Borderlands 4

[Grogan]

You have to ctrl-v to paste there anyway (there's no right click). The other clipboard (highlight text and middle click) likely wouldn't work in a wine game.

I spent the 4 keys I had, and didn't get much useful. Purple and legendaries, but that doesn't matter if I'm not interested in them. I did get a cool shield, pretty high capacity (I have a large bonus too from some skill tree thing or another) and it has a pretty strong zap that shocks nearby enemies. Only 0.6s recharge delay too.

I got a silly legendary Torgue pistol that shoots these "roach eggs". The gun is slow to fire, does decent damage on its own, but the gimmick is that when fired at flesh (living or dead) the eggs hatch and the roaches damage enemies. It's not like you see these things flying around, you just see enemies taking a small amount of damage with those little hit feedback numbers. I'll be selling that.

What I was really looking for was a new Jakobs sniper and didn't get one. Ironically, there was a second gun vending machine on the other side of Carcadia settlement/base that had no "item of the day" but it was stocked with blue items. There I found a new Jakobs sniper, not the one I like, but another with one of those mock Aztec sounding names. A bit more finicky to use in combat, but does the damage that I need. I could have just bought that and not spent any keys

[Grogan]

Oh wow, 5 more keys expiring Nov. 6

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/border ... lden-keys/

This site seems to be keeping up with the fleetingly expiring keys from the various sources, which is why I haven't looked elsewhere.

P.S. Correction! It's just 4 new keys. One of those keys listed as new, is not new. It's the one I said had no expiry date listed, yesterday. This one:

CHCBB-KWWH6-BSKZC-SJ3TT-39S5Z = 1 Golden Key (expires November 6) new!

I'm keeping a text file with all the keys I've redeemed so I don't waste my time with disappointment if they are already used.

[Grogan]

I got a couple of rather interesting Jakobs sniper rifles tonight.

The second one, the green one, was just laying on the ground. That's pretty potent medicine, with 10 shots before break. However it's finicky to use and has a slow fire rate. The first one, the purple one from the golden chest, is more practical, but it has the Tediore reload, which causes me to waste ammo subconsciously reloading my gun. Still, the Tediore throw has finished off a few charging enemies for me when I've had their health down and run out of magazine.

jakobsotherparts.jpg

These zany combinations are new, the guns had different manufacturer parts in previous games, but not like this.

[Zema Bus]

That's a good score, I'm looking for another Jakobs, I haven't found one since early in the game but I haven't tried the golden chest yet.

[Zema Bus]

I picked up this Jakobs assault rifle, it turned out to be pretty good. Each shot massively drops shields and health of most enemies, kills most of them with only a small number of shots.

RougarouAssaultRifle14.jpg

[Grogan]

Indeed, the Rougarous are my second most used guns in this game (usually I switch between Jakobs sniper and that, unless the enemies have heavy shields or armour). Some of them handle better than others though, depending on (unlisted) weapon parts. Some of the best Rougarou rifles I've had have been blue rarity. Worth buying in vending machines.

P.S. That white one you got looks better than most. It's got a good accuracy stat, and most of those rifles only hold 14 out of the box (I get 18 with my +36% magazine bonus from my Jakobs Enhancement thingy)

[Grogan]

Heheh... look at this wacky contraption. It was in a vending machine, for $699,000 and I just couldn't pass it up, though I have little use for Vladof weapons in this game. I was pleasantly surprised at how useful it is. The fire rate slows down as you consume the magazine, and when you start to notice it slow, the damage is very significant. That's really too high of a fire rate for a full auto sniper anyway, so slowing down is actually an advantage (Vladof snipers are usually just ammo wasters)

vladof_rstopgap.jpg

[Zema Bus]

That could be fun

I finally got a couple Jakobs snipers:

Jakobs_Inkanyamba_sniper_14.jpg

Jakobs_Xiuhcoatl_sniper_14.jpg

Though not long after getting them I leveled up to Lvl 15 so they won't be good for long.

[Grogan]

The white Xiuhcoatl will probably be the better of the two, despite the smaller mag and fire rate. More "doink"y and you'll probably get more headshots with it.

