Exotics are among the rare collectibles players can find in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. These tools are the rarest kind of weapons and gear that have unique traits and Talents that will shape the players’ gameplay and how they approach every situation within Division 2. This guide will take a look into every Exotic Gear available in the game, ranging from Sawyer’s Kneepads to Collector, alongside taking a look at their Talents as well as where you can reliably find them in the game. Let’s begin.
Division 2 is currently entering its Year 5 Season 2, Puppeteers, bringing in many new things for the players. From the new Manhunt, where we must track down and save four important civilians before taking on the mysterious Recruiter, and the return of Incursions, one of the favorites back in The Division, in which we must save the Meret Estate from The Cleaners’ assault. Moreover, three new Exotics are joining the fray, the Iron Lung, the Collector, and the Ouroboros, each having their strength and weaknesses that Agents must utilize and take notes of.
Division 2 Exotic Gears
As stated previously, this guide will solely focus on Exotic Gears. You can read the other guide at KeenGamer, where we discuss all of the Exotic Weapons in Division 2, ranging from Eagle Bearer to St. Elmo’s Engine.
As you all know, in Division 2, there are 6 parts of Gears: Mask, Chest, Holster, Backpack, Gloves, and Kneepads. With diverse options to choose from, the Exotic Gears are viable options for Agents who seek unique ways to play through the game, be that for offensive or defensive purposes. In this guide, we will list down every Exotic Gear and where you can obtain them, from Sawyer’s Kneepads to the latest Exotic Gear, Collector.
Sawyer’s Kneepads
To start our journey in dissecting Division 2‘s Exotic Gears, let’s talk about one of the earliest Exotic Kneepads in the game, the Sawyer’s Kneepads. This belongs to Odessa Sawyer, the leader of the Theater Settlement, and it grants bonus weapon damage whenever Agents stay still for a set duration.
The Talent, Stand Your Ground, has the following attributes: Cannot be staggered by explosions. Gain a stack every second you are not moving, each giving a 3% damage bonus up to 10 stacks. Stop gaining stacks when moving, losing them at 10 seconds.
On paper, that Talent is super strong, especially since Agents who equip Sawyer’s Kneepads gain stagger immunity against explosions. However, on higher difficulties such as Heroic or Legendary, proccing the second part of Stand Your Ground might prove difficult due to the enemies’ numbers and positioning that might flank and disrupt your cover anytime.
How to obtain: Simply farm any Kneepads Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown with the Kneepads set as the Targeted Loot.
The protector’s kneepads.
BTSU Datagloves
Following Sawyer’s Kneepads, the next one in this Division 2 Exotic Gears list is the BTSU Datagloves, which is also one of the earliest Exotic Gears within the game.
As a Skill-based focused Exotic Gear, the BTSU Datagloves comes equipped with a fitting Talent, Transference Overclock. This Talent grants +15% Hive skill haste per skill tier. Detonating a Hive refreshes your skill cooldowns and grants overcharge for 15s. If at Skill Tier 6, this effect also applies to all allies. Allies receiving this effect are unable to benefit from it again for 120s. In short, the BTSU Datagloves is the perfect Exotic for Healers in a team-based environment such as during Raids or Countdown.
How to obtain: Farm any Gloves Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping BTSU Datagloves at 7%. Additionally, you can try challenging the Camp White Oak Mission to have a small chance to earn this Exotic Glove from the mission’s last boss.
An advanced tool developed by the Black Tusk, BTSU Datagloves.
Dodge City Gunslinger’s Holster
How to obtain: To get the Dodge City Gunslinger’s Holster, you will need to complete a series of projects. The first project, Holster Intel: Go West Young Agent, can be started by purchasing the blueprint from Inaya al-Khaliq near the recalibration bench in the White House Base of Operations. This project requires you to donate the Fast Leather Belt component, which can be acquired by clearing the Riverside Gas Station control point in the West End.
Once you have completed the first project, you will be given a new project called The Good, The Bad, and The Evil. This project requires you to acquire and donate the following three items:
- Ornate Leather Holster: Acquired from any Heroic(Level 4) Hyena Control Point,
- Inverted Leather Holster: Acquired from any Heroic(Level 4) True Sons Control Point.
