The Division 2 Best Skills List | Which Skills should I pick first?

Picking The Division 2 best Skills list can be a tricky process, as you have limited Skill Points to spend. You can’t outright buy all of the Skills at the very beginning of the game, so you must decide which to unlock first. Depending on your play style, the “right choice” can vary. Thankfully, we’ve done the research to let you know which Skills are the best for you, whether you’re a close-range aggressive type, mid-range player, a long-range sniper, or something in between. These are the best Skills in The Division 2 and our first Skills recommendations.

The Division 2 Best Skills | Close-range: Shield and Pulse

If you’re all about aggression and rushing in for the kill, all the while making for an effective distraction so that your teammates can flank, then you’ll first want to unlock the Shield. We’re a fan of the Bulwark, as it offers near full-body coverage. However, it does come with the cost of only allowing sidearms to be equipped. If you don’t like the idea of only being able to use a pistol, the Crusader is our next choice, followed by the intriguing Deflector, which causes bullets to ricochet back at enemies.

The Pulse equipment offers intel on the player’s surroundings, allowing an aggressive combatant to quickly survey the area and plan an attack. Both Scanner and Remote can work well here. The Jammer is interesting in that it overloads and disables enemy electronics, effectively stunning them. This can make for one hell of a one-two punch when followed up with a series of powerful shotgun blasts.

Best Skill and Weapon Combination for Close-Range

Combining these two skills will grant you the extra protection you need, while also providing valuable intel to both you and your team. Draw the attention of the enemy, while also tracking their positions. Then, when it’s time to fight back, ready your weapon and take those baddies out. We’d recommend a combination of a semi-auto or burst rifle, a full-auto assault rifle, a high-damage shotgun, and a high-damage pistol.

Best Skill and Gear Combination for Close-Range

Pair this strategy with strong gear such as the Golan Gear, Gila Guard, or Richter and Kaiser GmbH for a fantastic close-range build.

• Golan Gear offers an additional 10 percent Hazard Protection, plus 10 percent protection from Elites, and an additional eight percent total armor.
• Gila Guard grants a five percent boost of total armor, plus 20 percent Hazard Protection, and a 15 percent increase to Pulse Skill Power.
• Richter & Kaiser GmbH boosts Hazard Protection by 10 percent, pistol damage by 20 percent, and Shield Skill Power by 15 percent.

The Division 2 Best Skills | Mid-range: Seeker Mine and Drone

A mid-range player is flexible enough to use any of The Division 2 skills effectively. However, we’d recommend the Seeker Mine with the Cluster variant. This little ball will be a nasty surprise for the enemies that you send it towards.

The Drone skill is fantastic for getting players out of sticky situations. If you’ve become surrounded and need to make a quick retreat to some safer cover, send out your Striker Drone and let it dish out some damage. The Defender variant does an even better job of dealing with incoming fire, but won’t be any help in whittling down tougher enemies’ health bars. The Fixer variant will make you friends in random matchmaking, as it heals armor.

Best Skill and Weapon Combination for Mid-Range

Merging these two skills will keep you well-armed at a variety of ranges, allowing you to dip in and out of combat while still having a great effect in battle. Combine these Skills with an assault rifle and shotgun to have a close and medium/long-range weapon at the ready.

Best Skill and Gear Combination for Mid-Range

Recommended gear includes: China Light Industries, Fenris Group AB, and Ceska Vyroba s.r.o.

• China Light Industries offers an additional 10 percent explosive damage, plus 10 percent shotgun damage, and an additional 10 percent cool down reduction.
• Fenris Group AB grants a 10 percent boost to assault rifle damage, plus 10 percent protection from Elites, and a 20 percent health boost on achieving a kill.
• Ceska Vyroba s.r.o. gifts 10 percent health on a kill, shotgun damage by 10 percent, and overall health by 15 percent.

The Division 2 Best Skills | Long-range: Hive and Turret

Next, we come to the long-range player. If playing as a marksman and sniping enemies from afar is what you like doing best, then the best The Division 2 skills for you are Hive and Turret. The Reviver Hive gets our recommendation for long-range builds, as it’s unlikely that you’ll be making the journey to revive teammates yourself. Instead, just send out the Hive to do it for you!

As for the Turret, the Assault variant is a nice choice for dealing with melee enemies that manage to get past your teammates. Alternatively, the Sniper Turret can compliment your own sniper fire to dish out even more damage at range.

Best Skill and Weapon Combination for Long-Range

While it limits your close-range effectiveness, this combination of Skills will make you a nightmare over longer ranges. Enemies will struggle to come close to you and, when they do, you can quickly use your Skill to distract and then retreat. While remaining focused on the enemy is important, do watch your flanks, as melee enemies can be awfully sneaky!

Best Skill and Gear Combination for Long-Range

We’d recommend arming a long-range soldier with Airaldi Holdings, Wyvern Wear, or Douglas & Harding gear.