Alot of the enemies in this game have tiny fucking heads

[Grogan]

So Eridium... that doesn't buy you anything in this game (I kept thinking there would be a black market vendor or something at some point), it's only used to spawn boss fight events and stuff. Moxxi's Big Encore weekly challenges, respec'ing specialization points (not just skill points, that's just money, these are specialization skills available after completing the campaign once) and firmware transfers (those special bonus attributes that some gear has can be broken down and transferred to other gear)

Also, you don't just get Ultimate mode, you have to jump through hoops that lead to these "wildcard" challenges to rank up Ultimate Mode levels.

I'm starting to think I'm almost done with this game. I'll finish the playthrough (I'm nearing the end), but none of that other shit sounds appealing to me. It's also not interesting enough to want to start a new character. THAT is how they are limiting the shelf life of this game. They learned a lesson from their previous titles... they don't want you liking it for too long.

[Zema Bus]

Well that's disappointing. I guess the Borderlands franchise has run its course after all.

[Grogan]

They've definitely made it a lot cuntier in many ways, but it's still got the reward circuit.

Good loot exists, but it's not plentiful. I found this in a vending machine I wasn't even going to bother to check. I already bought a couple of blue guns from the other machine at Carcadia but something drove me to check and...

jakobs_truck.jpg

That silly Hyperion trait (I've always hated that) doesn't seem to affect it much, so it's good. That's the highest damage I've seen yet in the game, and not only does a single critical hit with this gib most enemies, the ricochet often gibs another. It's like a "Barrett 50 Caliber" somewhat in the way it looks and handles. Boof!

[Zema Bus]

Nice! "hits like a Mack truck"

Speaking of Hyperion, another thing I miss - the Hyperion Loader bots. The closest thing we seem to have in this game are those skinny bots with long vertical heads.

[Grogan]

Yeah, there was even humour in those, in Borderlands 2 and Pre-sequel. I remember the first time playing Borderlands 2 and all the "Ouch, stop, no!"

There's nothing funny in this game, it's all grind.

[Grogan]

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/border ... lden-keys/

B9RJJ-B5W9J-5XTJ5-J333J-653CZ = 3 Golden Keys (expires November 11) new!

(I fuckin need some new gear)

[Grogan]

I spent the 3 keys, and didn't get anything I wanted. I almost wasn't going to try this mediocre looking pistol, but it turned out to be a real gem. Each shot is a fast 3 shot burst, and that fire rate is 5.5 bursts per sec. With my class mod's 36% magazine bonus, this gun holds 32 for me. It's super accurate (and may even home, though you don't need that with an accurate, fast hitting weapon). The elemental damage seems more effective than those stats would suggest too. I haven't even tried the secondary fire (I tend to forget that's even there).

It's like a bullet hose, I can just stand there like I'm mowing the lawn and lay waste to burning enemies. Shields, armour... doesn't last long

bl4_rangefinder.jpg

[Zema Bus]

I've had a tendency to dismiss pistols, but I've had some that turned out to be quite good.

Sometimes the secondary fire can be surprisingly effective.

[Grogan]

I think that Rangefinder pistol does home on enemies in some circumstances. For example, I was in this broken infrastructure in the big city (where the timekeeper is) doing side quests and while traversing, there are those stupid flying fuckface things that take a lot of damage to kill. They flap and flutter and hover and move out of view behind things, so I missed some shots at range. I heard smackies and saw a few of them drop, so the bullets must have homed and finished them off.

Another example, I'm not sure if you've run into them yet but there are enemies that you can't damage until you destroy these crystals stuck on various places of their bodies. They have kind of a purple marbled health bar when they are invulnerable. My first thoughts were "wow, this gun is really easy to break those crystals with" until I realized that it was likely homing in on the crystals. (they are difficult to hit because those enemies move around a lot)

[Grogan]

So I greatly underestimated how much game play was left. I thought I was headed for the final approach when entering the city, but it's a whole new big area with lots of side quests. I've been here for a few nights and I still haven't even discovered it all yet.

I'm deliberately not going to my objective here because I want to explore the city and uncover more side quests as I traverse and unlock areas. Soon after I took this shot of the map, I got in up to my ass (Actually died and couldn't get a second wind on time... lost about $450,000) with level 40 to 42 enemies and badass enemies in this one plaza area I entered, on the way to see what that side quest is

bl4_citymap.jpg

One thing I will say, it's a big world. An ugly one, but they made a lot of shit. You go to the fractured moon Elpis for a while too, which brings back memories of Pre-Sequel (similar gravity, traversal and terrain). It's probably the best looking part of the game.

