If you’re wondering about The Division 2’s Skills, you’ve come to the right place. First and foremost I know these two statements will quell most of your anxieties regarding TD2’s skills:
- Don’t worry you’ll get all of them in time.
- I can “HELP” you on which skills to get first, or which skills are “good”.
- While you will get all of them eventually, it gets pretty slow later on…
What you’ll find in this guide:
Skills List | Skills Basics & FAQ’s | Skill Priority | WIP
Division 2 Skill List
Might as well start with a list of skills for a quick reference. You can toggle it closed to save space if you’re familiar with them already.
Division 2 - Skills List
| Skill Platform |
Variant |
Description |
| Pulse |
Scanner |
pulse (from the player) the area for hostiles, highlighting them on the HUD. |
| Pulse |
Remote |
target a location where the remote pulses the area for hostiles, highlighting them on the HUD. |
| Pulse |
Jammer |
jammer pulses, overloading and disabling hostile electronics. |
| Turret |
Assault |
Tracks and attacks hostiles, with a mid-range rifle. |
| Turret |
Incinerator |
manually controlled turret that emits flame in a cone AoE. |
| Turret |
Sniper |
Fires a slow, long range sniper rifle at manually selected targets. |
| Hive |
Restorer |
repairs nearby allies armor. |
| Hive |
Stinger |
distract and attack hostiles. |
| Hive |
Reviver |
Revives downed allies, TRIGGERS AUTOMATICALLY ON SELF-DOWN. |
| Hive |
Booster |
increases allies combat efficiency. |
| Chem Launcher |
Reinforcer |
creates a gas that repairs allies armor at the target location. |
| Chem Launcher |
Firestarter |
creates a gas at the target location which can be ignited. |
| Chem Launcher |
Riot Foam |
creates an immobilizing foam at target location. |
| Chem Launcher |
Oxidizer |
creates a gas that damages enemy armor, skill proxies, and causes a DoT. |
| Firefly |
Blinder |
blinds targeted enemies, reducing their combat effectiveness. |
| Firefly |
Burster |
attach explosives to targets that explode if they’re in close proximity |
| Firefly |
Demolisher |
damages or destroys enemy weak points, skill proxies, and environmental explosives. |
| Seeker Mine |
Explosive |
rolls to nearby hostiles and explodes when close. |
| Seeker Mine |
Airburst |
rolls to nearby hostiles and fires a cluster bomb into the air when close. |
| Seeker Mine |
Cluster |
splits into smaller seekers which track hostiles and explode when close. |
| Drone |
Striker |
drone which tracks and continually fires at hostiles. |
| Drone |
Defender |
done that attempts to deflect incoming bullets. |
| Drone |
Bombardier |
set two points, then drone places explosives between them. |
| Drone |
Fixer |
replenish nearby allies armor, can be targetted to a specific ally. |
| Shield |
Bulwark |
near full coverage shield, but only allows sidearms when used. |
| Shield |
Crusader |
a lighter shield which exposes legs, and allows most primary weapons to be used. |
| Shield |
Deflector |
s small shield that reflects incoming fire. Only a sidearm may be used. |
Division 2 Skills Basics & FAQ
Basics of the Skill System
Skills in TD2 are active abilities that you can freely swap in and out as long as you are not in combat. You can have 2 active skills in your loadout.
Skills “trees” (called Skill Platforms) are unlocked one by one as you progress in the game. If you want to get another skill WITHIN THE SAME TREE, you need to invest 5 SHD points. That’s costly early on, so you have an incentive to plan on what skills you’re getting first, or a loose skill priority.
“Can we unlock all skills? Will I get them all!?”
Yes don’t worry. As you progress you’ll get more SHD points and you’ll be able to unlock everything. It’s just a matter of time. The price for getting a different variant within the same platform is costly, though, so it kinda feelsbad for those of us who wanna try them out beforehand.
“What Skills to get first?”
Disclaimer - everyone is different.
While not everyone has the same playstyle, and I cannot possibly create a skill priority that fits everyones needs or wants, this is a basic place to start if you’re looking for GUIDANCE on what skills you should get in what order in Division 2.
This one isn’t easy to answer in such a way that will make EVERYONE happy, but here’s my 2 cents on it, and WHY. Will discuss it in a new segment just below.
