BL1 Mission Reward Scaling

Borderlands General Discussion
#1

So this is the second time I’m playing through Borderlands 1. I have played BL2 a lot I’d say, and I’v noticed one thing about the first one that is bothering me. I know that in BL2 on normal as well as in BL1 the missions are set to a specific level and that’s okay, but in BL2 I could always at least expect to get gear with equivalent level, while in BL1 every mission reward I get, and most of the gear find in chests etc are almost always 2-6 levels lower than I am, which sucks… Does anyone know why this is?

#2

Yes, it’s because the loot system in BL1 is very, very different to that in BL2 and TPS. If you really want all the gory details, you can look at the relevant Inside the Box article by Paul Hellquist. The upshot, though, is that the level of the gear dropped is much more variable than in BL2.

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#3

Aha, yeah that’s what I’ve been noticing. Well thanx! Will probably give the article/link a look :slight_smile:

#4

Just be sure not to sleep on a weapon that may be a few levels lower than your character in BL1, some weapons can be used effectively for many many levels…

#5

Also keep in mind that, typically speaking, most mission reward items can be obtained at a higher level by farming that mission’s boss.

#6

What do you mean? Surely most mission reward are just random snipers, shotguns, pistols whatever, ulike the likeliness of Sledge dropping his Unique shotgun. It’s not that I’m after a specific weapon, it’s just the levels on the drops in general are much more all over the place

#7

farsight was talking about uniques, like the Lady Finger, Dove, etc.

But yeah, as others have said, don’t worry that much about your gear getting underleveled. Just compare the stats, shoot a few shots from the new gun to see if you like how it handles, and carry on.

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#8

Can’t emphasize that second bit enough. Yes, you can compare stats easily enough. But unless you have an encyclopaedic knowledge of gun parts, you really need to shoot the thing to get the feel of its actual mechanics.