The term open-world RPG brings two things to mind: a fantastic world to explore and a plethora of quests and side quests to do. Borderlands 3 is no exception to this, filled to the brim with awesome quests to loot and shoot your way through. While the main quest of saving the world while filling your pockets with loot in the process is great, the smaller side stories provide some excellent and varied little asides for Vault Hunters to enjoy.
Some of the most interesting tales in Borderlands 3 are tucked away out of the path of the main quest, but they're well worth seeking out. Here are some of the greatest side quests hidden in Borderlands 3. Potential spoilers ahead!
10
On the mythical planet of Nekrotafeyo, the mean-spirited robot named Grouse wants the Vault Hunter to help him finish building a dark cannon, which should be enticing to most people. All dark cannons need energy, so the player is tasked with capturing the spirits of some of the Eridian enemies around Desolation's Edge with an energy trap, which looks and acts a whole lot like the trap from Ghostbusters.
This reference is brought to fruition after the dark cannon is completed and the player is awarded a gun that shoots an energy laser. Don't cross that stream.
9 Kill Killavolt
Ii wouldn't be a modern video game without a battle royale, and Borderlands 3 did not forget theirs. On Promethea, a wanted poster from Mad Moxxi promotes players to travel to Lectra City to kill Killavolt. To get a chance at this Vault Hunters must win a battle royale set up by Killavolt, the grand prize being a showdown with the man himself.
While the quest only requires a specific 3 enemies to be killed to "win" the battle royale, the map feels like it could be a real battle royale. The only downside to this quest is that the Killavolt boss fight is nothing short of hard.
8 Sellout
Those who played Borderlands 2 may find this quest familiar. On Eden-6 players can come across a "selfie" booth in Ambermire that kills people. Tyreen Calypso tells the players she will happily reward them with a special pistol if they hop in the booth for her.
This calls back to a Borderlands 2 sidequest where Handsome Jack asks players to throw themselves off a cliff for money. In both cases, the Vault Hunter can save their pride and lives by refusing, but you don't get that sweet, sweet loot out of it.
7 Childhood's End
Vaughn needs his water purifier fixed in Rolan's Rest. It's up to the Vault Hunter and Tannis to fix it. Unfortunately, the Hyperion tech doesn't cooperate with Tannis' inherited siren abilities from Angel, so the player must go through some childhood memories of Angel's in order to better understand how they work.
This side quest takes place back through Konrad's Hold into Tannis' lab but gives more tragic insight into Angel's childhood and how Tannis came to have these powers. This quest serves as a reminder of how strong the writing in the Borderlands series can be.
6 Buff Film Buff
Pandora is home to many, many bad things, and films can now be added to that list. In the Splinterlands ,a man who just goes by Buff wants players to pull his ECHO tape out of the trash and forced the bandit that runs the projector to play it.
Buff himself looks and speaks in a fashion very similar to that of Tommy Wiseau. After "convincing" the bandits to play the film on the projector, a "cinematic masterpiece" (as Buff calls it) begins to play. This "arthouse" experience is worth seeing, in an unpleasant sort of way.
5 Just Desserts
Also located in the Splinterlands on Pandora, Beatrice needs help with her bakery. Specifically, she needs help murdering a gang of bandits called the Flaming Fists for wronging her. To do so, a cake made with spider-ant eggs and explosives is needed.
After collecting the gross selection of ingredients ,the three-layer cake can be delivered to the Fists for their leader's birthday. Of course, the cake explodes, but not before the bandits can sing a wonderful birthday song for him. The song is worth the entire quest and better than whatever reward Beatrice scrounged up.
4 Capture The Frag
Borderlands villains are at their best when they take a break from being evil to mess around. On Eden-6 Troy and Tyreen have a large game going where they have pitted their followers against one each other to battle it out until one team is dead and the other is victorious. The Vault Hunter is tasked with helping this process along, starting off by murdering all of Tyreen's camp while being cheered on.
Once that is cleared, a giant payload bomb is to be shot along a rail line to Troy's camp, where, again, everyone must be killed, much to Tyreen's delight. Afterward, the bomb drops and doesn't explode, but nobody is left at that point.
3 Eridian Proving Grounds
This activity is a series of six trials (Instinct, Cunning, Discipline, Fervor, Supremacy and Survival) that can be found after the main story is completed. Each trial must first be located around the already-discovered planets and then traveled to from Sanctuary.
Each trial is a gauntlet featuring enemies and environments from different parts of the game, and all have special rewards for fast completions and no death runs. These quests can be run over and over again, serving as the end game content for Borderlands 3 and providing a challenge with consist loot at the end.
2 Circle Of Slaughter
The three circles in Borderlands 3 (Slaughterstar 3000, Cistern of Slaughter and the Slaughter Shaft) can each be found on the three main planets, although he quest is located on Nekrotafeyo (the actual circle is located on a spaceship that must be flown to from Sanctuary).
Like the trials, the circles serve as end game content that players need to be properly geared for before attempting. While the quality of these horde-style modes has varied throughout the series, these are very enjoyable and long enough without being grueling. Round progress is saved even after death, which is a nice improvement.
1 Swamp Bro
Sometimes a bro needs someone to run through the swamp with them, performing stunts and tasting danger. Sometimes, that bro is Chadd, and that someone is the Vault-Hunter. On Eden-6, Chadd wants to hunt ravagers (and by "hunt," he means punch with his fists).
After being injured during this process, Chadd base jumps and needs to be helped once again. To top off his epic stunt, an elevator needs to be equipped with rockets and fueled, so it can be fast. This elevator launches Chadd into the sky, his stunts forever remembered.