The Division 2 players are farming for low-level mods that are better than their endgame stuff
This odd yet effective Division 2 strategy boosts your weapon damage with low-level mods
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
The Division 2 is all about chasing higher numbers to complete new challenges, but some players have discovered that the best way to min-max your character might now is hiding back in the early game. As pointed out on Reddit, the issue lies in the way The Division 2 distributes gear mods, those little items-within-items that can give you extra stat boosts on top of your normal equipment: currently, the best way for end-game players to grind for good gear mods seems to be with a new character.
Division 2 tips | Best Division 2 skills | Best Division 2 perks | Division 2 Hyena Key locations | Division 2 Dark Zone Keys | How to level up fast in The Division 2 | Division 2 masks | Division 2 Ivory Keys | Division 2 Dark Zone guide | How to unlock the Dark Zone in The Division 2 | Division 2 crafting guide | Division 2 specializations | How to unlock specializations in The Division 2 | Division 2 dyes | Division 2 mods | Division 2 map | Division 2 printer filament | Division 2 bounties | Division 2 builds | Division 2 Snitch Cards | Division 2 hidden side missions | Division 2 Exotics | Division 2 endgame | Division 2 patch notes
All the different ways that The Division 2 randomizes loot, and how all those variables can affect your characters' performance, can be dizzying - especially once you reach higher levels. Some mods increase how many charges a given skill has, others increase your armor, others boost the damage you deal with critical hits. The most sought-after mods do more straightforward stuff like increasing weapon damage. Much better to have your assault rifles do 5% more damage across the board than just get a 1.5% boost for occasional crits, right?
Turns out it's a heck of a lot easier to get those weapon damage boosts (and other such useful mods) in your teens. They don't have the super high gear score, but with a percentage-based increase to damage, who needs it? This YouTube video demonstrates one such farming strategy: staying in the Dark Zone so you don't even have to worry about leveling out of the sweet spot.
Once you get the mods you want, you can pop them in your Stash and retrieve them on your main character. Then laugh as you toss aside your high-gear-score-yet-incredibly-specific High End mods and slot in some good old fashioned blues and purples. Massive Entertainment will probably make some kind of change to rectify this super-counterintuitive gear boosting strategy, so if you want to enjoy the fruits of your low-level grinding you'd better get to work.
In an odd coincidence, Anthem had a very similar problem that made endgame guns virtually worthless next to starting gear. But as our 60 second video review proves, we still think The Division 2 is the superior loot shooter.
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.


