The Division Walkthrough and Guide – Survive the Dark Zone

A complete walkthrough of the story missions, plus surviving the Dark Zone and the best skills, perks, mods and more!
This article is over 8 years old and may contain outdated information

This walkthrough and guide for The Division will cover all of the story missions, plus provide tips and recommendations for skill builds and teach you how to survive the Dark Zone. We’ll cover the best skills, perks, talents, mods and gear, including the best crafting options. We’ll also take a look at the best party composition, character creation, and where to find all of the blueprints and Dark Zone chests in The Division.

Recommended Videos

Tom Clancy’s The Division released on March 8, 2016 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The game is published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Massive. Many look at it as Ubisoft’s answer to Destiny as both titles are shooters with a heavy MMORPG influence. The DLC will release on Xbox One approximately one month before releasing on PC or PlayStation 4.

The Division Tips

  • Play through the story missions and side missions to earn supplies for the three wings in your base of operations. This allows you to improve each wing and earn new skills, talents, perks and mods for your troubles.
  • Always enter the Dark Zone with a full party of four players. You’ll survive much longer if you have other people to cover your back.
  • While in a party, make sure you have all of the important roles filled. At least one member should have the ability to heal the party, with another using Security wing skills to help protect the party. It also helps to have one or two party members with advanced skills in the Tech wing to inflict as much damage as possible to hostiles.
  • Create a defensive perimeter when you’re ready to extract items from the Dark Zone. Nearby parties will be notified as soon as you call for an extraction, so be ready to defend your position until the helicopter arrives.
  • Always pay attention to the mini-map so you know where restock and loot crates are located. While not all of them will show up on your map, most will.
  • If you run out of ammunition in your primary and secondary gun, you can tap Y (Xbox) or Triangle (PS4) twice to switch to your handgun. This weapon has an infinite supply of ammo when you’re in a pinch.
  • Shoot red gas canisters in the environment to cause an explosion that can damage nearby enemies. You can also shoot the fuel cans on the back of enemies with flamethrowers to make them explode.
  • If you’re fighting near a restock crate, continually go back to refill your ammo after each wave of enemies.

The Division Story Missions

Story Missions: Get Activated, Precinct Siege
Play through the prologue of The Division as you make your way through the first two story missions that lead into the title sequence.

Story Missions: Base of Operations, Medical Field Hospital
Complete the story missions to unlock your base of operations and the Medical wing.

Security Mission: Lincoln Tunnel Checkpoint
Unlock the Security wing of your base of operations to gain access to new skills, talents and perks.

Tech Mission: Subway Morgue
With the Medical and Security wings unlocked and available to you, it’s time to unlock the Tech wing!

Medical Mission: Hudson Refugee Camp
Now that you’ve got all three wings available in your base of operations, it’s time to earn some medical supplies.

Medical Mission: Broadway Emporium
Continue with the main story missions in the Medical wing as you find contaminated dollar bills.

Security Mission: Napalm Production Site
Complete the next major Security mission to advance the story and take out Joe Ferro and the Cleaners.

Tech Mission: Times Square Power Relay
Quickly play through one of the shorter missions in The Division

Medical Mission: Amherst’s Apartment
Find the evidence in the apartment, then extract it just like you would in the Dark Zone.

The Division Collectibles

Find All Survival Guide Pages
Find all 24 pages if you want to stay in one piece.

Find All Crashed Drones
Find all of the destroyed flying vehicles throughout Manhattan.

Final All Superior Blueprints
Build yourself some better gear with these awesome blueprints.

Find All Echo Locations
You’ll need to find well over 60, but you’ll get a Rose Jacket for your troubles.

Find All Incident Reports
Get your hands on the Highland Jacket after finding the 40 different reports.

How to Farm Phoenix Credits
Build up and get some of the sweeter gear in the game.

How to Earn and Spend Phoenix Credits
Make the most out of this currency and get some sweet gear.

The Division Strategies and Character Builds

How to Level Up Fast
Your level is important in The Division. Take a look at a few tips to help you level up faster!

How to Use the Fast Travel System
Running around Manhattan isn’t one of the high points of The Division, but we’ve got some tips to help you make the most of the fast travel system.

Crafting Guide and Tips
Find a workbench and create weapons and gear in The Division.

How to Use Consumables Guide
Consumables are some of the most overlooked aspects of The Division, but they offer great buffs for damage output and healing.

All Weapon and Gear Vendors, Safe Houses
Here’s where you need to go if you’re in the mood to shop.

Team Strategies
If you’re planing to play The Division with some friends, we’ve got important strategies for you!

Best Character Builds
If you’re having trouble determining which skills and talents to use for your character, we’ve got some advice for you!

Best Dark Zone PvP Build
Only the best will do when you’re ready to head into the Dark Zone.

Tech Skills Guide
If you’re looking for an offensive character build with maximum damage, you should be eyeing some of these Tech skills!

Security Skills Guide
If you’re going with a tank build or even a DPS or medic build, some of these Security skills can be very beneficial.

Medical Skills Guide
We take a closer look at all of the skills and mods available from the Medical wing in The Division.

Healer and Support Class Guide
If you’re looking to offer support to your party, take a look at the skills you should prioritize.

Best Class Skills
Take a look at some of the best skills under the Tech, Security and Medical branches!

Medical, Security, Tech Skills
Take a look at the skills and mods available for all three classes in The Division Beta!

How to Extract Loot in the Dark Zone
Keep yourself alive, and score some loot in the process.

How to Survive the Dark Zone, Find Keys, Chests and Rare Loot
Find out how to survive, find keys and chests, and protect your loot in the Dark Zone!

Character Customization and Management
Join us as we explore some of the character creation and customization options available in The Division.

The Division – TMNT Easter Egg
Check out a cool little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Easter Egg in The Division beta.

The Division PC Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Supported OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only).
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400 | AMD FX-6100, or better.
RAM: 6GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 with 2 GB VRAM (current equivalent NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760) | AMD Radeon HD 7770 with 2 GB VRAM, or better.
Notebook support: Laptop models of these desktop cards may work as long as they are on-par in terms of performance with at least the minimum configuration.
DirectX: Version 11
Hard Drive Space: 40 GB available space.
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM Dual Layer.
Peripherals Supported: Windows-compatible keyboard, mouse, headset, optional controller.
Multiplayer: Broadband connection with 256 kbps upstream, or faster.

Recommended Requirements

Supported OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 | AMD FX-8350, or better.
RAM: 8GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon R9 290, or better.
Notebook support: Laptop models of these desktop cards may work as long as they are on-par in terms of performance with at least the minimum configuration.
DirectX: Version 11
Hard Drive Space: 40 GB available space.
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM Dual Layer.
Peripherals Supported: Windows-compatible keyboard, mouse, headset, optional controller.
Multiplayer: Broadband connection with 512 kbps upstream, or faster.

We’d like to hear from you! Please take a moment to fill out our 2016 readership survey and improve your experience.


Prima Games is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

About the Author

Bryan Dawson

Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.