Borderlands 2 release date and preorder

[Aikouka]

Is it just me or has the rate of codes for Golden Keys fallen way off?

-KeithP

I have over 80 Golden Keys, so I'm good.

 

[KeithP]

From Gearbox's Twitter feed...

The new character class for Borderlands 2, Krieg the Psycho, arrives in May! Keep an eye out for more details...

Who's excited for the Borderlands 2 level cap increase releasing April 2? We're cranking it up by 11, adding a third playthrough and more!

-KeithP

 

[frozentundra123456]

From Gearbox's Twitter feed...


-KeithP

Do you have to buy DLC to get a level increase or get the new class? I have already finished the game with 2 classes, and hit level 50 well before the end. Not sure what would be the point of increasing the level cap now. Wish I could have had more levels before I finished the game.

 

[Aikouka]

Do you have to buy DLC to get a level increase or get the new class? I have already finished the game with 2 classes, and hit level 50 well before the end. Not sure what would be the point of increasing the level cap now. Wish I could have had more levels before I finished the game.

The new character will be $10 or whatever store equivalence that is (i.e. 800 Microsoft Points). The level cap increase will be $5, but it will be free for season pass holders.

He forgot two little tidbits:

• They will be adding pearlescent weapons into the game as the highest tier.
• They will be adding another playthrough into the game that you get after beating the game on True Vault Hunter Mode. It's called the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.

Here are some articles:
Level Cap Raise, Weapon Rarity, Playthrough
New Character Class
New Character: 6-Minutes of Gameplay
Teaser for DLC4

 

[TallBill]

Glad that the cap raise is free for season pass. Don't care about the new toon.

 

[frozentundra123456]

The new character will be $10 or whatever store equivalence that is (i.e. 800 Microsoft Points). The level cap increase will be $5, but it will be free for season pass holders.

He forgot two little tidbits:

• They will be adding pearlescent weapons into the game as the highest tier.
• They will be adding another playthrough into the game that you get after beating the game on True Vault Hunter Mode. It's called the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.

Here are some articles:
Level Cap Raise, Weapon Rarity, Playthrough
New Character Class
New Character: 6-Minutes of Gameplay
Teaser for DLC4

Good information, thanks.

I dont think I would be interested in another playthrough unless they added some new quests or something. Too bad you have to pay for the level cap increase, since it was free in the first game IIRC.

 

[bguile]

The new character will be $10 or whatever store equivalence that is (i.e. 800 Microsoft Points). The level cap increase will be $5, but it will be free for season pass holders.

He forgot two little tidbits:

• They will be adding pearlescent weapons into the game as the highest tier.
• They will be adding another playthrough into the game that you get after beating the game on True Vault Hunter Mode. It's called the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.

Here are some articles:
Level Cap Raise, Weapon Rarity, Playthrough
New Character Class
New Character: 6-Minutes of Gameplay
Teaser for DLC4

I think the pearls are included in with the level cap raise, so it goes

New Playthrough (free for everyone) + some more black market stuff (bank space/ammo space, etc)

Level cap raise + pearls (free for season pass, $5 for everyone else)

Kreig ($10 for everyone regardless, not included in anything)

DLC 4 Bunkers and BA (or whatever it is called), included in original season pass, dont know cost for everyone else).

 

[Aikouka]

I'm assuming that pearlescents will only drop in the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode playthrough.

I'm actually curious to see what they're doing with it. Are they going to change the talents around? If not, why in the world is it $5 to add another playthrough and change some numbers around? I'm hoping that it's sort of like WoW where an expansion would add levels and talents to make use of those, but if you didn't pay for the expansion, you still got the new talents; however, you wouldn't be able to level up to truly make use of them.

 

[bguile]

I'm assuming that pearlescents will only drop in the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode playthrough.

