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    Borderlands 2

    Game » consists of 33 releases. Released Sep 18, 2012

    Return to Pandora as part of a new group of ragtag Vault Hunters in this sequel to the 2009 first-person "role-playing shooter" Borderlands, now with new crazy enemies, new crazy character classes, and even crazier weapons.

    Short summary describing this game.

    Borderlands 2 last edited by LegendarySquid on 02/13/21 03:54PM View full history

    Overview

    The game's new protagonists engaged in combat.
    The game's new protagonists engaged in combat.

    Borderlands 2 is an open-world first-person role-playing shooter developed by Gearbox and published by 2K for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on September 12, 2012. It is the sequel to 2009's Borderlands, adding a variety of new characters, skills, weapons, equipment, enemies, and environments while adding a brand new story (filled with new and returning characters).

    Set five years after a group of four Vault Hunters (Roland the Soldier, Lilith the Siren, Mordecai the Hunter, and Brick the Berserker) traveled through the dangerous planet of Pandora (with the help from a mysterious entity known as "The Guardian Angel") to open a cache of alien technology known as The Vault (causing a valuable mineral, known as "Eridium", to flourish around the planet), Borderlands 2 tells the tale of a new group of Vault Hunters (including Salvador the Gunzerker, Maya the Siren, Zero the Assassin, Axton the Commando, Gaige the Mechromancer, and Krieg the Psycho), as they search for a new Vault while foiling the plans of Handsome Jack (the ruthless CEO of the Hyperion Corporation and self-proclaimed "dictator of Pandora").

    The game was later released for the Mac on November 20, 2012. A PlayStation Vita version was developed by Iron Galaxy.

    Story

    The game includes a variety of NPCs.
    The game includes a variety of NPCs.

    Borderlands 2 takes place five years after the events of the original game and retains the setting of Pandora. Handsome Jack, the primary antagonist, has taken over the Hyperion Corporation and has ambitions to rule over all of Pandora. He is also claiming credit for discovering the vault and defeating the Destroyer.

    The game starts off with four new vault hunters who are hired by Handsome Jack to discover a vault. Unfortunately Jack betrays them while they were traveling by train. The vault hunter manages to escape to a frozen part of Pandora where he encounters the last Claptrap. Claptrap, with help from the Guardian Angel, eventually leads the hunter to Sanctuary, the last free city on Pandora that bitterly opposes Jack and Hyperion.

    The city of Sanctuary is controlled by Crimson Raiders, a group that originated from the Crimson Lance. They are led by Roland who asks the vault hunter to help him defeat Jack. As it happens, Roland was captured by the Bloodshot bandit clan before the hunter could meet him in person, and so he was tasked with rescuing him. Along the way the vault hunter meets Firehawk - Lilith who has joined the fight against Jack, she reveals Roland's location but before he could be rescued Jack sends an army of robots to capture Roland from the bandits. Eventually, he is rescued from both the Bloodshot bandits and Hyperion robots. Once back in the Sanctuary, Roland shares the information he obtained on Jack's plan. While the Crimson Raiders knew that Jack plans on finding a vault; they didn't know he planned to control it. This particular vault isn't loaded with priceless resources, advanced alien weapons and it's not an alien prison. Rather, the vault is a living thing simply known as The Warrior. Whomever awakens it will control it; unfortunately Jack has the key. But the key is useless unless charged. It charges itself once in every two hundred years, but Jack can't wait that long. He needs a siren that can charge the key with eridium.

    The next step in the fight against Hyperion leads the hunter to the best sniper, spy and scout in the Crimson Raiders, Mordecai. He has information on the location of Jack's vault key, and the hunter's next objective is to ambush the train that holds it and take it. Explosives were needed for the job, and it leads him to the most skilled and deadly explosives expert on Pandora, a 13 year old girl named Tiny Tina. The vault hunter proceeds to attack the train en route and attempt to take the key. As it turns out the train was simply a trap, and the key wasn't there. Instead the hunter encounters Wilhelm, a ruthless robot and one of Jack's most powerful weapons. After dealing with the robot they take his power core, an advanced piece of Hyperion technology that can help Sanctuary's energy defense stay online indefinitely. Unfortunately the power core itself is yet another trap, and the Guardian Angel betrays everyone by helping Jack shut down the city's energy defenses. This leads to the bombardment of the city by Jack's H shaped space station that orbits Pandora. With the help of Lilith and her siren abilities, Scooter and the vault hunter, the city is teleported to another location. But due to Lilith's consumption of large amounts of eridium (which was needed for the process) the hunter was accidentally left behind, and he had to make his way towards the new location of Sanctuary.

    As the hunter makes his way to the new location, Angel attempts to explain herself to him. Once the vault hunter reaches Sanctuary, Angel informs everyone that the vault key is actually with her, but to get to it and thus prevent Jack from reaching the vault, resistance forces would have to pass a very difficult series of defenses set by Jack to secure the key. The first is a "death wall" entrance that leads to the bunker where the key is held. Only Hyperion personnel can pass through that entrance, for this task Claptrap had to be upgraded. The upgrade was actually supposed to be delivered by Bloodwing, but she got captured and it was up to the hunter to rescue her. Unfortunately Bloodwing was turned into a hideous giant monster through slag experimentation. Bloodwing could shapeshift into different elemental forms. The hunter weakened her and Mordecai attempted to tranquilize her, but Jack had explosives planted on her that he detonated as soon as the hunters took claptrap's upgrade located in Bloodwing's collar. The next challenge were Hyperion combat personnel and robots outfitted by the best equipment created by the same company, here Brick and his bandit clan, the Slabs, would help. Brick had a falling out with Roland 2 years after opening up the vault, Roland thought his methods to be too ruthless and bloodthirsty. So some convincing was needed to get Brick and his bandits to help. The last challenge was a door that only opens for Handsome Jack, for this the hunter had to kill Jack's double in Opportunity and record several examples of his voice in order to activate the door.

    After all preparations for this difficult undertaking were made, the hunter set out to the bunker. Finally after fighting many enemies with the help of Brick and his bandits, they made their way to the top of the bunker where they found out that it is not a simple building but that it is actually a giant flying robot (who Jack claims he designed himself). After defeating the robot the hunters make their way to Angel's inner chamber, there they see that Angel isn't just an AI but a Siren and Jack's daughter. She was trapped in her state and was fed eridium by Jack in the effort to find the vault. She tells the hunter that in order to defeat Jack, taking the key wouldn't be enough, he had to kill her. After a long battle with Hyperion robots and with the help of Roland and Lilith the hunter manages to destroy the eridium injectors, with many objections from Jack. Without those injectors Angel could not survive. As they succeed in their objective Jack teleports to them, kills Roland and captures Lilith.

    In light of these events the hunter returns to Sanctuary where he receives orders from Mordecai. Mordecai suggests that in order to defeat Jack once and for all, they'd have to find the vault In order to do so. However the vault hunter would have to access a Hyperion info stockade to get the location of the vault, and in order to get to the stockade he'd need very high grade explosives to breach the way. The info stockade is located in Fyrestone, now occupied by Hyperion forces. Once there the hunter learn that Jack has been transporting very large amounts of eridium to Hero's Pass. He leaves for Hero's Pass where, alongside Mordecai and Brick, fights a very large amount of Hyperion soldiers and robots. Brick and Mordecai are eventually overwhelmed and fall into lava. The vault hunter reachs The Vault of the Warrior, where he sees Jack for the second time in person. Before The Warrior is summoned the hunter fights Jack and defeats him. As he's about to land the killing blow The Warrior is summoned and is under Jack's command. After a very long and difficult battle The Warrior is bested by the hunter. Mordecai and Brick appear while Lilith takes the key and tries to destroy it but as she does a map showing several galaxies and planets with vaults appears.

