With the latter being in tune with the season, and arriving in the form of a new weapon that drops from Santa hat wearing Hoarder enemies called The Sleigher. It shoots snowballs. Also arriving in Update 6.1 for The Division 2 is a new Hardcore Mode - that yeah, adds permadeath.

Which means you can tackle the campaign with a new Agent, and if you die all progress and items are lost. No access to you shared Stash, Hardcore Agents will also be playing on a Hardcore-Only server - making co-op and teamwork a very high priority. No more running straight into the fray to take on heavies.

The new mode is a work-in-progress with Ubisoft noting,

More work is still needed on Hardcore Mode, but the developers are releasing it in beta because they feel that it’s already a fun addition to the game, and adds something new for players to experience. Some things haven’t yet been implemented as fully envisioned by the developers, and there are planned features that haven’t yet been added.

Update 6.1 is slated to arrive December 10, for the full Patch Notes - head here.