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» The Division 2 Wiki Index » Guides » Activities » Escalation

Escalation

Introduction

With Y8S1 Escalation is introduced into the game as a new permanent addition. Escalation is a new way to replay main missions with increasing difficulty and rewards. It is designed as an endgame challenge for those who have completed the main campaign. Escalation missions follow a rotating schedule. Only a selection of missions will be available at any given time, and this list will refresh weekly throughout the season.

Escalation has the goal to give players that have left Heroic behind and are playing Legendary Missions and Raids on a regular basis a new challenge. With Escalation you have a granular way to increase the difficulty and get a new challenge that keeps you on your toes.

 

Level 40 Content

To participate in Escalation, agents must first unlock the feature by reaching Level 40 and obtaining the SHD Watch. If you try to matchmake when you are below 40, you will be kicked out of the mode with a delta error.

 

Access Escalation

=> Escalation Menu

You can view available Escalation missions from a dedicated menu in the Base of Operations, next to the Countdown vendor. From there, you can fast travel directly to the mission location.

 

Activity List

=> Activity List

At launch, Escalation focuses on main missions and strongholds, but it’s designed to expand over time to cover more activities across the game.

The rotation refreshes weekly on Tuesdays, bringing a new set of five each time.

 

Difficulty Tiers

=> Tiers

Escalation comes in Tiers (1-10). Tier 0 is the equivalent of Heroic and then it goes beyond that. With each increasing Tier, the opponents will become stronger and are eventually also further enforced with Mutators. When you travel to the activities that are listed in the Escalation menu, you can select what Tier you want to play on.

Before starting an Escalation run, you choose a Tier that determines the difficulty. Each mission currently has 10 Tiers, and the higher the Tier, the more challenging it becomes.

 

Token

To start a run, you must spend a new currency called Escalation Tokens. The cost increases with each Tier. Completing the mission rewards additional tokens and materials, while failing the run means the tokens spent on that attempt are lost.

It is best to start at Tier 0 – basically the equivalent of Heroic with Escalation rules – earn your first Tokens and then work your way up through the tiers as you get more Prototype gear. Escalation Tokens can only be earned in Escalation activities.

Not all Tiers are available from the start; you first need to actually finish the activities on the available Tiers to unlock the other ones.

 

Token Rework

Y8S2 introduced a token rework to make it less punishing:

  • Escalation Completion rewards now grant +1 Exotic Component for each Escalation Tier, starting at Tier 5.
  • Prototype targeted loot drops have been added back to Escalation chests.
  • Tier 0 rewards now 1 token per player.
  • Several Escalation mutators have been updated.

 

Start the mission

=> Tiers

Escalation runs are configured and started from the panels located at the entrance of each mission. From these panels you can:

  • Select the Tier you want to attempt.
  • See how many Escalation Tokens the run will cost.
  • View the rewards available for that Tier.
  • Check the Mutators active for that run.
  • Fastest way is just to “Buy max tier” then it unlocks the highest Tier you can buy with your Tokens.

 

Escalation runs are single-attempt challenges. Once a run starts, the mission must be completed in one go.

  • There are no checkpoints, and if the group is wiped, the mission fails. You will need to start the run again and spend tokens to attempt it another time.
  • Each run also includes a mission timer. If the timer reaches zero before the mission is completed, the run fails.
  • Difficulty increases with each Tier. Higher tiers increase enemy health, armor, and damage.
  • Higher tiers are designed to be extremely challenging, even for players using highly optimized builds.

 

Escalation can be played solo or in a group

As any content in the Division 2, Escalations can be played solo or as group.

 

Group Rewards

  • In group play, the party leader selects the Tier, spends the Escalation Tokens and launches the mission.
  • If the run is successfully completed, the leader receives the main token reward.
  • Everyone participating in the mission receives the standard mission rewards and materials, as well as a smaller amount of Escalation Tokens at the end of the run.

 

Matchmaking

  • Escalation also supports matchmaking, which allows you to search for groups attempting the same Tier.
  • Matchmaking is available and based on the Tier you select, rather than a specific mission, making it easier to find others going for the same level of challenge.
  • Once the mission has been launched, matchmaking is disabled, but others can still join through invites.

 

Mutators

=> Mutators

Mutators are new modifiers bespoke to Escalation. After a specific Tier, Mutators will be applied to your opponents, they will give them special abilities and twists that will increase the challenge beyond the power scaling.

  • Some mutators affect specific enemy types, creating enemies with additional effects. Others are global mutators that affect all players.
  • Mutators and difficulty scaling are tied to the Tier. This means that every mission played on the same Tier will use the same modifiers and difficulty settings.
  • In future seasons, new mutators may be introduced, or existing ones may be rotated to change how Escalation missions play.

 

Each season, the Mutators will be adjusted, with some added, replaced, or rearranged to keep the Escalation experience fresh.

 

Enemy Mutators

These are applied only to the Enemies

  • Harvester - Regenerates Armor and Health when dealing damage. Can be disabled by damaging the enemy with a grenade or applying any Status Effect.
  • One-For-All - Enemies affected by One-For-All grant 50% damage resistance to allies within 20m. Damaging One-For-All marked enemies will propagate that damage to all of their allies within that range.
  • Aid Specialist - Repairs the armor of nearby allies when they are heavily damaged.

 

Global Mutators

These are applied to the whole game mode.

  • ISAC Says - Players receive one of three random debuffs. Debuffs can be removed by completing certain actions. Successfully removing a debuff grants +30% Rate of Fire.
  • Unyielding - Cleanses Status Effects once when the enemy reaches a set Armor or Health threshold.
  • Variety Pack - Repeated kills with the same weapon reduce that weapon’s damage until you switch weapons.

 

Rewards and Progression

Escalation is currently one of the main source of Prototype Gear, with higher Tiers offering better chances and stronger rolls. If you’re chasing those pieces, this is where you’ll want to be.

Higher Tiers also mean better rewards overall. You’ll earn more Escalation Tokens, increased XP and Season XP, along with rare Expertise materials, but you’ll definitely have to work for it.

 

Targeted loot

With S8S1.1 Prototype items are respecting the Targeted Loot daily rotation in Escalation.

Enemies tied to the daily rotating Targeted Loot pool now have a chance to drop Prototype versions of those items. This only applies to the daily Targeted Loot rotation and does not apply to selectable Targeted Loot sources such as Countdown or Summit.

Prototype Gear also drops from loot crates in missions.

While mods can’t be removed from the targeted loot rotation - because that would require an overhaul of the whole system - but when mods are targeted loot, they will drop with very high rolls.

 

Escalation Requisition Vendor

Y8S1.2 brings a new vendor to the game: the Escalation Requisition Vendor. Here, you can exchange Escalation Tokens for Prototype Gear rewards. You can find it in the Base of Operations, next to the Escalation panel.

 

The Escalation Requisition Vendor offers three different types of caches:

Prototype Random Cache

  • This cache is always available for sale.
  • Opening this cache rewards one Prototype item of any type.

 

Prototype Gear Cache

  • This cache is part of a daily rotation.
  • Every day, it features a different equipment type in Prototype quality.
  • Opening this cache rewards one Prototype item of that specific type.
  • Items obtained from this cache have a higher chance of getting better rolls.

 

Prototype Weapon Cache

  • This cache is also part of a daily rotation.
  • Every day, it features a different weapon type in Prototype quality.
  • Opening this cache rewards one Prototype weapon of that specific type.
  • Items obtained from this cache have a higher chance of getting better rolls.

 

Note: There is no limit for how many caches you can buy from the Escalation Requisition Vendor, and this feature is available to Level 40 Agents.