what does doing the optional mission parts on borderlands do free sample

Say, if you had been very effective in completing story missions, you might end up being 3 levels below even common minions, for your upcoming story mission. And that makes it difficult to progress. Optional missions nets you XP points to level up.

Also, if you had trouble finding good gears., some optional missions award very good gears ( look for blue award items icons ). Get them when you"re really stuck. Those items are almost as good as Legendaries but obviously, are not rare, so, they"re just blue. Don"t rank those as blue in effectiveness or power. Red text ones have unique feature and are often better than purple gears.

If you look at the quest menu before completing a bonus objective, take note of the stated cash reward, then go and complete one (or more) bonus objectives. Now return to the quest menu and the new, increased dollar reward amount should have changed.

As far as I"ve been able to tell, this (along with the “completionist” challenge, and sometimes a bit more dialogue) appears to be the only benefit of completing the bonus objectives. I have never seen any direct experience point increase, or any kind of correlation to the stats of quest reward items. The only other possible benefit may be an increase in drop rates for quest related enemies, but thats just total speculation, and I have not noticed any significant change (and with BL2"s drop rates, testing this would be very difficult, and would require literal thousands of test runs).

Optional Objectives can give better Mission Rewards. Better XP, money, and/or items. An example would be the Hyperian Mission to kill 100 bandits. Kill at least 20 with a certain element, it increases the chances for a better sniper rifle. Kill at least 20 with another element, even better odds for better stats. Kill at least 20 more with a different element, even better chances, etc... So if you"re trying for say a Slag Morningstar, you"ll have better luck by doing the objectives.

Borderlands 2 Side QuestsThis section lists all the side quests in Borderlands 2, known as Optional Missions. To help you decide which mission to do next, they are grouped by completion time below.advertisementYou can engage in side quests at any time during your Main Quests playthrough, but please note that progression through the main story does have some effect on side missions. Apart from level progression that makes some side quests way too easy (and means you won"t nab more than 1XP for each enemy you shoot), some quests may become blocked temporarily as characters or locations become unavailable as part of your quest.For information about the quests that can become blocked and how to unblock them, see: Blocked Missions.Short Side QuestsEstimated length: under 5 minutesMedium Side QuestsEstimated length: between 5 and 15 minutesLong Side QuestsEstimated length: between 15 and 30 minutesVery Long Side QuestsEstimated length: more than 30 minutes

The Director"s Cut add-on for Borderlands 3 brings all new ways to play. In addition to a new raid boss, extra story missions, and behind-the-scenes footage, the Director"s Cut also includes three Vault Cards: a new progression system with endless rewards. Each Vault Card offers unique Legendary gear, tons of new cosmetic items, and an all-new in-game resource: Diamond Keys.

There are a lot of layers to Vault Cards, but the premise is simple: playing the game with a Vault Card active gives you more loot and XP. To access them, you"ll need to own the Director"s Cut add-on, which is available for individual purchase or as part of Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition or Season Pass 2.

When Director"s Cut launches on April 8, you"ll get immediate access to the first Vault Card: Fallen Heroes. Each of the three Vault Cards is built around a distinct theme, and Fallen Heroes offers items that pay tribute to some of the most beloved, gone-but-not-forgotten allies. We"ll have more info to share on the subsequent Vault Cards later this year, but we"re planning to launch all three by the end of 2021.

When multiple Vault Cards are available, you can choose which one is active while you play. Once activated, you"ll see an additional progression bar on your HUD sitting just below your Vault Hunter"s regular XP bar. Filling up your Vault Card progression bar works just like leveling up: it"s all driven by how much XP you"re gaining. By exploring the galaxy, wiping out baddies, and completing quests, you"ll fill up your Vault Card progression bar in addition to your regular XP bar!

There are also new Daily and Weekly Challenges that"ll give you an XP boost for both your Vault Card bar and your regular XP bar. They"re all managed via a new tab in your ECHO Device, with three Daily Challenges and one multi-tiered Weekly Challenge to chase after.

Vault Cards pull from a pool of over 100 unique challenges, so you never know what you"re going to get. Daily Challenges refresh every day at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM UTC, and Weekly Challenges refresh on Thursdays at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM UTC. Note that Daily and Weekly Challenges will be replaced at these times whether or not you"ve completed them, so if you see something that strikes your fancy, make sure you jump on it ASAP!

