[BL1] [Custom] Gameplay Patch for Brick

Borderlands Brick the Berserker
#1

After testing the character for a good while I’ve come up with changes (for a potential HD remake or a fanmade patch) that would mostly supplement the characters weaknesses, as well as account for some errors in design which were not intended.

I do not consider this a buff overall. Resources are still limited and you still have to allocate them to your choosing. All these changes will do is increase the amount of options you can use without any dominating strategies for the character.

Remove the speed glitch

Yes, yes, I know, but it’s an unfair advantage and wasn’t intended. Perhaps a kill switch that would automatically place Brick’s movement at 1x whenever the skill is interrupted or cancelled.

Berserker Left Swing

It’s far more worth it to repeatedly jab than do a left hook. Following changes will be made.

  • Left hook has a 1.5x chance (compared to right jab) of dazing an enemy
  • Left hook deals 1.25x damage (this multiplier after other multipliers are applied)

Level scaling

During 2nd and 3rd playthroughs, in addition to the base damage Brick’s Berserker melee damage deals, non-boss enemy loses a percentage of their health based on their level, which punch you use and the enemy’s title.

Iron Fist

By no means a bad skill, it’s still dominated by the one next to it. Melee bonus will be upped from +6% per level to +8% per level.

Sting Like A Bee

Additionally, when fully upgraded, you gain a 10% chance of the SLAB punch doing 2x the damage. I added this as an incentive for those who feel like the skill has diminishing returns.

Prize Fighter

This skill needs an entire redo, as it’s one of the worst in the game and universally avoided.

Here what I would do with it:

  • Apply the effect during all times
  • 20% higher chance of picking up a rare weapon, a health kit and/or ammo from an enemy you killed. (Double when fully upgraded)

Blood Sport

To make Brick less reliant on his Action Skill, Blood Sport additionally grants 1/2 the bonus while he’s not Berserking.

Hardened and Safeguard

Both are adjusted to 10% per level (instead 12 and 8) so neither has an inherent advantage.

Rapid Reload

Really underwhelming compared to the other two trees starter skills. At least make the reload time reduction by 8% per level instead of 4%.

Endowed

For such a specialized boost, it can easily be +5% per level instead of +3%. Rockets are kind of underpowered in BL1.

Cast Iron

I wanted to make this more versatile so non-Rocket builds can use it. Here is what I would have it do:

  • 1% universal damage resistance per level
  • 10% resistance to all explosive damage per level
  • 25% resistance to fire damage (at any level)

Wide Load

All weapons (sans Shotgun) gain +1 magazine size per level - not just Rockets.

#2

The speed glitch does not have to be used. I did an entire no-death challenge with Brick without ever using it. It’s not something that matters much.

If the left hook really needed to be changed I’d simply suggest bonus critical hit damage. As it is, however, changing it isn’t necessary as it already gets 300% melee damage increase compared to 100% for the jab. Not the sort of thing I think needs correction.

The level scaling suggestion is overly convoluted. Buffing Iron Fist and giving Prize Fighter a damage component is a cleaner solution to fixing Melee Brick.

Iron Fist should go to 10% per rank. No class mod boosts it and the 20% melee damage increase at 5/5 would help some.

Sting Like a Bee is fine as is.

Heavy Handed should be buffed to 15% per rank so that it can better compete with Revenge and Master Blaster’s combination.

Prize Fighter should grant additional Critical Hit Damage to melee attacks on top of the money drops. Something like +5% per rank. This would help solve the power problem Melee Brick suffers and fit the name of the skill as Prize Fighters often land KOs with blows to the head. I don’t like the idea of increasing weapon drops as it’d take away from something that makes Mordecai unique.

Blood Sport is fine as is. You’re not going to be killing hardly anything late game with generic melee attacks, and if a gun kill worked it’d be Roland’s Stat going by your description.

Hardened and Safeguard are roughly balanced out come endgame, with Safeguard actually outperforming it even with AWE body shields. They don’t need changing.

Rapid Reload is currently bugged and increases Recoil. The Recoil Reduction should be fixed to work right and increased from 6% to 8%. The Reload Speed should not increase to 8% per level because it’d end up a plainly better version of Mordecai’s Fast Hands.

Making Endowed, a multiplicative damage increase (combined with weapon proficiency) 5% per rank is overkill. It might make Rockets more viable, but it’d make already ridiculously overpowered weapons like the Ogre and Cobra even more outrageous. In trying to balance rockets you’d make Blast Master Brick even more overpowered.

Cast Iron and Wide Load are fine as is.