The Division 2 Year 5 Season 3 Vanguard is finally upon us and that means new exotic gear for players to get their hands on. There are two items being added to the main game's seasonal play, with a third being slipped into the Descent game mode.
Of those, one is known as the Rugged Gauntlets, a new exotic pair of gloves with an interesting talent. It's an item that seems to reward fast firing, focused on hip fire and firing blind from cover.
Like most recently added exotic items in The Division 2, the Rugged Gauntlets aren't too difficult to get hold of. Here's what you need to know.
How to get the Rugged Gauntlets in The Division 2
The Rugged Gauntlets can be acquired from the new season pass on the free track. The caveat as always is that you have to own the Warlords of New York expansion, and have completed its campaign to have access to the seasonal gameplay. But from here, everyone can get it, you don't have to buy the premium pass at all.
To get the Rugged Gauntlets, you need to level up your season pass to level 85 out of the 100 levels available. Once you do, you'll be rewarded the item, it really is that simple.
Once you have the Rugged Gauntlets in your possession, the next level on the Season Pass will grant you the blueprint so you can re-roll them at your leisure.
How to level up your Year 5 Season 3 Vanguard rewards track quicker
There isn't a concrete right or wrong approach to this, and the community would suggest a variety of strategies. The effectiveness of a levelling method largely hinges on your confidence and ability to tackle more challenging tasks, giving more XP rewards. More XP means faster progress through the Season Pass.
One method you can take is to hit the open world activities, such as public executions, territory control, resource convoys, and broadcast stations. These are short encounters, but if you increase the difficulty you'll get more XP from them. A top tip is not to go to heroic difficulty, leave it on challenging at most. You'll complete the activities quicker, so over time the net gains can be higher.
The other method I like to employ is random matchmaking into heroic difficulty missions. You'll usually be dropped into a group of four, sometimes part or almost all of the way into the mission. If there are any directives activated, those will increase your XP gains, giving you a healthy chunk upon mission completion. Finishing heroic missions, even if you're a little lower powered, is pretty speedy in a group of four. Most players in The Division 2 that have been around a while want to get things finished as quickly as they can!
It's also worth keeping an eye on your projects, both daily and weekly, as each of these that is completed yields a sizeable XP reward. The easiest to complete is the weekly SHD requisition, which also rewards you with an exotic cache, simply for donating resources. There will be a daily season pass mission, too, and daily rotations relating to locations and factions.
The key is to find something you're comfortable with, that gives good XP and you can complete quickly. When you get into your rhythm, just stick with it, and watch the season pass levels tumble until you get your reward.