I'm actually curious to see what they're doing with it. Are they going to change the talents around? If not, why in the world is it $5 to add another playthrough and change some numbers around? I'm hoping that it's sort of like WoW where an expansion would add levels and talents to make use of those, but if you didn't pay for the expansion, you still got the new talents; however, you wouldn't be able to level up to truly make use of them.

I think they said on twitter that its one skill point per level, so I'm guessing its like it was in BL1. Right now its too early to say, because they didn't offer many specifics, only that pearls were going to lvl 51-61 items I think.

People made a big deal out of scaling issues, and gearbox mentioned that it was difficult to add new skill points because of they way the trees were designed or something like that. I'm curious to see myself, but if I didn't have the season pass I would definitley hold off on before purchasing them.

New characters looks cool though, next DLC, not sure about, that teaser didnt do anything for me, but it looks like we might be going to the moon base.

 

[Hopeless]

Good information, thanks.

I dont think I would be interested in another playthrough unless they added some new quests or something. Too bad you have to pay for the level cap increase, since it was free in the first game IIRC.

BL1 had 2 level increases. The first was tied to the Knoxx DLC that was +11,
the second was a free patch that I'm thinking was +4 or 5. To get the highest max level you still had to buy Knoxx.

 

[frozentundra123456]

BL1 had 2 level increases. The first was tied to the Knoxx DLC that was +11,
the second was a free patch that I'm thinking was +4 or 5. To get the highest max level you still had to buy Knoxx.

Yea, I remember now. I was really into the first game and bought all the DLC. I remember not being particularly impressed with the DLC, but maybe I just burned out on the base game, as I think I played all the way to level 50 with 3 different characters.

 

[jersiq]

I'm assuming that pearlescents will only drop in the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode playthrough.

I'm actually curious to see what they're doing with it. Are they going to change the talents around? If not, why in the world is it $5 to add another playthrough and change some numbers around? I'm hoping that it's sort of like WoW where an expansion would add levels and talents to make use of those, but if you didn't pay for the expansion, you still got the new talents; however, you wouldn't be able to level up to truly make use of them.

UVHM is free for everyone.
Level cap increase (and in turn Pearlescents) is 5.00 (free for Season Pass)

Included in UVHM are backpack SDU's, higher Eridium carrying capacity, and Ammo SDU's.

http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=261034

 

[Aikouka]

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode info:

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/1023/bl2-ultimate-vault-hunter-mode-details

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode Details

• Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode is unlocked for a character once they have completed the main story missions in True Vault Hunter Mode and reached level 50.
• Unlike other playthroughs, Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode can be replayed multiple times with players able to reset their overall mission progress at any time from the Main Menu.
• No more tutorial missions -- characters in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode begin in Southern Shelf with the "Cleaning Up the Berg" mission.
• While playing in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, enemies and bosses will scale according to the player's current level or, if playing with others, the highest-level player in that party.
• Gameplay changes in UVHM:
  • Enemy health generally increased 4x.
  • Enemies now have a moderate amount of health regeneration.
  • Increased duration of slag damage multiplier effect.
  • Upped the damage that slagged enemies take from 2x to 3x.
  • Weapon swap speed increased to better facilitate slag use.
  • Enemies now more likely to drop ammo.
  • Loot Midgets are now "Legendary Loot Midgets" that can drop Legendary and other top-tier gear.

 

[Elfear]

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode info:

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/1023/bl2-ultimate-vault-hunter-mode-details

Looks like some nice changes in that list. Particularly the ability to reset mission progress and no tutorial mode. I'm not sure I like the trade-off though of enemies getting 4x more health and slag damage going up. Slag weapons probably work pretty well in MP but in SP I never use them.

 

[Aikouka]

Looks like some nice changes in that list. Particularly the ability to reset mission progress and no tutorial mode. I'm not sure I like the trade-off though of enemies getting 4x more health and slag damage going up. Slag weapons probably work pretty well in MP but in SP I never use them.

