areas through the roof. The infection is so intense that no mask can be made to stop it, which leaves the Division agent to his/her ability to manage their own health while taking on the Cleaners that spawn every hour.

  • New Contamination Events have been added to the Dark Zone.
  • Roughly every hour, elite Cleaners will spawn in the Dark Zone underground. Contamination in those areas will reach lethal levels, so your virus filter will not be able to resist it.

Legendary Difficulty With Hunter-Like Foes

Tom Clancy’s The Division 1.6 Last Stand will introduce the Legendary difficulty for those players who love a challenge beyond the Heroic incursions. They’ll only be exclusive to three already existing places; the Napalm Production Site, the WarrenGate Power Plant, and Time Square.

Although some Division agents/players had been to these places many times and likely have become very familiar with the nature of the NPCs, they are in for a twist from the smarter Last Man Battalion opponents. They’ll be using more “advanced tactics” against your team, and it’s on you and your teammates to work together smarter than ever. These opposing forces are rather reactive to status effects and skills. They can even be considered comparable to that of the Hunters in Survival mode.

There will be a complete replacement of NPCs that you’ve been up against in these mission areas and will be a different mix of elite, normal, and veteran opponents.

  • Legendary difficulty mode has been added to Times Square, WarrenGate Power Plant and Napalm Production Site and features new, powerful and smart enemies.
  • Legendary difficulty is the most challenging content in the game and is intended for organized groups.
  • Legendary difficulty rewards you with unique vanity items not available elsewhere in the game on top of the regular rewards.

Tom Clancy’s The Division website gives more details on new gear sets and exotic items that have color coded identifiers with their own lore details and unique talents. The Alphabridge four-piece set bonus will not work with the talents of these exotic weapons.

The Division Last Stand 1.6 gear sets have their own changes, including the Alphabridge set, which Massive thought to be overpowered. They put a limit on it so that they would only share the “free” talents of both weapons.

The list of details continues on The Division website as they talk about the 1.6 Last Stand update with changes to named weapons skill power and skills, armor and resistances, PvP balancing, economy changes, the new incursion for PvE players, and the revamping of the in-game store.

Be on the look out for Tom Clancy’s The Division 1.6 Last Stand DLC expansion III as there’s a ton of content to get your hands on.

[Featured Image by Ubisoft]

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