Get an early look at what’s coming with the Red Horizon season and help us test the new Blackout Dark Zone, seasonal Modifiers, PvP balance changes, and new gear. The Public Test Server will be available on PC through Ubisoft Connect from **Friday, August 14** at 2PM CEST to **Monday, August 17** at 2PM CEST. The approximate size of the PTS build is 100 GB. # MODIFIERS Cleaners are coming to Washington, D.C. and gradually expanding their presence across the map. - For the duration of the season, Cleaners will appear throughout the open world in Washington, D.C. They will be able to take over Control Points, spawn activities, and initiate Retaliations in Named Zones. - During Retaliations involving other factions, Cleaners will also passively build up Agitation instead of Black Tusk. - A new Cleaner Elite Kill Squad, 95 Company, can also spawn during Retaliations, similar to BTSU Team 9 and the Knock Knock Gang. ## GLOBAL MODIFIER: UNDER PRESSURE Under Pressure revolves around a Pressure Gauge that builds as you fight and grants stronger bonuses the higher it gets. Spend too long out of cover, however, and that pressure will start to drop. **The gauge can be filled through different actions:** - Kills: 2.5% - Headshot kills: 2% - Multikills: 2% - Grenade kills: 3% - Skill kills: 3% - Status Effect kills: 3.5% - Fire kills: 5% These bonuses can stack. For example, a headshot kill grants 2.5% for the kill itself and another 2% for the headshot, for a total of 4.5%. - The gauge freezes while your Active Modifier is in use and resets to 0 when it ends. - Bonuses increase as the gauge reaches the 10%, 35%, 65%, and 90% thresholds. **By default, the Pressure Gauge provides Status Effects as its primary bonus:** - 0 to 10% Gauge: 0% Status Effects - 10 to 35% Gauge: +15% Status Effects - 35 to 65% Gauge: +25% Status Effects - 65 to 90% Gauge: +40% Status Effects - 90 to 100% Gauge: +65% Status Effects Each Active Modifier also provides its own secondary bonus from **Level 3** onward. The primary bonus can also be changed from Status Effects to **Signature Weapon Damage** or **Hazard Protection** through the New Formula Beta and New Formula Gamma Passive Modifiers. ## ACTIVE MODIFIERS This season once again comes with three different Active Modifiers. Unlike previous seasons, however, Active Modifiers will no longer have a cooldown. You will be able to activate them at any time as long as your Pressure Gauge is above the required threshold. Once an Active Modifier is used, the Pressure Gauge resets to **0**. **FIERY AURA** - Secondary Attribute: Armor Regen. - Starting at Level 3, the progression per tier is 5k, 6k, 7k, and 10k. - While active, you gain **+25%** to **+65% Damage Resistance** depending on the level, plus an additional **+25% Damage Resistance** while sprinting. - Enemies that come within **5** to **10m** of you, depending on the level, receive the **Burn Status Effect** the first time they enter that range. This can only trigger once per enemy. - **At Level 5**, you also regenerate **10% Bonus Armor** for each unique enemy burned during the Active Modifier. **VICARIOUS COMBUSTION** - Secondary Attribute: Headshot Damage. - Starting at Level 3, the progression per tier is **10%**, **20%**, **30%**, and **50%**. - Landing a headshot on an enemy that is on fire also applies **Burn** to all enemies within **5** to **10m** of that enemy, depending on the level. - Burn Damage is reduced by **50%** to **25%**, depending on the level, for the duration of the Active Modifier. - At Level 5, headshots also apply Burn to enemies for the duration of the Active Modifier. **SIGNED, SHIELD, DELIVERED** - Secondary Attribute: Skill Efficiency. - Starting at Level 3, the progression per tier is **10%**, **12.5%**, **15%**, and **25%**. - While active, you gain increased **Signature Weapon Range and Damage**, as well as increased **Shield Health** and **Shield Active Regen**. - Killing an enemy with a Signature Weapon, or while using a shield, refills your magazine without consuming ammo from your reserves. - This applies to both Signature Weapons and regular weapons used while a shield is active. - At Level 5, Signature Weapon kills extend the duration by **2 seconds**, while kills made with a shield active extend it by **1 second**. These effects can stack. ## PASSIVE MODIFIERS This season comes with 20 different Passive Modifiers, allowing you to mix and match their effects for different benefits. - **Flow Regulator:** Earn +10% Pressure Gauge per action. - **Throttle Valve:** Earn +25% Pressure Gauge per action, but the gauge decays 50% faster. - **Flux Stabilizer:** Pressure Gauge decay is 25% slower. - **Pressure Control:** Pressure Gauge decay is 50% slower, but Pressure Gauge gain is reduced by 20% per action. - **Quality Seals:** Pressure Gauge decay begins after a longer period of