Borderlands (v2)

[Kestral]

I'm pretty sure there was an old Borderlands thread so I decided to make a new one.

I recently got all the DLC for my copy and I'm back into the game. 20+ hours (save started on Saturday IIRC) of gameplay have been logged in and I have two Pearlescent items, and I'm on Playthrough 2 at level 43. I've done The Secret Armory of General Knoxx and Dr. Ned's Zombie Island. Mad Moxxie's Underdome Riot is terrifingly difficult and I haven't started CL4P-TP's Robolution yet.

Also: Crimson Lance = $$$

Who else plays the game?

[Spiney]

I do. I just started playing again. Only for about an hour (Lvl:8 ) but once I finish my first playthrough I'll be getting the DLC.

[KalleFlaxx]

I got the GOTY version pretty cheap about a week ago. I'm lvl 24 (I think), Berserker. Everyone says the Berserker sucks and that I should play as the Siren instead, but I'm not listening to them. I want to use a shotgun and a rocket launcher and run around punching people to death. It's so awesome.

[Spiney]

Heh Kallie, I prefer the Sniper. (But I'm currently playing the Soldier as a change of pace). At high levels you can get 100% shield bypass and also make Bloodwing do some form of substantial damage. And I freecking love his mask!

[The Raven]

Playing Siren, almost finished with 1st playthrough, but I doubt I'm gonna play her much after that. I'd rather play Brick, Roland or continue on my lvl 25 Sniper.

[videogmer314]

I prefer the soldier, just because of his Metal Storm and his regeneration powers., such as the ones that restore your shields whenever you kill someone, and there's one that restores health th everyone near you when you kill someone.

[azuarc]

My game is on loan to my best friend right now. He had moved 1500 miles away a while back, but he recently took a job that's only 2 hours away from me now, so I gave it to him and he's playing it rather eagerly. He doesn't have much cash but he likes the game, so I'm hoping I can convince him to return my copy and get his own so we can play together. If he does, I'll get back into it.

I have a level 61 siren. I've finished all the expansions multiple times except for Claptrap's, which I doubt I'm going to get. I've never played the long tournaments in (Moxxi's) arena, but they're a lot of fun. The only achievements I don't have are the one for fighting in a PvP arena and for completing the long tournament. I even soloed Crawmeraxx.

Oh, we might want to specify, btw....I play Borderlands on Xbox, not PC. I'm usually a PC guy, but my friends got it for Xbox. Ultimately, I'm glad I did. I usually consider myself a console-friendly PC gamer, but this is a game I'd probably find less enjoyable playing at my desk.



Kestral, you got two pearlescents in your first 20 hours, and got to level 43? Either you're very progressive, they've changed some stuff, or I simply don't remember how fast the game goes.

Kallie, play what you want to play of course. My M.O. on characters in all games is that I want to get my mission done while not dying and I'm paranoid about that. I play healers in MMOs, ranged classes in adventure RPGs, and I cherish the "get out of jail free" card that the Siren has...plus it's extremely versatile. It's my style. Brick is not. Neither is Roland or Mordecai. I do often use a shotgun, though, so I can understand that sentiment. Brick can be pretty awesome in his own way. Just don't expect to see me playing him.

Spiney, my roommate was a big Mordecai player. He did some crazy stuff, but I remember when (pre-expansions) he would pump up Trespass and just run Eridian Plateau for loot. I said I finished all the achievements, but I meant the XBL ones...there's no way I would ever suffer through killing that many eridians. =p And yeah, Bloodwing can be pretty awesome if you build for it. He and I would run Moxxi's together, and between him being specced for max cooldown regeneration and my Catalyst mod (which is my mod of choice,) he basically kept Bloodwing out constantly.


For whatever it's worth, for anyone who wants to talk siren stuff, this is something resembling the spec I normally use, IIRC. Obviously I don't have the game right now to check.

[Kestral]

Kestral, you got two pearlescents in your first 20 hours, and got to level 43? Either you're very progressive, they've changed some stuff, or I simply don't remember how fast the game goes.

It's probably more hours now, but yeah, 2 Pearlescent weapons from General Knoxx.
The Tediore Avenger and the Atlas Omega.

[Hunter22]

Anyone from england play this game on the xbox?
Well it doesnt have to be england, thats more of a time thing. Because i do want to buy it, its just i wont bother if i dont have anyone to play it with

[azuarc]

Actually, now that I think about it, I've *never* gotten a real pearlescent weapon. They weren't in until Knoxx, although there was a bug with some of the orange items displaying as a white color people called pearl for a while. I've gotten some of the old fake white weapons, but never a cyan. I've done the cheaty explore-the-vault thing a bunch of times, so I've killed Knoxx himself plenty, plus the throng leading up to him.