It sounds like they're going to want us to swap between weapons more often, which is something that I rarely do in Borderlands... unless I run out of bullets. Although, since they say that enemies will drop ammo more often, that should really help if we decide to just use normal weaponry. I wonder what that weapon swapping stuff means for the Gunzerker, because doesn't he have talents that increase gun swapping or is it talents that activate when you swap? I think the one negative thing about this is the fact that you have to play the game again with the same character again.

I'm also hoping that we get more talents, but I highly doubt that will happen. I think Gearbox really dropped the ball on that.

One other interesting thing that I noticed in a link posted by jersiq, "DLC4 ... completely done internally by Gearbox". Does that mean the other DLCs were farmed out to other companies?

 

[bguile]

It sounds like they're going to want us to swap between weapons more often, which is something that I rarely do in Borderlands... unless I run out of bullets. Although, since they say that enemies will drop ammo more often, that should really help if we decide to just use normal weaponry. I wonder what that weapon swapping stuff means for the Gunzerker, because doesn't he have talents that increase gun swapping or is it talents that activate when you swap? I think the one negative thing about this is the fact that you have to play the game again with the same character again.

I'm also hoping that we get more talents, but I highly doubt that will happen. I think Gearbox really dropped the ball on that.

One other interesting thing that I noticed in a link posted by jersiq, "DLC4 ... completely done internally by Gearbox". Does that mean the other DLCs were farmed out to other companies?

Yes Scarlett was farmed out, and so was Hammerlock I believe. It led to some criticism b/c season pass purchasers were promised each dlc was gonna be knox quality and that didn't happen.

Also gunzerkers has a skill that activated is on swap I believe.

 

[bguile]

Also they increased Bank/backpack and ammo limits.

 

[Aikouka]

Yes Scarlett was farmed out, and so was Hammerlock I believe. It led to some criticism b/c season pass purchasers were promised each dlc was gonna be knox quality and that didn't happen.

Ah, I actually didn't even know that until I read the thing about them doing DLC4. Although, thinking about it... it makes sense. That's probably about the time when Gearbox received the "finished product" known as Aliens: Colonial Marines. They probably saw the quality of it, said "holy shit balls", and realized that they promised to put out content but had to work on Aliens. ...or they just didn't care.

Also they increased Bank/backpack and ammo limits.

Yeah, but you have to buy the upgrades. The first is 50 Eridium and the second is 100 Eridium. I haven't checked for an updated WillowTree yet, but I can't wait until I can laugh in their faces for being so damned stingy over bag space and such. I understand the idea of limited inventory in a dungeon crawler, but in Borderlands, it becomes slightly more of an inconvenience since there are no town portals or other mechanisms (i.e. pets in Torchlight) to sell items. It would be cool if they had an ability to call in a traveling salesman or something that acted like the Torchlight pet but shaved a percentage off the top to sort of "punish" the player. I'm sure a Mini-Marcus Merchant Machine would relish the opportunity to get more money.

 

[bguile]

Ah, I actually didn't even know that until I read the thing about them doing DLC4. Although, thinking about it... it makes sense. That's probably about the time when Gearbox received the "finished product" known as Aliens: Colonial Marines. They probably saw the quality of it, said "holy shit balls", and realized that they promised to put out content but had to work on Aliens. ...or they just didn't care.



Yeah, but you have to buy the upgrades. The first is 50 Eridium and the second is 100 Eridium. I haven't checked for an updated WillowTree yet, but I can't wait until I can laugh in their faces for being so damned stingy over bag space and such. I understand the idea of limited inventory in a dungeon crawler, but in Borderlands, it becomes slightly more of an inconvenience since there are no town portals or other mechanisms (i.e. pets in Torchlight) to sell items. It would be cool if they had an ability to call in a traveling salesman or something that acted like the Torchlight pet but shaved a percentage off the top to sort of "punish" the player. I'm sure a Mini-Marcus Merchant Machine would relish the opportunity to get more money.

