Guides

Guide: The Division 2’s Skills, Ranked

Ranking the game's skills from worst to best.

Regardless of your play style, The Division 2 offers a variety of skills tailored to suit your needs. However, some skills are more effective in achieving success than others. In this article, we’ll rank the skills in The Division 2 from least to most effective. First, we’ll evaluate each skill type, and then we’ll assess each variant of those skills.


8. Ballistic Shield

Take a look around at the environment you find yourself in while playing Division 2. After noticing approximately forty-thousand opportunities for cover, do you find yourself thinking, “I wish I had more cover”? Didn’t think so. The ballistic shield is really only useful if you intend to play the game hyper-aggressively, but even then, you’re still probably going to be running for cover. The protection the ballistic shield offers just isn’t worth the space in one of your skill slots.

Ballistic Shield VariantInfoRank
Deflector
ricochets bullets back to an enemy of your choice1
Crusaderallows the use of all firearms, does not protect legs2
Bulwarkoffers full body protection but can only use sidearms3

7. Pulse

The pulse skill can be used to either highlight enemies’ locations or temporarily jam their electronics. Neither one is particularly useful, at least compared to the other skills on this list. Finding enemies is never that difficult and jamming electronics is only useful against certain enemy types, putting this skill just barely above the ballistic shield.

Pulse VariantInfoRank
Jammeroverloads and disables enemy electronics1
Remotescans for enemies at a set location2
Scannerscans for enemies in your immediate vacinity3

6. Hive

Primarily a defensive tool, the Hive does offer one offensive variant, the stinger, which sends out micro drones to distract and damage enemies. Out of all the offensive skill variants, this is one of the worst, and the defensive options are nothing to write home about. The low range of the hive skill places it close to the bottom of our list. Still, the hive isn’t the most useless skill on our list thanks to the reviver variant.

Hive VariantInfoRank
Reviverrevives nearby downed allies1
Restorerrepairs nearby allies’ armor2
Boosterincreases nearby allies’s combat effectiveness3
Stingerdistracts and damages nearby enemies4

5. Firefly

The firefly skill sounds great on paper – an automated “paper-plane” like device that can blind enemies, target their weak points, or attach proximity explosives to them. However, the firefly’s health is ridiculously low, and the device is going to be destroyed before it even gets close to an enemy the majority of the time. Hopefully, we’ll see an increase to the firefly’s health in a future patch.

Firefly VariantInfoRank
Demolishertargets enemy weak points and environmental explosives1
Bursterattaches proximity explosives to two enemies2
Blinderblinds enemies3

4. Chem Launcher

The chem launcher is probably the most versatile skill in the game. Offering multiple offensive and defensive options, you’re sure to find at least one variant that fits your play style. The reinforcer variant can also be dropped at your feet, offering you another self-heal option.

Chem Launcher VariantInfoRank
Reinforcerrepairs your and nearby allies’ armor over time1
Oxidizerdamages enemy armor over time2
Riot Foamimmobilizes emenies3
Firestarterexplosive gas that can be ignited by bullets4

3. Turret

If you’re looking for a purely offensive skill, consider equipping one of the turret variants. There are three to choose from, each one complementing different play styles. The turret can be placed at your feet, on top of cover, or thrown for a better angle. There’s something for everyone here.

Turret VariantInfoRank
Sniperfires high-damage rounds at manually-selected enemies1
Assaultfires at targets, automatically or manually2
Incineratormanually shoots a cone of flames at close range3

2. Assault Drone

Like the chem launcher, the drone skill offers players multiple offensive and defensive variants. After deploying your drone, you’ll control it remotely, selecting your targets how you see fit. There’s a variant here for everyone, and the assault drone skill just barely misses the #1 spot on our list.

Drone VariantInfoRank
Strikerfires continously at a manually-selected target1
Fixerrepairs allies’ armor, manual or automatic target selection2
Bombardierdeploys explosives between two manually-set points3
Defenderdeflects incoming enemy fire4

1. Seeker Mine

Is the seeker mine “easy mode”? Probably, but it’s there, so you might as well use it. Returning from the original Division, the seeker mine can be dropped or thrown for a better path to your target(s) and has a relatively low cooldown timer. Expect to see this skill a lot during your time in the game.

Seeker Mine VariantInfoRank
Clustersplits into smaller explosive mines that seek out multiple enemies1
Explosiveseeks out an enemy and explodes on proximity
2
Airburstseeks out an enemy and knocks them back3

What did you think of our list? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to keep on the lookout for more Division 2 content right here on Game Truth.

Carson Levy is a writer and film freelancer living in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been playing video games since he developed hand-eye coordination. He has a son, Dougie, who is a leopard gecko.

Comments are closed.