time. - **Delayed Venting:** Pressure Gauge bonuses are now applied at 0%, 20%, 50%, and 80%. Active Modifiers can also be used at a 10% lower threshold than normal. - **Leaky Valve:** Pressure Gauge decay is no longer stopped by staying in cover or during cover-to-cover moves. Pressure Gauge gains are increased by 50% from all actions. Active Modifiers can only be activated above 95% Pressure, regardless of other effects. Decay is paused while out of combat. - **Vacuum Seal:** Pressure Gauge no longer decays, but Pressure Gauge gains are reduced by 50% from all actions. - **New Formula: Beta:** The primary Pressure Gauge bonus is now Signature Weapon Damage instead of Status Effects. If equipped together with New Formula: Gamma, both effects are disabled. Progression is 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50%. - **New Formula: Gamma:** The primary Pressure Gauge bonus is now Hazard Protection instead of Status Effects. If equipped together with New Formula: Beta, both effects are disabled. Progression is 5%, 15%, 25%, and 40%. - **Microwave Coils:** Up to four enemies affected by Pulse have a 30% chance to receive the Burn Status Effect. Gain 3% bonus Pressure for every affected enemy. - **New Model:** The K8 Jetstream Flamethrower receives the following stat changes: +30% Damage to Named Enemies, -15% total Damage, -50% Spread, +100% Range, and +25% Equip Speed. Picking up Specialization Ammo also doubles the amount received. - **Afterburner:** After killing a burning enemy, gain +20% Movement Speed for 30 seconds. - **Flint and Steel:** Shooting an enemy while your skill is also dealing damage to them sets the enemy on fire. Cooldown: 15 seconds. - **Fire with Fire:** While in combat, being affected by Burn increases your Burn Damage by 50% for 30 seconds. - **Reserve Tank:** After using an Active Modifier, the Pressure Gauge resets to 20% instead of 0%. - **All or Nothing:** Gauge bonuses below 80% are reduced to 0. Gauge bonuses above 80% are increased by 25% of their value. If equipped together with Kickstart, both effects are disabled. - **Kickstart:** Gauge bonuses above 80% are reduced to 0. Gauge bonuses below 80% are increased by 50% of their value. If equipped together with All or Nothing, both effects are disabled. - **Firestarter:** Concussion Grenades, Flashbangs, and Cluster Grenades gain +100% Range and apply a short Burn to enemies caught in the blast. - **Modular Plates:** Armor Kits also grant +100% Bonus Armor and restore 100% of your shield's maximum health. Insta Armor Kits grant +25% Bonus Armor and restore 50% of your shield's maximum health. ## HOSTILE MODIFIERS This season, Hostile Modifiers will work against you by reducing your stats and interfering with the Pressure Gauge. Setting an affected enemy on fire is the only way to permanently remove or reverse these effects. - **Draining Presence:** While this enemy is within 7m of you, you lose 10% of your magazine and 1% of your Pressure Gauge every second. - **Achilles' Heal:** Breaking any of this enemy's weak points or armor pieces restores 50% Health to them and allies within 10m. You also lose 10% of your Pressure Gauge for every weak point or armor piece broken. - **Thousand Cuts:** Each time this enemy hits you, you lose 1% of your Pressure Gauge and receive a stacking 0.5% Damage Reduction debuff for 15 seconds. The duration refreshes with each additional hit. # DARK ZONE AND PVP Season 3 will come with a new variant of the PvP Dark Zone, the **Blackout Dark Zone**, and the return of the PvE **Toxic Dark Zone**, with some changes applied to it. Dark Zone variants will rotate every week across DZ West, East, and South. There will always be one PvE and two PvP Dark Zones available. For this test, you will have access to the Toxic DZ, Blackout DZ, and Balanced DZ. ## TOXIC DARK ZONE We have decided to keep the PvE Toxic Dark Zone as a permanent feature. Based on community feedback, and to keep it functional without the Into the Dark season modifiers, we have made some changes: - Other factions have been added to the Toxic DZ, including Black Tusk. - Sample Canisters and Surge mechanics have been removed. - Toxicity debuff values have been adjusted, and extracting gear will now clear your Toxicity level. - PvP Normalization has been removed. You will be able to use your PvE build stats, with Prototype Gear remaining normalized, similar to Raids and Incursions. ## BLACKOUT DARK ZONE *(PvEvP / Non-Normalized / Global PvP Balance: Active / SHD & Expertise: Active / Rogue Protocol: Active)* For those of you who have been asking for a fully uncapped Dark Zone, Blackout is exactly that. No stat normalization, and the full power of your build at your disposal. - The zone is permanently set to **Invaded**, with high-threat Black Tusk enemy archetypes. Rogue Protocol remains active. - Veteran, Elite, and