    Gameplay

    General

    The Gunzerker, and one of his skill trees.
    The Gunzerker, and one of his skill trees.

    Gameplay is similar to the original, although with many enhancements. Players start by picking a character class and then progress through quests, earning money, experience, and equipment in the process. Unlike the original, weapon proficiency is not based on class. Defeating enemies earns experience points and loot in the form of weapons, ammunition, grenade mods, shields, etc. Loot is also available in a variety of chests, safes, cabinets, lockers, and refuse piles. Borderlands 2 uses a randomization system to generate loot.

    Characters have separate health and shield values; should the player's shield deplete and health reach zero, he or she will enter "Fight for your Life" mode. In this mode, players are given a short period of time to kill an enemy and gain a "second wind." In solo play, players must kill an enemy to continue; in co-op play, they must kill someone or must be revived by a teammate. Co-op players get more time to survive/be revived. Without a kill or help from a teammate, the character dies and respawns at the last save point. Hyperion Corporation also charges the player a percentage of their money for the privilege of respawning, with an occasionally snarky voiceover. If the player is very low on funds the fee will be waived.

    As players gain experience and level up, they can distribute skill points to the current character. Each class has a unique action skill and three skill trees loosely organized around a particular style of play. Each increase in level also brings an increase to health and damage dealt, and a decrease to damage received. The level cap is currently set at 50 but, as with the original game, the cap may be raised later by Downloadable Content. Once players complete the first playthrough with a character, they have the option of using the character in True Vault Hunter mode, basically a new playthrough with tougher enemies and better loot. After completing the second playthrough, a third, or playthrough 2.5 is entered, where enemies and loot scale up to level 50.

    Announced at Gearbox's PAX East 2013 panel, with the help of a $5 (400 MSP) add-on for the title (unless one has the season pass), those who are maxed out at level 50 will be able to level up to 61. Additionally, Pearlescent weapon types, a set of rare finds in Borderlands, would populate the sequel with possible drops.

    Badass Ranks

    Yet another new addition to Borderlands 2 is a system called badass ranks. The player may complete ingame challenges, like killing a certain amount of enemies with a shotgun, or scoring critical hits with a sniper rifle or finding vault symbols at given locations and many other challenges. The challenges are grouped into several tiers. The 1st tier gives 1 badass rank, the 2nd 5, the 3rd 10, 4th 50, and the 5th 100. Once enough badass ranks are attained the player gains a token that can be used on improving various statistics, like critical hit damage, gun damage, shield capacity, maximum health and so on. These improvements are rather small, with diminishing returns on several upgrades, but the badass rank system has infinite levels. The badass rank (along with the improvements) are carried out to all characters. And every new character created by the player starts with all the challenges reset, thus allowing the player to acquire an infinite number of badass ranks and therefor badass tokens. Due to a player being able to theoretically gain a huge advantage with improvements from tokens, Gearbox added the option of turning off the improved statistics so that the game wouldn't be too easy.

    Players can buy new equipment and sell unwanted equipment at the numerous vending machines located throughout Pandora. The items on offer will depend on the location of the vending machine, not character level, with the exception of vending machines in Sanctuary, which do scale by level. Each type of vending machine sells certain types of equipment, as follows:

    • Weapon Vending Machines - sells only weapons;
    • Ammunition Vending Machines - sells ammo and grenade mods;
    • Medical Vending Machines - sells shields, class mods, artifacts, and health regenerating items.

    A new addition to Borderlands 2 is the Black Market run by Crazy Earl. There the player can buy upgrades (backpack slots, bank slots, maximum ammo limits) in exchange for refined eridium.

    Borderlands 2 offers vastly improved character customization options. In the first game, players could only choose basic clothing colors and character names. Borderlands 2 features a wider variety of color schemes, as well as distinctive head wear that can be found in shops, loot drops, slot machines, and by completing quests. Unlocked color schemes and specific headwear apply only to the active character, although a character may find skins and headwear for other classes. Vehicles also have distinct skins and collectable customization mods.

    Borderlands 2 features split-screen for all platforms. Local and online co-op may be combined, so that two players can play split-screen locally with two other online friends. However, only two players may play in split-screen at any given time, as the game requires one person to be the host. The host cannot play split-screen due to the CPU burden.

    Missions

    Borderlands 2 features an open world with main and side missions provided by various NPCs and bounty boards. Some missions include an optional objective, such as killing a certain NPC with a certain weapon, or killing x number of bandits. The completion of side missions and optional objectives leads to the completion of challenges.

    Transportation

    Much like the original, the game features vehicular combat.
    Much like the original, the game features vehicular combat.

    The player can use vehicles or fast travel or a combination of both in order to traverse the world in a speedy manner. Like the original there is a fast travel system as well as vehicles. Vehicles have a turbo boost, that increases the speed at which the vehicle travels. Unlike the first game, vehicles no longer have shields, but just a general amount of hit points, and once depleted the vehicle will explode leading to all characters who were garrisoned inside to go through second wind. In the first game the only vehicle available was the Runner, it has 2 seats, one for the driver and one for the gunner. In Borderlands 2, there will be several "families" of vehicles, for example Bandit Technical, or a Light Runner. There is a new feature that allows players to equip relics that improve a vehicles performance, thus increasing various statistics. Another feature is a more robust customization option, featuring many color schemes for different vehicles. As in the previous game players can access their vehicles through " Catch-A-Ride" that is run by Scooter along with his sister Ellie.

    There is a new type of flying vehicle, that is unfortunately only available to enemies.

    Multiplayer options

    Like the previous version Borderlands 2 will have options for co-op play. This can be done on using a LAN or online using an internet connection. The drop-in\drop-out option is again available for players to join a running game instantly. The player can play with up to three friends in a co-op game. They can also challenge their friends to a duel.

    Trading equipment between players is now friendlier than ever. When both players want to exchange stuff, they both need to press the exchange buttons and can then offer weapons, ammo and other equipment to each other. It's also possible to add another weapon or equipment and extra money if needed to make a deal. When both parties agree, the deal is done.

    Weapons

    Weapons played a big role in the original game, this is true for Borderlands 2 as well. Weapons, like enemies and characters, have a level, this determines their stats. As the players gain levels they will find better, higher level weapons. Weapons dropped or found as loot are always random, in their appearance, quality and stats. However, there are certain unique weapons that are given to the player after certain quests, and legendary weapons that can drop from loot-able objects or defeated enemies. Weapons in Borderlands 2 have more variety, both in terms of their mechanics and appearance, when compared to the first game. An example would be a rocket launching assault rifle or a sniper rifle with 3 barrels that spin once fired for a faster fire rate. Weapons have several stats, and some even have a chance of inflicting elemental damage.

    The player using a scoped weapon to fight off a pack of enemies.
    The player using a scoped weapon to fight off a pack of enemies.

    Weapon stats include:

    • Damage
    • Rate of Fire
    • Magazine Size
    • Reload Speed
    • Chance for Elemental Effects on Hit
    • Elemental Damage per Second
    • Value
    • Rarity

    Loot, weapons, and equipment have colored names to help identify their rarity - a feature seen in many other RPG titles:

    • White - average or common.
    • Green - a little above average.
    • Blue - uncommon.
    • Purple - rare.
    • Orange/Gold - legendary.
    • Pink - "E-Tech"

    Unique weapons that are given as quest rewards can never be white, legendary weapons can only be orange/gold.

    The "pearlescent" quality weapons added to the first game by the Secret Armory Of General Knoxx won't be making a return in the base game.

    Apart from that, weapons can have certain abilities such as increasing damage, or firing speed, or magazine size etc. Weapons can also have an elemental modifier, that deal fire, shock, acid, or explosive damage. A new elemental modifier is slag, which covers an enemy in a purple goo-like substance that directly increases the damage other elemental modifiers do. Some items also have extra bonuses for equipping other items, or having multiple players equipping the same item.

