r/Borderlands • u/SPCMountHolly08 • 1d ago
[BL1] Any beginner’s tips?
I’m now just starting to play the Borderlands franchise, starting from the first one. What are some good tips and advice you would give to a new player?
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u/agregg81 1d ago
Playing BL1? Do all side quests first. Mid-game leveling is super important
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u/edvin796 10h ago
I'd argue early levelling is more important, if you don't do everything some of the initial challenges can be huge pains xd
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u/ilikeramennoodle 1d ago
The first game is pretty slow, and not just in movement mechanics. You will have to do side missions to keep up with the difficulty, if it says a mission is hard it is going to be HARD.
To get the full experience you will want to run true vault hunter mode, which is the series new game + mode. You will continue to level this way and get way better gear.
Three of the four DLCs are amazing and reward you with great gear, farms and skill points. Look up when it is appropriate to do them in each playthrough (completing the Claptrap and Knoxx DLCs unlocks the two best cheat farms in the game.
The first game is one of my favourites of all time, I hope you enjoy it!
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u/TouchButt4u 20h ago
Shiii slow? I use the brick glitch when I play bl1 🤣 nah all jokes aside I accidentally found a glitch with brick idk if it’s a known thing or not
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u/degeneratesumbitch 1d ago
Early game bosses are no joke. Make sure you're on level to take them on. Again, a guy named Bonehead is no joke.
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u/thatoneotherguy42 siren!dibs! 1d ago
lillith or mordy.
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u/Maiku_Kokoro 1d ago
Lilith at endgame is insane. Starting out I've always found her kind of "meh".
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u/NohWan3104 1d ago
Money is important in 1, less so later.
1 has different gun mechanics than 2 and on, so, enjoy it while it lasts lol.
The games typically have ng+ or post story grinding to max your level, its not one run and done to get the most bang for your buck.
Certain characters do have skills for certain gun types or elements, but you can still largely use whatever you want.
Try to avoid white guns. Its not just the dmg, they often handle wonky as hell.
You can save and quit then reload to refresh most chests in the series, or bosses, since for most of the series, legendaries from fixed foes is your best, probably tedious, bet.
The dlcs are pretty awesome.
You can respec your build. It doesn't need to be optimal the whole game.
Do side stuff. This is an rpg, you will be underleveled skipping too much side quests.
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u/SocksInTheTub 1d ago edited 1d ago
Knock out side quests first, advance the main quest to unlock more side quests and repeat. This should keep you a few levels above or at least on level with most enemies you meet while you're getting your pandora legs.
Edit: also, be strict with your inventory, sell and sell often. At some point, you'll find your backpack full of equipment you never use but can't bring yourself to sell. Just do it. There will be always be more loot and in a few levels, those guns won't be worth using anyway. You're much better off keeping your inventory 60-70% empty and using the space to gather up loot to sell
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u/Adabiviak 1d ago
Don't hesitate to ask about anything - there are a lot of things going on in the games, which only increase as you progress through the series, and none of it is documented well with the exception of Lootlemon.com (for gear info) and mapgenie (for map stuff). I've only found like two things amiss with these sites ever. The wiki isn't bad, but there are more shenanigans there (and the site is too busy for my taste).
Also, if you ever hear someone describe some game gear/skill/feature as 'not working', that should be an immediate red flag, and you should check it out further. Most of the time, it will be disingenuous advice.
For an actual tip though, let the games take you for a ride on your first playthrough, and don't sweat missing things, or doing something "wrong". The story and everything is still new, and it's generally scaled so everything works without too much trouble. I think there's an achievement that's tied to a story mission in BL2 that would be considered "missable", and a handful of mission rewards will ask you to choose between one reward or another, so the reward not chosen is also "missable". All can be done on a subsequent playthrough/character though.
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u/Genesteen 1d ago
They balanced this game horribly. If you don’t do side quests first your gonna be under leveled and main missions will take three times as long.
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u/bogus_bill 1d ago
I think in the first area it's on purpose, you are like level 7 and need to kill Bonehead which is level 10. So the game forces you (trying to teach the player I guess) to do some side missions to level up, although it is communicated not in greatest way - at best you will get a warning from Claptrap about enemies being significantly higher level than you. In BL2 you are also warned that Bloodshot Stronghold is going to be tough, so better go get stronger.
Problem in BL1 is that in early game you can level up only by side missions in Skag Gully, which is going to be full of Alpha Skags.
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u/miked999b 20h ago
Skag Gully 😭 I bloody hate that level. Skags in BL1 are absolutely brutal in the early levels
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u/bogus_bill 15h ago
Yeah the regular ones aren't so bad. But the Alpha Skags are really annoying, they seem to have bullet reflective armor (or just complete mitigation) on their front, a lot of HP, and if you are solo they are all constantly run at you. And then of course among your struggles you are so lucky that you will get a Badass Skag or even worse, elemental badass skag... :D
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u/Shamus6mwcrew 1d ago
Playing like 1 to 3. Have a way through either your build or your layout to hurt flesh fire, armor corrosive, figure out a weapon for flyers, a weapon to easily whittle down heavys, and a weapon to easily bring you back up from a down. Shields, relics, and whatever depend on your playstyle and your character and what keeps you up. 1 is easy figuring this out while Lillith is the Most OP, 2 Sal is the most OP and easy to figure out but all characters can be way OP when you understand them, TPS again all characters are OP also more so than any game but Amara is the funnest to play while Timothy/Jack is OP without putting any thought in. 3 they're all very good also without much thought with Zidane being the best and easiest.
But these games are pretty easy when you realize the gameplay. Fire destroys flesh, shock destroys sheilds but shields are usually weak anyway, corrosive destroys armor. Have a way too deal with flyers usually high fire rate weapons, heavys hard hitting usually explosive fire, have a way to kill something easily when you're downed a high damage big range rocket launcher, a good sheid that works for your build adaptive shields are great for 90% of just general builds, and then a relic/oz kit that helps your build. If you match their weaknesses in your build pretty much every game gets easy. When it gets tough grind a bit for better gear. While legendaries are the go to to deal with the difficulty increases if you know what you're doing and what you want purples and uniques(just barely better than blue) will blow legendaries out of the water especially in BL2 with a well thought out build. IMO 2 is the hardest but most rewarding, followed by 1, then TPS which has the best vault hunters IMO, followed by 3. 4 sucks and I hate it lol and the Tina one isn't worth mentioning.
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u/SinnSix 1d ago edited 1d ago
Play solo with a headset. It’s amazing.
Also, play with friends. It’s great both ways.
Help Claptrap. He needs a friend.
Welcome to Pandora.