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The Division: how High Value Targets work and why you should care

Matt Martin avatar
News by Matt Martin Contributor
Published on

PvE just came back with a vengeance. Take out HVT contracts and earn some of the best loot in The Division.

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The Division: how High Value Targets work and why you should care

Massive has revitalised The Division's PvE game, making solo and co-op play in its huge recreation of New York City fun and worthwhile again.

After reaching level 30 in the campaign there really wasn't many reasons to bother with PvE, apart from farming the same dull daily missions for a handful of Phoenix Credits.

But with the introduction of the 1.2 update and High Value Targets, there are fresh daily and weekly challenges with tasty loot as a reward.

Here's how it works and why you should return to NYC if you need new gear and a different challenge to the Dark Zone.

What are Search & Destroy missions?

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  • Search & Destroy missions are where you earn Target Intel, a new form of currency. You buy High Value Target contracts using Target Intel.
  • Firstly, you'll need to be level 30 and have cleared all side missions and encounters in a district (Times Square, Midtown East, Turtle Bay, etc) to open up Search & Destroy missions within that district.
  • Go to the safehouse in a district and check out the notice board there. You'll see an icon for Search & Destroy missions. Once activated, you must seek out and kill three groups of enemies around the district. Completing each one will give you 1 Target Intel.
  • You can find you Target Intel in the pouches screen of the inventor, by the way.

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  • Scan the map and you'll see that one named district is marked as Critical. Complete the Search & Destroy missions here for bonus Target Intel.
  • Target Intel is caped at 99.
  • Once you've completed the Search & Destroy missions in a district, head back to the safehouse and up to the notice board. Here you can claim your reward for beating all three missions - another 2 Target Intel and a High End item/weapon. You are now ready to start a High Value Target contract.

How High Value Target contracts work

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  • Head over to the Base of Operations and inside the Security Wing you'll find two new vendors. The Daily HVT Officer and the Weekly HVT Officer. Between them they have six daily and four weekly HVT contracts.
  • It's here you buy a contract. They range in price from 5 Target Intel to 40 Target Intel, with appropriate rewards. The targets are split into four difficulties and it's recommended some are attacked in a group rather than solo.
  • As examples, taking down the Komodo Squad (5 Target Intel) offers 15 Phoenix Credits and a random High End or Gear Set drop. Killing Captain Bruce (40 Target Intel) hands you 50 Phoenix Credits, a random High End or Gear Set item and a weapon skin.
  • For daily targets you have to complete the takedown within the 24 hour period, and obviously with weekly targets you have seven days from the reset.
  • If you attempt a HVT contract and fail you can go back and try again within the 24-hour or 7-day period. Leave it later than that and you'll lose the contract and the Target Intel you paid for it.

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  • The HVT Weekly Officer also has High Risk Target contracts. These are costly and hard, and if you fail you lose the contract. There's no second chance. The reward includes a guaranteed item with a Gear Score of 204 or more.
  • You can only have one HVT contract activated at a time, but you can buy multiple contracts in one go.
  • When you fail a HVT you have to go back to the Base of Operations and visit the officer to get the mission again. This is a pain in the arse. But why do you need to do it? Because the target may have moved to a different section of the map.
  • Some HVT contracts are made harder by having a time limit attached. Fail to take down all the adds before you engage with the named enemy and you'll have to go back to the Base of Operations and start again.
  • Only one person in your group has to pay the Target Intel price, and no one is restricted by Gear Score.

High Value Target loot

As well as credits and other random drops, completing High Value Target contracts hands you guaranteed High End or Gear Set items and weapons. This is why it's worth doing them.

  • High Value Target (Daily) – 1x 182 High End or 214 Gear Set – chance for 1x 191 Gear Set
  • High Value Target (Weekly) – 1x 182 High End or 214 Gear Set – chance for 1x 214 Gear Set
  • High Risk Target (Weekly) – 1x 204 High End or 1x 214 Gear Set – chance for 1x 240 Gear Set

And with that, The Division has become a lot more fun for solo and co-op players who need a break from the PvP Dark Zone antics. Rewards are clear, and there's a routine to earning Target Intel so it's easy to set simple daily and weekly goals with the hope of reaping the benefits.

These High Value Targets can be a challenge too, much more so than running a Daily Objective on Hard mode, and not as gruelling as trying a Daily on Challenging difficulty. Putting a time limit on the contract puts pressure on the players to move forward and engage rather than waiting for the AI to come to you, so you're fighting against the clock as well as PvE enemies.

Massive has take a lot of stick since the release of The Division, in particular when it comes to balancing and bug fixes. Some of that has been justified, but with the changes from update 1.2 it seems to be getting the loot-shooter back on the road to recovery. The playing field has been evened, and there are now multiple ways to get High End items and Gear Set pieces rather than just farming the Falcon Lost incursion or spending hours gathering crafting resourses.

High Value Targets are the best thing to happen to The Division's PvE and another welcome addition to the meta-game.

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