    The players can choose from shotguns, semi automatic pistols (revolvers are no longer separated into a different category), assault rifles, rocket launchers, SMGs, and sniper rifles. Eridian Weapons do not reappear, although there's a new weapon type known as E-Tech that utilizes eridium. Each class has a specific melee attack (Zer0 has a sword), which cannot be changed but can be upgraded through the bloodshed skill tree. The damage done also increases with higher levels. A good way of finding weapons is to loot weapon chests, finding a weapon is guaranteed, but the type of weapon as well as its stats, appearance and level are random. One new addition to gameplay allows Tediore weapons to be thrown as explosives once used, instead of reloaded, with damage done corresponding to the amount of ammo left in the clip when thrown/reloaded. The gun re-digistructs in the players hand so they can continue to use that weapon.

    Weapon Manufacturers

    The weapons of Borderlands 2 have distinct visual characteristics, allowing the player to recognize a gun's maker through sight alone. The game will feature different weapon manufacturers that design and produce all kinds of weapons, ranging from semi automatic pistols and revolvers to rocket launchers and heavy machine-guns.

    Bandit weapon concept art.
    Bandit weapon concept art.
    • Bandit - In the five years after the first game, bandits have taken to making their own weapons. Bandit weapons have a makeshift look, Instead of iron sights, for example, a Bandit weapon might have a bolt screwed into the top of the gun. Bandit weapons have the largest magazines, replacing S&S Munitions from the first game.
    • Dahl - " Dahl's guns absorb a lot of recoil, allowing you to stay accurate throughout the fight!" Dahl weapons stick more closely to the weapons seen in modern military shooters. Dahl weapons have the lowest recoil and seem to be marketed as mercenary weapons. They also fire in bursts when aiming down the iron sites or scopes.
    • Hyperion - "Hyperion asks, what good is a gun that doesn't shoot where you point? Get a gun that's as accurate as you are!" Hyperion weapons will have a similar aesthetic to the Claptrap robots from the first game (which are also manufactured by the same company). Hyperion tends to focus on accuracy, making the most accurate guns on Pandora. These guns are different to most because the longer they're fired the higher the accuracy goes, becoming more accurate at the end of the clip.
    • Vladof - "Want to shoot a lot of bullets really fast? Vladof has your needs covered!" Vladof weapons have the highest firing rate of any other firearms manufacturer, and their weapons tend to have very large clips. It would appear that Vladof is a Russian manufacturer, judging by the name of their weapons.
    • Tediore - "Cheap, reliable, lightweight, and incredibly fast reload speeds. Tediore makes an easy-to-use gun!" These weapons are disposable. After fully unloading a clip, the gun can be used as a thrown explosive. The more ammo left in the clip when thrown, the more powerful the explosion. The gun will then be reconstructed out of the Digistruct module. In the first game Tediore weapons regenerated ammo. Tediore guns (for Borderlands 2) have been described as "Cheap, plastic pieces of crap" and "Wal-Mart guns" by Randy Pitchford.
    • Torgue - "Torgue combines good damage, high fire rate, and recoil reduction into one lethal weapon." Heavy duty and high powered guns. Torgue weapons aren't exceptional in any one area, but are balanced and always make a big boom.
    • Maliwan - "Is shooting bullets just not cool enough for you? Get a Maliwan, and light some people on fire!" All of Maliwan guns have an elemental modifier, fire, shock, explosion, acid or slag. Slag being the new elemental modifier, it increases the damage from all other sources.
    • Jakobs - "If it took more than one shot, you weren't using a Jakobs!" These weapons are a cross between wild west guns and WW2 era guns that have high damage stats and will fire as quickly as the trigger can be pulled. As a trade off they have a rather low reload speed and very high kick.

    Atlas, S&S Munitions, and Eridian weapons do not reappear in Borderlands 2. As a replacement for Eridian weapons is 'E-tech', a modification that can be used to augment weapons from all manufacturers.

    Character Classes

    The four main protagonists (clockwise from top): Axton, Salvador, Maya, and Zer0.
    The four main protagonists (clockwise from top): Axton, Salvador, Maya, and Zer0.

    Like the original Borderlands, players can choose from a group of four protagonists (Salvador, Maya, Zero, and Axton) in Borderlands 2, each with their own unique skill trees and Action Skill. New to the game are downloadable protagonists (Gaige and Krieg), who are included in game updates but cannot be used by those who did not purchase the DLC.

    As players defeat enemies, finish quests, and complete challenges, their character gains experience points, eventually gaining a new level. After reaching Level 5, players earn their character's Action Skill, granting them a unique upgradable ability. For each new level after that, players earn a Skill Point to fill up any of their three Skill Trees (granting them special class-specific attributes).

    Like the predecessor, players are able to both modify the color scheme of their character's outfit and "re-spec" their skill trees (for a certain fee). New to Borderlands 2 are rare "skin" (color scheme) and "head" (head model) items, usually found in rare loot drops, that can be traded to other players or sold for currency.

    Unlike the previous game, no class is restricted to a certain weapon affinity, though each class have certain skills boosting efficiency with certain weapon types (for example, Axton can increase the magazine capacity of Assault Rifles and the damage of Rocket Launchers).

    Axton - The Commando

    Axton, the Commando.
    Axton, the Commando.

    Replacing the Soldier class (represented by Roland) from the original Borderlands is the Commando, represented by Axton. As a veteran soldier, he is skilled both by his grit (allowing him to maintain his position), excellence with standard military weaponry (especially assault rifles, rocket launchers, and grenades), and reliance on his pet Sabre turret (which has a variety of dangerous upgrades). His melee weapon of choice is his trusty Tomahawk.

    A cocky former sergeant of the Dahl military force, Axton escaped death by firing squad (after being discharged from the military due to numerous compromised missions as a result of his disobedience) by fleeing to the border worlds. After being bored by becoming one of the most successful bounty hunters in Pandora, he hears of the Vault through a targeted radio advertisement by Handsome Jack.

    Action Skill - Sabre Turret

    Similar to Roland's Scorpio Turret action skill from the original Borderlands, Axton can deploy a stationary automated sentry gun that can fire streams of bullets at nearby enemies. While this turret cannot resupply health and ammo like the Scorpio Turret (but can now rotate a full 360 degrees), Axton can add a variety of unique upgrades to make it deadlier in the battlefield:

    • Improve the turret's firing rate (through extra ammunition belts, also giving it a longer duration) and accuracy (through an optical laser sight).
    • Attach multiple rocket pods on the top of the turret, which can fire a volley of deadly rockets against clusters of enemies.
    • Utilize Longbow technology, so that Axton can deploy the turret to a faraway position instantly using teleportation.
    • Deploy a protective shield around the turret when deployed, which blocks most ranged enemy attacks (while letting friendly enemy attacks pass through).
    • Attach mag-lock bases to the turret, allowing it to stick on surfaces (including walls and ceilings) during deployment.
    • Add a second gun on the turret (while giving bullets Slag properties).
    • Deploy a small nuclear blast around the turret when deployed (dealing explosive damage while setting enemies on fire).
    • Allow Axton to deploy another turret shortly after the other, allowing for two turrets simultaneously on the battlefield.

    Skill Tree

    The Guerrilla skill tree primarily focuses on improving the Sabre Turret's weaponry while improving Axton's survivability in close-ranged combat. The Gunpowder skill tree primarily focuses on improving Axton's weaponry. The Survival skill tree primarily focuses on Axton's defensive capabilities.

