As a looter-shooter, theBorderlandsfranchisehas always been famous for gameplay that emphasizes the pursuit of perfect gear. Withbillions of guns to find, the allure of the perfect Legendary is what keeps die-hard players coming back togrind their hours away.
With its much-anticipated release on the horizon,Borderlands 4will feature many avenues for players tochase and farm their loot, and sincehunting Vaults is what the franchise has been all about, that’s exactly what we’ll get.
Hands-On Preview: Borderlands 4 Exploration Has “Less Borders, More Lands”
This is the most ambitious Borderlands to date. Gearbox isn’t playing around this time.
One of the activities that players can sink their teeth into is the Vault, a type of dungeon that will be separate from the main open world of Kairos.
At the preview event, not only did I get to try out the exploration in the Fadefields, but I also got to dive into one of the Vaults. During our playtesting, the developers also explained to us thatVaults will be a main form of legendary farming inBorderlands 4.
Farming Made Easy
In most of the previous games, the Vaults have always been enigmatic locations that were said to contain untold riches, and were often the setting of the ultimate fight against a Vault monster and the respective game’s villain.
Borderlands 4will instead feature Vaults as structured dungeonsthat will take you through combat encounters before ultimately facing off against their guardians.
During the preview, the dungeon I experienced was located in the Fadefields, a verdant pocket dimension where you fight against the forces of the Order in three encounters before taking on the Vault boss.
When asked whether this will be the structure for every Vault, here’s what Anthony Nicholson, Senior Project Producer at Gearbox, has to say:
We look forward to players exploring the various Vaults of Kairos and do not want to spoil how these encounters will unfold. We are excited to see what players think when the game launches later this year.
While the devs seem to be tight-lipped about how exactly Vaults work and their structure, it is likely that there will be some variations to the same, somewhat predictable structure:kill enemies, fight the boss, then collect loot.
Farming loot can very easily be a chore. The first fewBorderlandsgames had dedicated drops, yet had no convenient or quick way to farm.Borderlands 3had world drops, but the increased drop rate diminished the Legendary status of these weapons.
To combat this, Gearbox revealed that dedicated drops will return, and since Vaults will be a main form of loot farming inBorderlands 4, they will be a much easier way to farm bosses to get the perfect gear.
Gone are the days when you have to save, exit, and reload the game just to respawn the boss.Vaults will feature Moxxi’s Big Encore, a small podium that appears before the boss arena after you’ve completed a Vault for the first time, where you can pay a small fee to respawn the boss to fight all over again.
Bosses will also no longer be bullet sponges who will stand still for you to mindlessly shoot at. Instead, they’ll be much more engaging, making the most of the game’s newest movement mechanics.
With Legendary drop rates tweaked and Vaults designed to make loot farming much easier, finding the perfect weapon or gear will surely be all the more special.
Eridium Returns As Endgame Currency
Another minor feature that I’ve noticed in the preview is Eridium, the Pandoran mineral often associated with buying SDU inventory slots and powering upSiren powers.
However, sinceBorderlands 4 has nowstreamlined SDU and character customization into one menu, and SDU slots can be upgraded with currencies earned by completing missions, Eridium seems all but obsolete.
When asked about the use case for Eridium inBorderlands 4, Gearbox’s Anthony Nicholson was also quite reticent, explaining that the developers will “have more details to share on Eridium at a later date.”
All we know is that, based on what I asked the devs at the preview, Eridium will indeed be an endgame currency. But for what, we’re not sure just yet.
