With Ubisoft pushing back The Division 2’s next major update (title update #3) sometime this month, some might have assumed that the gear score in the game will be upped as part of the patch. Well, you assumed wrong. In a new post on the game’s official site, Ubisoft has revealed that The Division 2 gear score update will not be happening with this month’s big patch and explained why.

With the plethora of PvE and PvP changes in TU3 we want to improve the Dark Zone experience, making it more fun and rewarding. Taking those changes into account, we decided that it is too early to introduce higher Gear Score items. We want to make sure the next Gear Score increase feels completely natural and comes at a time that is right for the game.

In addition to that statement, Ubisoft listed a few key issues that they think will arise if they increase the Gear Score this soon:

• Gear Score 500 items would have been outdated immediately, and all the effort you put into min/maxing and farming your builds would have been wasted just as the Raid goes live. We don’t want to invalidate your progression and we heard that feedback loud and clear from our community. Your gear and your builds are important to you and to us.
• The statistical increase in stats would have made gear better but we don’t want the focus to be on constantly chasing a higher Gear Score, when it should be about finding a playstyle and build that you enjoy.

Ubisoft has alos mentioned that the upcoming Raid called Operation Dark Hours will give Gear Score 500 rewards as well.

Operation Dark Hours, the 8-player Raid coming in TU3, will also provide Gear Score 500 rewards.The raid will offer exclusive loot, including new gear sets and an Exotic weapon. We’re very excited for you to experience the first Raid in The Division history, which we hope will be a great addition to the end game.

Moving forward, to make it clearer where to get Gear Score 500 items, we’ve made the following changes in Title Update 3.

• We have increased the rewards for daily Priority Hard and Challenging missions. Once you’ve reached Gear Score 500, those activities will guarantee Gear Score 500 drops.
• Heroic Mission bosses, Stronghold bosses and Bounty bosses, as well as Control Point Alert Level 4 reward containers guarantee Gear Score 500 items if your average Gear Score is at 500.
• DZ contaminated loot does not drop below player’s average Gear Score. When you’ve reached an average Gear Score of 500, Contaminated loot will guarantee Gear Score 500 items.
• We’ve balanced loot across the board to reduce the chances of items dropping at a lower Gear Score than that of your character.

Is this OK for you? Or were you expecting the Gear Score to be upped in this month’s big patch?