How to Farm Exotics in The Division 2

There is an exotic item for every gear piece and every weapon type in The Division 2. Most exotics can drop from any activity, but your chances increase when using Targeted Loot. For example, if you're farming for an exotic assault rifle, look for an in-game activity or mission that has assault rifles as the targeted loot. Play that mission or activity repeatedly until you get the drop.

For the best chances, play on Heroic difficulty with 3 to 5 Directives enabled. If you're new to the game and don't have strong enough gear for Heroic difficulty, you can play on Challenging difficulty instead. However, keep in mind that your chances of getting exotic drops will be lower.

Specific Activities in The Division 2

However, some exotics do not drop from regular missions or open-world activities. Instead, they are tied to specific Missions, Raids, or Projects. These exotics can only be obtained by completing those particular activities. This includes items like:

• Capacitor (AR) (Activity: The Summit )

• Dodge City Gunslinger’s Holster (Activity: Project)

• The Chatterbox (Activity: Open World Activity)

• Nemesis (Activity: Project)

• Ridgeway's Pride (Activity: The Summit)

• Big Horn (AR) ( Activity: Farm Legendary Difficulty Strongholds or The Summit)

Once you complete the required activity and obtain the blueprint for the exotic, it becomes part of the general loot pool. After that, it can drop from any mission or activity, just like other exotics.

Exclusive Exotics

Some exotics are still exclusive, meaning that even if you own the blueprint, they are not added to the general loot pool. This means that if you dismantle the item, you will keep the blueprint, but you’ll need to replay the specific activity to obtain the exotic again. This includes

• The Regulus

Exotic Weapons From “Pre-Orders”

These two exotics were part of Reorder Bonus how ever if you want to complete the exotic collection you can still get them by purchasing Year 1 Pass.

• "Ruthless", an exotic AK-47 Rifle

• "The Lullaby", an exotic SPAS-12 Shotgun

Raid Exclusive Exotics

Some of the most powerful exotics in the game are exclusive to raids and cannot be obtained through regular missions or open-world activities.

Dark Hours Raid

• Exotic Drop: Eagle Bearer (Assault Rifle)

• Drop Chance:

  • Each boss has a 1% chance to drop it.

  • After defeating the final boss, there’s a 10% chance to get it from the loot chest at the end.

Iron Horse Raid

• Exotic Drop: The Ravenous (Double-Barrel Rifle)

• Bonus Exotic: After completing Iron Horse for the first time, you unlock a Projects that rewards the Regulus (Exotic Pistol).

• Drop Chance:

  • Each boss has a 1% chance to drop The Ravenous.

  • The final chest also has a 10% chance to drop it.

Dark Zone Alternative

Both the Eagle Bearer and The Ravenous can drop in the Dark Zone, but the chances are extremely low—less than 1%. Realistically, farming them in the Dark Zone is highly inefficient and would require a lot of luck and time.

Dark Zone Farming: Exotics & More

The Dark Zone is a great place to farm exotics, especially if you're looking for specific items with higher drop rates.

Common Exotic Drops

• Pestilence (Exotic LMG)

  • This is one of the most common exotic drops in the Dark Zone, especially when farming Landmarks.

  • While it’s not exclusive to the Dark Zone and can drop elsewhere, the drop rate is significantly higher here.

• NinjaBike Messenger Kneepads (Exotic Kneepads)

  • These can be farmed by targeting Air Drops in the Dark Zone.

Why Farm the Dark Zone?

• Farming Landmarks is not only effective but also fun and dynamic.

• You have a chance to get:

  • Raid-exclusive exotics like Eagle Bearer and The Ravenous (though at very low drop rates)

  • All exotics in the general loot pool

  • High-end gear, materials, and Dark Zone-exclusive loot

Complete Priority Objectives

Priority Objectives can be accessed via the Season menu under the “Priority Objectives” tab. Some of these missions reward Exotic items upon completion. Open-world objectives that reward Exotics tend to be the fastest and most efficient.

You can reroll or abandon a Priority Objective once. After that, you must wait one hour before doing so again.  If you're in a group, even members who do not have the same (or any) Priority Objective will still receive an Exotic upon completion. Running these missions with a full 4-player squad can yield up to four Exotic drops at once, greatly increasing your chances of getting the item you want.

Summit 10 Floor Farming Method

Another highly effective method for farming exotics is through boss floors in The Summit. Every ten floors, you’ll encounter a boss floor. When you reach one, select your desired targeted loot and eliminate the boss.

Important: Do not eliminate all enemies on the floor. If the boss does not drop the item you're seeking, return to the lobby, then use the elevator to go back to the same floor. The floor will reset, allowing you to farm the boss again.

If you reach floor 50 or higher, two bosses will spawn. On floor 70 and above, there will be three bosses, significantly increasing your chances. This method is especially effective for farming the Bighorn, as you can set the difficulty to Legendary and repeatedly farm bosses until the weapon drops.

Countdown Mode: Exotic Farming Made Easy

Countdown is one of the best modes for farming exotics and targeted gear especially for new players building up their loadouts.

Targeted Loot Selection

• You can choose any gear piece or weapon type as your targeted loot.

• For example, if you're looking for the NinjaBike Messenger Backpack, simply select Backpacks as your targeted loot before matchmaking for Countdown .

• This increases your chances of getting that specific exotic or gear type during the run.

Why Play on Heroic Difficulty?

• Higher drop rates for exotics and high-end gear.

• More Countdown currency per run.

• Matchmaking is available, so you don’t need a pre-made team.

• Every 2 runs on Heroic difficulty earns you enough currency to buy an Exotic Cache at the Countdown vendor.

Loot Volume & Efficiency

• Countdown offers a high volume of loot drops in a short amount of time.

• You can earn Exotic Caches using Countdown currency, giving you even more chances at rare items.

• It’s widely considered the #1 activity for new players to farm exotics from the general loot pool and gather gear for their builds.

Danny Weaver

Danny Weaver is a vendor who sells Exotic Caches. He offers a limited stock of caches rather than individual gear or weapons. These Exotic Caches can be purchased using Textiles, a currency gained by deconstructing duplicate apparel items obtained from Apparel Caches.

Earning Textiles

If you’re new to the game, opening Apparel Caches will grant you new apparel items instead of Textiles. To start earning Textiles, collect most of the available apparel pieces. Once you own the majority of them, any duplicates you receive will automatically convert into Textiles.

Where to Find Danny Weaver

You unlock Danny Weaver (and another secret vendor, Cassie Mendoza) by talking to Jared Nash (aka “The Snitch”). Follow these steps:

1. Locate Jared Nash on your world map and interact with him.

2. He will assign you a bounty and reveal the secret vendors.

3. Every Wednesday, Danny Weaver and Cassie Mendoza appear on the map.