So, you"ve activated a Vault Card and you"ve been diligently completing Challenges; how do you get its unique rewards? Enter Vault Card Chests. Each time you fill that bar and "level up" your Vault Card, you"ll score a Vault Card Chest unique to that Card.

These Chests will contain either: a piece of gear from the weekly loot pool, a cosmetic item from that Vault Card, Eridium, a Vault Card Key (which are rare), or a Diamond Key (which are super rare; more on those later). Because cosmetic items can only be collected once, Vault Cards have built-in duplicate protection—if you would"ve gotten a cosmetic item you already have, you"ll get a Vault Card Key instead.

Vault Card Keys let you unlock the Legendary gear and cosmetics from the associated Vault Card. The gear scales to your character"s current level, and you can preview the complete collection of loot via your ECHO Device. These items can be unlocked in any order you want, so you can get the loot you desire pronto.

Each Vault Card features a total of 28 unique rewards, including 24 themed cosmetics and four new pieces of Legendary gear! As an example of what to expect, here"s a full rundown of the type of rewards featured in Vault Card #1, Fallen Heroes:4 pieces of new Legendary gear (Sniper Rifle, SMG, Rocket Launcher, Shield)

There"s no level cap on Vault Cards, so you can level them up with XP and continue to earn Chests indefinitely. Even after you"ve unlocked all of a Vault Card"s unique loot, you can keep leveling it up to rake in the Eridium. And, just maybe, you"ll be lucky enough to score a coveted Diamond Key…

You may be familiar with Golden Keys, which you can score by keeping up with all things Borderlands on social media. Golden Keys unlock the Golden Chest near Marcus Munitions on Sanctuary III. When opened, the Golden Chest offers up a bunch of high-end gear appropriate for your level.

To use your Diamond Keys, visit the Diamond Armory, a new room located beneath the Bridge on Sanctuary III"s upper deck. This room contains the alluring Diamond Chest with "Choose Wisely" inscribed on its front. On three nearby walls, you"ll see neon symbols for Shields, Weapons, and Grenades. Activate the Diamond Chest with a single-use Diamond Key, and the shutters on those three walls will snap open, revealing a trove of exceptional items.

With so much sweet loot staring you in the face, you"ll feel like a kid in a candy store. But take heed—once you"ve opened the Diamond Chest, the clock starts ticking. You"ll have to scan through the available gear as quick as you can, because you can only take one piece of loot from each wall.

Once you"ve made your selections (or the timer runs out), the shutters slam shut, taking all those other lovely loot options with them. If you got so transfixed by one wall that you forgot about the others, you won"t leave empty-handed; you"ll receive a random item from the wall when time"s up.

The fun"s not over even when all the shutters are closed, as the Diamond Chest in the center of the room will power up to produce one last piece of gear that"s guaranteed to be Legendary. So, to recap: each time you open the Diamond Chest, you get four items total, including at least one Legendary. With any luck, you"ll score the kind of loot all Vault Hunters dream of.

Now that you have an understanding on how Vault Cards and Diamond Keys work, here are answers to questions you might have about the finer details. If you don"t see an answer to your question here, hit us up via @Borderlands on Twitter!

No, but each Vault Card will present three Daily Challenges, so when all three Vault Cards are available, you can complete up to nine Daily Challenges each day! Similarly, each Vault Card has its own Weekly Challenge, so you can complete a maximum of three each week. Note that you can only progress Challenges on the Vault Card you have active, so make sure you"ve activated the right one.

Currently there are no plans to allow on-demand rerolling of Daily or Weekly Challenges, regardless of whether or not they"ve been completed. New Challenges will populate in your Vault Cards every day at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM UTC for Daily Challenges, and Thursdays at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM UTC for Weekly Challenges.

All you completionists should strive to collect all the items on each Vault Card, but Vault Cards will never technically be "completed" because they have no level cap, and will therefore always keep offering rewards. You can keep earning Vault Card levels even after you"ve scored all of that Card"s gear to earn Diamond Keys, Eridium, and higher-level versions of the Card"s gear.

Nope—the rewards for Vault Cards are account-based, so you can redeem their rewards on any character. Vault Hunter Skins and Weapon Skins for each Vault Card will unlock on all of your characters. If you happen to get gear that would be perfect for a different character, you can transfer it with your bank aboard Sanctuary III just like any other drop!

