The Division 2 Year 5 Season 3 Vanguard has finally arrived, and that means new exotic gear for players to get their hands on. There are two items being added to the main game’s seasonal track, with a third being added in the Descent game mode.
One of these is the Rugged Gauntlets, a new pair of exotic gloves with an interesting talent. It’s an item that seems to reward fast-paced, hip-fire and blind-fire focused gameplay from cover.
Like the recently added exotic items in The Division 2, the Rugged Gauntlets aren’t too difficult to acquire. Here’s what you need to know.
How to get the Rugged Gauntlets in The Division 2
The Rugged Gauntlets can be acquired in the new seasonal track in the free track. The caveat, as always, is that you need to own the Warlords of New York expansion and have completed its campaign to have access to the seasonal gameplay. But from there, anyone can get it, you don’t need to buy the premium pass.
To get the Rugged Gauntlets, you need to increase your seasonal pass level to level 85 out of the 100 available levels. Once you do that, you’ll be rewarded with the item, it’s as simple as that.
Once you have the Rugged Gauntlets in your possession, the next level of the Season Pass will grant you the blueprint so you can craft them again whenever you want.
How to level up your Year 5 Season 3 Vanguard rewards track quicker
There isn’t a concrete, right or wrong approach, and the community would suggest a variety of strategies. The effectiveness of a leveling method largely depends on your confidence and ability to tackle more challenging tasks, which yield more XP rewards. More XP means faster progress in the Season Pass.
One method you can adopt is to engage in open world activities like public executions, territory control, resource convoys, and broadcasting stations. These are short encounters, but if you increase the difficulty, you’ll get more XP from them. A key tip is not to go for heroic difficulty, leave it at challenging maximum. You’ll complete the activities faster, and over time, the net gains could be higher.
Another method I like to employ is random matchmaking into heroic difficulty missions. You’ll usually be placed into a group of four, sometimes partway or nearly all the way through the mission. If there’s any directives active, it’ll increase your XP gains, giving you a good amount after completing the mission. Completing heroic missions, even if you’re a little underpowered, is fairly quick in a group of four. Most veteran Division 2 players want to get things done as quickly as possible!
It’s also worth keeping an eye on your projects, both daily and weekly, as each one completed yields a considerable XP reward. The easiest to fill out is the weekly SHD requisition, which also rewards you with an exotic cache, simply for donating resources. There will also be a daily seasonal pass mission and daily rotations related to locations and factions.
The secret is to find something you’re comfortable with, that gives good XP, and that you can complete quickly. Once you get into your rhythm, maintain it and watch the seasonal pass levels plummet until you receive your reward.