The Division update 1.7 will add Global Events, Classified Gear, Commendations

When I wrote about the addition of Loadouts to The Division—a feature that was originally planned for update 1.7—last month, I linked back to an article of Tim's which suggests the game's ‘Year Two’ expansion plan dooms it to a slow death. Whether you side with that argument or not, I feel Ubisoft nevertheless deserves some credit with regards to its ongoing support of its open world shoot 'em up.

We've been steadily drip-fed what's in store for its incoming 1.7 update over the past few weeks, however we now know three things for certain: Global Events, Commendations and Classified Gear are all on the menu.

First off, Global Events are special monthly events which affect the open world on a global level. Specific rules and criteria are set in place, known as Global Modifiers, which force players to adapt and adjust to whichever playstyle suits best. Completing missions will grant players Global Event Tokens that can be spent on 'Classified Gear Caches' from specific vendors.

Which leads us onto Classified Gear. Here's Ubisoft with the skinny on that:

"Classified Gear was designed from the ground up to be something players could hunt for in the end game, while at max gear score without a negative impact on their existing gear. All Classified Gear drops at gear score 256, regardless of World Tier.

"We wanted to hit the check boxes mentioned above, while also preserving the value of your existing loadout while you hunt, and Classified Gear offers an opportunity to extend the stats of your build in a seamless flow. Gear score at 256 is hard capped at the main stat level, but not 256 Classified Gear."

Commendations, lastly, is in essence, a built in achievement system. More on that can be read here, while more on Classified Gear and Global Events can be found here and here.