Guess I'm just unlucky. Maybe I'll get the game back in time to run Crawmeraxx with you. I'd much rather do it with someone than by myself.

[Kestral]

Actually, now that I think about it, I've *never* gotten a real pearlescent weapon. They weren't in until Knoxx, although there was a bug with some of the orange items displaying as a white color people called pearl for a while. I've gotten some of the old fake white weapons, but never a cyan. I've done the cheaty explore-the-vault thing a bunch of times, so I've killed Knoxx himself plenty, plus the throng leading up to him.

Guess I'm just unlucky. Maybe I'll get the game back in time to run Crawmeraxx with you. I'd much rather do it with someone than by myself.

I have 800 MS Points left, maybe I could reserve it for a temporary membership and try?

[The Raven]

Damnit, now I wanna play this game again >:(

Screw you, guys :b

[azuarc]

Try what? Crawmeraxx? You're higher than my second-highest character at this point, and my highest is 61. That's a bit of a gap, which unfortunately means quite a bit in Borderlands. I figure I've got a little time to get my disc back before you catch up. (Or buy another copy and let my friend keep it.)

You are on Xbox then? Send me a friend request if and when you like; gamertag = username.

[Kestral]

Try what? Crawmeraxx? You're higher than my second-highest character at this point, and my highest is 61. That's a bit of a gap, which unfortunately means quite a bit in Borderlands. I figure I've got a little time to get my disc back before you catch up. (Or buy another copy and let my friend keep it.)

You are on Xbox then? Send me a friend request if and when you like; gamertag = username.

K, also, I'm higher than your highest character? My best character is only 50, and that's not my current one.

[azuarc]

Second-highest. Meaning I have nothing to join you with until you get closer to 61. I *could* play a 61 with a 50, but I'll still wreck stuff. Same as if you took 50 to play with one of my other characters.

[nyk45]

How much are the DLC's worth? I'm thinking of getting a couple of them eventually, but I don't know which two to choose.

I'd go for General Knoxx and Claptrap's Robot Revolution, but the Zombie Island also sounds cool. Could anyone give me the pros and cons of each (without spoilers), please?

[Kestral]

Second-highest. Meaning I have nothing to join you with until you get closer to 61. I *could* play a 61 with a 50, but I'll still wreck stuff. Same as if you took 50 to play with one of my other characters.

I guess. I probably won't spend that remaining 800MS Points soon, but Live Gold Membership is free for the weekend.

@nyk, I think all of them are worth the 10 bucks (for each of them). Mad Moxxi's is just plain hard but good fun when you're racking up the kills. Ned's is you (+ 3 other dudes, maybe) vs a crap ton of zombies. Knoxx is good for the loot. Robolucion is one I haven't done yet, though.

[DorostheConqueror]

I played through Borderlands a couple times, once split-screen coop with a friend, and then again solo. It's pretty good. The game is SO full of snarky allusions that you'd swear it was written by a teenage Umberto Eco; that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it starts giving you a headache after awhile. The design team also seem to have gone out of their way to court the "cute but edgy" Jhonen Vasquez-loving demographic; again, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but why bother with irritating little buggers like Claptrap when you clearly just want to put GIR onscreen to dance for our amusement? The plot SUCKS and the ending was the worst ending I've ever seen since TMNT 1 for the NES, but the gameplay is solid and it's tons of fun, which is what really counts, right? I was also expecting it to be bigger and more open than it was, particularly with the inclusion of vehicles- like Oblivin with rocket launchers- but instead it wound up being a fairly linear level crawler. The biggest issue I had with Borderlands is, ironically, also the thing that made me enjoy it the most: the Diablo Factor. I mean, seriously, by the time I'd picked up my third Azure Sniper Rifle of the Leech, I was tearing around trying to figure out what buttons I'd mapped Frenzy and Leap to. This would have been fine, but it reminded me about Diablo 3, which reminded me that the game will not be coming out for another twenty years, which depressed me immensely. It was MUCH harder to enjoy Borderlands with that reminder weighing heavily in the back of my mind.

Is the DLC worth it? I've only played the vanilla game so far...

[Kestral]

Is the DLC worth it? I've only played the vanilla game so far...

Yes.

[azuarc]

How much are the DLC's worth? I'm thinking of getting a couple of them eventually, but I don't know which two to choose.

