Uncontrolled Area
[Notice] Must-Read for Newbies: Dark Zone Beginner's Guide [Part 3]
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Hey there, newbies!
I have no idea when you'll be reading this, but I'm assuming you haven't reached HQ yet.
One of the biggest features of this game is that the tutorial is fucking hard—the devs have sworn they'll never change it, so you'll just have to adapt.
I'll be sharing as many tips and general info as I can to help you out.
This guide might be boring, but it's important.
Let's get started.
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This is a map of New York. The crooked red circles show where characters roughly spawn.
In other words, you'll wake up somewhere inside one of those circles.
No matter where you start, the distance to Central Park HQ is about the same, so just focus on getting there safely.
Your first goal is to reach a Manhattan safe house.
If you happen to meet another player near your spawn point, you're lucky—but most people won't, so you'll likely go through the tutorial alone.
And as you probably know, the first thing you need to do is form a party.
Max party size is 3—anything over 4 makes the field difficulty skyrocket.
It's hard enough to find three tutorial players, so just team up with whoever you meet.
"I'm too shy to talk to people?" Then why are you playing this game? lol
[Omitted]
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I'll briefly explain the factions in this game.
As you progress, you'll encounter different factions. In the tutorial, you'll mostly face Rioters, Hounds (corrupted vigilantes), Robbers, and Rikers (escaped convicts).
These are former civilians or inmates, so they die after a few hits.
As your gear improves, they'll start wearing better armor—but except for Rikers, they disappear later on.
Here's something important: if anyone in your party has a modifier below 50%, you're screwed.
Why? Because the weak enemies I just described will never show up for you.
This is based on the lowest modifier in your party, so no exceptions.
As I mentioned, higher-tier content has different factions, and lower modifiers mean harder enemies.
Confirmed so far: Russian/Chinese landing troops (extremely tough), rogue PMCs, terrorists, and according to the Dark Zone wiki, modifiers below 30% add special ops teams, Artemis drones, and Hunters.
All of these are high-difficulty enemies you'd only see in emergency missions—they're brutal.
Not directly relevant to you yet, but good to know for later.
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This is mostly irrelevant until you max level, but you might encounter it during the tutorial.
That's a screenshot of my UI—look at the top right. The big warning says Uncontrolled Area.
What does it mean? Simply put, the area you're in or heading to has switched from PVE to PVP.
It can happen for various reasons: a UAV gets destroyed, an EMP bomb goes off, or enemy SOF sets up a jammer.
The key point is what happens when it triggers: the area becomes a lawless zone.
Powerful mobs roam freely, and PVP is enabled.
You're probably wondering why I'm explaining this now. Here's the thing: it can overlap with your tutorial area.
If you enter one, you'll either get crushed by elite enemies or beaten by PVP veterans using operator skills.
And here's the kicker: safe houses lock down.
If you die there, you might respawn all the way back at your starting point. lololololololol
The odds are low, but if it happens, restarting your character might be better for your mental health.
Once you get past this, the real Dark Zone begins—so cling to life and crawl to HQ if you have to.
Just get to HQ… there are so many veterans… if you get nerfed, the game's over…
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"Um, so… Eugene?"
"Yes?"
"I don't know what's going on, but… aren't we in serious trouble?"
"It certainly seems that way. Stay alert."
"Right."
Top right of the UI.
A warning box with red and black stripes, like a nuclear launch button—something catastrophic was about to happen if they didn't leave immediately.
Unlike any warning they'd ever seen, it consisted of just nine characters.
-[Uncontrolled Area Transition Warning.]
Just 1.6 kilometers from Central Park HQ, ominous text began to appear on the UI, filled only with the city's darkness.
'Uncontrolled Area warning. From what I remember… the entire northeastern U.S. region was once designated as an Uncontrolled Area, filled with Fallen operators. Could this be the same?'
Not a pleasant thought.
As Eugene pondered this, Harmony glanced sideways at the chat window.
The chat was already in chaos.
Just moments ago, viewers had been expressing concern for her, but now? What was even happening?
Harmony frantically searched her memory, but none of her streamer friends had ever mentioned this situation.
…Or maybe they'd never experienced it themselves, which is why they'd never said anything.
As a streamer, Harmony could only conclude that much.
"Ah, no. Could you explain what exactly is going wrong? I mean… I can just trust the person I'm partying with, right?"
"I can't determine the situation yet, so it's too early to judge."
"See? Even this person says that."
"…"
Take that back.
With just one line of donation, Harmony instantly realized how deep a hole she'd fallen into.
But she was a seasoned streamer—she could extract useful info from the chat without needing to ask.
Chat logs flooded in. She picked out the key details.
And so, Harmony decided to—
"S-so, an Uncontrolled Area is like an unlimited PVP zone. It usually clears in 2 hours, but there are tons of powerful enemies…"
"Any other details? The more data, the better."
"…If you die here, you respawn at the starting point."