    GuerrillaGunpowderSurvival
    • Sentry - Increases the number of shots that sabre turret fires in bursts.
    • Ready - Increases reload speed.
    • Impact - Increases gun damage and melee damage.
    • Expertise - Increases weapon swap speed, aim speed, movement speed while aiming.
    • Healthy - Increases maximum health.
    • Preperation - Increases shield capacity, when shield is full regenerates health.
    • Laser Sight - Increases turret accuracy.
    • Willing - Improves shield recharge and delay rate.
    • Overload - Increases assault rifle magazine capacity.
    • Metal Storm - Killing an enemy increases fire rate and reduces recoil for a short time.
    • Last Ditch Effort - Gun damage and movement speed increased during Fight For Your Life.
    • Pressure - Reload speed and shield recharge rate improved depending on health.
    • Onslaught - Gun damage and movement speed increased when an enemy is killed.
    • Scorched Earth - Adds multiple rocket pods to turret.
    • Able - Damaging an enemy regenerates health for a short time. Does not stack
    • Steady - Recoil with all weapons reduced, damage dealt with grenades and launchers increased.
    • Longbow Turret - Allows placing the turret at longer ranges, increases turret health.
    • Battlefront - While the sabre turret is deployed it deals increased damage.
    • Forbearance - Status effects duration decreased, increased health.
    • Phalanx Shield - Adds a shield to the turret.
    • Quick Charge - Killing an enemy regenerates shields at a quicker rate for a short time.
    • Grenadier - Increases grenade carrying capacity.
    • Duty Calls - Damage and fire rate of non-elemental guns increased.
    • Do or Die - Able to throw grenades during Fight For Your Life, grenade and launcher damage increased.
    • Resourceful - Cooldown rate for sabre turret increased.
    • Mag Lock - Sabre turret can be placed on walls and ceilings.
    • Crisis Management - When shields are depleted gun and melee damage increased.
    • Ranger - Increases a large number of stats by a small amount.
    • Grit - Gain a chance to ignore damage from a shot that would kill, when this happens +50 health.
    • Double Up - Adds another gun to the turret, turret deals slag damage.
    • Nuke - Placing a turret sets off a small nuclear blast.
    • Gemini - Allows the deployment of two turrets.

    Zero - The Assassin

    Zer0, the Assassin.
    Zer0, the Assassin.

    Replacing the Hunter class (represented by Mordecai) from the original Borderlands is the Assassin, represented by Zero (sometimes known as Zer0). Preferring to stay out of general combat, Zero excels with long-ranged precision weaponry (primarily sniper rifles), close-ranged melee combat, and his ability to cloak from enemies (while deploying a holographic decoy of himself and preparing a dangerous attack). His melee weapon of choice is his trusty laser sword.

    A professional assassin-for-hire (who mostly speaks in haiku), Zero's origins and identity are shrouded in mystery (it is unsure if he is really human). After feeling unchallenged by easy assassinations, Zero travels to Pandora after learning of the Vault and deeming the journey to it worthy of his skills.

    Action Skill - Decepti0n

    Zero can deploy a holographic decoy of himself while activating his "stealth mode", rendering him completely invisible from enemies (who are focused on the decoy instead) while giving him the ability to amplify his damage output and accuracy for his next attack (which increases as Zero maintains invisibility). Zero loses both his decoy and invisibility after either waiting five seconds (which can be longer depending on certain other skills), firing his weapon, or performing a successful melee attack.

    Through certain upgrades, Zero can augment his Decepti0n skill with:

    • Improved movement speed and health regeneration.
    • The ability to highlight locations of enemy weaknesses ("critical hit" areas) on his HUD.
    • The ability to make his decoy explode (instead of silently disappearing), dealing shock damage to nearby enemies.
    • The ability to perform a special "execution" maneuver from three meters away.
    • The ability to throw handfuls of exploding kunai, dealing a random elemental property (with the same damage as standard melee attacks) while not prematurely ending the skill. Kunai explosions can mark targets for additional damage if the Death Mark skill is taken.
    • The ability to extend the duration of the skill (while deploying an additional decoy) by performing a successful melee kill.

    Skill Tree

    SnipingCunningBloodshed
    • Headshot - Increases critical damage.
    • Optics - Zoom with all weapons improved, aim not as effected by taking damage.
    • Fast Hands - Reload speed and weapon swap speed increased.
    • C0unter Strike - After getting hit melee damage on the next strike is increased.
    • Killing Bl0w - Massively increases melee damage against enemies with low health.
    • Ir0n Hand - Melee damage and maximum health increased.
    • Killer - Killing an enemy improves critical hit damage and reload speed.
    • Precision - Improves accuracy with all gun types.
    • Fearless - When the shield is depleted gun damage and fire rate are increased.
    • Ambush - Increases damage when attacking someone from behind or someone not targeting the player.
    • Grim - Killing an enemy increases action skill cooldown rate and recharge shields at a quicker rate.
    • Be Like Water - Shooting an enemy improves next melee attack, melee attacks improve next ranged attack.
    • One Sh0t One Kill - The first shot from a loaded magazine causes bonus damage.
    • B0re - Bullets can pierce through enemies and hit anyone standing behind with greater damage. Highlights critical hit spots on enemies.
    • Vel0city - Increases bullet speed, critical damage and gun damage.
    • Rising Sh0t - Successful ranged or melee attacks give a damage bonus for a short time.
    • Death Mark - Dealing melee damage marks a target for a short duration. Marked targets take additional damage from all sources.
    • Unf0rseen - The decoy explodes when Zero becomes visible.
    • F0ll0wthr0ough - Killing an enemy improves movement speed, melee damage and gun damage for a few seconds.
    • Execute - Allows Zero to dash forward towards the target during Deception.
    • Backstab - Deal bonus melee damage when hitting an enemy in the back.
    • Kill C0nfirmed - Aiming down sights grants a bonus to critical damage. The longer Zero aims the greater the bonus.
    • Innervate - While Deception is active increased gun damage, health regeneration and movement speed.
    • Resurgence - Killing enemies with melee attacks restores health. The lower the health the more is received.
    • At One With The Gun - Increases sniper rifle accuracy when shooting from the hip. Also increases reload speed and magazine capacity of sniper rifles.
    • Tw0 Fang - When firing a gun there's a chance to fire twice.
    • Like the Wind - While moving melee damage and gun damage are increased.
    • Critical Ascensi0n - Scoring a critical hit increases damage and critical damage with sniper rifles.
    • Death Bl0ss0m - Throw a kunai during Deception. Kunai will explode dealing random elemental damage. Kunai do not receive bonuses from Deception but don't end it either.
    • Many Must Fall - Killing an enemy with a melee attack during Deception deploys another decoy, enables re-stealth and adds time to Deception duration. Can be done multiple times.

    Salvador - The Gunzerker

    Salvador, the Gunzerker.
    Salvador, the Gunzerker.

    Replacing the Berserker class (represented by Brick) from the original Borderlands is the Gunzerker, represented by Salvador. Preferring direct combat, Salvador is skilled in his physical toughness, weapon maintenance (including swapping between weapons, reloading guns, and retaining ammunition), and ability to throw himself into a powerful rage (allowing him to dual-wield his weapons). His melee weapon of choice is his fists (which can be upgraded into a powerful uppercut).

    Born and raised in the Pandora village of Ovejas, Salvador is a gun-loving fighter who, thanks to steroid abuse throughout his life, has a short stature. While being sentenced to death by hanging (for "murdering" a group of bandits), the village becomes attacked by a Hyperion occupation force (under orders from Handsome Jack). After flying into a rage and single-handedly killing the attackers, he learns of the Vault through the one soldier he left alive (but broken).

    Action Skill - Gunzerking

    Similar to Brick's Berserk action skill from the original Borderlands, Gunzerking allows Salvador to enter a mode of pure rage, giving him serious damage output and damage resistance while constantly regenerating his health over time. Unlike Berserk, where Brick must attack with his fists, Gunzerking lets Salvador use two weapons at once. Activating the skill automatically heals half of his health and instantly reloads his equipped weapons. Salvador also constantly regenerates his ammo over time (for all weapons except rockets and grenades).

