15 Tips Every New Borderlands 3 Player Should Know – A Starter Guide

The talented team over at Gearbox Software have given the Borderlands series a major facelift with Borderlands 3. As a result, there are quite a number of new concepts and mechanics even experienced Borderlands players are going to have to familiarize themselves with.

Here is a quick breakdown of some of the top things new Borderlands 3 players should know before booting up returning to the world of Pandora.

• Utilize your ground and pound. There are a lot of new combat mechanics in Borderlands 3. Among them, you can now perform a powerful slam attack from above. Simply press the melee button while falling from a high ledge and you will slam down with a powerful blow, stunning and damaging enemies around you.
• Take the time to find the Typhon de Leon audio logs. These audio logs are spread out across the galaxy, so you will have to keep an eye out for them across your travels. They are optional to collect, but you should definitely take the time to grab them. These logs will have a significant impact on the end of the game.
• Don’t forget about the lost loot machine. If you leave any loot in open chests during your travels, don’t fret. You can visit the lost loot machine in Sanctuary if you want to check out some of the best loot you previously left behind. It will not feature every piece of loot you neglected through your travels, but it will have a significant selection.
• Check your inbox regularly. You earn weapons from completing various challenges during Borderlands 3’s campaign. That being said, these weapons are not simply added to your inventory. Rather, you will have to venture to the inbox tab within the social menu. By doing this, you can collect your weapon rewards or send them to your friends.
• Grab a variety of shock weapons. During your time on Pandora, you will not find much use for shock weapons. That being said, there will be plenty of shielded enemies once you leave the planet to explore other ventures. Make sure you have shock weapons for the journey.
• Tip Moxxi and tip her well. Moxxi has her own place on Sanctuary. And, just like in the first game, you can tip the lovely lady by placing money in her jar at the front of her bar. Once you’ve tipped her enough, you will receive a weapon trinket. If you continue to tip her, she will begin giving you better and better weapons. If you have the money, it is definitely worth it.
• You can launch explosive barrels at enemies now. Borderlands 3 works a little differently than its predecessors. If you see an explosive barrel near you, approach it and press the melee button while facing a nearby enemy. The barrel will launch towards your target and explode on impact.
• Take advantage of the shift codes. You can earn legendary loot by joining the Gearbox rewards program and applying shift codes to your account. This process can be tedious, but ultimately rewarding. You can learn more about that here.
• Save all of your eridium. Early on, you will find cosmetic items that can be purchased with eridium. However, you should hold off on spending any of this rare currency until the endgame. Once you reach a certain point within the game’s story, you will discover that you can buy endgame weapons from Crazy Earl enough you have enough eridium. These weapons are worth waiting for.
• Focus on getting weapons with low fire rates during the beginning. During the first hours of the game, you are going to find yourself low on ammunition. This issue can be quite tasking, but there is a solution. When picking up gear, try to focus on weapons that have higher damage outputs but lower fire rates. Consequently, you will be able to better utilize the ammunition you have.
• Spend your cash freely. In most games, you want to hoard all of your currencies as long as you can. That being said, you will want to spend your cash rather quickly. Every time you die, you will lose a percentage of whatever money you have on you. Consequently, you can minimize your losses by spending your money regularly. SDU upgrades now cost cash, rather than eridium. Consider focusing your spending there.
• You can now fast travel from anywhere. In previous Borderlands games, you had to visit a fast travel station in order to teleport to other fast travel stations on the map. Now, however, you can teleport to any fast travel station you previously discovered at any time.
• Always tag your loot. As you begin to scavenge gear, you will quickly find yourself with a full inventory. Consequently, you are going to want to sell some of your loot. That being said, it can be extremely tedious to filter through every item in order to consider which pieces of gear are worth keeping and which ones are worth selling. Keep things simple by tagging your gear as you acquire it as either a favorite item or a junk item. This way, you can sell your junk items in bulk at any vendor.
• You can almost always simply bypass enemies, if you would like. More often than not, Borderlands 3 missions are about reaching your destinations. As a result, you can simply run past most of the enemies the game is going to litter along your journey if you wish. This tactic can be useful if you are trying to rush through side missions for quest rewards.
• Don’t fret if you are not finding many weapons from your favorite brand. You will travel across different planets as you play through Borderlands 3. Each planet offers a different array of weapons for you to enjoy. For instance, Maliwan weapons will be popular on Promethea. However, these weapons are less common on Pandora. Simply continue to play through the game and you will eventually find your favorite brand in high supply.