Vortex Gaming

· Prototype Gear is a new tier of items revealed in The Division 2's Year 8 PTS.
· It sits above existing High-End (yellow) and Brand Set (green) items, offering significantly higher stats and a new passive effect called 'Augment.'
· This gear is expected to boost agents' combat power to unprecedented levels.
· The maximum stats of existing 'God Roll' gear will become the minimum stats for Prototype Gear, indicating a massive power increase.
· For example, a regular item's maximum 15% Weapon Damage increases to 22.5% in Prototype, 6% Critical Hit Chance to 9%, and 10% Damage to Targets Out of Cover to 15%.
· Augments are like 'mini special effects' that can be applied to all gear pieces.

Stat	Existing Max	Prototype Max
Weapon Damage	15%	22.5%
Critical Hit Chance	6%	9%
Health	21%	31.5%
Damage to Targets Out of Cover	10%	15%

· The first way to obtain Prototype Gear is by playing the new game mode, 'Escalada/Intensification.'
· The higher the level in Escalada/Intensification mode, the higher the chance for Prototype Gear to drop directly.
· The second method is to convert existing perfect gear into Prototype via the 'Protolab' menu.
· To convert gear to Prototype, the following strict conditions must be met:
· Level 40: The gear must be Level 40.
· Fully Optimized: All attributes must be optimized to their maximum.
· Expertise Level 30: The gear's Expertise Level must be 30. Expertise can be increased by consuming materials.

· When converting gear to Prototype, only one attribute is guaranteed to reach the new Prototype maximum.
· The remaining attributes will stay at their existing maximums. If you're lucky, additional attributes might also reach the new maximum, but this is probabilistic.
· Therefore, to obtain perfect Prototype Gear, you might need to convert the same item multiple times.
· Important Warning: Once an item is converted to Prototype, it can no longer be recalibrated or optimized.
· Thus, all attribute adjustments and talent configurations must be completed before converting to Prototype.
· While Prototype Gear dropped from caches in the PTS might appear to have all attributes at maximum, when converting manually, it's common for only one attribute to reach the new maximum.
· This implies that the farming and conversion process for obtaining perfect Prototype Gear will still be challenging.

· Augments are special passive effects granted to Prototype Gear, providing additional bonuses without replacing existing talents.
· Augments level up as you play the game, and their effects strengthen with each level.
· If the same Augment is equipped on multiple gear pieces, its effects stack and are combined. This is a crucial factor for maximizing build synergy.
· You can reroll Augments using 'Prototype Cores' in the Protolab. Prototype Cores can be acquired from Escalada/Intensification mode or by deconstructing Prototype Gear.
· The cost may increase each time you reroll an Augment.
· Key Augment Examples:

Augment Name	Effect
Echo (Echo)	All fired bullets have a chance to deal a second instance of damage. (e.g., Replicate 2.5% of final bullet damage)
Quantum (Quantum)	Provides a small chance to become temporarily immune to damage. (e.g., 1% chance for 2 seconds of damage immunity when taking damage)
Paradox (Paradox)	Has a chance to reload a portion of the magazine while firing.
Amalgam (Amalgam)	Has a chance to apply a random status effect on bullet hit.

· Augment Utilization Strategy: It is effective to focus on using the same Augment across multiple gear pieces to maximize the synergy of a specific effect. For example, you could design a build that equips the 'Quantum' Augment on all armor pieces to increase the chance of damage immunity.