    Through certain upgrades, Salvador can buff himself while Gunzerking with:

    • Increased duration (further increased by killing an enemy), health regeneration rate (up to a certain percentage), and movement speed.
    • Increased weapon damage (when wielding two weapons of the same type) or weapon accuracy (when wielding two weapons of different types).
    • Significantly reduced weapon recoil while giving him a random chance of buffing his weapon accuracy when shooting an enemy.
    • The ability to trigger the skill (or remain in the skill) during Fight For Life mode.
    • The ability to throw two grenades at once (with the other grenade not using up his grenade capacity).
    • Increased firing rate and reloading speed while holding down the trigger.
    • The ability to taunt all nearby enemies, making them more likely to target him while instantly giving him both full health and massive damage reduction for a few seconds.

    In addition, Salvador can increase the skill's cooldown rate using a certain upgrade (while using another upgrade to further increase it by shooting at enemies). Another upgrade can increase his base damage while the skill is cooling down.

    Skill Tree

    Gun LustRampageBrawn
    • Locked and Loaded - Reloading a gun gives bonus fire rate for a short time.
    • Quick Draw - Weapon swap speed and critical hit damage increased with all gun.
    • Inconceivable - Shots have a chance to not consume ammo. The lower the health and shields the greater the chance.
    • Filled to the Brim - Magazine size and ammo carrying capacity increased.
    • Hard To Kill - Maximum health increased, allows for health regeneration.
    • Incite - Taking damage increases movement speed and reload speed.
    • I'm Your Huckleberry - Increases damage and reload speed with pistols.
    • All I Need is One - Swapping weapons causes the next shot fired to deal bonus damage.
    • All in the Reflexes - Reload speed and melee damage increased.
    • Last Longer - Increases Gunzerking duration.
    • Asbestos - Reduces duration of status effects.
    • I'm the Juggernaut - Killing an enemy reduces damage taken for a few seconds.
    • Divergent Likeness - Gunzerking with weapons of the same type increases damage, while two different types increase accuracy.
    • Auto-Load - Killing an enemy instantly reloads weapons not currently held.
    • Money Shot - The last round fired from the magazine gains massive bonus damage. Damage added depends on the size of the weapon's magazine.
    • I'm Ready Already - Cooldown rate of Gunzerking improved.
    • Steady as She Goes - Reduces recoil with all guns while Gunzerking. Each shot that hits an enemy has a chance to improve accuracy with both guns.
    • 5 Shots or 6 - Killing an enemy causes every shot fired to have a chance to add ammunition into the magazine, instead of expending ammo.
    • Ain't Got Time to Bleed - While Gunzerking Salvador regenerates health. The lower his current health the more is regenerated.
    • Fistful of Hurt - Melee attack causes massive damage and knocks back the enemy. Has a cooldown of 15 seconds.
    • Out of Bublegum - Fire rate with all guns increased while shields are down.
    • Lay Waste - Killing an enemy improves fire rate and critical hit damage with all guns for a short time.
    • Down not Out - Can use Gunzerk while in Fight For Your Life.
    • Yippee Ki Yay - Killing an enemy while Gunzerking increases Gunzerking duration.
    • Double Your Fun - Throwing a grenade while Gunzerking throws 2. The second one doesn't cost ammo.
    • Bus That Can't Slow Down - Movement speed while Gunzerking increased.
    • Just Got Real - Increases the damage dealt with all gun types. The lower the health gauge the greater the damage bonus.
    • Keep It Piping Hot - While Gunzerking is cooling down you gain bonus gun damage, melee damage and grenade damage.
    • Get Some - Shooting an enemy decreases cooldown on Gunzerking. This effect can only occur once every 3 seconds.
    • Sexual Tyrannosaurus - Taking damage gives health regeneration for 5 seconds. Doesn't stack.
    • No Kill Like Overkill - When an enemy is killed Salvador gains a bonus to gun damage equal to the amount of excess damage dealt.
    • Keep Firing... - While Gunzerking, the longer the trigger is held down the faster the guns will fire and the faster the reload.
    • Come At Me Bro - While Gunzerking Salvador can taunt enemies to gain full health. Taunted enemies are more likely to attack him, but he gains a large amount of damage resistance.

    Maya - The Siren

    Maya, the Siren.
    Maya, the Siren.

    Maya replaces Lilith from the original game as the siren in Borderlands 2. She has an ability called 'phaselock', as well as skills that allow her to drain health from enemies, revive allies, increase bullet speed and damage, and reflect enemy bullets. Like Lilith, Maya is a Siren, a powerful female being capable of incredible powers.

    Maya was raised by The Order of the Impending Storm that rule the planet of Athenes, her parents fate is unknown. Once it was discovered that she is a siren she was trained since childhood to protect the order and people of Athenes. Once Maya reached adulthood brother Sophis, the head of the order, brought a terrorist before her for punishment. Having seen the siren the prisoner begins to beg for his life in fear of her powers, saying that he'll pay the tithe. Once Maya hears this she becomes enraged to learn that the order had used to her to keep the people docile, she kills brother Sophis and goes to Pandora to learn more of her siren heritage.

    Action Skill - Phaselock

    Similar to Lilith's Phasewalking ability Maya uses her siren powers to affect the environment around her, but instead of maneuvering around the battlefield she locks her victim in a bubble extra-dimensional energy. Phaselocking allows Maya, and any vault hunter with her, to attack the enemy inside the bubble with no restrictions. The Phaselock can be altered through Maya's various skill trees to have different effects on both enemies and allies;

    • Elated - While an enemy is phaselocked, Maya and the party regenerate health.
    • Thoughtlock- Instead of being trapped in a bubble, enemies turn on each other when Phaselocked.
    • Chain Reaction- Attacking a Phaselocked enemy gives Maya's bullets a chance to ricochet off them and hit their allies.
    • Ruin- Phaselocking a enemy unleashes a wave of multiple elemental effects
    • Suspension- Increases the Duration of Phaselock

    Skill Tree

    MotionHarmonyCataclysm
    • Ward - Shield capacity and shield recharge delay are improved.
    • Accelerate - Damage and bullet speed with all guns improved.
    • Mind's Eye - Critical hit damage and melee damage is improved.
    • Sweet Release - When an enemy dies due to Phaselock regenerative life orbs appear that seek out Maya and her party and heals them.
    • Flicker - Chance to cause status effects is increased.
    • Foresight - Increases magazine size and reload speed.
    • Suspension - Duration of Phaselock is increased.
    • Kinetic Reflection - Killing an enemy allows Maya to deflect bullets and redirect them towards hostiles. She takes reduced damage from bullets. This effect lasts for a short time.
    • Restoration - Shooting players heals them, increases maximum health.
    • Wreck - While an enemy is Phaselocked Maya gains increased fire rate and damage with all guns.
    • Immolate - Adds fire damage to all shots made during Fight For Your Life.
    • Helios - Phaselocking causes fire damage to all nearby enemies.
    • Fleet - Movement speed is increased when shields are down.
    • Converge - Enemies nearby the target of the Phaselock are pulled in and receive damage.
    • Inertia - Killing an enemy quickly regenerates shields and improves reload speed for a few seconds.
    • Elated - While an enemy is phaselocked Maya and her party regenerates health.
    • Res - Instantly revive a party member with Phaselock.
    • Recompense - When taking health damage there is a chance that the enemy will also receive an equal amount of damage.
    • Chain Reaction - While an enemy is phaselocked bullets have a chance to ricochet off an enemy and hit another enemy. Only works with bullets.
    • Cloud Kill - Shooting an enemy creates a corrosive cloud that damages all nearby enemies.
    • Backdraft - Melee attacks deal bonus fire damage. When the shield becomes depleted it releases a fiery explosion.
    • Quicken - Increases the cooldown rate of Phaselock.
    • Sustenance - Constantly regenerate health. The lower the health gauge the more powerful the regeneration.
    • Reaper - Bonus damage to any enemy that has more than 50% of health.
    • Sub-Sequence - When the target of a Phaselock dies, there is a chance that Phaselock will seek out a new target.
    • Life Tap - Killing an enemy causes Maya to steal health from any enemy she damages. This effect lasts for a couple of seconds.
    • Blight Phoenix - Killing an enemy causes Maya to deal fire and corrosive damage to all nearby enemies for a short time.
    • Thoughtlock - Enemies turn on each other instead of being locked down. Phaselock's duration is increased, but so is its cooldown.
    • Scorn - Melee override skill. Throw an orb of slag that constantly damages enemies near it. Cooldown 18 seconds, during which normal melee attacks are performed.
    • Ruin - Phaselock now slags, electrocutes and corrodes all nearby enemies.

