In Borderlands 3 there will be no new Vault Hunters. Instead, the game provides you with additional skill trees – why?
Here’s what it has to do with DLC Vault Hunters: In previous Borderlands games, some of the Vault Hunters were added as DLC. This was the case for Krieg in Borderlands 2, who now plays a key role in the 4th DLC of Borderlands 3. Aurelia Hammerlock was introduced in the Pre-Sequel.
However, there will be no DLC characters in Borderlands 3. Gearbox made this clear early on. Instead, new skill trees for the Vault Hunters Zane, FL4K, Amara, and Moze will be added. Why did they choose this path?
Skill trees are meant to bring more depth
Here’s the reason: As Creative Director Graeme Timmins explained to Paul Tassi from the US magazine Forbes, the goal has always been to add more depth to the game. “And we thought that the best way to achieve that would be to give more depth to the characters that players are already playing, instead of adding another group of characters,” Timmins said.
It is quite a challenge to level a character up to the endgame. That’s certainly true: after all, there are now a total of 65 levels to build your skills. Therefore, the focus has been placed on “more depth for players who have already recognized the value of this skill tree, rather than having to work through this tree again.”
It doesn’t matter that they are holding anything back – like Vault Hunters for a possible Borderlands 4. “At no point in this decision was it about ‘could we reduce this investment to do things elsewhere’…” Timmins and his colleague Tommy Westerman are solely focused on making Borderlands 3 the “best Borderlands”: “At no point did I say, ‘Man, I should save some of this for something else.’ My goal is to make Borderlands 3 amazing.”
What are these skill trees?? The new skill trees will be released as part of another paid DLC. This was part of a series of innovations that Gearbox announced for the second year of Borderlands 3. FL4K’s tree was revealed first, introducing a new action skill called “Gravity Trap” and a new pet for the Beastmaster with the Loader Bot.
How exactly the trees of the other three Vault Hunters will look has not yet been revealed by Gearbox. However, there was a leak some time ago that was at least correct for FL4K.