[Zema Bus]

So I've barely scratched the surface

Yeah that's one thing it has going for it, more open world without it having to load different maps any time you go into different areas, at least based on what I've seen so far.

[Grogan]

Damn, I'm kind of stuck here. I'm approaching the end goal, way up in the tower in Dominion City. It's tough enemies, including those "vile" enemies where you have to break the crystals before you can damage them (and at the same time, it's a shitstorm of other enemies).

It was a real grind getting through that (lost probably $1 million), then I get to a point where I have to jump/grapple on these energy pyramid things, and as soon as I get across, there's two big tank drone enemies, heavily shielded, and armored. At the same time, everywhere in this level there's this big overhead laser that cuts a swath across where you are fighting and you have to get out of the way (there's an indicator right before that shows the path of the strike).

It's not even levels, I'm level 42 and these things are just level 43. My gear just isn't good enough, I can't deal enough shock damage and I can't deal enough corrosive damage quickly enough, before even my big fat shield gets worn down. There are no vending machines, or fast travel stations to come back to if you leave. The last travel station even needs you to fast travel to another, and go through a transition point before you can fast travel in the world. So it's going to involve fighting through all that crap (and earlier crap) again to get back there.

I'm trying an armor shield, a big 9000 damage one, with 2 segments (gives me about 12,000 armour with my shield bonuses). I don't like those as the segments take a long time to recharge, but this one causes armor plates to drop on kills, so it seems to be working fairly well (I took for for a test drive on some strong bandit type enemies). Of course, it comes down like a toy on corrosive damage. I also bought a big 9000'ish damage energy shield too in case this one doesn't work out. I think normal energy shields are more practical as they come back more quickly.

About all I can do is keep fast traveling around and checking vending machines. Quit to menu and repeat. Then, once I find some suitably strong elemental weapons, they'll be a level old by the time I fight my way back there

Don't go to the upper levels of the city for this quest unless well prepared with shield, shock and corrosives. This is the hardest thing I've encountered in any quest in the game.

bl4_tkordermission.jpg

[Zema Bus]

How does it compare to the final boss fights in the other Borderlands games?

[Grogan]

This isn't the final boss fight, it's just part of the harassment along the way to it

To be honest, if not for that little perch at the end of Borderlands 2, I'd not have been able to complete that even in True mode. In normal mode it's not so bad, but it's difficult to fight that monster and avoid the lava if you're running around. Also, without The Bee, it takes a very long time (e.g. half an hour) to do enough damage to finish that vault monster.

So if it's worse than that, it's going to suck.

[Grogan]

I got through it all with some more appropriate gear. I'm a Jakobs man, but that doesn't do you a lot of good fighting those kinds of enemies. I was able to get past those floating tank drones with appropriate strong elementals. That big Armor shield held out too, it protected me very well. You just have to be sure to take out any enemies firing corrosives quickly.

The end boss fight with the Timekeeper is a typical multi stage fight. Take down his shields, take down his armor, take down his health, all while he's energizing the floor and making you hop. Then when you take down his health, he turns into a tough monster and the fight starts all over again.

After killing the Timekeeper, you then have another boss fight in the Phase dimension, with Arjay (he's been turned into a miserable siren-like creature). THAT fight was irritating. He has these plasma flame tornado things that are difficult to traverse through and he goes undamagable during the fight. The only way I found I could make him vulnerable again was a power fist slam, which has to recharge. So I'd get to do some damage, and he'd go invulnerable again and I'd have to dance around and fight psychos until my smashy skill recharged. After that Lilith finally comes to get you out of that Phase.

Then it was the Vault. There were about 4 chests filled with mostly green and a few blue guns that I couldn't even be arsed to pick up and sell, they weren't worth much and I was almost full. The purpose of the Vault was to get an artifact (we don't know what it is yet lol)

Now I'm back at Moxxi's and I have to talk to Lilith to start the quests that lead to Ultimate mode. Also, I have a Specialization skill tree now.