    Gaige - The Mechromancer

    Gaige, the Mechromancer.
    Gaige, the Mechromancer.

    Gaige, the Mechromancer is the fifth playable class. Described as almost a "Pet Class" (somewhat similar to Mordecai). She was added to the game post release via DLC. Those who pre-ordered the game received the DLC for free, otherwise a small fee is required. Gaige has the ability to control a mech known as "DeathTrap".

    One of her skill trees titled "Best Friends Forever" is dedicated to helping new players be more useful in co-op, granting ricochet chances to shots fired while lowering weapon damage, another skill tree is stated as being "high risk, high reward" for more hardcore players. Making her a great choice for either type of player.

    She was released October 9th, 2012.

    Active Skill - Summon Deathtrap

    Gaige will summon a broken down robot, who is made from various pieces of scrap. When summoned, Deathtrap will attack enemy characters on sight, acting very much like another ally on the battlefield. By use of skill trees, Deathtrap can be upgraded to have more weapons, defenses and abilities:

    • Buck Up: Deathtrap will restore ally's shields.
    • Potent as a Pony: Deathtrap's maximum health is increased.
    • Upshot Robot: Deathtrap's duration is increased by killing enemies.
    • One Two Boom: Deathtrap shoots an explosive orb.
    • Annoyed Android: Increases Deathtrap's movement speed.

    Skill Tree

    Best Friends ForeverLittle Big TroubleOrdered Chaos
    • Close Enough - Bullets have a chance to ricochet, but will deal less damage.
    • Cooking Up Trouble - Grants health regeneration when the magazine is full.
    • More Pep - Increases chances of applying a status effect.
    • Myelin - Increases shield capacity and grants a resistance to shock damage.
    • Smaller, Lighter, Faster - Increases reload speed, but decreases magazine capacity.
    • Anarchy - Killing enemies or emptying magazines will grant Gaige an Anarchy stack, which will increase gun damage, but decrease accuracy. Being in Fight For Your Life will quickly lose stacks and premature reloads will lose them all.
    • Fancy Mathematics - When low on health, shield recharge rate increases and shield recharge delay decreases.
    • Buck Up - Deathtrap restores an ally's shields.
    • The Better Half - When the magazine is half empty, gain a fire rate bonus.
    • Shock Storm - Creates an electric storm that deals electrocute damage to nearby enemies when Deathtrap kills an enemy or Gaige kills an enemy with a critical hit.
    • The Stare - Deathtrap fires a laser that deals burn damage across the field, possibly igniting enemies.
    • Strength of Five Gorillas - Increases melee damage for Gaige and Deathtrap.
    • Preshrunk Cyberpunk - Increases maximum Anarchy stacks.
    • Robot Rampage - Deathtrap deals quick, successive melee attacks.
    • Blood Soaked Shields - Killing an enemy instantly removes a portion of health, but restores a portion of shields.
    • Potent as a Pony - Increases maximum health for Gaige and Deathtrap.
    • Upshot Robot - When Deathtrap is active, kills prolong Deathtrap's duration and grant stackable melee damage bonuses for Gaige and Deathtrap.
    • Unstoppable Force - Killing an enemy grants bonus movement speed and regenerates shields for a short period of time.
    • Electrical Burn - When dealing electric damage, enemies may ignite and be dealt burn damage based on the amount of electrocute damage initially dealt.
    • Shock and "AAAGGGGHHH!" - Reloading causes an electrical explosion, damaging nearby enemies.
    • Evil Enchantress - Killing enemies increases damage done by burn, electrocute, and corrode status effects for a time.
    • Annoyed Android - Increases Deathtrap's movement speed.
    • Discord - Premature reloading activates Discord, granting bonus fire rate, health regeneration, and accuracy while constantly losing Anarchy stacks. Prematurely reloading again deactivates Discord.
    • Typecast Iconoclast - Grants chance for gaining additional an Anarchy stack.
    • Explosive Clap - Deathtrap creates an explosion, dealing explosive damage to nearby enemies.
    • Made of Sterner Stuff - Grants bonus melee damage to Deathtrap and reduces all damage done to Gaige and Deathtrap.
    • One Two Boom - Deathtrap shoots an energy orb at an enemy. If the orb is shot, it will explode, dealing massive shock damage to nearby enemies.
    • Wires Don't Talk - Increases all shock and electrocute damage.
    • Rational Anarchist - If Gaige have 0 Anarchy stacks, next time they will earn 25 instead of 1.
    • Death From Above - Shooting an enemy from midair consumes an Anarchy stack, but creates a Digi-splosion, damaging nearby enemies.
    • 20% Cooler - Increases action skill cooldown rate.
    • Interspersed Outburst - Not shooting enemies for a time grants an Interspersed Outburst stack. The next enemy shot will take bonus slag damage and has a chance to be slagged based on the number of stacks. All stacks are consumed by this shot.
    • The Nth Degree - Every Nth bullet to hit an enemy will rebound toward another enemy.
    • Sharing is Caring - Copies Gaige's shield to Deathtrap.
    • Make it Sparkle - Shooting Deathtrap with an elemental weapon grants him bonus damage of that element on following melee attacks.
    • With Claws - Digistructs claws and swipes twice at an enemy, dealing damage based on the number of Anarchy stacks Gaige has and stealing health based on how low her health is. Requires at least one Anarchy stack and consumes one stack.

    Kreig - The Psycho

    Kreig, The Psycho.
    Kreig, The Psycho.

    Kreig, the Psycho, is the sixth playable class. In order to play as Kreig, the player must acquire him via DLC.

    With Kreig, health will not regenerate like the other characters. Instead, one will have to kill enemies to regenerate it fully. Gearbox has stated that this is intentionally a challenge to master, yet one can pull off very strong attacks to be successful Most of his skill focuses on his buzz axe, for both melee and ranged use.

    Kreig's skill tree will revolve around Bloodlust, Mania, and Hellborn. Bloodlust, similar to Gaige's Anarchy tree, will focus on accumulation. Mania will focus on rewarding the player for taking damage. In this instance, geting shot by teammates actually increases the player's power. Additionally Hellborn is based around setting himself on fire, leading to more power. Second wind powers see krieg throwing dynamite at enemies when in a downed state.

    The "Psycho" DLC released for $9.99 (800 MSP) on May 14th, 2013.

    Active Skill - Buzz Axe Rampage

    Krieg's rage overtakes him and he draws his trusty buzz axe to attack. When activated, his movement speed doubles, his melee attacks increase 500%, and by throwing his axe he is able to deal 300% more damage. Certain skills are able to grant upgrades and new abilities to Krieg:

    • Taste of Blood: Will gain extra bloodlust for kills made during Buzz Axe Rampage.
    • Fuel the Rampage: Taking damage will decrease skill cooldown.
    • Release the Beast: Makes Buzz Axe Rampage more powerful.

