PAX West is in full swing and Gearbox took to the stage last night with some new information about the upcoming Borderlands 3. Two main aspects of Borderlands 3 which were discussed last night were Endgame and Post-Launch content. Judging by the last night’s announcements, it seems like Borderlands 3 begins truly after you are done with the main story of the game because there’s tons of stuff for you to do post-story.
Starting with the endgame content, the most highlighted aspect is the Guardian Rank which is unlocked after you’ve beaten the main story of the game. With this system unlocked, every time you level up, apart from unlocking stat improvements, players will also get some powerful buffs. This is represented by a different bar called Guardian Rank bar and it is located at the top of your normal XP bar.
It also levels up with the normal experience points and every time the bar is filled, you will be awarded a Guardian Token. You can later use this Guardian Token to unlock one special option from six randomly selected stats and they are two from each skill tree. The full list for all trees is detailed below.
- Enforcer
- Critical Damage
- Grenade Damage
- Gun Damage
- Gun Fire Rate
- Melee Damage
- Vehicle Damage
- Survivor
- FFYL (Fight For Your Life) Duration
- FFYL Movement Speed
- Max Health
- Shield Capacity
- Shield Recharge Delay
- Shield Recharge Rate
- Hunter
- Accuracy
- Action Skill Cooldown
- Luck (Rare Drop Rate)
- Recoil Reduction
- Reload Speed
After you have spent enough tokens here, you will unlock Guardian Rewards which are specific to the three trees. You unlock a reward by investing 10, 15, 25, 35, 50, or 75 tokens in their respective category. These rewards range from weapons to Vault Hunter skins and even some really powerful buffs.
Another Endgame mechanic in place is the True Vault Hunter Mode which is essentially a New Game+ mode however it ramps up the difficulty severely but the loot is the best in this mode. All gear that you unlock in this mode will be available in the normal mode of the game for you however the progression in both normal and True Vault Hunter modes will be unique.
Mayhem Mode is yet another difficulty mode introduced in the game after you are done with the main story of the game. This is activated from a terminal aboard Sanctuary III and comes with three options: Mayhem 1, Mayhem 2 and Mayhem 3. These are the ultimate difficulties of the game however you will also unlock the best, upgraded gear during these modes. You can start with Mayhem 1, get some good and upgraded gear and then jump in Mayhem 2 and 3 for even better stuff.
Along with making the game difficult, you will also get access to special Mayhem Mods which are different for each planet that you visit. This will force you to change your gameplay style and adapt to the new changes introduced by the Mayhem Mod. These will really keep the game interesting and will ensure that you are always on your toes as the challenge quickly ramps up every time you land on a planet.
This is all for the Endgame at this point because Gearbox also shared some Post-Launch plans for Borderlands 3. It includes two free content updates along with the first premium DLC which will be part of the Season Pass and will bring new Campaign content. Starting with the first free content update, Bloody Harvest Event will arrive on Halloween and it will bring with it spooky activities with unique event rewards.
The second announced free content update is the Maliwan Takedown which will add a brand new map to the game with challenging new enemies. Players will be able to take down all-new bosses and earn powerful rewards from these brand new challenges. Details on these DLC updates will be released at a later time. For now, we are looking forward to the release of the full game which is now less than 2 weeks away.
You can check out the official release notes at the official site. What do you think of all-new information about Borderlands 3 revealed b Gearbox last night? Let us know in the comments section below.
