Gearbox finally shared some new gameplay footage of the highly anticipated Borderlands 3 game and to say that the upcoming adventure has a few new surprises to make it even more fun would be a massive understatement. We recently had a chance to play Borderlands 3 during the gameplay event in California and one of the aspects of the title we loved was the skill tree abilities and how impressive they truly are.
The two Vault Hunters we were able to play as included Zane and Amara. Amara is a Siren, which means she has the magical element that many Borderlands fans loved. Zane, on the other hand, felt like a mixture of all of the Borderlands classes, which made him a deadly force.
Each Vault Hunter has three skills with branching abilities from there. Zane has one that clones himself, and that clone is sent out to do major damage while acting as a decoy. He was my personal favorite, being able to toss that decoy in was a huge help during the more difficult boss fights, though it’s not the only impressive skill to learn.
He also has another skill, a drone. Conjuring it up, he shoots a drone off into a horde of enemies to mark them one by one. Once done, the drone itself will deal out damage to the marked targets, effectively acting as a second player for those looking to go solo.
His third skill was a shield, but no ordinary shield. Instead of just a simple barrier, the shield is movable. It prevents enemy projectiles from breaking through, though yours and ally bullets work just fine. Even better, the shield can change the impact of a player’s weapon, effectively building upon its effectiveness in battle.
Amara, on the other hand, is rooted in magic. Similar to Zane’s clone, Amara has one ability called the Phasecast that allows her to send out an astral projection of herself to deal damage in addition to her own fire power. Another ability she has, a passive like Zane’s shield, allows for her to receive a stack of Rush that increases her skill damage with every kill she gets.
Her third skill consumes all Rush stacks to increase Elemental effects. Her spectral arms seen in the initial trailer are also quite powerful, allowing her to launch up and smash right back down for a burst of damage that helps during those times when the player is cornered.
From there, each skill has branding boosts that players can level up down the line using skill points. Unlock one branch to move further down the skill tree to make each attack infinitely more powerful.
Playing with the skills was incredibly fun and made it easier to tailor to individual play style. I personally enjoyed Zane a bit more because of his particular style and the fact that he could equip two skills at once, versus Amara’s one.
As for the game itself, Borderlands 3 is poised to arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on September 13th! Keep it tuned in right here because we have a lot more to say about our time in Pandora.
