Level balancing problem, even when solo

Borderlands 3 Borderlands 3 General Discussion
#1

Dang, this is frustrating. I’m about 50 hours into the game, my character is level 36. I’m on the “Blood Drive” mission which according to the log is level 33. But when I get to the Splinterlands and now just into Carnivora, all the enemies are level 26-27. And of course, so is the loot… This makes playing kinda pointless. Is there a fix for this?

I’m in “local only” + “cooperative” mode. I’ve tried other modes and reloading, but maybe the levels and dusch are set when you first enter an area (and save)? This only started happening recently, with the Splinterlands and the main+side missions in that area. Up until then, levels seemed appropriate. Dunno what changed.

Is there any way to fix this?!?!? Otherwise this character / play-through is kinda ruined. :frowning:

7 Likes
#2

After you beat the campaign, everything in the game scales to your level.

#3

Ok but I haven’t finished the campaign yet with any character, this is my first and only one so far, and up until now it’s been fine, it’s only this latest main mission and a couple of sides in the same area that have seemed off-balance. Just a fluke of pre-fixed levels, or … ?

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#4

Levels are set based on a range. They sync to your level up to that range.

#5

Ok, interesting. So is level 36 just off the “range charts” then, or something? It seems weird to me this is only happening now. When I was level 30, the enemies were level ~30. Why are the enemies level 26 now that I’m level 36? Why would enemy level go DOWN?

#6

I am still doing the campaign as well, from doing all the side quests and exploring I am over-leveled for the area I am in, the funny thing is that the enemies level are just a few levels lower than me but the loot they drop is even lower in level.

3 Likes
#7

I doubt Gearbox (or anyone) cares what I think, but i do think they needed to make level scaling (within a range) the default as opposed to something that unlocks when you finish the campaign the first time. I myself have little time to play and am like level 16 (just took out Killavolt) most enemies on Promethea are 3 or 4 levels lower than me now and I get garbage for killing them. As an RPG type game I like to explore and look for the side objectives and this game literally punishes me for doing this.

I think they need to patch in “level scaling” as a toggle and come up with something else for a “perk” to be gained for beating the game. As things are now I basically find little decent loot and all the enemies are lower than me… and it gets progressively worse if I try and mostly clear maps. On Pandora just trying to remove the fog of war I was getting hit by respawns constantly that were beyond trivial and basically made me waste ammo.

Chances are I will have to do what I am about to suggest to you (if you read this far) and simply reduce my enjoyment of the game (no exploration, do few side quests, etc… this is the kind of thing I play for) and run through the game to finish it quickly just to get to the point where it can be playable and fun while exploring.

It should be noted that I’m one of those “old school” guys who generally doesn’t care for level scaling as I find half the fun of an RPG to go back to earlier areas and show off how powerful I’ve become. HOWEVER in this kind of a game and the way enemies spawn (not to mention the entire gear-based progression) this kind of environment where you can outlevel content just makes things tedious.

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#8

You mean… like this?

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#9

Yeah that’s kinda where I’m at; finish the first play-through with this character with main mission only, and then restart with a new character that’ll hopefully stay balanced. But that really takes me off my “BL3 high” that I’ve been on since last week. :frowning:

Note that I’m level 36, the main mission (again, Blood Kill) is level 33 in the log, but the side mission “Let’s Get It Vaughn” is showing at level 26 when it’s offered. That’s just off.

1 Like
#10

Yeah but I haven’t changed the mode (at least not intentionally) since I started playing. Why is this happening only now? That’s my problem.

#11

Because you’re a HIGHER LEVEL than the zone you are in’s HIGHEST LEVEL. For example I think the Droughts in Pandora only goes up to level 11. If you go back to Pandora and go to the Droughts, enemies in that area, as well as sidequests and the enemies in those sidequests, will be level 11.

#12

Ok I guess that makes some sense. But then I question how they arrived at the highest level per zone… I guess my obsessive playing of side missions is now biting me in the a**. Sigh.

3 Likes
#13

Exactly like that, except not based around balancing against the game host. Basically (I assume you didn’t read what I actually said) they need to take what is currently “Mayhem Mode” where all mobs and loot scales (even solo) and make it a toggle right from the beginning as opposed to something that only unlocks when you finish the game.

All the co-op toggle does is adjust the players in the game to the same level, and it doesn’t help the actual issue being discussed. I mean, like the OP, I am already fighting underleveled enemies and finding garbage for loot and I more or less just started. It would be nice if Gearbox did something to solve that problem as it makes the first playthrough sort of like pulling teeth without any kind of pain killers. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#14

Agreed! This is really the only negative thing I’ve come up against in my time so far… I’m not about to “rage quit” lol but that doesn’t stop it from being annoying.

1 Like
#15

Well after all my bit**ing, I just got to “Guts of Carnivora” and now enemies are level ~33, so at least it’s somewhat better.

#16

RNG will make your BL3 experience either very painful or very joyful one. If you are lucky and get a good weapon for your build, the game becomes a breeze for the next 10 level or so.

#17

Sorta spoke too soon, just found a red chest with level ~26 loot in it, kinda disappointing. Oh well guess I’ll just press on…

1 Like
#18

I noticed that I did end up somewhat overleveled too and as a result enemies in some areas I’m still mopping up are lower and their drops are as well. I dispatch them easier, of course, which feels nice, and deal with loot mismatch by going to Sanctuary more often, shops there are at your level.

Also, interestingly enough, I am still using this one Green Atlas AR that is 5 levels below me and still does great against on level enemies, even without relying on ‘smart bullets’ gimmick. Made me to reconsider my “if it’s low level and not blue/purple/orange it’s garbage” rule of thumb.

#19

You’re absolutely right here and people need to look at what you’re actually saying.

The story missions push you into new places that stay level relevant until, exactly as OP said, you get to around the Carnivora story which appears to be a lower level area.

This is the only region this happens, and you’d have no reason to explore it before the story takes you there. (idk if you can even go there before hand). It does make doing side missions a bit of a chore, and once you move to the next region everything is back to being more or less level relevant.

It really is a weird hickup in the first playthrough.

7 Likes
#20

Just murder everything until your level matches theirs again. Keep going, it’ll balance out somewhat.