How to unlock the Dark Zone in The Division 2

Published , by Josh Hawkins

Knowing how to unlock the Dark Zone in The Division 2 is going to be key if you’re looking forward to Ubisoft’s blend of PvPvE. Unlocking the Dark Zone won’t be difficult to do, but we’ve created a simple guide to help you along the way. Here’s everything you need to know to access the Dark Zone and start getting yourself some higher tier loot.

How to unlock the Dark Zone

To unlock the Dark Zone you’re going to need to play through the main campaign until you bring staff member Senait Ezera to the Whitehouse. Once you’ve acquired the Dark Zone agent—which is accomplished by simply completing missions and then recruiting her from The Theatre settlement.

You'll need to complete the Dark Zone East Recon mission in order to unlock free access to the Dark Zone.

Once you have recruited Ezera, you can visit her in The Whitehouse. Here she’ll tell you about the Dark Zone, as well as task you with exploring the East Dark Zone. This area can be found on the right-hand side of your map. Look for the icon on your map and head over there to get started.

Complete Dark Zone East Recon

Now that you have the mission, make your way over to the icon and get started. Completing this mission is very easy and straightforward. Simply follow the directions throughout—scan the first area, defeat the enemies, and then tag the supplies. You’ll then need to scan another area, take out some more enemies, and activate a few security measures.

You'll need to complete several objectives, like tagging resources for extraction, to complete the Dark Zone East Recon mission.

Simply follow the various objectives that pop up on your HUD, and once they are completed, you’ll get a nice introduction to the Dark Zone’s mechanics—extractions and contaminated gear. Again, these are easy directions to follow, so just go along with the prompts until you finish the mission. If you plan on taking part in The Division 2's endgame content, then expect to spend a good bit of time gathering items from the Dark Zone.

You should now have access to the Dark Zone via DZ East. You can return to our The Division 2 guides for more help or be sure to check out our guide on how to level up quickly if you’re struggling to maximize your experience gain.