I'm not sure if ACM had anything to do with them doing DLC 4 in house. I'm guessing it had been planned to be done internally anyway (since its the last and presumably the biggest of the 4 DLC's). I don't know all the details but it sounds like they have had lots of problems with ACM for a long long time, and they still choose to farm out DLC 1, (maybe 2?) and 3 for BL2. Going forward they might rethink that strategy with BL2, since it is their moneymaking baby, and the ACM disaster has really generated a lot of ill will towards gearbox (and rightfully so). They can't afford to mess up BL2. Another reason they outsource, that is how gearbox got started, with Valve asking them to do some of the HL1 expansions, so in return they do the same to other companies.

They have hinted at limitations on bank space/level increases being due to the limited resources on the consoles, but I don't really buy it. I think they just planned it that way so it gave them an add on option in the future.

I do like your idea of having a runner to sell crap. I find my backpack space is usually pretty full all the time because of all the stuff I have to lug around. I usually only have 3-5 slots open per character.

 

[KeithP]

I'm not sure I like the trade-off though of enemies getting 4x more health and slag damage going up. Slag weapons probably work pretty well in MP but in SP I never use them.

This thing seems rushed. I am curious if it was always planned or if they came up with it after the mostly negative comments on the DLC? In any event, all they seem to have really done here is crank up the enemies to high levels and then give us no options to deal with them other than using slag weapons. It is hard to imagine a more tedious game play experience.

Of course, I will reserve judgment until I actually get some game play in but I am not very hopeful this will ad much fun to the game.

I mainly use SP myself but Gearbox doesn't seem to have any interest at all on making changes to improve the SP experience.

-KeithP

 

[frozentundra123456]

This thing seems rushed. I am curious if it was always planned or if they came up with it after the mostly negative comments on the DLC? In any event, all they seem to have really done here is crank up the enemies to high levels and then give us no options to deal with them other than using slag weapons. It is hard to imagine a more tedious game play experience.

Of course, I will reserve judgment until I actually get some game play in but I am not very hopeful this will ad much fun to the game.

I mainly use SP myself but Gearbox doesn't seem to have any interest at all on making changes to improve the SP experience.

-KeithP

Yea, I play mostly single player and have never gotten the hang of using slag weapons. I just cant seem to switch fast enough. I just started a gunzerker character, maybe slag would be very useful there, because you could use one slag weapon and another of a different type at the same time.

 

[TallBill]

Yea, I play mostly single player and have never gotten the hang of using slag weapons. I just cant seem to switch fast enough. I just started a gunzerker character, maybe slag would be very useful there, because you could use one slag weapon and another of a different type at the same time.

Kinda how I viewed it.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Well, I expect anybody playing single player who wants to do UVHM and isn't a gunzerker will want to get themselves a slag grenade stat.

That said, so far UVHM sounds like the exact opposite of fun.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Well, I expect anybody playing single player who wants to do UVHM and isn't a gunzerker will want to get themselves a slag grenade stat.

That said, so far UVHM sounds like the exact opposite of fun.

Anyone know if the new content is available yet? I tried this morning before going to work, and it did not seem to be (UVHM). Just curious though, not really that excited about it. I dont want to pay for the level cap upgrade, and it seems like a exercise in frustration to play through with buffed enemies and not be able to even level up, since I was level 50 long before finishing TVHM.

 

[Aikouka]

5 Golden Keys:
K3WJT-BFBRW-S5RTT-TBBB3-9XWZ5

Anyone know if the new content is available yet? I tried this morning before going to work, and it did not seem to be (UVHM). Just curious though, not really that excited about it. I dont want to pay for the level cap upgrade, and it seems like a exercise in frustration to play through with buffed enemies and not be able to even level up, since I was level 50 long before finishing TVHM.

Yes, they released it today. Although, I'm not too sure if the previous information was correct. The name of the $5 DLC is "Ultimate Vault Hunter's Pack", so at least name-wise, I would believe that it includes the new playthrough. However, the only bonus stated in the description would be the additional 11 levels. So, I'm not too sure.