- Oiled Hammer Guards: Acquired from any Heroic(Level 4) Outcasts Control Point.
For each item, you will need to clear the control point and kill the named enemy leader, who will be wearing a cowboy hat. Once you have donated all three items, you will have one last project to do called Showdown at High Noon Saloon. This project requires you to acquire and donate the Holster: Rind item. This item can only be obtained at noon at a building at 15th St NW to the east of the White House.
If you arrive at the building after 12:00, you will need to kill a named enemy wearing a cowboy hat to obtain the item. Once you have donated the Holster: Rind item, you will be rewarded with the blueprint for the Dodge City Gunslinger’s Holster. You can then craft the holster at any crafting bench.
Hi there, cowboy.
NinjaBike Messenger Kneepads
After dealing with the cowboy’s Dodge City Gunslinger’s Holster, we have the NinjaBike Messenger Kneepads. This Exotic Gear was introduced in Division 2‘s Warlords of New York DLC on March 3, 2020.
The Talent, Parkour, is pretty simple. Performing a cover-to-cover or vaulting reloads your drawn weapon and grants +25% bonus armor for 5s. This means that an agile Agent that can perform either cover-to-cover or vaulting during a battle will keep having bonus armor as well as a fully reloaded weapon, though these actions are quite risky.
How to obtain: Players can try their luck in any of the three Dark Zones to get the NinjaBike Messenger Kneepads. The base chance is 5% while farming a Dark Zone with Kneepads as its Targeted Loot increases the drop chance.
“Parkour! Parkour!”
Coyote’s Mask
Up next on this Division 2 Exotic Gears list is Coyote’s Mask, a unique and rugged mask belonging to Coyote, one of the high-ranking members of The Hyenas. The mask excels in giving offensive buffs and is more potent when equipped during team-based environments.
The Talent, Pack Instincts, will provide depending on certain conditions and range between you and the enemies. You and all allies gain a bonus based on the distance of the last enemy you hit. As for the range, here are the details:
- 0-15m: +25% critical hit damage.
- 15-25m: +10% critical hit damage and +10% critical hit chance.
- 25m+: +25% critical hit chance.
How to obtain: You can farm the Jefferson Trade Center mission and get a small chance of getting Coyote’s Mask from the last boss. Additionally, you can farm any Mask Targeted Loot area both in open-world maps or in Countdown and The Summit.
“Lived through this bullet. I’ll live through yours.”
Imperial Dynasty
Moving on we have the Imperial Dynasty, a holster that used to belong to Faye Lau, a Rogue Agent who betrayed our trust. This Exotic Holster was also first introduced during the Warlords of New York DLC.
Imperial Dynasty’s Talent, Dragon’s Glare, is highly potent against a single enemy, though it’s very randomized as you can’t pick your targets. While in combat, apply burn to the enemy closest to you within 20m. This skill has a cooldown of 35 seconds. On paper, Imperial Dynasty might be one of the strongest Exotics within the game, however, in reality, the long cooldown paired with the randomness makes Imperial Dynasty one of the weakest Exotics instead.
How to obtain: You can get Imperial Dynasty by either farming Cleaners-related missions or Gloves Targeted Loot areas.
The Dragon’s Glare can set you ablaze.
Tardigrade Armor System
Moving along to the next Exotic Gear is the Tardigrade Armor System, a unique Chest piece that is fit for any Agent who wishes to be the Tank of their team.
The Tardigrade Armor System is the ultimate ‘buddy’ armor meant to protect everyone within your team, so it’s stronger when you use it during Raids, challenging The Summit, or tackling the Countdown mode. This is thanks to its Talent, Ablative Nano-Plating, which repairs any broken armor from your allies and gains 80% of your armor as bonus armor for 10s. Though the cooldown is quite long, being 45 seconds per ally, if you kill an enemy with a Specialization Weapon, then this cooldown is immediately removed for all allies.
How to obtain: You can farm any missions against the True Sons faction, including the Capitol Building Stronghold. Additionally, you can also try farming Chest Targeted Loot areas to have an up to 7% chance of getting Tardigrade Armor System.
“I shall not waver, for my allies are counting on me.”
