The Division 2's raid has been the subject of a lot of speculation since the game was revealed in full back at E3 2018. Even since The Division 2's launch, the contents of this first raid have been kept more or less under wraps—although a datamine has given us some strong hints at what to expect.
What we do know is the raid's approximate release date (after a delay), what it's called, and how many players it'll require. Below, we've rounded up everything we know about The Division 2's first raid, Operation Dark Hours.
The Division 2's raid has a release date of May 2019, delayed from April 25th
The Division 2's first raid, Operation Dark Hours, has been delayed from its original release date of April 25th to an unspecified point in May 2019. It'll arrive with Title Update 3, and the date of that will be determined by Ubisoft's testing and balancing process.
"In order to fine-tune the balance of our game and to ensure the best possible player experience for everyone, we have decided to move the release of Title Update 3—including Operation Dark Hours, our 8-player Raid—from April 25 to May 2019," an update says. "The final release date of Title Update 3 will be based on results from further testing and balancing of the game. Operation Dark Hours will be your biggest challenge to date, and we want to make sure that we've properly tested the large amount of balance changes that are coming to both PvE and PvP and listen to your feedback about the changes before introducing the raid."
The Division 2's raid is called Operation Dark Hours, it's for 8 players, and it's free
As the trailer above notes, "teamplay and co-ordination will be the key to success" in beating Operation Dark Hours. It's been noted that The Division 2's raid is for eight players—so it might be worth joining The Division 2's Discord channel if you're looking for extra players who speak your language. Like all of The Division 2's year one content, it'll be free.
The Division 2's raid was datamined shortly after launch
The Division 2's raid was datamined in mid-March by Reddit user Kevindavid40, in a post which has since been deleted. Note that spoilers follow if you want to go into the raid fresh—and understand that this info might be out of date or ultimately incorrect. If true, this will reveal The Division 2 raid's locations, objectives and more besides, so buckle up.
The datamine suggested that players will likely start the raid at Ronald Reagan airport, and then travel to Arlington Island, by first heading over the Arlington Memorial Bridge. All this happens across the Potomac River. A trophy was also uncovered during the datamine, which awards players for crossing over the bridge in an hour or less—so you might want to set some time aside to knock through The Division 2's raid.
Objectives were uncovered during the datamine, too. Note that these are out of order, but they give you an idea of what to expect:
- Survive the assault on the bridge.
- Find the stolen GPS coordinates.
- Protect the named agent on your team.
- Confirm the kill of second hand Lieutenant.
- Rendezvous with your team.
- Survive the blackout attack.
- Find the activation code.
- Extract your team to safety.
- Split teams and flank the target.
- Stop the convoy from leaving the runway.
- Takeout bombarders from high ground.
References to a mission called Nighthawk were also dug up during the datamine, suggesting there might be a component to the raid before or after.
A teaser for The Division 2's raid comes when you unlock World Tier 5
Players who have reached World Tier 5 in The Division 2 probably noticed that finishing the Tidal Basin stronghold added a yellow helicopter icon marked 'offsite activities', underlining the idea you'll be travelling elsewhere for the raid.