Named enemies have been made tougher to provide more of a challenge. - Unlike the other variants, Blackout completely disables stat normalization. You can use the full extent of your SHD Watch and Expertise upgrades. - It still follows the Global PvP Balance rules, regardless of normalization, to keep weapons, gear, skills, and core PvP mechanics balanced. - Prototype weapons and gear are uncapped for their base stats, but their Augments will still use the PvP-balanced values introduced with Y8S2.3 Title Update. Blackout DZ loot drops at Heroic quality, matching the othe rPvP Dark Zones. It also follows the same special loot pool rules, with a 25% chance to drop one additional contaminated item from the special loot pool. Exotic Component drop rates also match the othe PvP Dark Zones: - **Challenging Landmark Phoenix Crates:** 33% chance to drop an Exotic Component - **Challenging Landmark Bosses:** 40% chance to drop an Exotic Component - **Heroic Landmark Phoenix Crates:** 40% chance to drop an Exotic Component - **Heroic Landmark Bosses:** 48% chance to drop an Exotic Component Prototype Gear and Prototype Weapons have also been added as contaminated loot drops from enemies: - Normal Enemies: 0.5% chance for a Prototype drop, mid stat rolls - Elite Enemies: 1% chance for a Prototype drop, mid stat rolls - Elite Enemies: 1% chance for a Prototype drop, high stat rolls - Boss Enemies: 1% chance for a Prototype drop, mid stat rolls - Boss Enemies: 2% chance for a Prototype drop, high stat rolls ## GLOBAL PVP BALANCE The Global PvP Balance work continues in Red Horizon, this time covering Skills, Gear and Brand Set bonuses, and Talents in PvP. Our main goal with these PvP changes is to make fights less about deleting someone instantly and give you more time to react and fight back. We also want to make more Talents, Weapons, Skills, and Set Bonuses worth using, so there is more room to experiment with different builds instead of everyone ending up with the same few options. **Skills** - We have done a broader pass on Skills across PvP, with changes to their base values and Skill Tiers. - These changes apply to Conflict and all PvP Dark Zone variants. - You can check the full list of Skill changes [here](https://ubi.li/2AkMO). **Gear and Brand Set Bonuses** - With Gear Sets and Brand Sets also getting changes in the new season, their PvP bonuses have been adjusted separately where needed. - Check the full list of changes [here](https://ubi.li/FRjT6). # GEAR, WEAPONS, AND TALENTS Y8S3 brings new weapons and gear, as well as several updates to existing Gear Sets, Brand Sets, and Talents. ## CHANGES AND UPDATES Below is an overview of what is changing, and you can find the full list of Gear Set and Brand Set changes [here](https://ubi.li/zdyhH). ### Gear Sets - Gear Sets will be rebalanced around the idea that the more difficult a set is to use at its full potential, the more it should give back in return. - For Red Horizon season, we are starting mostly with Red Core Gear Sets, with Ortiz: Exuro and True Patriot also included in this pass. - Blue Core and Yellow Core Gear Sets will come later, as they require more individual changes than simply adjusting their bonuses for us to give them a meaningful update. ### Brand Sets Brand Sets will not only be rebalanced through number changes, but also by swapping some attributes in and out. - **The following Brand Set bonuses are being removed:** Shock Resistance, Health, Incoming Repairs, Swap Speed. - **Protection from Elites** is being added as a new Brand Set bonus. - For each weapon type, there will be at least one Brand that gives its weapon bonus as the 1-piece bonus, and another that gives it as the 2-piece bonus. - **Increased Threat** will be removed from Imminence Armaments and spread across Blue Core Brands instead. - These attribute changes will also apply to PvP. Unlike PvE, there are no number changes intended to buff or nerf individual Brands. Protection from Elites and Threat bonuses will also generally come after bonuses such as Armor Regen. - More niche bonuses, such as **Explosive Damage**, will remain unchanged. Starting with Y8S3, we will no longer be adding new Brand Sets to the game. This does not mean that new gear pieces will stop being added. Going forward, instead of adding six new High-End pieces and two Named pieces, we will add more Named pieces with Perfect Talents or Attributes to existing Brands. This gives us more freedom when adding new pieces and gives community feedback more room to influence future Brand piece additions. ### Determined Determined will be changed to function like Perfect Determined, but its current functionality is not going away completely. As part of the Seasonal Gear Package, we are adding the new Iron Will Exotic Chest. | | | |:---|:---| | **Iron Will**
Exotic Chest | **Talent Resolved**

