Players have been asking Gearbox to modify the end-game activities in Borderlands 3 and it seems as though, at least to some degree, their request will soon be answered.
Launching on Thursday, April 23rd the new Mayhem 2.0 system will feature a host of changes to the current Mayhem system. Here are the details:
- For starters, you’ll no longer need to visit the pedestal on Sanctuary III to activate Mayhem Mode or adjust your Mayhem level; the option will be accessible via a new tab on your ECHO Device menu so that you can access it at any time. Note that in multiplayer games the Mayhem level will be determined by the host, and when you matchmake for multiplayer, you’ll automatically be matched with players who are at a similar Mayhem level as you whenever possible.
- There will be more than 25 all-new modifiers that can be applied to your game, each rated as Easy, Medium, Hard, or Very Hard. Easy modifiers are largely helpful, and include things like Big Kick Energy, which actually increases your weapons’ damage but also increases their recoil and spread. There’s also Galaxy Brain, which dramatically increases the size of enemies’ heads so that critical shots are easier to land.
- Modifiers are selected at random, but the number of modifiers and difficulty ratings of those modifiers are always the same for each Mayhem level, as shown in the table below.
| Mayhem Level | Modifier 1 | Modifier 2 | Modifier 3 | Modifier 4 |
| 1 | EASY | |||
| 2 | EASY | MEDIUM | ||
| 3 | EASY | MEDIUM | MEDIUM | |
| 4 | EASY | HARD | ||
| 5 | EASY | MEDIUM | HARD | |
| 6 | EASY | MEDIUM | MEDIUM | HARD |
| 7 | EASY | HARD | HARD | |
| 8 | EASY | VERY HARD | ||
| 9 | EASY | MEDIUM | VERY HARD | |
| 10 | EASY | MEDIUM | HARD | VERY HARD |
- The quality of the weapons dropped by enemies will improve as you work your way up through the Mayhem levels. For example, a Cutsman submachine gun that drops in Mayhem level 2 will be more powerful than one that drops in Mayhem level 1. Given that enemies’ health, shield, and armor stats increase with each Mayhem level, the damage boost that you get from weapons in one Mayhem level will help you to prepare for the next. There are also eight new Legendary weapons that you can get from certain bosses only when playing at Mayhem level 6 or higher. The Sand Hawk, for example, is a Legendary automatic sniper rifle that fires a line of nine bullets that move to mimic the way that a hawk flaps its wings.
Our Take
As with any ARPG, after it’s in the wild for a while, players wonder what’s next for end-game activities. While the expansions have been fun to date, it’s truly the continued challenge and loot hunt which keeps players engaged so it’s good to see Gearbox addressing it. We’re hopeful they continue to update the game over time while coordinating the changes with the remaining expansions.