She was doing her best to relay useful information to the only person she could trust.
The chat was full of question marks, but she didn't have time for that. What did viewers who couldn't even guarantee her survival care about?
But she couldn't completely abandon her streamer role, so she added quietly:
"Ah, I get it. I'll ring the bell for tips, so hurry up and do something. You guys don't want to watch my terrible gameplay for another six hours, right?"
"So we can't even get to HQ? We're almost there."
"Oh crap, we're screwed…"
Running, walking, sometimes moving silently.
They checked the map updating in real time, but Lower Manhattan beneath Central Park had turned completely red. Instead of the detailed terrain and safe houses from just minutes ago, only the words Uncontrolled Area loomed large.
The estimated clearance time showed 1 hour and 40 minutes remaining.
"…What do we do now?"
Eventually, the two had no choice but to return to the park they'd passed earlier, hiding among supply crates and containers.
Harmony spoke first.
But as always, Eugene responded calmly.
"The risks of combat have increased significantly. But we can't avoid fighting…"
"Then what?"
"We need to position ourselves in a tactically advantageous location."
Eugene, who knew New York like the back of her hand, recalled past memories.
Half-sealed subway stations. Rooftops of low-rise buildings. Complex department stores—places with narrow paths and ambush advantages… Urban combat in a metropolis was incomparably complex and unpredictable.
They had to make full use of that.
───Clank.
"Down."
"…!"
Harmony didn't ask further.
It was the right call.
Through the faintly visible entrance, several drones and three personnel walking alongside them. Clearly equipped with cutting-edge gear, they analyzed their surroundings and moved at a steady pace along their patrol route.
Once the quadrupedal robot with a chain gun and grenade launcher passed, the two could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"…Who were those?"
"Artemis Technologies… a Warhound and two Seekers in a strike team. With our current firepower, surviving a fight would be a miracle."
"You know a lot about this…?"
No more words were needed.
Eugene sent a squeeze signal, and Harmony carefully stood up.
"There's a subway station west of the park. Let's head there first."
"Understood."
After checking the surroundings and listening once more, they stood up cautiously.
Moving with the caution of walking on thin ice, the snow beneath them was trampled again, dirtying the pristine white.
Snowflakes danced down from the sky, and the wind howled. The sound of metal scraping filled the gaps between.
They crossed the frozen fountain, passed the broken taxis and cars, and hurried along the side of a building.
But—
"It's completely destroyed."
The large glass canopy at the station entrance, which should have served various purposes, was completely collapsed, blocking the entryway.
But there were plenty of subway stations nearby, so she immediately sought another route.
"There's another station on the street opposite the fountain. I'll take point. Just keep watch."
"Yes."
How she knew this didn't matter.
Thus, the two figures crossed the silence once more.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. Unlike the sound of roasting beans from minutes ago, this was closer to the eye of a storm—a prelude of some kind.
Watching both the path behind and ahead, the two-person party moved calmly toward their second objective.
But unfortunately, fangs bite everyone equally.
-[Warning: Pulse Scan Detected.]
-[Armor Weakness Exposed. Position Identified by Hostile Personnel.]
───Thump.
"Get down!"
Wham.
A powerful tackle slammed into Harmony.
A half-second later, the spot where Eugene had stepped exploded in a blinding flash.
Amid the deafening blast, acrid gunpowder smoke, and the shockwave that threatened to crush their bodies, Eugene rose from the ground as muscle memory dictated.
With one hand, she grabbed the nape of Harmony's neck—still dazed—and ran toward cover, analyzing the source of the explosion.
The soft thump sound. Definitely from a grenade launcher.
"If you're awake, stand up and run!"
"…U-uh, where?!"
"The fountain!"
The time between the shot and the explosion wasn't long.
The enemies were closer than expected. Eugene pulled a grenade from her pouch, pulled the pin, and threw it in the direction of the enemy.
Amid flashes and explosions, a second and third grenade flew through the air.
Retracing their steps, they reached the fountain and slid into cover.
"No way, what do they even have?!"
"A six-shot grenade launcher. Suppressive fire. We can't keep running—we need to lure them to another station nearby. Follow me closely when I signal."
"How many stations are there around here?!"
Sparks and debris flew, and a second later, acrid gunpowder smoke billowed into the air.
Scanning the enemy numbers and armament in an instant, she fired precisely at their heads through the red dot sight.
Five heavily armed enemies. A direct confrontation would be overwhelming with their current firepower. Even as she fired, her mind constantly assembled and dismantled possibilities.
But then, Eugene saw something from the enemies—white hexagons appearing out of nowhere to block bullets.
A power granted only to Icarus agents was in their hands.
Which meant—
"They're Fallen!"
"What?!"
"Hostile Icarus operators!"
They were players.
Whether they were deliberately hunting them down or battle maniacs intent on killing everyone in sight.
───Thump!
"Run!"
With ears ringing from the noise, they ran.
Toward the nearby subway station entrance.