Value of Guns
Borderlands games have been all about the weapons. Of course, there are other factors at play but its huge selling point has been the Gazillion Gun.
When you start a fresh playthrough, you gather as many weapons as you can even though you won’t use them in combat. You collect them to sell them at one of Marcus’ Vending machines. Because it’s a good way to get your cash flow going and to buy some of those stronger “items of the day” in the vending machine.
Arms Race in Borderlands 3 also did a great job at making the weapons matter. Because each round in Arms Race is basically a fresh playthrough because you start with nothing and build yourself up. All the quality items that you can get in the vending machines cost a fortune. The only way you can afford to buy these is to collect a ton of crappy items from the ground and sell them.
However, towards the end of the main game, it’s all about that specific “Godroll” legendary. All the other legendaries are being ignored because they aren’t the current meta. But what if those items are the key to your next big farm?
Sacrifice Weapons
Traditionally the end game content in Borderlands has been behind a “paywall”. To get access to the Raid Boss you need to pay Eridium. This currency is harder to come by and requires you to grind a fair amount.
While there is nothing wrong with this concept, I would like to throw out this idea that changes up the formula a bit.
What if you need to pay with weapons to gain access to end-game content? As you sacrifice a few items, these will form a “recipe” based on their rarity and type. It kinda is like the grinder from Borderlands the Pre-Sequel, however, now it will impact the challenge at hand instead of giving you a weapon back.
The recipe could affect the type of enemies and mini-bosses you encounter during the challenge. The level of the item will determine the intensity of the changes. So the higher the level of the weapon, the bigger the impact of the recipe changes are applied.
For example, the end game challenge is similar to a Borderlands 3 Proving Ground. One recipe could spawn additional Spiderants throughout the map. This creates a new challenge as these would normally not spawn next to that other type of enemy. These maps can have a small arena that allows for mini-bosses to spawn. These bosses are based on the recipe you paid for at the start.
Having exclusive gear in these challenges that boost the impact of the recipes could add another layer to this idea. These could be weapons with a higher Mayhem Level or rarity tier (Pearlescent) but they could also have unique weapon parts that boost the weapons performance or maybe a second anoint.
This gives controlled randomness to the end game and adds value to farm-specific loot. While a particular weapon may be a meme due to its performance, it might be in high demand as it enables you to fight a specific boss and claim its unique drop.
Conclusion
I like this idea but I also know some folks just want to directly jump into a (raid) boss fight and farm it over and over again. So I’m curious what you think about this idea, here is a quick TLDR:
- Pay with weapons to access end game content
- The sacrificed weapons affect the challenge and loot
- This gives value to non-meta weapons and reasons to farm
- Repeatable end game content that has a form of controlled randomness
SECRET VENDOR LOCATION DISCOVERED
Discover the location of Maurice’s hidden Black Market vending machine that sells Legendary items!
Where is Maurice?
