It may sound stupid, but often, you gotta go back to square one.

Very often - more often than not, really - you may jump right into the tools that have been given, right as you're given them. While it's great that you're eager to get to work, you need to understand one question:


It's very, VERY easy to miss this point and start digging.

One little thing to keep in mind when you reread the question is to look for keywords.

In most cases, you're looking for a who, what, where, when, why, or how.

Use the question to solve the question as well. Sometimes, for example, they may be looking for "history," or they may even use past tense. Therefore, you know to look at the person's past, as opposed to any stats about them.

Likely, you're going to be overwhelmed with information off the bat.

You can easily lose track of the information you've been given just by virtue of being overwhelmed by it, so ask yourself:


Sort out what you have. Solve any ciphers you've been given, look at odd details you've found.

Write things down if you have to! The brain can only hold so much at once.


Everything may have a purpose.

If it seems like there's too much, maybe the person was being thorough. In those kinds of situations, go back to the last question and ask what you DO have. Maybe photos are part of a crime scene; maybe you're tracking the location of a rogue agent, and need every detail possible.

Try to figure out how each piece of information is relevant to the mission on hand.


Even after you've figured out what everything is, you'll find one key lead and run with another item that helped, and nothing else helped.

Was it all a waste of time? Of course not.

That's fine. You'll have a lot of waste in terms of stuff that ended up being irrelevant.

But this is why you're here -- if it were as easy as looking at one object, why would you have been recruited?

Here's a tip:


Have you been following a lead for three hours? Have you gone nine pages deep on Wikipedia? Ten pages into a Google search?

It's time to step back and try again.

You'll NEVER have to go that deep when doing your research.

If a lead doesn't lead you anywhere, it's not a lead. Otherwise vital details wouldn't be called "leads" -- they're meant to lead you to your solution.

Of course, I'm not saying the answer should be the first result every time you Google a detail. Do some reading, get some extracurricular education.

But if you're lost, go back to the start.

(Also, if you're overthinking it, we'll start joking about orangesandlemons. You NEVER want us to start joking about orangesandlemons.)

Okay, you've been sitting at this for hours. Now what?

Have you looked at the question again? Are you just stuck on a "lead"? Is this whole "mission" thing going to give you a headache.


Take a few minutes. Stare outside, give your eyes a rest, stretch your wrists, go to the bathroom.

Sometimes, all you really need is a fresh perspective after a glass of water, a few deep breaths, and a few minutes on your social media of choice.

When you get back, it'll all (hopefully) still be there.

That's really it. Asking for help is a life skill, for sure.

Working in The Black Watchmen is a team effort, and a team is always there for each other.

Feel free to drop into our IRC (irc.blackwatchmen.com, #division66) and ask for help. Usually someone is willing to step you through.

Even if it'll be basically what I just explained to you, usually it's good to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

Ask questions. See if you're on the right track. There's no harm or shame in it -- even vets have to sometimes.