Division 2 Skill Priority (Early & Leveling)
Keep in mind this skill priority is only for LEVELING UP and pretty much any NON-ENDGAME content. A proper skill choice can really help your leveling process be funner, and less stressful.
If you’re soloing:
Hive – Reviver is a HUGE safety net and anti-stress skill.
Early Skill Priority
>> Read the next tab for further notes.
| Tier |
Priority |
Skill Platform |
Variant |
Note |
| 1 |
1 |
Hive |
Reviver |
AUTO SELF RES. Potentially saves you time and stress. |
| 1 |
2 |
Shield |
Crusader |
Speeds things up by trivializing certain encounters |
| 2 |
3 |
Chem Launcher |
Reinforcer, Igniter |
It’s essentially a reusable armor kit on a cooldown. Igniter is a godlike anti-elite. |
| 2 |
4 |
Seeker Mine |
Cluster |
A solid burst of damage that you can’t really mess up. |
| 3 |
5-6 |
Drone |
Defender, Striker |
Can’t go wrong with these little guys. |
| 3 |
5-6 |
Turret |
Incinerator, Assault |
You’ll never be sad with some extra firepower here and there. |
| 4 |
7 |
Firefly |
Any |
Niche. It’s fancy and cute, but largely unnecessary early on. |
| 4 |
8 |
Pulse |
Jammer |
Situational. The other variants are laughably bad in early PvE. |
Further Notes
<< Read the previous tab for the summarized skill priorities.
Tier 1: Reviver and Crusader
It’s not really that these two skills are so much above the rest… these skills aren’t technically good even. What they do provide, however, are ways to bend the game “rules” to do one or more of the following – reduce your stress, simplify certain encounters, SPEED THINGS UP a bit.
Technically the Reviver and Crusader are CRUTCHES in difficult encounters – they don’t really increase your success chances significantly. It’s more of facilitating laziness and speed.
“These skills are too cheesy!” That’s ok – don’t use them.
Tier 2: Reinforcer and Cluster
These two are the true “tier 1” in the sense that these are both FLEXIBLE and POWERFUL. You’re never sad to have these in your hotbar as they are useful in almost every scenario against almost any enemy type. I would consider these two the basic bread and butter defensive and offensive skill.
Tier 3: Drone and Turret
Man, I love these guys. They’re tier 1 in my heart. These guys are almost equal to tier 2 I suppose. There’s really not much to say about these two skills, you’re never sad to have a helping hand from your little robotic buddies.
Tier 4: Demolisher and Jammer
Firefly and Pulse are really really niche. Look, before you say “They’re useful man!”, I don’t doubt that. They have uses and are useful. It’s just that early on you might not have the patience or NEED to use them. You can certainly USE them, but did you REQUIRE TO?
Again these aren’t bad, it’s just that you don’t always encounter the scenarios wherein they’re good.
Note that I only placed one recommendation per Skill Platform – that’s because wasting 5 SHD on another variant is a huge waste before you cap out on useful Perks.
But please don’t let me stop you from living the dream of “DOBOL ROBOTS TURRET PLUS DRONE AWWWYIIIII”. I get it man, I get it.
Other useful skills while leveling
Keep in mind that YOU’RE NOT FORCED TO USE ONLY TWO SKILLS EVER. I don’t understand why some players feel the need to only ever use two skills for every encounter. YOU CANT CHANGE IT UP!
Any skill that ignites GREATLY helps versus fat elite enemies. Chem Launcher – Igniter is my default burning skill due to its low cooldown. Turret – Incinerator is great for chokepoints.
I’d say you MUST have an ignite skill while leveling up. Tougher elites and bosses can be very annoying if you’re “undergeared”.
Skills that provide CC, or immobilization can also be great. Chem Launcher – Riot Foam, Firefly – Blinder, Hive – Stinger. Each have their ups and downs but CC is great for tougher encounters.
Again, a reminder on how powerful defensive and healing effects are. Chem Launcher – Reinforcer is the most used one, it’s a reusable mini armor kit.
As you can see, Chem Launcher is pretty godlike. Every mode is decent, and has such a short cooldown.
Full Skill Priority (PvE)
I plan to add this chunk in the very near future. Hold on ey…
Skill Evaluation for Endgame / PVP
I plan to add this chunk in the very near future. Hold on ey…
Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll be updating this as I go. I guess this is a mini-guide for now on The Division 2’s Skills, don’t be afraid to ask anything in the comments!
