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New element type confirmed for Borderlands 3

During a short Instagram teaser, there was a brief moment that provided a glimpse at the in-game hub. However, that was not all that it showed off. During this brief moment, a new element type was displayed on the screen. From this teaser, we can now confirm that Radiation is the new element type in Borderlands 3. In the heads up display, you can see the nuclear sign next to the weapon icon and the element type is shown below it.

MentalMars April 21, 2019 8 Comments

Borderlands 3 new radiation element confirmed — new radiation element confirmed for Borderlands 3

How does Radiation work?

Randy Pitchford confirmed further details about the new element type. The nuclear radiation effect will increase the vulnerability of your enemies that have been affected by it. On top of that, it also has a damage-over-time component.

This sounds a lot like the Slag element from Borderlands 2, however, that didn’t have the damage-over-time effect. Randy Pitchford also confirmed that Slag won’t be returning in Borderlands 3. If an enemy dies from radiation, they will explode and the radiation can spread to nearby targets.

What is Slag?

In Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software added Slag to the game. Elemental weapons could harness Slag. Damaging an enemy with it would have a chance to Slag them. Turning your enemy purple would then make them vulnerable to other damage types. So you would should them with a Slag weapon and once they are weak you would switch over to another weapon to deal double damage.

While this was a fun gameplay mechanic in your first playthrough, on the overpowered levels this became a chore. Because enemies have so much health you were forced to slag them or else you would be up against giant bullet sponges.

Other Elemental Types

Borderlands 3 has multiple elemental damage types. There is fire, corrosive, cryo, shock, and not also radiation. I have a full breakdown of all the damage types here. You want to use the correct damage type for each enemy as they all have pros and cons on how effective they are against a specific enemy type. While this probably won’t have much impact on the early game, once you reach the end game these factors matter.

Tags: Borderlands 3 News

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MentalMars

I'm a Content Creator by day and a BattleBread Baker at night. I'll provide you with your recommended slice of entertainment! I'm a Gearbox Community Badass and a proud member of the official Borderlands & Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Creator Team (2K Games / NextMakers).

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8 Comments

Cyndi Bell April 21, 2019, 11:19 pm

Hmmmmmmmmm

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Luca Mercuri April 22, 2019, 1:10 pm

slag was the best..

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Kciwle Drawde Ekul April 23, 2019, 8:01 pm

I like slag but prefer corrosive.

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Kciwle Drawde Ekul April 23, 2019, 8:02 pm

Hang on… Radiation? Is this Borderlands or Fallout!?

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Cyndi Bell April 23, 2019, 8:08 pm

Wooooo!

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Chandler Ace April 23, 2019, 8:14 pm

I like radiation’s mechanics better as it actually has DOT but I’ll miss the purple… It’s gonna be ha… https://t.co/6eEIKJ5E3Q

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Jason Allen Molton-Schneider April 23, 2019, 9:56 pm

It’ll be the exact same as slag, except it’ll do DoT

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Scott M April 24, 2019, 12:29 am

Was never a slag fan, so….cool?

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