[Grogan]

One of the post-game quests you have to do is to find Maurice's black market vending machine. It teleports to different locations. As soon as you buy one thing, it teleports away somewhere else

I don't know how to find it again (haven't looked) but this is what I got for $1 ("the first one is free, but after that..."). There were maybe half a dozen or so sniper rifles in there (a few different variants of this) but this was the best thing in there.

bl4_boomslang.jpg

It's got the highest accuracy stat I've seen yet and the projectiles move fast. I was expecting it to be a silly slow projectile gun but it isn't. It doesn't have a sniper scope, but one of those tall aim point sights. It's quite good!

[Grogan]

Shit.. I was part way through my "Wildcard Mission" (the last thing before getting Ultimate mode) and the quest glitched. The wildcard missions are replays of campaign missions, with stronger enemies and some twist. (mine seemed to be all enemies drop a singularity on death). The mission starts out in Carcadia, with time wasting running around and flipping switches and turning valves and listening to annoying NPCs talk while waiting for the quests to advance etc.

Then it comes to having to get a drawbridge lowered. Long story short, you have to shoot these support beam fasteners. Well, mine were embedded in rock this time. Background scenery rock, there's no destroying that. I tried shooting them for long periods of time but nope, while I could see the support struts sticking part way out and they had quest markers on them, they were indestructible.

So I figured I'd just quit to menu and back again and it will spawn me nearby. Nope! It brought me back to Moxxi's to take the whole quest again. It will probably be something different. That pisses me off, what a waste of time.

[Zema Bus]

Yeah it sucks when that happens and all your progress is gone, especially with the way it works in Borderlands games. How does that part of it compare to the wildcard stuff in BL3?

[Grogan]

So it was the same quest, with the same modifier where all enemies turn into a (strong) singularity on death. It's annoying, and detrimental up close, but can also work to your advantage at range. That's because it pulls other enemies in for the big crunch too, and they can't get out of it like I can (I use the dodge, which depletes the glide pack by half each time, then you have to wait for cooldown). Also I can shoot them while they are swirling in the air

Indeed, it was glitched the first time. The support struts were missing, it was just the bottom hinge poking through the rock (and they had the quest symbol right on them lol) and there were no arms. With the support struts there, the top fastening plates were there, and glowing orange etc. this time, like they were supposed to.

Long mission though, where you can't quit. I had to let it sit paused a few times.

So now I'm Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode 1. I'm not sure what to do now, it doesn't seem that you can play the campaign again. What, just finish side quests and do those stupid Events? I'm going to have to go and find out in some wiki or something.

I never did anything like "wildcard" missions in Borderlands 3. I didn't pay any attention to those Events and things. I'm only into the campaign (and Borderlands 3 had good DLC).

[Grogan]

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/border ... lden-keys/

3ZRBB-WCWZJ-5RJ3W-JJB33-JWBHS = 3 Golden Keys (expires November 19)

[Grogan]

So... no. Again, there's no second playthrough. Ultimate Vault Hunter mode is just completing a series of challenges (e.g. go kill jimbubbalouie at fuckstick canyon or whatever) and a Moxxie's Encore arena fight, to unlock the next Wildcard mission to advance to the next Ultimate Vault Hunter rank. I don't like that kind of gameplay. Moreover, after UVHM 1, it's not directed. You have to go and find out what these challenges are and find and do them to activate Lililth's Wildcard mission.

There is, however, a mod that will reset your playthrough.

True Vault Hunter Mode Beta
https://www.nexusmods.com/borderlands4/mods/200

However, especially in light of all the editors I've tried, it sounds iffy. It involves using another site to decrypt/convert to YAML, running a .bat file on the .yaml, then using the site again to roll it back up into a save. I would have to see what the bat file is doing and do it manually. Or maybe I'd do it in the Windows VM, that would be easy... just run the bat file (not so easy in wine as there is context that may not be right).

So they learned from their "mistakes" on previous games, you can't let people keep playing the game or they'll be playing it 10 years later, their own way, without jumping through their hoops and events. That's why they tightened up every aspect of this, every loophole. To this day people are still playing Borderlands 2.

They are CUNTS now, without a shadow of doubt. I have remorse for buying this. Not because I haven't enjoyed playing it (the gameplay only, everything else about it sucks) but because I shouldn't have rewarded them after the last one (Tiny Tina's Wonderlands). However, I thought they brought back "Ultimate Mode" and that Wonderlands was just an interim money grab during Covid after all. No, they haven't, they are just calling it Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (marketing) to get people like me to fucking buy it.