Acosta’s Go-Bag
Acosta’s Go-Bag has a unique Talent… well, Talents, you might say, as the Exotic Backpack comes with two Talents that work in tandem. The first one, One in Hand…, allows Agents a refund whenever they throw a grenade. Additionally, doing so will grant a +1 Skill Tier for 15s. Grants overcharge if already at Skill Tier 6.
Meanwhile, the second Talent, …Two in the Bag, has the following attributes: When equipped, Acosta’s Go-Bag gives +1 Armor Kit Capacity, +3 Grenade Capacity, +25% Ammo Capacity, +10% Repair-skills, and +10% Status Effects. This is why this Exotic Backpack fits best on Skill Builds due to its synergy with some Division gadgets available.
How to obtain: Acosta’s Go-Bag has a 3% chance to appear whenever you open Faction Boxes (Hyenas, True Sons, Outcasts, Black Tusks, Rikers, and Cleaners).
One in Hand… Two in the Bag.
Ridgeway’s Pride
Ridgeway’s Pride is a powerful Exotic Chest piece that can inflict a Bleed Status Effect on your enemies. This is thanks to its Bleeding Edge Talent, where shooting enemies within 15m applies bleed to the target. Not limited to that, but Ridgeway’s Pride will also repair 3-48% of your armor per second for every enemy that is bleeding within 15m. Perfect for Agents who love close-quarter combat situations.
How to obtain: Ridgeway’s Pride is obtainable by ascending the Summit and collecting the necessary parts. To do this, you will need to use “The Summit Access Keys” to open caches on the respective floors listed below:
- 1-10: 120 Body Armor
- 11-20: 2140 Shoulder Pads
- 21-50: 4160 Hunting Knife
- 51-80: 6180 Flag Patch
- 81-100: 8200 Dog Tags
Once you have collected all of the necessary parts, you can craft Ridgeway’s Pride at any Crafting Bench.
The General was always proud of his work.
Memento
The Memento is an Exotic Backpack in Division 2, and it was introduced in Title Update 11 on September 22, 2020. Memento is unique since unlike other Backpacks, which have one core attribute and two primary attributes, the Memento has all three core attributes and no primary attributes. This makes it a very powerful and versatile backpack, as it can be used to boost a wide range of stats.
The Talent, Kill Confirmed, further making Memento one of the best Exotic Gears in the game. Why? Because every enemy you kill will drop a trophy, and collecting these trophies will provide you with both short and long-term buffs, it has 100% uptime as long as you can kill at least one enemy every 5 minutes.
How to obtain: Farm any Backpack Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping Memento at 7%.
“Now my watch has ended, so yours may begin.”
Vile
After Memento, we will talk about Vile in this Division 2 Exotic Gears list. It is an Exotic Mask piece that is draped in a futuristic look that is ready to deliver hell upon your enemies.
Just as the name suggests, Vile comes equipped with Toxic Delivery Talent, which makes all your Status Effects now also deal damage over time debuff for 10s. Moreover, the total damage dealt is equal to 50% of your concussion grenade damage and increased by your status effect attributes, so Vile is suitable for Skill-based builds that focus on stacking up every Status Effect you can.
How to obtain: Farm any Mask Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping Vile at 7%.
Unleash the status effects with Vile.
Waveform
The Waveform is the third Exotic Holster in Division 2, and it specializes in giving bonus damage to both of your gadgets, albeit with a catch: the buff will switch over to the other gadget every 10 seconds after reaching the max stacks. For more detail, Alternating Current, Waveform’s Talent, has the following properties:
Generate a stack of 3% skill damage on one of your skills every second, capping at 10 stacks. After 10 seconds at the cap, the stacks transfer to your other skill. The process then repeats as infinitum.
How to obtain: Farm any Holster Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping Waveform at 7%.
Keep the balance between your Skills with Waveform.
Bloody Knuckles
We’re nearing the end of this Division 2 Exotic Gears list, and after Waveform, we will talk about Bloody Knuckles, an Exotic Glove that is full of blood and dirt, fitting its name.
This Exotic Glove has a peculiar Talent, Over the Top, that grants many bonuses whenever Agents damage an enemy with a grenade or a melee attack, granting them Seeing Red status. This buff adds +25% weapon damage and +100% melee damage for 20 seconds and has a cooldown of 60 seconds. However, if Agents manage to land another grenade or melee damage during the cooldown time, then Seeing Red’s cooldown will instantly wiped off.
