James Duggan from IGN got to interview Steve Gibson, Vice President of Gearbox Software, on Battleborn.
- Part 1 – the different leveling systems
- Part 2 – character roles and classes
Interview Part 1
In this first interview they mainly talk about the different leveling systems Battleborn features.
- Helix – Level from 1 to 10 during the course of one mission
- Command Rank – Level growth continues with each game session you play, story mode or multiplayer.
In this interview James & Steve will go over how these leveling systems will affect the story mode. That you don’t need to grind to a specific command rank to gain access to a mission, but how unlocking your ultimate ability will affect the level design. Also you get a glimpse on how the loot is connected to your command rank.
Learn how Gearbox started on PvP gameplay with their history with Half-Life & Halo. How they are balancing Battleborn and how they want to keep the game balanced post-launch. Why the shift system has been so important to game development. And why you need to have a shift account (SPOILERS BATTLEBORN BETA).
IGN on Battleborn’s Leveling System
Interview Part 2
In part 2 of the Battleborn interview by IGN James Duggan (IGN) and Steve Gibson, Vice President at Gearbox Software, discuss the Battleborn characters roles & classes.
Steve will tell how certain character combination can work out. That you can have a group of a tank, a healer and a melee guy. There is also the possibility to just have just 5 melee characters resulting in a unique gameplay sessions. You can also set your lobby to unique characters only, this way everyone has to play a different hero. This ends the discussion of having fixed classes from a while back.
With the right loadout you can play offensive as a healer class. The loot mechanic lets you customize your character in a way kinda like Borderlands’s class mods. These class mods can affect various of things and give you unique boosts. I did some speculation about the subject even before Randy Pitchford said that we could modify our gear.
A update on the topic of post launch content. Gearbox is able and willing to do so, but it depends on the publisher and if Battleborn is well received by the gamers. If Battleborn is a success you will see DLC.