The Division 2's latest season promises yet more challenge and chaos as new modes and difficulties drop — plus some gear I simply must get my hands on

I have recently jumped back into Tom Clancy's The Division 2 with two feet, originally so my friends and I could mop up the expansions that we'd missed, but I have been utterly pulled back in, totally.

And it seems like it was the perfect time, as the game's latest season, Rise Up, just dropped, and has added a bunch of new modes, difficulties, items, game modes, and more, which is going to keep my commitment to the game going extremely strong for weeks.

Headlining the new season is the new Escalation difficulty level, which is made for the most committed of Division 2 veterans. Recommended to players who are in the endgame and are 'looking for something tougher,' Escalation missions will take place in existing main mission locations and strongholds, and must be completed in a single attempt with no checkpoints. Get wiped out or the time runs out, and that's it, you're done.

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You get cool rewards for surviving Escalation missions, but these sound like they're going to test even the most optimized of builds folks have been working on.

Elsewhere, and just as I thought I'd finished refining my latest loadout, the new season has also dropped in some pretty tasty-looking gear that's got my attention, too.

While I'm not constantly god rolling or ploughing hours and hours into specific missions to make even the smallest improvement to my gear, I am deeply invested in my Critical Hit Chance/Damage, non-headshot rifle build right now. The arrival of the Core Strength gear set looks ideal for me to get boosts to those, as well as when weapon swapping between my rifle and LMG. It arrives at the right time, so I can hopefully slot it into my build. Excellent.

Elsewhere, the underrated (in my opinion) Classified Assignments return with two new missions this season. These are self-contained experiences that appeal most to those players, like myself, who want to explore locations and soak up a bit of The Division 2 storytelling.

The first one is the Library of Congress Retrieval, which is available now as part of the Season's launch, and The Capitol Globe Anomaly will arrive later.

There are also changes coming to the Retaliation mode, which my buddies and I have found great for loot farming for certain bits or brands — but also hard as nails. And it doesn't sound like they're getting much easier with this latest change, as the formidable Black Tusk faction can now be agitated to start a Retaliation event, but also offer their own special Maneuver objectives and Kill Squads.

This is offset by a generous boost to the time you get to hoover up loot at the end of a Retaliation from 30 to 90 seconds. But boy, from my experience, it'll be a challenge to consistently get to the end of such an encounter, especially against the Black Tusk.

It's never quite been a case of 'just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in' with me and The Division 2 — I always come back to it with my friends and will continue to do so — but the perfect storm of playing The Division Resurgence and the new season dropping means I'll likely be in The Division 2 for a while longer this time around.

It's one of my favorite games ever, and updates like this continue to prove that, and pull me back in — despite my huge anticipation and desire for the arrival of The Division 3.

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