How to obtain: Farm any Gloves Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping Bloody Knuckles at 7%.
There will be blood on your hands. Image courtesy of TuxedoBandido Youtube channel.
Catharsis
Moving on, we have the Catharsis, another Exotic Mask within Division 2. This Exotic Gear resembles old gas masks used during World Wars, this Mask fits best for Tank Builds.
This is because its Talent, Vicious Cycle, forces every Agent who equips this to deliberately take damage from the enemies. This stacks up to 30 times, and each stack grants a 1% Weapon Damage bonus to the Agent. The second part comes after you reach full stacks; Catharsis will deplete all stacks, effectively removing any Status Effects inflicting you, and deploy a healing cloud that restores a part of your armor for 10s. Overall, Catharsis fits best in a team-based environment such as Raids or Countdown, because running this during Solo Runs might not be as effective as when you equip a normal Gear Set Mask.
How to obtain: Farm any Mask Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping Catharsis at 7%.
“The establishment does everything in its power to ensure that revolutionary rage is redirected into empty outlets.”
NinjaBike Messenger Backpack
NinjaBike Messenger Backpack finally returns to The Division franchise after previously being available in Tom Clancy’s The Division.
Its Talent, Resourceful, allows more flexibility for Agents who choose to equip this Exotic Backpack, as this Backpack slots in with any equipped Gear Set item to fulfill a requirement towards unlocking a Gear Sets bonus. Can unlock bonuses from multiple sets simultaneously. This means that you can have greater flexibility in picking out two Gear Sets whenever you equip NinjaBike Messenger Backpack, granting both Sets full bonuses.
How to obtain: Farm any Backpack Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping NinjaBike Messenger Backpack at 7%.
The ever-reliable NinjaBike Messenger Backpack. Image courtesy of TuxedoBandido Youtube channel.
Shocker Punch
The Shocker Punch is an Exotic Holster in Division 2, and it is one of the newest Division 2 Exotic Gears, as it was introduced in the previous Manhunt Season, Broken Wings, on June 8, 2023. The Shocker Punch excels in dealing with and repelling the Shock Status Effect. Moreover, it can also work in tandem with St. Elmo’s Engine and a shield to deal extra melee damage.
This is thanks to Shocker Punch’s Talent, Defibilator, which has three plus one properties when you meet the requirements. The first one is simple; equipping the Shocker Punch will reduce the stun received from the Shock Status Effect by 50%. The second attribute is active when you equip a shield and Shocker Punch, giving you 100% bonus melee damage. The third attribute is active when you equip both St. Elmo’s Engine and Shocker Punch, netting you 100% extra melee damage and making the next melee attack apply Shock to the target. Lastly, and this is the most fun one, whenever you equip all three (Shocker Punch + St. Elmo’s Engine + a shield), offer all of the above-mentioned bonuses and the Shock from melee attack will have a 5m radius, starting from the first target.
How to obtain: Farm any Holster Targeted Loot area or challenge The Summit and Countdown, with the chance of getting the Exotic Gear further increasing whenever you increase the difficulty, with Heroic having the highest chance of dropping Shocker Punch at 7%.
“After getting sucker punched at the mall, I came up with a shocking solution.”
Collector
And for the last Exotic Gear on this Division 2 Exotic Gears list, we have the Collector, the newest Exotic Chest piece that arrives with the release of Year 5 Season 2 Manhunt, Puppeteers. The reason why this Exotic Gear is named Collector is obvious, as its Talent, Hoarder, has the following properties:
+3 Grenade Capacity; +50% Grenade Radius; +35% Grenade Damage; +25% Grenade Damage for each extra enemy caught in the blast. Automatically regenerate grenades every 30s, if you have less than 2 grenades in your inventory.
This means that Collector is the perfect tool for Agents who love chucking grenades on their enemies. Hoarder applies to any type of grenade, so the mayhem is a guarantee when you equip special grenades that launch fire, riot foam, and other status effects.
How to obtain: Currently, you can get Collector by reaching Level 85 in the current Season’s Manhunt, Puppeteers. Once you get your first Collector, you can farm it in any Chest Targeted Loot area.
Unleash the grenades with the Collector Exotic Chest piece.
