With the launch of yesterday’s Borderlands 3 patch, a whole range of new features have arrived in-game, ranging from the new Loot the Universe and Revenge of the Cartels events to Mayhem Mode 2.0; the long-awaited overhaul of the game’s Mayhem Mode. To mark the release, Gearbox has released a 13-minute look at the reworked mode and its new features.
The Big Changes in Borderlands 3 Mayhem Mode 2.0
Borderlands 3 Mayhem Mode 2.0 brings a lot of important changes to the mode’s original design. For one, you no longer have to head back to Sanctuary III to change your Mayhem level; all of that can now be done from a tab in the ECHO Device menu. If you’re playing multiplayer, the Mayhem Mode will be controlled by the host, although the game will try to matchmake people playing at the same level together where possible.
The biggest change to Mayhem Mode 2.0, however, is a new system of modifiers. Gearbox intends for these to make Mayhem Mode a more interesting and varied experience, particularly for endgame players. Essentially, whenever you activate Mayhem Mode, the game will pick a series of a modifiers at random. There are four categories of modifier; Easy, Medium, Hard, and Very Hard. Depending on your Mayhem level, different categories will activate, as follows:
- 1 Mayhem Level: Easy
- 2 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Medium
- 3 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Medium / Medium
- 4 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Hard
- 5 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Medium / Hard
- 6 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Medium / Medium / Hard
- 7 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Hard / Hard
- 8 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Very Hard
- 9 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Medium / Very Hard
- 10 Mayhem Levels: Easy / Medium / Hard / Very Hard
Easy modifiers are random effects which generally make things a little easier for players. The Galaxy Brain modifier, for example, makes enemy heads bigger for easier headshots. Medium modifiers introduce obstacles to make things a little trickier for players. The Hard and Very Hard modifiers, however, are the ones which really start to affect the difficulty. All told, these should help to improve the replayability of endgame Borderlands 3 gameplay.