The recent Warlords of New York expansion added a whole new lower Manhattan map to The Division 2, complete with new missions, enemies, checkpoints and gear. For players willing to search and explore, there are secret hunters, elite enemies, who are hidden in the new city. While most of them have been found so far, two are still stumping players two weeks after the big Warlords DLC launched.
Hunters have been a part of The Division 2 since the game’s launch a year ago. They’re different from other enemies in the game. They’re not waiting at the end of missions or just roaming the game’s map. Instead, they were discovered by players who decoded in-game clues and solved puzzles to make them appear. For example, in the base game’s Washington, DC map, one of the first hunters would only spawn if players went to a specific memorial, shot out a certain light in that area and then stood in an unmarked spot to salute a flag. Another hunter would only appear if you found a specific empty pool, climbed inside and started doing jumping jacks.
So, yeah, Hunters are a strange part of The Division 2.
With the latest big update players were excited to have new hunters to find. And they found most of them fast. There’s one new hunter that spawns only after finding four well-hidden flags around the southern part of the map, bringing them all back to some flag poles, attaching the flags you collected, then waiting until night to activate a generator. Not something most players would find accidentally.
But two hunters in New York are still missing and players are using Discord and Reddit to work together to solve these last puzzles. The two Hunters that have players stumped have been nicknamed Pier Hunter and Food Truck Hunter. These names come from the locations players believe will be where the Hunters will spawn. Their locations are hinted at via in-game newspapers, which players have been using to help put together other parts of the puzzles.
Currently, in a Discord group dedicated to Division 2 secrets and mysteries, players are focusing their attention on some clocks, an out of the way power box that can be shot, a ringing bell, a series of windows and even a sudoku puzzle found in one of the newspapers. Scrolling through the chat logs makes my head spin a bit. But it is clear that players are making progress. And after a recent update to the game, some players think they might be even closer to solving one of the puzzles. The update might have fixed an issue with a ringing bell, which is believed to be the next part in unlocking the Pier Hunter puzzle. (It’s worth noting that one of the original game’s hunters initially wasn’t discoverable because of a glitch.)
Or maybe it’s just a red herring and players are no closer to solving anything. For these dedicated Hunter-hunters, they ain’t giving up anytime soon. Players already know what the reward will be for finding them, thanks to some data miners. (Spoilers: It’s a chest piece called the “Hunter Killer.” It could be good!) That doesn’t matter. I’m confident that they will still work hard and solve these last two puzzles. They solved all the puzzles before Warlords and I don’t expect them to give up now. Besides, for these dedicated players, who spend hours putting together maps, searching for little clues and working together in active chat rooms, it seems the hunt is the real reward.
Oh and the cool masks. Hunters drop cool masks that players can add to their collection and these masks can also be worn in-game. Those are a pretty sweet reward, too.
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