Borderlands 3 Post-Game Content Detailed

At PAX West, Gearbox Software revealed some of the post-story content that will be available for the upcoming shooter looter Borderlands 3. The endgame content includes the return of the True Vault Hunter Mode that debuted in Borderlands 2, the Guardian Rank mechanic, and the new Mayhem Mode, in addition to the previously-revealed Proving Grounds and Circle of Slaughter.

True Vault Hunter Mode acts as Borderlands 3′s New Game+ mode. The mode offers a greater challenge with tougher enemies but better loot. True Vault Hunter and normal playthrough progress will be unique to each mode, but character stats and equipment are shared between them.

Guardian Rank is an evolution of Borderlands 2′s Badass Rank and allows players to unlock further stat improvements. The Guardian Rank bar is placed above the regular experience bar and goes up as more experience points are collected. Each time the bar is filled, players receive a Guardian Token, which can be spent improving one stat selected from six options. These six stat options are randomly selected, with two chosen from each of three distinct trees that the seventeen stats are split into.

Mayhem Mode lets players activate a terminal on Sanctuary III that offers three Mayhem difficulty levels. Like True Vault Hunter Mode, each of these levels offers greatly increased difficulty and greater rewards. In addition, Mayhem Mode adds Mayhem Mods to every planet visited, and requires player adapt to these randomly-selected modifiers. For example, the Savage mod increases enemy weapon damage, while the You’re a Wizard mod reduces players’ normal bullet damage but increases their elemental damage.

Finally, Gearbox teased some of the post-launch content coming to the game in fall and winter. A free Bloody Harvest Event will add new activities and unique event rewards, while the free Maliwan Takedown update will include a new map, new enemies, a new boss, and new rewards. There will also be a piece of paid DLC, included with the Season Pass, that provides an add-on to the story campaign.

Borderlands 3 marks the return of the first-person RPG franchise following 2014’s Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The game will be released on September 13, 2019, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with the PC version available exclusively on the Epic Games Store for six months. Those looking to read more about the game can check out Pascal Tekaia’s impression from E3.