It's been clear from the very beginning that Borderlands 3 would be a completely different beast from Borderlands 2. At its core, it's still Borderlands through and through with witty quips, slapstick humor, and a loot heavy experience, but there was one welcome ingredient to the Borderlands 2 formula that won't be in BL3: DLC characters. Gearbox Software has been up-front about this, meaning it should be no surprise for anyone today, but that in conjunction with the Broken Hearts Day event highlights a developing, potentially long-term concern with the game: character progression.
Now, the Broken Hearts Day event may be what many wanted to see from Bloody Harvest, as it is reeled in with a clear goal, amazing loot like the Wedding Invitation sniper rifle, and even has the ability to be turned off. There was one more oft-requested feature to accompany it, though: a level cap increase. In so many ways, only increasing the Borderlands 3 level cap by 3 makes sense, for now, but in the long term, Broken Hearts paints a concerning picture and poses that question exactly. What about Borderlands 3 character progression in the long term?
The Borderlands 3 Level Grind
To explain, the recent BL3 level cap increase pushed players from level 50 to 53, a stark contrast to the 11 level jumps in Borderlands 2. This was likely done for balance concerns, but the drive from level 50-53 isn't as appealing. Combine that with having to re-farm level 53 weapons, as the three little levels there make quite the difference, and it's a grind that isn't altogether too rewarding. Again, it's just three levels.
For the now, it is what it is, but it doesn't seem like a good idea for Borderlands 3 players to have to grind 3 levels after 3 levels for the sake of balance. (For comparison, the level cap in Borderlands 2 is 71 - add 3 to Borderlands 3's 53 enough times and the math equals 71). If a significant jump is planned at some point, that begs the question as to why even introduce this level 3-bump. Its very existence seemingly implies that it'll be small increments from here on, with the levels themselves not necessarily being a concern.
3 skill points is 3 skill points, after all, and there's a lot Borderlands 3 players can do with them. Even if it completely unbalances the game, the ability to get a second capstone ability is also the on the end of everyone's lips, so it seems promising. That is, until it doesn't.
The Borderlands 3 Gun Issues
First, if this becomes a repeating cycle, there comes a repeating cycle of mini-grinds. Players will need to hit the 3 level increment several times, while also grinding new weapons for max level as well. This would mean 6 more bumps and 6 more mini-grinds post Broken Hearts Day if that's the planned, although it cannot be ruled out that bigger story BL3 DLCs will push the envelope, adding new weapons and new enemies to grind for those levels.
For the completionist pushing Mayhem Mode 4 or future iterations of the concept, this may be the biggest concern. But for the more casual and typical player, it may not be that big of a deal until they factor in the issues it presents with character progression.
The Borderlands 3 Skill Issues
With each of these increments, there will likely be massive skill concerns, especially as it continues to push the envelope. For example, at the aforementioned theoretical BL3 max level, a 71 character could max out a full tree and then half of another. Factor in the appropriate min-maxing, and there are certain skills that would easily and without a worry in the world be dropped, easily grabbing the necessary skills from 2 and a half skill trees. On the one hand, this is roughly the same as Borderlands 2, but again, the sequel and threequel are far different in this regard.
Borderlands 2 ended up with 6 playable characters, meaning players spent more time with experimenting with builds across the spectrum. Without these playable DLC characters, Borderlands 3 players will likely stick to their mains for the most part, a fact that Gearbox itself highlighted. Given all the bonuses and extras in Borderlands 3, especially in the skill tree department, it bears the potential for any number of broken builds.
Theoretically, there's a number of ways to handle this sustainability issue. The aforementioned and perhaps method being used is to crunch the numbers in small increments in increasing the level cap small distances each time. There could be more skill trees introduced over time per character (as opposed to DLC characters) that force players to either specialize or diversify their Borderlands 3 builds even further.
However Borderlands 3 decides to handle the issue, there seems to be a big question of sustainability and long-term plans at play here. It's seems likely Borderlands 3 will do everything it can to keep all things balanced, but how that looks a few months from now remains to be seen.
Borderlands 3 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.