The Dark Zone is a perilous place at the best of times, but it’s when you need to extract items that puts you at the greatest risk of being ambushed and killed by Rogue agents. For someone who has just spent hours farming NPCs and is minutes away from safely adding some high quality loot to their inventory, the minutes waiting for the extract can be excruciatingly stressful. Getting taken out and looted by a roving band of rogue agents is down right depressing.
If you’re one of the many who has fallen with the extraction rope just out of reach, this guide is for you. While it wont solve all of your extraction worries, it should hopefully help you get a few more out of the Dark Zone safely.
Bring a team or group using matchmaking
The absolute best way to have a smooth extraction is to have an army at your back. Best case scenario is you have a full squad of your buddies with you that you can easy communicate and work together with. If you don’t have any friends that play the Division you can use the laptop in the safe house to matchup with other players in the Dark Zone.
This option is a little risky because there’s no real way for you to 100% trust the people you group up with. The best way to increase the odds that the random players you group up with wont screw you over at the last second is to group with them well before you try to extract. If you work together on gathering the loot by farming NPCs, there will not only be some time to build a little comradery, but the other players in your group will have gathered some loot of their own leaving less reason to jump you for yours.
Also try to get groups that use microphones. Communication is key when pointing out potential threats during extraction, and while fighting NPCs.
Stay stealthy
If you have to go it solo, stealth is your best friend. Throw up your extraction flare and then head for the nearest dark corner you can find. Odds are at least one other player will show up to extract, but if any more than you feel comfortable with come around, sneak out and head for the next extraction point.
A good way to tell if another player is at an extraction point for ganking or not is to look and see if they have a Dark Zone loot satchel on their back. If you don’t see that yellow on their backpack, chances are they’re there to take yours.
Watch the other player’s behavior
Do you notice one or more players lurking around the sides of an extraction point? Are some not even carrying a loot satchel at all? Maneuvering themselves behind the other players the closer the chopper gets? These are all telltale signs that a player is gearing up to do some ganking.
If you’re solo either hide or mix in with the crowd that seems the most docile. If you seem like your part of a larger team, the gankers are a lot less likely to try anything. When the chopper does arrive try to get your gear on as fast as you can, but be ready to abort and flee even faster. A favorite tactic of gankers is to throw a grenade onto the extraction rope. Be ready to roll out of the way and sprint to cover when it happens.
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