    Skill Tree

    BloodlustManiaHellborn
    • Blood Twitch - Temporarily increases weapon swap speed for every kill
    • Blood Filled Guns - Temporarily increases weapon magazine for every kill
    • Empty the Rage - Increases melee damage when shields or magazines are empty
    • Pull the Pin - Drops a grenade when killed. Any kills made this way are worth double experience points.
    • Feed the Meat - Increases max health and shield recharge delay
    • Burn Baby Burn - Increases burn damage and has a chance to set Krieg on fire.
    • Fuel the Fire - Increases the chance of catching fire when killing an enemy. Grants burn damage to melee attacks
    • Blood Overdrive - Killing enemies with guns increases melee damage and decreases grenade fuse time
    • Bloody Revival - Increases assault rifle damage during fight for your life.
    • Taste of Blood - Kills during Buzz Axe Rampage grants extra bloodlust.
    • Fuel the Rampage - Taking melee damage decreases action skill cooldown time.
    • Embrace the Pain - Increases weapon fire rate and shield recharge delay.
    • Pain is Power - Increases all damage, but reduces critical hit damage.
    • Numbed Nerves - Reduces damage while on fire.
    • Blood Bath - Killing enemies with grenades increases damage.
    • Buzz Axe Bombardier - Thrown buzz axes during Buzz axe rampage are now strapped with dynamite for explosive damage
    • Fuel the Blood - Killing enemies with melee attacks increases damage and magazine size.
    • Thrill of the Kill - Any damage done to an enemy over their total is added to Krieg's health.
    • Light the Fuse - In fight for your life, Krieg draws a keg of dynamite and runs at full speed. After reviving this way, he is granted a temporary speed boost.
    • Strip the Flesh - Increases explosive damage.
    • Elemental Elation - The more elemental damage taken temporarily increases fire rate and magazine size.
    • Delusional Damage - Elemental attacks on enemies increase the chance of lighting Krieg on fire.
    • Fire Fiend - Melee attacks have a chance to set enemies on fire.
    • Boiling Blood - Lengthens the amount of time before bloodlust wears off.
    • Blood Trance - Increases duration of Buzz Axe Rampage.
    • Redeem the Soul - Instantly revive teammates at the cost of downing yourself.
    • Salt the Wound - Taking damage adds to a stack of this skill, which increases melee and shotgun damage.
    • Hellfire Halitosis - When the gauge for this skill is filled, Krieg's regular melee attack is replace with fiery breath.
    • Flame Flare - Increases the time that Krieg is on fire.
    • Nervous Blood - Killing enemies increases reload speed.
    • Silence the Voices - Greatly increases melee damage, but makes Krieg liable to attack himself.
    • Elemental Empathy - Increases the chances of being healed by elemental damage.
    • Bloodsplosion - Killing enemies makes them explode in a nova with the matching element of your weapon. Non-elemental damage results in explosive damage
    • Release the Beast - Using Buzz Axe Rampage while at critical health turns Krieg into a badass psycho. Damage dealt increases by an extra 100% and all damage taken is reduced by 50%.
    • Raving Retribution - Taking damage while on fire will conjure explosive fireballs, which will hurl themselves at enemies for extra burn damage.

    Non-Playable Characters

    Handsome Jack

    No Caption Provided

    Handsome Jack is the main antagonist of Borderalnds 2. He has taken over Pandora through his extremely wealthy company, Hyperion. He wants to rule the planet and destroy any and all who oppose him. Jack has sacked Fyrestone, Old Heaven and plans on destroying Sanctuary, labeling anyone who has lived in these settlements as a bandit.

    Before becoming the CEO of Hyperion and a ruthless dictator Jack was a "code monkey" serving the head of Hyperion whom he would later strangle. Jack's and Hyperion's wealth comes from his interest in Pandora, where he using his daughter - Angel tricked the original vault hunters into opening the vault, after which Eridium started appearing all over Pandora. This very valuable resource made Jack hundreds of times wealthier almost over night. Jack has managed to defeat the resistance on many occasions, forcing them to retreat to their last refuge an old mining city created by Dahl - Sanctuary.

    Jack is vain, arrogant, egotistical, delusional and megalomaniacal. He has imprisoned his daughter, Angel for most of her life after finding out that she was a siren.

    Claptrap

    No Caption Provided

    CL4P-TP is a robot model designed for various tasks and purposes. They are more commonly known as Claptraps (plural), and are seen throughout Pandora in Borderlands. In Borderlands 2 there is only one Claptrap left in existence. Most Claptraps were destroyed by the order of Handsome Jack. Now, the original Claptrap is seeking revenge, mostly through insults and petty vandalism. The last claptrap unit in existence is 7 years old.He is a terrifying foe and he has only one weakness known to mankind STAIRS.

    Marcus Kincaid

    No Caption Provided

    Marcus Kincaid is an arms dealer. He has only three interests in life, selling weapons, making a profit and his ex-wife, Moxxi. Marcus is an unscrupulous dealer, as shown by the fact that he offered to sell his merchandise to both the Bloodshot bandits and the Crimson Raiders at the time of their war. Eventually only the Bloodshots accepted his offer and due to the quality of his arms they began worshiping him as a God. They even built him a large shrine on the dam that is located near the Bloodshot stronghold.

    Marcus is very greedy and stingy, he even sent the vault hunter to acquire 9$ that he accidentally gave to a customer when giving him back the change. There's only one occasion where Marcus decided to give out refunds. He got drunk one night and started thinking about all of his unhappy customers, after which he started mailing out refunds. As soon as he became sober he hired the vault hunter to get the refunds back, he swore to never drink Rakk ale again. Any other time should a customer come back demanding one Marcus will test the weapon, usually by shooting the unhappy customer.

    Scooter

    No Caption Provided

    Scooter is a savant mechanic. He, along with his sister Ellie, was born in the Hodunk clan. The clan is established in The Dust and is led by Papa Hodunk. Scooter is Moxxi's son, he owns and operates a system of machines - Catch-a-Rides that can digitally construct a vehicle for the user. Scooter despises anyone who attempts to hack one of his catch-a-ride machines, even hiring the vault hunter to kill a bandit that attempted it. He was also planing to kill the hunter for the same offense. Apart from his day to day job of owning and maintaining catch-a-ride, Scooter also maintains the city of Sanctuary, and eventually helps get it airborne. He also has an interest in getting to and finding out what second base is. Scooter throughout the game has interest in Laney (who joined a group of mutated bandits to get away from Scooter) and Daisy (who shoots herself after hearing Scooter's poem). It's also suggested that Scooter had a romantic interest in his sister, Ellie.

    Scooter also appeared in the first game, where he also operated the catch-a-ride system.

    Dr. Zed

    No Caption Provided

    Dr. Zed is an unlicensed doctor who operates out of Sanctuary. He first remained in Fyrestone, vowing to die in the place he was born in until Hyperion robots came to kill him. Zed has an unethical practice, to say the least. He doesn't operate on people anymore, unless they're Hyperion spies, in which case they rarely leave the operating table alive. Other than that, Zed is involved in some questionable endeavors, like buying severed arms from an arms dealer and creating a horrific creature from the body parts of skags, spireants and rakks.

    Crazy Earl

    No Caption Provided

    Earl is a returning character from the original Borderlands. He is the "face" of the black market and acts a means for players to upgrade their ammo capacity, backpack capacity, and storage space in their bank. He is voiced by Randy Pitchford and is known for eating an entire car, as well as being a reclusive and lonely individual.

