Chainkiller: What Does It Mean in Division?

Chainkiller is a named High-End body armor (chest piece) in Tom Clancy's The Division 2. It is a named version of the Walker, Harris & Co. chest and carries a fixed, upgraded talent called Perfect Headhunter, which turns every headshot kill into a large damage bonus on your next hit. When players mention Chainkiller, they almost always mean headshot-chaining builds, most often with marksman rifles.

How It Works

Named items in The Division 2 are regular brand pieces with a special name and one locked-in upgrade: some carry a "perfect" version of a talent, others a boosted attribute (The White Death, for example, gets extra headshot damage). Chainkiller's core attribute is Weapon Damage, it has two minor attributes you can roll or recalibrate, and one mod slot. What makes it worth chasing is the talent.

The regular Headhunter chest talent works like this: after you kill an enemy with a headshot, your next weapon hit within 30 seconds deals extra damage equal to a share of that killing blow. Standard Headhunter adds 125% of the killing blow's damage. Chainkiller's Perfect Headhunter raises this to 150%. The bonus is capped at 800% of your weapon damage, and the cap is raised to 1250% when your headshot damage stat is above 150%, according to the community wiki's current talent listing.

Because the bonus is calculated from the shot that killed the previous enemy, each headshot kill feeds the next one. With a hard-hitting marksman rifle, one clean headshot kill makes the following shot hit far harder than normal, which often secures another kill and reloads the bonus. That loop is why players describe the playstyle as chaining kills.

Where You'll See It

• Marksman rifle builds. The most common pairing is the Hotshot gear set, which is designed for marksman rifles and rewards consecutive headshots. Since Chainkiller takes the chest slot, these builds run Hotshot on the other slots and give up the Hotshot chest talent.
• High headshot damage rifles. Named rifles such as The White Death, a named Classic M44 Carbine with bonus headshot damage, are popular because extra headshot damage both raises the size of the killing blow and helps unlock the higher damage cap.
• Solo PvE content. Players who clear enemies one at a time from range get the most from the talent, because every kill can set up the next.

How to Get Chainkiller

Chainkiller drops as Walker, Harris & Co. body armor, so the usual approach is to set Loot Targeting to that brand or to body armor and farm activities that respect targeted loot. The community wiki also lists a blueprint for crafting replicas. It comes from Reconstructed Caches bought with NSA Tech at NSA Stations in the Descent mode, as a reward for defeating the Nemesis in Descent, or by crafting it with seven Broken SHD Watches.

Tips

• Open with an easy headshot kill. Start each fight by headshotting a weak enemy so the bonus is loaded before you shoot elites or named targets.
• Do not waste the stored shot. The bonus is spent on your next weapon hit, so a stray body shot on an unimportant enemy uses it up.
• Watch armor plates and helmets. Players report that when the empowered shot breaks an armor plate or helmet, the stored bonus is consumed and the overflow damage is lost. Strip plates first or pick targets whose heads are exposed.
• Push headshot damage past 150%. This raises the damage cap, which matters most for high-damage rifles.
• Mind the 30-second window. Keep moving between targets; if you wait too long, the bonus expires.

Talent values can change with title updates, so check the in-game tooltip or the official The Division 2 site for the latest patch notes.

FAQ

Is Chainkiller an exotic?

No. It is a named High-End item, not an exotic. Named items are brand gear with one fixed upgrade, such as a perfect talent, while exotics have unique talents of their own.

What is the difference between Headhunter and Perfect Headhunter?

Both store bonus damage after a headshot kill. Perfect Headhunter, found only on Chainkiller, stores 150% of the killing blow instead of 125%. The caps are the same.

Does Chainkiller only work with marksman rifles?

The talent triggers on any weapon hit, but it shines with weapons that can kill in one or two headshots, which is why marksman rifles are the usual choice.