Zombie Island: It's a lot of fun to play through, and it's level maps to your level IIRC. The story is highly predictable, but entertaining. However, it gets rather repetitive when the majority of zombies are just "shoot them in the head" types. Considering you have no checkpoints besides the beginning area, and you have to hack your way through respawning zombie hordes constantly, transportation's a [&@%!]. I didn't have any particular desire to replay this pack even though I easily could.

Moxxi's Underdome Riot: The biggest bonus is that you now have a vault to store stuff in so you don't have to carry it around with you. That alone makes it worth purchasing. The arena waves are a lot of fun, although they can also be really frustrating sometimes, and I don't especially recommend trying to do them solo unless you're Lilith. (Even then, it's dicey.) The biggest advantage is that it is highly repeatable and the level will match whatever you are, each time you enter. On the flip side, there are only two lengths of battles you can go for, and they're both much too long IMHO. You end up quitting out (or dying) long before it's over.

General Knoxx: Adds to the actual storyline on Pandora, and has some interesting revelations about a few of the characters. Map areas are entirely too big in some cases, particularly the driving zones -- considering you can't just drive through them with the roadblocks in place. The lack of new-U stations hurts this much more than Zombie Island. There are new enemies, new items, additional challenge factor, and a raid boss, which are all cool. The adventure itself is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it raises the level cap. If you've been playing at cap for a bit before hitting up Knoxx and running around on Playthrough 2.5, you'll be disappointed to know that the vanilla game never progresses past being tuned for level 50, and thus you will never go back and play anything besides the very last zone of Knoxx with your character again. Or at least that was the case until...

Claptrap: I know nothing about Claptrap. It only came along recently, and I quit after waiting months for new DLC. As such, Knoxx ruining the level cap was a big deal to me, but I understand it's up again in Claptrap? IDK; I've heard some negative things about this expansion pack, and that it looks like a cheap money grab, but I was rather pleased with the other expansions.


Of the original three, Moxxi's in your best bet if you either play for the Diablo factor of getting better gear, or if you frequently play with friends. Knoxx is best for someone who simply wants to quest. Ned's is purely for side amusement, but don't count it out completely.



Doros: I have no idea who/what the people/things you're referring to are. Your post honestly made no sense up until the sentence starting with "The plot SUCKS..."

As for the plot sucking, it wasn't supposed to be some epic saga. Part of the charm of Borderlands is its light-heartedness. Considering that it wasn't meant to be some gripping tale of intrigue and plot twists, I thought it was fine, other than the ending -- I'll definitely give you that much. (Ending to TMNT 1 for NES? You mean there are people who have actually finished that??) The plot may have been linear, complete with a big green arrow-style marker for things, but the map areas are more free-roaming than I think you're giving the game credit for. It's not that hard to just get lost in running around parts of the Rust Commons or Skag Gully.

And you're clearly too big a Diablo fiend. lol at the azure rifle of the leech, but the trick is looking for the items that have the modifiers on them that you want -- even moreso than Diablo, because you're likely not looking for the rares, and even if you are they have variations. In Diablo, an SoJ was an SoJ. In Borderlands, my Volcano is not the same as your Volcano. And yes, I do carry one of those with me. I'm looking forward to D3 as much as you are, (I think,) but this is not a bad game to bide your time with if you're waiting. Better than, say, Sacred 2.

[Josjie]

@azuarc,

There's a new patch that scales the entire game to your level in playthrough 2.5 . Even with General Knoxx / Claptrap. For General Knoxx owners, the maximum level is now 69.

Mad Moxxi is fun, but the arena fights are all the same, you don't get XP from killing enemies and the rewards you get (some loot) isn't worth it.
The bank where you can store items is a must-have though and the arena fights are more fun if you play with friends.
I do agree that Lilith is easier to use than the other characters, because Phasewalk is an easy 'panic-button', but the other characters are actually more powerful than Lilith (damage-per-second and damage-per-hit). But for your first playthrough Lilith is a safe bet.

I loved Zombie Island, I've completed it four or five times. Yes you've got to kill a lot of zombies but headshots feel very satisfying so it never annoyed me. The quests are fun, there's a lot of humor here and overall it's just a really neat sidestory. Play it with friends, bring a semi-automatic sniper rifle and you'll have a lot of fun.

General Knoxx is quite big and could use some fast-travel stations, yes. But overall this is the by far the best DLC imo. There are lots and lots of new things to do, new items, pearlescent items, new (challenging!) bosses, new quests, new vehicles... if you can buy only one DLC, get General Knoxx.

