The Division 2 - How to Level Up Fast

Reaching the higher levels in The Division 2 has many benefits, most notably is unlocking endgame activities and that elusive gear. In this guide I'll cover the best ways to earn XP quickly, what to watch out for and exactly how to level up fast.

Not everyone will want to progress as quickly as possible but let's face it, reaching endgame first and keeping up with your friends is a priority. You can always come back to the story at a later date and enjoy everything at a slower pace.

Let's kick things off with the Quartermaster.

Perks and the Quartermaster

There are a number of perks in The Division 2 that will make earning XP faster. The NPC known as the Quartermaster (Coop Dennison) provides access to these perks - you'll find this guy to your left as you go through the main base of operations.

Upon interacting with this NPC, take note of the third row of the perks list and you'll notice the first perk on the left has an XP icon. Highlight this perk and the panel on the right displays details about the sub perks which include bonus XP for headshots, multikills, tactical kills etc. Basically most types of kills will earn you more XP.

Unlock as many of these perks as you can by spending your SHD Tech.

Note, the game might force you to unlock other items during your first counter with the Quartermaster (as a tutorial step) but remember to return later with your ample supply of SHD to unlock these perks.

Activity order

Generally speaking, there are three types (categories) of activities in the early game of The Division 2 (see below). To take maximum advantage of XP gains (and thus levelling up) it's very important to consider the order that you complete activities in.

Main missions

Represented by the double hexagon icons. These main missions always give you the same experience no matter what. You can attempt a main mission whenever you want, whether you meet the level requirements or not.

The NPC's encountered during these missions will always scale to your current level BUT importantly, the XP does not scale! It's therefore important to focus on main missions as a priority because XP won't get any better by saving them.

Replaying main missions also doesn't give you any extra XP so there's no point replaying these early in the game. It makes more sense to replay these when looking for high level gear much later in the game.

Side missions

These are represented by pentagon icons on the map. Unlike main missions, side missions will always scale to your current level - both in terms of XP and NPC levels. It's roughly 33% of the XP required to reach your next level.

Since the scale is percentage based and since replaying side missions isn't possible, it's therefore VERY important to keep side missions until last, when you're at a higher level to take advantage of the extra XP gains.

I would advise leaving these until you reach roughly level 15. It's also a good idea to avoid Side Missions when you're near the edge of reaching your next level otherwise it's wasted experience.

Open world events

Like side missions, open world events will scale to your current level but the gains are much smaller. Open world events such as capturing control points and saving hostages are a good compliment to main missions but they're not good enough to prioritise over main missions and should treated as "fillers" on your XP journey.

So, as a recap the priority order should always be:

Main missions
Open world events
Side missions

Although your character will level up slightly slower at the beginning, as you hit the mid game you're going to shoot straight through to level 30. You'll have done the same content as your friends but the order you completed them in was optimized for efficiency.

Save your unwanted gear to donate

During the story you'll reach settlements that have assignments (Goal Projects). Some of these assignments ask you to donate some of your gear and items in return for rewards. The primary reward is usually a Blueprint but as a secondary bonus you'll also get XP gains.

A simple example is a Water Pipeline Construction that requires you to donate Ceramics and Backpacks. The reward in return for this donation is a Reflex Sight and a tidy 3000 XP.