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The Division: how to reach max Gear Score fast in Underground 1.3 update

Those venturing into Underground of The Division may want to give this video guide a watch.

Cover image for YouTube video

Above, Arekkz provides players with a guide on how to gear up as fast as possible in the Underground 1.3 update. The guide will help both solo and group players, and should help resolve the gear gap issues many players experienced.

According to Arekkz, those who struggle in the Dark Zone, and feel as though they've fallen behind as a result, the PvE activities will help players hit the maximum gear score.

The new max Gear Score for armor is 268 and the max score for weapons is 229. High Value targets can drop items with these Gear Scores, the tow bosses in the 231+ Dark Zone bracket will also drop the new items, some are found in Dark Zone chests, or the player can participate in the Incursions via the various difficulties.

However, the quickest, easiest and more reliable way is to head down into the Underground.

This is where the player will pick up randomly generated "dungeon like" missions. Each time the player visits Operations, there will be a random layout, objective and enemy type. Upon completing the objective, the player will be handed some loot whether run on Normal, Hard, Challenging, or Heroic. Obviously, the level of the drop will scale with the challenge and rewards are also amplified when modifiers are factored in.

There is also a new Underground Rank to obtain and every time the player levels up in rank, they are handed an Underground Cache. Some will contain max Gear Score items - and this is the secret to gearing up fast. Now, some of these items are relevant to the player's current Gear Score, so if the player has a 180 GS, the item may just be a few numbers higher. Arekkz had a 225 GS, and opened a cache which contained a maxed out item.

In short: the Underground Caches are your ticket to hitting the max Gear Score quicker than normal.

Every single time an Underground Operation is completed, XP is earned and hidden collectibles also hand out XP. The bigger the challenge and the more modifiers added, the higher the XP.

It is much easier to farm the Underground levels in Hard Mode if you have a team though, instead of relying on soloing the various difficulty modes.

A team can run through a Hard Mode operation in around five minutes which is a quick 750 XP. When it is finished, the should team dive back into a second one, rinse and repeat, until the players rank up.

Again, every time you rank up, you get an Underground Cache. With a Rank 40 cap, that's 39 total caches handed out. Though rare, some of these caches will also drop, so keep an eye out for one.

If the drop isn't the piece you wanted, but a higher Gear Score, put it on anyway because the higher the GS slotted, the higher the score of the item in the cache.

The Division's Underground update dropped this morning for PC and Xbox One, but not without issue. Hopefully, you were able to log in and play. Some players are still experiencing some Delta errors, but a fix is currently being worked on.

Don’t forget: The Division is 25% through the Steam Summer Sale until July 4 at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm UK.

Still looking for folks to play with? Head over to LFG site 100.io and make some new buddies.

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Stephany Nunneley-Jackson

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Stephany is VG247’s News Editor, with 22 years experience (with 15 of them at VG247). With a brain that lacks adhesive ducks, the ill-tempered, chaotic neutral fembot does her best to bring you the most interesting gaming news. She is also unofficially the site’s Lord of the Rings/Elder Scrolls Editor.

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