• Airaldi Holdings offers an additional 10 percent accuracy, plus 10 percent headshot damage, and an additional 10 percent marksman rifle damage.
• Wyvern Wear grants a seven percent critical damage buff, plus 15 percent Done Skill Power, and a 10 percent increase to your critical hit chance.
• Douglas & Harding boosts cool down reduction by 10 percent, Skill Power by five percent, and Hive Skill Power by 15 percent.

The Division 2 Best Skills | Support Medic: Reviver Hive and Fixer Drone

Last, but certainly not least, we have the support medic. If you fancy being a selfless player who prefers to assist your teammates with healing Skills, then a combination of the Reviver Hive and Fixer Drone is the right choice for you. The former deploys small drones that revive nearby downed allies, while the latter repairs friendly broken armor.

There is a lot of flexibility to be had with the support medic. Many of The Division 2 Skills provide a bonus to your team, rather than direct damage to enemies. The Booster Hive is well worth looking into, and the Pulse can provide some great information during intense firefights in which enemies are coming at you from every direction.

Best Skill and Weapon Combination for Support Medic

Combine these teamwork-centric perks with a light machine gun and you’ll be the MVP, providing healing to your allies, while keeping the enemy suppressed. An assault or semi-auto rifle also makes for a nice secondary.

Best Skill and Gear Combination for Support Medic

Get your support medic some nice gear from the Petrov Defense Group, Grupo Sombra S.A., or Alps Summit Armament.

• Petrov Defense Group offers an additional 10 percent light machine gun damage, plus a 15 percent Turret Skill Power increase, and an additional 10 percent cool down reduction.
• Grupo Sombra S.A. grants a five percent boost to weapon damage, plus 15 percent Hazard Protection, and an eight percent increase to damage done to Elites.
• Alps Summit Armament boosts cool down reduction by 10 percent, Skill Power by five percent, and Hive Skill Power by 15 percent.

All The Division 2 Skills List

If none of the above suggestions do it for you, then you can check out the full The Division 2 Skills list below. This is a list of all eight Skills, as well as their many variants. There is a lot to pick from, so it may take some time before you find the perfect combination.

Pulse Skill

• Scanner – The scanner pulses the surrounding area for hostiles and visually highlights them on the agent’s HUD.
• Remote – The remote is deployed at a set location and continually pulses the nearby area for hostiles and visually highlights them on the agent’s HUD.
• Jammer –  The jammer pulses outwards, overloading and disabling hostile electronics.

Turret Skill

• Assault – The assault turret automatically tracks and attacks hostile targets, but this behavior can be manually overridden to target a specific enemy.
• Incinerator – The incinerator turret manually controlled by the deploying agent to dispense streams of flame in a forward-facing cone.
• Sniper – The sniper turret fires high-caliber rounds at manually selected targets.

Hive Skill

• Restorer – The restorer hive sends out micro repair drones that expend themselves to repair allies’ armor.
• Stinger – The stinger hive sends out micro drones that attack and distract nearby enemy targets.
• Reviver – The reviver hive deploys small drones that revive nearby downed allies.
• Booster – The booster hive delivers a stimulant to nearby allies that increases their combat efficiency.

Chem Launcher Skill

• Reinforcer – The reinforcer cannister disperses a cloud of gas that repairs and reinforces the agent’s allies’ armor.
• Firestarter – The firestarter cannister creates a cloud of explosive gas that can be ignited through explosives, weapon fire, etc.
• Riot Foam – The riot foam gas cannister fires a payload of sticky foam that immobilizes targets.
• Oxidizer – The oxidizer cannister releases a cloud of corrosive gas that damages enemy armor, skill proxies, and causes damage over time.

Firefly Skill

• Blinder – The blinder firefly blinds enemies it passes over, causing them to be unable to function at full combat effectiveness.
• Burster – The burster firefly attaches explosive charges to targets that detonate if two are in close proximity.
• Demolisher – The demolisher firefly damages or destroys enemy weak points, skill proxies, and environmental explosives.

Seeker Mine Skill

• Explosive – The explosive seeker mine be deployed to track down hostiles and explode on reaching close proximity.
• Airburst – The airburst seeker mine rolls toward its target, and launches an explosive burst into the air on reaching close proximity.
• Cluster – The cluster seeker mine splits into smaller seekers and tracks down enemies, exploding when reaching proximity.

Drone Skill

• Striker – The striker tracks targets and attempts to maintain line of sight while continuously firing.
• Defender – The defender attempts to deflect incoming bullets from a sonic emitter mounted beneath the drone.
• Bombardier – The bombardier requires an agent to set two points, and then deploys a payload of miniature explosives between them.
• Fixer – The fixer replenishes nearby allies’ armor, or can be manually targeted on a specific ally.

Shield Skill

• Bulwark – The bulwark shield provides near full-body coverage, but its bulk means that only sidearms may be used while it’s equipped.
• Crusader – The crusader is a lighter shield that allows all primary weapons to be equipped while it’s equipped, but exposes the agent’s legs.
• Deflector – The deflector causes incoming bullets to ricochet to a nearby highlighted target with a clear line of sight to the agent. Though not a full-body shield, lack of a brace means that only a sidearm may be used alongside the shield.

The Division 2 Guides and Walkthrough