By Olin Coles
Manufacturer: Gearbox Software
Product Name: Borderland 2
Price: $59.99 Standard Edition (Newegg / Amazon)
$99.99 Deluxe Vault Hunter Collector Edition (Newegg / Amazon)
Borderlands 2 is an exciting game that pulls you into a fantasy world that’s been done a hundred times, but finds a way to give it to you like never before. While the game itself is a hybrid creation with familiar ingredients that taste of Eve Online, World of Warcraft, and Fallout, then seasoned with hints of Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty. Players assume the role of a “vault hunter” in one of four combat disciplines: Commando, Gunzerker, Assassin, and Siren. The character then fight bandits in first-person shooter format across a vast array of maps, but unlike most FPS-styled games, each level means better loot and tougher enemies. In this article Benchmark Reviews explains how to easily beat ‘The Warrior’ end boss within ‘The Talon of God’ final story mission, then we show you how to farm him for XP and legendary purple weapons over and over again.
Borderlands 2 has no limit on how quickly you complete the main story, but with nearly 130 missions in normal mode there are at least sixty hours of gameplay before you reach the final story mission. Impatient players can choose to ignore side missions and quickly cut through the main story to reach ‘The Talon of God’ final mission sooner, but those players will be poorly prepared for the level-30 enemy strength that comes with this stage. Borderlands 2 presently limits players to 50 skill levels, but anyone past level 25 should be capable of beating the game… with exception to the bonus side mission that comes afterward.
Much like the five rounds of Bandit Slaughter and Hyperion Slaughter missions, players should have a weapon of every type with expanded ammunition capacity. It’s recommended that players also have a fully-upgraded Storage Deck for all of the loot they’ll receive, in addition to all the ammunition storage upgrades. When you’re ready to enter Vault of the Warrior, make sure you’re carrying maximum ammunition, rockets, and grenade, but also make sure you’ve deposited all unnecessary items in a safe. Unfortunately, items like the Sabre Turret won’t have any effect on The Warrior, but she’ll still be very in useful for farming XP. Read on to learn how it’s done!
This guide is for Borderlands 2 players who are attempting to beat The Warrior for the very first time. The instruction on this page discusses one of two possible methods of beating The Warrior (the second follows on the next page), but this method is guaranteed to work without risk of taking damage. Unfortunately, this method is also only available to players who have not previously beaten The Warrior.
Players reach The Warrior via Hero’s Pass, after battling a large assortment of Hyperion robots and soldiers. After Hero’s Pass you’ll ride an elevator down to Vault of the Warrior, where you’ll be greeted by a stone stairwell that leads to a large Hyperion shield. Most people will do as the developers intended and proceed forward and drop under the shield, then battle with The Warrior. That’s one way to go about things, but it gets very ugly.
Along the left side of that stairwell is a stone ramp the leads up into some nearby rock formations. Follow that ramp onto the stones, and walk forward (towards The Warrior) as far as you can.
Eventually you’ll climb high enough to see your target, or at least the top of his head. Using a sniper rifle or rocket launcher (preferred), take aim at The Warrior and fire until empty. Since you haven’t crossed beyond the shield The Warrior won’t move about the map, allowing players to repeatedly fire at a stationary target. When you run out of rockets or ammunition merely climb back down and buy more, or just switch weapons until the job is done. Once defeated, you can move forward and finish the mission: Kill Handsome Jack (or choose an alternate ending).
As soon as Handsome Jack is dead, Borderlands 2 alerts you that ‘True Vault Hunter Mode’ has been unlocked. After pressing ‘Ok’, you’re free to collect the loot. The first time you defeat Handsome Jack you’ll receive at least one orange legendary item, along with many purple and green items. If you’ve cleaned out your Storage Deck, everything worth more than $1600 can be stored away for the next step: selling most of it.
There’s a Fast Travel station immediately at the end of Hero’s Pass as you enter Vault of the Warrior, however it only allows outbound travel. You’ve got several choices, one of which is to restart all Main Story Missions from the beginning in True Vault Hunter Mode, or go with our suggestion: Save and Close the game. When you return to the main menu, merely Continue and you’ll restart at the Vault of the Warrior Fast Travel station besides the medical and ammunition vending machines. This is where you’ll sell your loot before defeating The Warrior again to farm XP and loot. We explain how on the next page…
After you defeat The Warrior the first time followed by Save and Close, the game will enable you to fight this enemy again when you Continue. You’ll begin at top of a stairwell leading down Vault of the Warrior, with a Dr. Zed’s Meds and Marcus Munitions Ammo Dump nearby. This is where you’ll sell off all the unwanted loot (usually everything that’s not purple), and buy ammunition that hasn’t been fully restocked using found packs or the Hyperion self-renewing machines.
Proceed down the stairwell until you reach the end of the stairs, illustrated below. Crossing the threshold will prompt the game to respawn The Warrior, so slowly make your way to the edge in preparation to turn and run.
As you sprint back up the stairs, watch for the flat rock illustrated in the image below or video here. This is your safety rock, and while it’s not 100% free of harm it’s possible to take little damage (if any) while attacking The Warrior.
Unlike the first method outlined on the previous page, this time The Warrior will be moving about the map. It’s suggested that you crouch down and move to the edge of the flat rock closest to lava. This will keep you within view of The Warrior from all three of his reoccurring positions, but free of stone, swipe, and flame attacks.
For an example of what this looks like in-game, please watch the video below:
If you’re playing as the Commando class, you can make use of the Sabre Turret to kill Volcanic Crystalisks and Rakks while you fight The Warrior as well as when you’re collecting up loot. Unfortunately the Sabre Turret will not attack The Warrior so you’re stuck wasting ammo, but while during battle and after when you’re running around comparing and collecting items, the Sabre Turret will fire on an endless supply of flying Volcanic Rakk for additional XP and loot.
It seems monotonous, but this is probably the fastest way to level up. The most entertaining option is to play through the game again in True Vault Hunter Mode, which is much more difficult but offers equally rewarding loot. Once you reach level 50, you’ll be ready to join with three friends and fight the nearly-invincible Terramorphous for the bonus side mission You. Will. Die. (Seriously). Good luck!
Will you play the game again in True Vault Hunter Mode, or farm credits and experience?
