Gearbox Teases New Borderlands 2 Playable Character

[Steven Bogos]

Gearbox Teases New Borderlands 2 Playable Character

A teaser trailer for Borderlands 2's upcoming DLC tells us "a new Vault Hunter is coming."

SXSW Interactive featured a panel by Gearbox's Jonathan Hemingway and Matthew Armstrong, and ended with a very short trailer of Borderlands 2's upcoming DLC, teasing us by announcing that "a new Vault Hunter is coming." The trailer shows a red-silhouetted man going around punching people in the face so hard they explode, hinting that we might see a melee-focused character, in the vein of the original Borderlands' Brick.

"Deep beneath Pandora, an experiment has escaped," the trailer exclaims. "Bandits beware, a new Vault Hunter is coming. More mayhem awaits." Hemingway and Armstrong dropped hints at the possibility of a new punch-first-shoot-later vault hunter during their panel, when they lamented Borderlands 2's lack of a melee character. They also said they were quite pleased with the new stacking mechanic introduced with The Mechromancer, but did not confirm if the new character would utilize a similar mechanic.

Scant details have been released for the upcoming DLC. We do know that it will be the forth and final DLC included in Borderlands 2' Season Pass, and that it won't see an increase in the level cap, as Gearbox previously stated that increasing the level cap would break the game. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121998-Gearbox-Cant-Increase-Borderlands-2s-Level-Cap-Without-Breaking-It]

The Mechromancer, a character utilizing a robot companion, was previously introduced in DLC for the game, and brought the number of playable characters to five. This new unnamed character will bring us up to six playable characters.

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/8/4081284/next-borderlands-2-dlc-will-include-a-sixth-playable-character]

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[oldtaku]

I sure hope it's not a Colonial Marine.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I sure hope it's not a Colonial Marine.

Ha!

I'd guess it's one of those Lab-Rats with various Slag abilities.

 

[Jennacide]

Uh, yeah there will be an increase to level cap, by the end of the month no less.
http://www.examiner.com/article/borderlands-2-level-cap-increase-release-date-update-posted

After the outcry from the comments about being unable to, Pitchfork agreed it needed to be done to sate fans bloodllust, so they're working on it now.

 

[nuba km]

I feel that one of my friends will be very happy about a more brutal melee character.

 

[Mordekaien]

I do hope that they'll include some melee weapons for this guy. What's the point of finding all those shiny new guns when you won't use them since you're going melee anyway?

CAPTCHA: i know nothing! .... that makes two of us.

 

[hazabaza1]

Looks melee focused.
Yay. A melee character in a game about nothing but guns.

Looks like I won't be getting this one.

 

[-Ezio-]

i dont think this is part of the season pass. randy pitchford has said several times that the season pass is 4 campaign expansions. so i think this will be separate.

 

[FFP2]

Is this funded by Sega's money too?

 

[Infernai]

I sure hope it's not a Colonial Marine.

Nah...it's gonna be Duke Nukem.

 

[ron1n]

Sorry guys, but this trailer was actually just a concept demo. The actual new player will not be appearing in the full DLC release.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Looks melee focused.
Yay. A melee character in a game about nothing but guns.

What can I say, other than sometimes it's more fun to bring a sword to a gun fight, and even more so with your fist.

OT: Don't know whether I'll play it or not, I own it due to the season pass but I can't imagine it being any fun when everyone will want to be him. It was okay with the mechromancer because it was still fairly close to launch but at this point everyone will just be coming back to play him. I'm torn, I love the game and Brick was fun to play in the first but can I be bothered with all the people just playing one character?

 

[piinyouri]

Looks melee focused.
Yay. A melee character in a game about nothing but guns.

Looks like I won't be getting this one.

One word: Brick.
He was one of the strongest characters in BL1. I could murder Bad Mutha Engineers with fists alone.
When I played with a friend who was speced as Lilith with everything going towards reducing cool down, I could rage all the time and had no need for guns at all.
Granted we have no idea what this character will actually play like. I'm just saying it can be done.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

*Zer0 looks at his sword*

*Zer0 then looks at people whining about melee in a game with guns*

Yeah, I enjoyed my Swordassin. Especially when he got fully decked out. Pair him up with a Siren that has a lot of points in Reaper and they make quite a nice combo.

Not nice against house-sized enemies like The Warrior, but still.

 

[Zealous]

Hmm, didn't see any of the posts in this thread coming. I'm putting down money that the equilibrium between actual comments and people ragging on Gearbox for A:CM/DN:F will stay about even all throughout this thread.

OT: Don't care. There's no endgame content in that game that interests me and the prospect of starting yet another character from scratch is even less appealing. You were fun while you lasted Borderlands, but now not so much.

 

[hazabaza1]

Looks melee focused.
Yay. A melee character in a game about nothing but guns.

Looks like I won't be getting this one.

One word: Brick.
He was one of the strongest characters in BL1. I could murder Bad Mutha Engineers with fists alone.
When I played with a friend who was speced as Lilith with everything going towards reducing cool down, I could rage all the time and had no need for guns at all.
Granted we have no idea what this character will actually play like. I'm just saying it can be done.

Just because they're good doesn't mean they're fun.
Playing as Brick essentially boiled down to "Use skill, harm fingers using M1+M2/LT+RT, wait in cover until skill comes back, rinse repeat"
Shooting and stuff was still there, sure, but melee was his best skill and dedicating him to that skill made him really weak in every other aspect. Hopefully this guy isn't quite as dull.

 

[piinyouri]

Looks melee focused.
Yay. A melee character in a game about nothing but guns.

Looks like I won't be getting this one.

One word: Brick.
He was one of the strongest characters in BL1. I could murder Bad Mutha Engineers with fists alone.
When I played with a friend who was speced as Lilith with everything going towards reducing cool down, I could rage all the time and had no need for guns at all.
Granted we have no idea what this character will actually play like. I'm just saying it can be done.

Just because they're good doesn't mean they're fun.
Playing as Brick essentially boiled down to "Use skill, harm fingers using M1+M2/LT+RT, wait in cover until skill comes back, rinse repeat"
Shooting and stuff was still there, sure, but melee was his best skill and dedicating him to that skill made him really weak in every other aspect. Hopefully this guy isn't quite as dull.

Fair point. I thought you were talking about validity of the character from a viability perspective.
I can see how that style of play could bore people.
To each their own.

 

[soren7550]

But, Gaige is best Vault Hunter.

Also, you can (hopefully) shut up now Mr. Boyfriend! YOU'VE GOT YOUR STINKIN' MELEE CHARACTER!!

 

[nuba km]

Looks melee focused.
Yay. A melee character in a game about nothing but guns.

What can I say, other than sometimes it's more fun to bring a sword to a gun fight, and even more so with your fist.

OT: Don't know whether I'll play it or not, I own it due to the season pass but I can't imagine it being any fun when everyone will want to be him. It was okay with the mechromancer because it was still fairly close to launch but at this point everyone will just be coming back to play him. I'm torn, I love the game and Brick was fun to play in the first but can I be bothered with all the people just playing one character?

well plenty of people still play the game, well at least at level 50 content while their will be a lot of people playing this thing I am sure you will still be able to find games with other characters.

EDIT: also taking bets for what company made this new vault hunter, my bet is on hyperion.