Each Battleborn is unique; therefore their accompanying VFX must also be unique. An explosion from Oscar Mike is going to look, sound, and feel different from an explosion from Benedict or Whiskey Foxtrot. You’re not going to see Orendi’s Shadowfire Pillar coming from anyone but Orendi. Both Galilea and Rath carry swords, but the VFX attached to their swipes are wildly different. On top of that, there are a lot of things that were added during development to give the VFX a unique flavor, and may not be immediately apparent. Gearbox VFX Artist Ash Lyons put together a list of some things you may not have noticed before, but can be on the lookout for next time you jump into Battleborn.
Hidden Character VFX
Deande:
- Her VFX were influenced by geisha performances
- There is some hidden text in her “The List” taunt
El Dragon:
- Has his own brand of candy
Orendi:
- The souls seen in the smoke for the Pillar change on certain augments
Ernest:
- Sprint VFX drops a literal egg sometimes
- His explosions are shaped like feathers
Caldarius:
- Randomized text/Easter Eggs during his ultimate
Pendles:
- The eyes on his bird head kama will randomly blink and turn red during his “Furry of Blows” augment.
- The snakes during his smoke VFX all have 3 different bite animations
- The wrap on the turtle shell smoke bomb will change colors to correspond to the Ninja Turtles.
ISIC:
- Smiley face in the shield and during the ultimate
Toby:
- Toby’s 8 bit animation changes during different player actions
- His rail gun trails and arc mine explosions have fish bones in them
Kleese:
- The cat is backwards on purpose.
Benedict:
- His VFX were influenced by Iron Man
Interested in reading more about the VFX in Battleborn? There’s lots more info on the Gearbox blog.
