Year 8 Season 3 of The Division 2, titled Red Horizon, went live on August 27, 2026, and the seasonal Manhunt started the same day. Scout 1 hides three tasks behind in-world clues rather than plain objectives, and each one points to Downtown East.
The whole Scout closes in one session, with minimal travel, once you know what the clues decode to.
1. All Scout 1 Clue Solutions in Red Horizon
Y8S3 Manhunt Scout 1
Scout 1 asks for two Public Executions, three Control Point captures, and 10 Cleaner kills, all inside the same corner of the map.
The Cleaners have moved south from New York for the season, so the faction you are hunting now spawns across Washington, D.C., takes Control Points, and starts its own open-world activities.
- Public Executions: Complete two in Downtown East or Judiciary Square.
- Control Points: Capture three of the four in Downtown East.
- Cleaner kills: Eliminate 10 Cleaners inside Downtown East.
The in-game clues read as intelligence reports. The first says refugees are being captured and executed as they enter the northeastern part of the city. The second reports large numbers of refugees heading to Downtown East and calls for control of the area. The third flags Cleaner sightings and orders you to investigate and eliminate.
Open the map and select the Manhunt panel to activate Scout 1. Only the first clue is readable at the start; the next one unlocks once the previous objective is registered. That sequence rule decides your route, since kills and captures made before an objective unlocks do not count toward it.
2. How to Complete Two Public Executions in Downtown East
Scout 1 Objective 1
Public Executions appear as red activity icons in the open world, and only the ones inside Downtown East or Judiciary Square count for this step.
Each activity puts two hostages in front of a firing line across two enemy waves, and at least one hostage has to survive for the completion to register. Two clears finish the objective.
- Track the red icon. Open the map, filter for open world activities in Downtown East or Judiciary Square, and set a waypoint on the closest Public Execution.
- Break the first wave fast. Push in before the executioners finish their animation and kill the enemies aiming at the hostages first.
- Hold through the second wave. Reinforcements arrive and target the surviving hostages, so cover the hostage position instead of chasing kills across the street.
- Talk to a hostage. Interact with a survivor once the area is clear to close the activity and bank credit.
- Repeat once. Run a second Public Execution inside either district to complete the objective.
Public Execution Activity
Activity density scales with how much of the district the enemy holds, so Public Executions spawn at a higher rate while Control Points in the area stay under enemy control.
Dropping Global Difficulty to Normal speeds up both waves and hands every Control Point back to the enemy at the same time, which sets up the next objective.
3. How to Capture Three Control Points in Downtown East
Y8S3 Scout 1 Objective 2
Downtown East holds four Control Points: Fallen Cranes, Demolition Site, Red Dragon, and MLK Memorial Library. Any three of them satisfy the objective, which leaves one spare if a location gives you trouble.
- Approach from the perimeter. Clear the outer defenders and the snipers on the surrounding rooftops before you commit to the entrance.
- Fire the flare. Signal your allies at the marked position to bring friendly NPCs into the assault.
- Clear the interior wave. Killing the first group pulls the remaining defenders out of the Control Point structure.
- Beat the named enemy. A reinforcement wave led by elites and a named target arrives to retake the position, and dropping it secures the capture.
- Move to the next Point. Repeat at two more Downtown East Control Points to close the objective.
Captured Control Points refill your resource stock and roll crafting blueprints, so the objective pays for itself even on a low difficulty run. The same task closed the Into the Dark Manhunt, and the routing advice in the Y8S2’s HVT 3 clue solutions still applies to this district.
How to Reset Control Points That Are Already Liberated
Y8S3 Scout 1 Objective 2 Complete
Resetting hands every Control Point on the map back to enemy control makes the objective available again. The option sits in the map menu and unlocks at level 40.
- Open Global Settings. Bring up the map and move the cursor until the options appear along the bottom of the screen.
- Pick your reset method. Choose Reset Control Points to flip every Point without touching enemy strength, or Change Global Difficulty to reset them and set difficulty in one action.
- Confirm Settings. Apply the change, then check the Downtown East Points on the map to see them return to enemy control.
4. How to Kill 10 Cleaners in Downtown East
Cleaners in DC
Ten Cleaner kills inside Downtown East finish Scout 1, and the source of the kills does not matter. Cleaners hold their own Control Points, run their own open-world activities, and patrol the streets between them, so the district supplies targets without any specific route.
Before fast traveling, check the faction icons on the map to confirm the activity belongs to Cleaners. Prioritize the sources below in order, starting with Cleaner-held Control Points for the fastest progress.
- Cleaner Control Points: A single assault on a Cleaner-held Point clears most of the counter in one fight.
- Cleaner activities: Faction-marked open world events spawn across the district while Control Points sit under enemy control.
- Street patrols: Roaming squads fill the last few kills while you travel between objectives.
Difficulty has no effect on the required count, so a lower Global Difficulty setting turns the last objective into a short cleanup pass. Cleaners also feed the season’s Under Pressure Gauge, which makes this step useful practice for the new modifier.
5. Fastest Scout 1 Route for a Single Session
Y8S3 Scout 1 Objective 3 Complete
Scout objectives unlock in order, so the fastest way to clear is to front-load the map setup, then run the three tasks in the order the game hands them to you.
Kills and captures banked before an objective unlocks are wasted work, which is the main reason agents finish the Scout across two sessions instead of one.
- Reset the district first. Change Global Difficulty from the map before activating anything, which flips every Control Point back to enemy control and raises activity density in Downtown East.
- Activate Scout 1. Open the Manhunt panel and start the first objective so Public Execution progress registers.
- Clear two Public Executions. Work the northeastern side of Downtown East and cross into Judiciary Square only if the second activity spawns there.
- Take three Control Points. Run Fallen Cranes, Demolition Site, and Red Dragon in a loop, leaving MLK Memorial Library untouched.
- Finish on Cleaners. Assault the spare Control Point if Cleaners hold it, then sweep patrols and faction activities until the counter hits 10.
6. Scout 1 Rewards and What Unlocks Next
Y8S3 Scout 1 Rewards
Finishing all three objectives pays out gear, XP, seasonal materials, and an audio collectible, then plays a recording of a refugee telling Manny Ortega that the Cleaners are moving on Washington. That recording sets up the season narrative and marks the first step of the Red Horizon Manhunt track.
Scouts feed directly into the season finale. Clearing the full track unlocks the Climax mission, then its Master difficulty version. The season’s exclusive Exotic, Loaded for Bear gloves, comes from that Climax reward, while Fafnir and Iron Will sit on the free Season Pass track from launch.
Scout steps stay completable after their week ends, so a missed week is recoverable. New clues unlock with each weekly reset, and the next set continues the hunt for the target behind the Cleaner push into the capital.
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