I have only played a bit of Claptrap so I can't say much about that DLC. From what I've heard, it's pretty good. Not as good as General Knoxx but you get to shoot claptraps so that alone justifies a purchase .

[Hunter22]

I do think i will be getting this game for my xbox soon, i just have to persuade some friends to get it...

[azuarc]

Good to see you, Josjie! Thought you had left us completely. I was even making arguments to defend Half-Life for you in a thread or two. (I think it was Half-Life. Something I know you like, anyway.)

How long did it take for them to put that patch out? I actually kept track of what was going on in the game for a couple months past Knoxx, but without that patch, there was just no incentive for me to play unless I wanted to re-run a completely new character. (And why 69? Did they want Claptrap's to be able to go up 11 levels to 80, or something? Or are they just immature?)

I agree that Knoxx is the best of the first three DLCs. The level cap issue was the one big downer on it for me. Well, that and I thought you should be able to re-run the armory repeatedly. Good thing there's that geometry glitch...I like Mad Moxxi's a lot, but only if you have somebody to play with, which normally I don't. Doing it solo is downright boring, and a ton more monotonous. Zombie Island takes a backseat for me to Knoxx if you want adventuring, and to Moxxi's if you like doing stuff with others. I'd put it second in each category. The humor is great, but the humor is great in all of the DLC.

As for Lilith being powerful or not, well, it depends on how much you gear for a particular set-up. My friend's Mordecai was very powerful, but died from a stiff breeze. If he respecced for better survivability, which is NOT saying much for Mordecai, then his damage was nothing special. However, a mercenary Lilith with a good double anarchy can put up some serious numbers, and I've seen some people do solid things with the elemental boost mods. (Well, fire and acid, anyway.) I still like my Catalyst mod as it offers maximum safety and I can readily take down shields with a good Shock phase blast pretty much at will, but that's just my style. Maybe I haven't met a good player from another class, since I haven't done much online, and even then almost exclusively with my friends, but would you really say that Brick and Roland can outpace a good Lilith?

[DorostheConqueror]

Doros: I have no idea who/what the people/things you're referring to are. Your post honestly made no sense up until the sentence starting with "The plot SUCKS..."

Sorry 'bout that. Umberto Eco is an author, I guess you could call him the pretentious man's Dan Brown (that guy who wrote "The Da Vinci Code"). He's notorious for peppering his books with allusions and obscure references, in much the same way that Borderlands does, although Borderlands focuses on nerdy pop-culture subjects. As for Jhonen Vasquez, he's a comic book artist best known for Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and his TV series, Invader Zim. Invader Zim featured an ADD-afflicted robot named GIR, who's CLEARLY a major source of inspiration for the Claptraps.

I know the plot wasn't supposed to be an "epic saga", but that's no excuse for laziness. You could make a game about walking to the store and picking up milk for all I care, so long as you make it interesting! Part of the problem is the setup; Borderlands isn't an epic space opera, but it pretends to be at the start and promising but failing to deliver is worse than not trying in the first place. If, for example, you never intend to explain why everybody keeps going insane due to prolonged exposure to the planet's surface, then just forget about that plot point and don't mention it. Don't waste our time doing a handful of "fetch and listen" quests revolving around this very idea only to forget about it entirely. A second major problem lies in the telling; as I said, the game "reads" like it was written by a teenage Umberto Eco. There's this... self-conscious "edginess" to everything in the game. Every encounter seems like it's been peppered with gratuitous swearing, violence, or sexual taboos, but it all seems so forced, artificial. It's kind of like watching an elementary school play, or better yet, listening to the Insane Clown Possie; they're clearly trying their best to be offensive, but it's painfully embarrassing to watch. But my biggest issue with the plot is, well, the sheer laziness of it all. It's like they sat around, spent all this time making the game, and when they got to the end? They just said "screw it". They were tired, bored, and just wanted it all to END, so they crapped out on the final stretch and forgot to wrap things up.

But like I said, I like the game. I don't want to sound too critical, since the gameplay is solid and fun in spite of the unbearable plot. I refuse to call it a free roam game, though. While the individual areas are bigger and more open than, say, Call of Duty or any Final Fantasy made in the past decade, it's considerably tighter than STALKER, and NOTHING compared to Oblivion or Morrowind.

[The Raven]

I played the game, and damn it was awesome. I finished it this Friday and thought "Man, what an awesome last boss. A huge vagina with tentacles"

I killed the last boss and experienced the worst ending ever, with the worst rewards ever. [&@%!] money to use on the bullets I just wasted.