The Division – Best Character Builds

This article covers the best character builds and skills in The Division. There are quite a few skills and talents in The Division separated into the Medical, Tech and Security categories, but despite all of these options, there are only a handful of skill and talent slots you can fill. Determining which select skills and talents make the cut can be difficult, especially in the early stages of the game when you have to grind a bit to unlock these skills and additional talent slots. This guide will help you figure out which skills and talents are best for your play style and which ones can help your team in the Dark Zone so you can build the best character for every situation.

Changing Skills

Before we get into which skills you should be focusing on, it’s important to note that you can change skills on the fly in The Division. Whatever you select now you can change simply be accessing the menu again. There isn’t one build that works for every situation, so be fluid with your choices and reconfigure your character build as each new situation arises.

If you’re playing alone you might want more of a defensive build with skills from the Security category, but if you’re taking on the Dark Zone with friends, you may want more Medical skills so you can heal your teammates. Whatever the case may be, keep your options open and always be ready to make a quick skill switch.

With only one talent slot available until level 15, you probably won’t be changing this as much as you adjust your skill load out. You may change your talent between soloing and partying in the Dark Zone, but otherwise you’ll likely stick with a single talent that benefits you the most and maintain that talent until you can have two or three active at once when you reach higher levels.

Be sure to check out our quick medic class guide or head over to our character creation and management tips. As always, our Division walkthrough and guide has even more advice to help you stay alive in the Dark Zone!

Signature Skills

Every category has a number of skills that can be placed into one of two skill slots for active use. Each category also has one Signature Skill that takes up a single slot completely separate from the two slots your normal skills occupy. Your only choice here is which of the three Signature Skills do you want to have active.

While all skills in The Division have a cooldown period, Signature Skills have a considerably longer cooldown than any other skill in the game. These skills should only be used when your team absolutely needs a boost of some sort. If at all possible, you should alternate the usage of your signature skills so at least one member of your team has a Signature Skill available in case your team is in dire need.

Recovery Link – The Medical Signature Skill heals yourself and all allies within a wide range. It also revives any downed allies and can overheal (creating an overshield) if your teammates are already near full health. The overshield doesn’t last long, but if you’re in the middle of a firefight the extra health can come in handy. This is basically the ultimate medical ability and anyone serving as the medic on your team should have this equipped.

Tactical Link – The Tech Signature Skill is basically a better version of the buff you get from the base version of Pulse. When you use Pulse, in addition to marking nearby enemies, it increases your damage output by roughly 20 percent and increases your critical hit chances by 10 percent. These numbers can vary depending on the mods you have in use, but the Tactical Link offers a similar ability by increasing your party’s damage by 50 percent, and increasing their critical hit chance by 20 percent for 12 seconds. It basically gives you and any nearby allies a huge damage buff for a short time so you can finish off some troublesome hostiles.

Survivor Link – The Security Signature Skill is primarily for defensive purposes as you might expect. It increases damage resistance for you and any nearby party members by 80 percent, and increases movement speed by 30 percent. This is best used if you need to make a quick escape, or when your party is just below half health. If you wait until your party’s health is too low, even with an 80 percent damage reduction, it may not be enough to survive.

Medic Build

Skills

• First Aid (Medical)
• Support Station (Medical)
• Recovery Link (Medical)

Mods

• Overdose (First Aid)
• Ammo Cache (Support Station)

Talents (in order or priority)

• Combat Medic (Medical)
• Strike Back (Medical)
• Tech Support (Tech)
• Triage (Medical)

Every good team should have a medic to support them in combat. The featured build gives the medic optimal healing abilities with a variety of ways to both heal and revive allies. If you find that your team is dying despite your best efforts, you can switch out the Overdose mod for the Defibrillator mod.

With this build it’s important to use Support Station and then go for as many kills as you can. Each kill will extend the duration of Support Station by 10 percent, essentially giving your party continued healing as long as the Support Station is around.

Alternate between First Aid and Support Station, using Support Station first because it has twice the cooldown of First Aid. With proper moderation you will have some form of healing available whenever it’s needed. In addition, if you unlock the three available Medkits perks and couple them with the Combat Medic talent, you have a plethora of healing options available to you throughout a battle.

DPS Build

Skills

• Seeker Mine (Tech)
• Smart Cover (Security)
• Tactical Link (Tech)

Mods

• Airburst (Seeker Mine)
• Recharger (Smart Cover)

Talents (in order or priority)

• Demolition Expert (Tech)
• Chain Reaction (Security)
• Tactical Advance (Tech)
• Tech Support (Tech)

If you’re going for maximum damage, look no further. This mine build will give you a ton of DPS by boosting mine damage with the Demolition Expert and Chain Reaction talents, and increasing overall damage with the Smart Cover skill. You’ll also be helping out your medic with Smart Cover, and if you have a talented team you may even be able to get away with no medic at all so long as multiple people are using Smart Cover. This will allow you to have Smart Cover activate as often as possible.

There are other build options if you’re not skilled with using the mines, but this build will dish out a ton of damage to multiple targets, while supporting your team with cover and healing. If you have three party members using this build and one with a tank build, you have optimal damage with no need for a medic.

Tank Build

Skills

• Ballistic Shield (Security)
• Smart Cover (Security)
• Survivor Link (Security)

Mods

• Kinetic Breaker (Ballistic Shield)
• Recharger (Smart Cover)

Talents (in order or priority)

• Evasive Action (Tech)
• Combat Medic (Medical)
• Battle Buddy (Medical)
• Critical Save (Medical)

The purpose of a tanking build in The Division is to create a party member who can take a ton of damage, while supporting the rest of the party. This is the player you have leading your team through the Dark Zone, ready to deploy their Smart Cover or Ballistic Shield at the first sign of danger. The longer they stay alive, the more effective your party will be.

With this build you should start a battle with Ballistic Shield unless there isn’t any cover available in the immediate area, in which case you should start with Smart Cover. One of the benefits of Smart Cover is that it heals your team in addition to providing cover. This allows your medic to save their skills and in some cases you can potentially get away with not using a medic at all if you have multiple players with Smart Cover.

If you alternate between Smart Cover and your Ballistic Shield you should almost always have some form of cover. However, with the Evasive Action talent incoming damage is reduced every time you shift from one cover point to the next, meaning you should still be moving occasionally during battle (good advice in general). The medical talents also help the tank stay alive and keep the party alive throughout fire fights.