The Division guide: how to earn Dark Zone credits

The risk-reward equation of the Dark Zone doesn't have to be RNG reliant.

The Division guide: how to earn Dark Zone credits

The Division has two major currencies, but in end-game it's Dark Zone Credits you'll be most interested in.

While you can certainly find some super sweet loot from drops when you manage a successful Dark Zone extraction, the perfidy of RNG means you're not guaranteed anything good - or useful for your particular play style.

That's where Dark Zone vendors come in. These useful NPCs hang out in safe houses and at Dark Zone entrances, and they have some magnificent gear on offer. It doesn't come cheap, but there are a couple of ways to fill your Dark Zone credit coffers.

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• Farm NPC spawns

You'll be rewarded for killing baddies in the Dark Zone with loot and Dark Zone credits. You don't have to make a run on the big, high level encounters; you can farm a group of regularly spawning NPCs. A bunch of easier enemies you can knock on their asses over and over again will be more efficient for some players than trying for more difficult encounters.

Baddies will usually respawn after you extract, so the closer the spawn is to the extraction zone, the quicker you'll complete runs. One example seen in beta is in the tunnels near a gas station by the Dark Zone entrance; there's a group of baddies here you and a partner shouldn't have too much trouble clearing, and at higher levels you'll be able to solo them.

We expect Ubisoft to adjust spawn times and challenge as various favourite farming points are discovered and exploited, so make the most of any you find.

• Open chests

Tired of farming the same gormless NPCs? Got a few keys in your inventory?

Excellent! Go after a tougher encounter, looking for the map markers and unique, named NPCs. After clearing one of these you should find a chest, which will include a very tasty pile of Dark Zone Credits along with a good chance of an excellent loot drop.

• Don't die - and don't die a rogue

Whenever you die in the Dark Zone, you lose Dark Zone credits - if you have any. You also lose Dark Zone rank and keys, which in turn makes it harder to profit from your escapades.

This is obvious, then, but - just don't die. Play it safe in the Dark Zone so you don't end up losing money faster than you're making it.

It's especially important not to die a rogue, as the penalties are much higher than going down while on the right side of the law. Of course, the rewards for going rogue can be worth it...

• Go rogue

If you have a solid crew you trust with your lives, you could make a rogue run. If you and your chums can survive long enough to reach rogue level five, you'll rake in the cash - but you'll need to kill a lot of agent pretty quickly, and the whole server is likely to come after you. A endgame tactic indeed.

That said, even surviving a level one manhunt timer is pretty lucrative - if not always easy.