**PvE version:**

Your next body shot will be considered a headshot. Cooldown: 1s

**PvP version:**

Your next body shot will be considered a headshot. Cooldown: 2s

Requires MMR, Rifle or Pistol. | Iron Will: - Treats body shots converted to headshots in a similar way to Determined. - Does not require a headshot kill first to trigger the guaranteed headshot. - Can be paired with Exotic MMRs or High-End MMRs using Talents other than Determined. What will no longer be possible is pairing this functionality with the Headhunter Talent. Along with this change, we are also buffing several Brands and Gear Sets related to Marksman Rifles, with the goal of making Iron Will paired with other MMRs competitive with the current Determined + Headhunter setup. The Y8S2 version of Determined, as a Weapon Talent, interferes with the ability of meaningfully buffing certain items. We are not looking to remove the Determined functionality entirely. The main issue is where it currently sits in your build, which is why we are moving it to the Chest slot. As always, we’ll be following your feedback during the PTS and adjust where needed. ## NEW EXOTIC WEAPON | | | |:---|:---| | **Fafnir**
Exotic Shotgun | **Talent Dragon's Breath**

This weapon fires Dragon's Breath shells. Each shot has a 10% chance of applying Burn to the enemy.

Weapon Damage is Amplified by 30% of your Status Effect bonus.

**Weapon Stats and Mods**
Optics: +15% Crit Chance
Magazine: +5 Rounds
Underbarrel: +10% Weapon Handling |
## NEW EXOTIC GEAR | | | |:---|:---| | **Loaded for Bear***
Exotic Gloves | **Talent Afterburn**

Hitting enemies applies stacks to them. An enemy cannot have more than 20 stacks applied to them.

When reloading your weapon, all stacks will be consumed to deal 2% Weapon Damage per stack to the enemy they are applied on. | **This will be the Climax exclusive reward. It will not feature in the PTS.*
## NEW GEAR | | | |:---|:---| | **Ember Engine**
Gear Set | **2 Pieces** equipped give 8% Skill Efficiency
**3 Pieces** equipped give 30% Status Effect
**4 Pieces** equipped unlock a new unique talent.

**Talent “Spontaneous Combustion”**

Every Status Effect you apply has a 20% chance of also applying Burn to the enemy.

If the Status Effect initially applied was Burn, the enemy will receive +25% Burn Damage for the duration of the Burn.

**Chest and Backpack Talents:**

**Chest Bonus - Talent “Flashpoint”**

Increase the chance of applying Burn of Spontaneous Combustion to 40%.

**Backpack Bonus – Talent “White Hot”**

Increase the Duration of the Burn Damage debuff of Spontaneous Combustion by 50%. |
## NEW NAMED GEAR We are adding two new Named Chest pieces and two new Named Backpacks across existing Brand Sets. | | | |:---|:---| | **Trick Shot**
Named Imminence Armaments Chest | **Talent Perfect Reassigned**

Killing an enemy adds 1 round of a random special ammo into your sidearm. Cooldown: 8s. | | **Rushdown**
Named Richter & Kaiser GmbH Chest | **Talent Tag Team**

The last enemy you have damaged with a skill is marked.

Dealing weapon damage to that enemy consumes the mark to reduce active cooldowns by 12s. Cooldown: 4s | | **Melon Baller**
Named Airaldi Holdings Backpack | **Talent Perfect Concussion**

Headshots increase total weapon damage by 20% for 1.5s. 5s with marksman rifles.

Headshot kills increase total weapon damage by 15% for 10s. | | **Keeper**
Named 5.11 Tactical Backpack | **Talent Perfect Protector**

When your shield is damaged, you gain +25% bonus armor and all other allies gain +35% of your armor as bonus armor for 3s. Cooldown: 3s |
## NEW NAMED WEAPONS & TALENTS | | | |:---|:---| | **Teapot** | **Talent Perfect Boiling Point**

The first 75% of your magazine will have -100% Critical Hit Chance. The rest will have 100%. | | **Steamer** | **Talent Perfect Boiling Point**

The first 75% of your magazine will have -100% Critical Hit Chance. The rest will have 100%. | | **Talent “Boiling Point”** | The first 80% of your magazine will have -100% Critical Hit Chance. The rest will have 100%. |
# PTS TEST ONLY During the test, all modifiers will be unlocked from the start. **Adam Shipley’s Inventory:** - PTS Cache: Y8S3 Gear - Contains all upcoming Gear, their blueprints, their respective materials, and all other materials used in the Expertise system. - PTS Cache: Materials - Contains Brand and Gear Set materials not included in the Gear cache, Prototype Cores, Escalation Token, and other materials used in the Expertise system. - Journey Caches will also be available during the PTS. **Why is the PTS only available on PC?** Running the PTS on PC allows us to make changes and deploy new builds more quickly based on feedback during the test. Console updates require an additional certification process, which makes the quick turnaround needed for a PTS more difficult.

We’re looking forward to hearing what you think once you’ve had some time with the PTS. Join us on the official [The Division Discord](https://discord.gg/thedivisiongame) to share your feedback directly with the team! **/ The Division 2 Team**

Red Horizon PTS Patch Notes