    Moxxi

    No Caption Provided

    Moxxi is another returning character, although she is not in the main game of Borderlands, she is in the DLC / add-on of Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot. In Borderlands 2 she is in sanctuary and runs the bar moxxxi, where she has a tip jar that if the player puts certain amounts of money into they will get rewards such as guns and achievements. She was stolen from Mordecai by Handsome Jack and at one point was married to Marcus. She is the mother of Scooter and Ellie, she also has 3 more children though it is unknown who they are.

    Special Editions

    Deluxe Vault Hunter's Collectors Edition

    This special edition of Borderlands 2 retails for $99.99 (US) and includes the game, a Marcus Kincaid bobblehead, a hardcover art book, a cloth map of Pandora, a download code for a digital comic book, and a set of four stickers.

    Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition

    This special edition of Borderlands 2 retails for $149.99 (US) and includes everything from the Deluxe Vault Hunter's Collectors Edition plus a SteelBook case for the game, a numbered certificate of authenticity, a chart/poster of the creatures of Pandora, four lithograph post cards, and it's all bundled within a replica of the famous loot chests from the game.

    Premier Club Edition

    This extra edition is available during pre-order and includes the following extra digital goodies:

    • Gearbox Gold Gun Pack - A package of unique Gearbox Golden Guns to help start the journey on Pandora.
    • Golden Key - Unlock a rare item in the mysterious Sanctuary Loot Chest.
    • Vault Hunter’s Relic - Play solo or team up with friends and boost the party's gear-hunting fortune with the Vault Hunter’s Relic.
    • New Character Class - Receive a free download of the all-new Mechromancer character class as soon as she’s available.

    Players who buy either the Loot Chest or Vault Hunters edition will receive a set of bonus skins for each class.

    Players who have a save from the original Borderlands on their platform will unlock a set of skins as a Save File Unlockable

    Downloadable Content

    2K Games has announced Borderlands 2 will have a season pass for upcoming DLC which will grant access to four upcoming DLC expansions for the game. The season pass will be 2400 MSP / $29.99.

    Each individual add-on will be 800 MSP / $9.99 without the season pass. Add-ons will be released through June 2013.

    There is a GameStop exclusive pre-order bonus called The Creature Slaughter Dome, Slaughter Dome is a horde-like mode where players will be pit against the creatures of Pandora. It will also include a weapon called "Moxxi's Rocket Launcher". It is unknown if this will be made available for purchase at a later date.

    The first piece of DLC was announced as Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty, this DLC will come out October the 16th and will run for about 800 MSP / $9.99.

    The second piece of DLC was Mr. Tougue's Campaign of Carnage. It focused on new characters like head of the Tougue company, as well as characters from the main game like Tiny Tina and Mad Moxxi. The game play was a mix of the normal quests and arena combat. Sold for 800 MSP or $9.99.

    The Third piece of DLC was Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt. This was the first DLC that takes place after the ending of the main story. This DLC introduces the most new variety of enemies to face, along with a new vehicle. The story follows a new villain as well as a hefty dose of Sir Hammerlock of course and Claptrap. Sold for 800 MSP or $9.99.

    The fourth piece of DLC, arriving June 25, 2013, will be Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. Its existence was apparently announced, by accident, through a picture posted to Twitter. Official confirmation by Gearbox followed shortly thereafter with further detail. The expansion places the Vault Hunter in the midst of a D&D-like game, played by Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai, with Tina as dungeonmaster, set in the world of Borderlands 2. As with earlier DLC campaigns, Tiny Tina's Assault will retail at $10 for non-Season Pass holders.

    Steam Achievements

    AchievementDescription
    A Road Less TraveledCompleted the mission "The Road To Sanctuary"
    Always ImprovingReached level 25
    An Angel's WishCompleted the mission "Where Angels Fear To Tread"
    An Old FlameCompleted the mission "Hunting The Firehawk"
    Arctic ExplorerDiscovered all named locations in Three Horns, Tundra Express, and Frostburn Canyon
    Better Than MoneyPurchased 5 items from the black market
    Better Than You WereReached level 10
    Blight ExplorerDiscovered all named locations in Eridium Blight, Arid Nexus, and Sawtooth Cauldron
    Bombs AwayCompleted the mission "Toil And Trouble"
    Bounty HunterCompleted 20 side missions
    Build BusterKilled a Constructor without it ever building another bot
    Can See My House From HereCompleted the mission "Bright Lights, Flying City"
    Capped Out...For NowReached level 50
    Challenge AcceptedCompleted level 1 of all non-level-specific challenges with a single character
    Cool Story, BroDefeated Jack
    Cute LootKilled a Chubby
    Decked OutHad Purple-rated gear or better equipped in every slot
    Definitely An Italian PlumberKilled Donkey Mong
    Did It AllCompleted all side missions
    Dragon SlayerCompleted the mission "Best Minion Ever"
    Farewell, Old GirlCompleted the mission "Wildlife Preservation"
    Feels Like The First TimeOpened the chest at the bus stop in Fyrestone
    First One's FreeCompleted the mission "My First Gun"
    Friendship RulesRevived someone from "Fight for Your Life!" that is on your friends list
    Goliath, Meet DavidAllowed a Goliath to level up four times before killing him
    Got The Band Back TogetherCompleted the mission "The Once and Future Slab"
    High-Flying HurlerKilled a flying enemy with a thrown Tediore weapon
    Highlands ExplorerDiscovered all named locations in The Highlands, Thousand Cuts, and Wildlife Exploitation Preserve
    How Do I Look?Unlocked 10 customization items
    Identity TheftCompleted the mission "The Man Who Would Be Jack"
    Knowing Is Half The BattleCompleted the mission "Data Mining"
    New In TownCompleted the mission "Plan B"
    No Man Left BehindCompleted the mission "A Dam Fine Rescue"
    Not Quite DeadReached level 5
    Phased and ConfusedPhaselocked 100 enemies
    Sabre RattlerKilled 100 enemies with the Sabre turret
    Sky's The LimitCompleted the mission "Rising Action"
    So Much Blood!Gunzerked continuously for 90 seconds
    Sugar DaddyTipped Moxxi $10,000
    Thresher ThrashedDefeated Terramorphous the Invincible
    Token GestureRedeemed 25 tokens
    Tribute To A Vault HunterGot an item from Michael Mamaril
    Unseen PredatorRemained in Zero's Deception mode for ten seconds straight
    Up High, Down LowGave Claptrap a high five
    Urban ExplorerDiscovered all named locations in Sanctuary, Opportunity, and Lynchwood
    Well That Was EasyCompleted the mission "Shoot This Guy in the Face"
    Went Five RoundsCompleted Round 5 of any Circle of Slaughter
    What does it mean?I can't even capture it on my camera
    Wilhelm ScreamedCompleted the mission "A Train To Catch"
    World Traveler

    Discovered all named locations

    PC System Requirements

    Minimum

      • OS: Windows XP SP3
      • Processor: 2.4 GHz Dual Core Processor
      • Memory: 2 GB(XP)/ 2 GB(Vista)
      • Hard Disk Space: 20 GB free
      • Video Memory: 256 MB
      • Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 /ATI Radeon HD 2600
      • Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible
      • Other Requirements: Initial installation requires one-time internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, DirectX 9, Microsoft .NET 4 Framework, Visual C++ Redistributable 2005, Visual C++ Redistributable 2008, Visual C++ Redistributable 2010, and AMD CPU Drivers (XP Only/AMD Only)

    Recommended

      • OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7
      • Processor: 2.3 GHz Quad Core processor
      • Memory: 2 GB
      • Hard Disk Space: 20 GB free
      • Video Memory: 512MB
      • Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 / ATI Radeon HD 5850
      • Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible
      • Other Requirements: Initial installation requires one-time internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, DirectX 9, Microsoft .NET 4 Framework, Visual C++ Redistributable 2005, Visual C++ Redistributable 2008, Visual C++ Redistributable 2010, and AMD CPU Drivers (XP Only/AMD Only)
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