I started my journey through Tom Clancy’s The Division in good spirits and with high hopes as I ventured off to restore order to the chaotic streets of New York. I immediately found myself thoroughly enjoying the main storyline and the tale of how the epidemic unfolded. I loved the realism of the environment and the mix of MMO and RPG seemed to be executed brilliantly.
At first it was a fresh new adventure but once I reached level 10 I began to feel like I was doing the same thing, shooting countless waves of enemies in the face, doing side quests and getting bummed in the DZ without any real progression in the story or my level. It was then I decided to pump through the story missions (and a few side missions to get closer to the recommended level for the next mission). One thing that will really make your journey all the easier, if you are without a team to roll with, is to take full advantage of the fantastic matchmaking system in place at each mission. This will speed up the mission process dramatically and the best part is, the XP is shared evenly. So if you are getting carried by higher level players and don’t make many kills, you will still get that much needed XP lovin’.
I started off playing with mates for the first 10 levels and this is probably where I had the most fun during the climb to level 30. Everything was new and exciting and better loot continued to drop at a steady rate. After I spent a few nights playing I kind of got to the stage where I wanted to just get through it already because it became a bit repetitive and I felt like I was wasting my time mucking around at lower levels. I recommend that you do the same so you don’t waste all your time and get sick of the game entirely before reaching level 30. Sure, enjoy your first walk into New York, but when it starts to become a bit repetitive get through the missions which level you up fast and move onto the DZ, where the game really begins in my opinion.
On completion of all the main missions I found myself sitting pretty at level 28, which then made it easy to complete a few more side missions to reach the level cap of 30. It took me about 10-15 hours to get to level 10, and from level 10 to 30 took me an extra 20 hours. There are still lots of encounters, collectibles to obtain and a few side quests to do but I can now go back and do that with the higher level weapons and gear that I have, which will make it easier and more fun to do. Additionally, I now have the option to take on the DZ and not get completely wrecked by AI as soon as I walk in.
Now that I have successfully completed the PvE element of the game I’m about to take a walk on the wild side and venture into the depths of the Dark Zone with fellow Do You Even Game Bro? legends Kieran and John to try my luck with getting some sweet loot. Stay tuned as there is surely more to come in this adventure. In the meantime, let us know how you’re getting along in the comments below. If you’re keen on joining our Division at any stage drop your PSN name below and we can roll together.
My stats after hitting level 30