This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

Halfway between MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries" procedurally generated Contracts and the story-progressing Campaign Missions, High Reward Quests are scripted missions with increased difficulty and enhanced rewards. Though they feature scripted lines from Cavaliers Operations Officer Ryana Campbell and others, they are not fully scripted like the Campaign Missions and thus still have a degree of variability in map design and enemy "Mech selection in each playthrough. The High Reward Quests introduced in the DLCs, however, feature a larger degree of preset events and more missions with enhanced, unique map layouts.

Similar to the BattleTech video game"s Flashpoints, MW5"s High Reward Quests are mini-stories often relating to background topics from the BattleTech universe. Unlike Multi-Mission Operations, High Reward Quest missions do not have to be completed consecutively and will generally take place across multiple systems inside the same Conflict Zone. They will openly list the C-bill and Reputation rewards they offer, but will sometimes hide any additional rewards until the completion of the final mission. These predetermined, hidden bonuses are listed below.

While most quests are for a single employer, some give the player the option of choosing only one set of missions from two opposing factions or allow the player to change sides before the final mission. Additionally, there are some quests with missions that do not have to be played in any particular order.

Most High Reward Quests require the player to reach the specific Reputation Level of the Conflict Zone in which they are hosted. Unlike the Kestrel Lancers Missions or Rasalhague Missions, they do not expire so it is possible to return to them later, even after the Campaign is completed, though their rewards, difficulty, and tonnage restrictions do not scale and are static. They are entirely optional and can be skipped.

The following High Reward Quests are available within the Nik"s Cavaliers Campaign. Thirty-three of them are featured in the core game along with seven Hero "Mech quests added by Heroes of the Inner Sphere, an additional seven with Legend of the Kestrel Lancers, and a single five-mission quest added with Call to Arms.

Mission Brief: With numerous mercs pulling out of Mercenary Row, Sebastian Spears of Interstellar Expeditions offers the Cavaliers a contract to strike one of the withdrawing Harlock"s Warriors" "Mech repair depots for much needed supplies for his clients, attempting to overcome their reservation about hitting a fellow mercenary unit by offering the desperate Cavaliers a healthy cut of the resale value.

Mission: 145 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 7 Assassination Mission on Pascagoula to kill the much despised Harlock"s Warriors" head of security Anders Willman, which will convince the rest of the Warriors to bug out.

Mission Brief: The introduction of the BattleMech in centuries, has excited the entire Lyran Commonwealth, despite the fact initial distribution of the "Mech is flowing to the most politically connected units. Seething that the under-attack Skye has been slighted while the green Social General–heavy Nineteenth Arcturan Guards received an entire company of the "Mechs, the Independent People of Skye hire the Cavaliers to "reappropriate" some for those they deem more worthy.

Mission 1: 160 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Assassination Mission on Benfled to locate and defeat a lance of Hatchetmen at a small base near the Nineteenths" garrison so that the IPS can swoop in and salvage them.

Mission 2: 160 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Objective Raid Mission on Benfled at three Arcturan Guard supply depots for rare parts unique to the Hatchetman. While the IPS was able to salvage the four "Mechs, the damage inflicted by the Cavaliers means they will need extensive repair to be made combat ready.

Mission 3: 165 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Assassination Mission on Benfled to eliminate Tobias Klein and his family"s Defiance Industries board member Emma Klein"s son Tobias serves in the Nineteenth and is likely the reason they"ve received so many Hatchetmen, the angry IPS orders him eliminated to send a humiliating message that they are undeserving of such preferential treatment.

Mission 4: 165 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Demolition Mission on Benfled to destroy a redundant Arcturan Guard data center. Concerned that the LCAF may deduce the real motives for the strikes against the Nineteenth, the IPS sends the Cavaliers to destroy an outpost housing a backup data center to give the impression of a real clandestine military raid.

Mission 5: 165 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Warzone-like Mission on Benfled to destroy the Nineteenth"s last few Hatchetmen. With false reports convincing the Nineteenth that a Kuritan raiding party operating from an early Succession War era junkyard known as "The Heap" is behind the strikes, the IPS stations the Cavaliers there to ambush them and "leave these spoiled brats buried with the rest of Benfled"s trash."

Mission Brief: In the wake of Black Inferno"s drive through the region, the pirate Vogel"s Vandals have taken advantage of the situation to raid now defenseless farm worlds. The Coalition of Farmers have pooled their meager funds to hire the Cavaliers to deal with the pirate threat.

Mission 2: 175 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 18 Assassination Mission on Macomb to eliminate the pirates" leader Victor Vogel to end the threat and drive the rest of the Vandals off once and for all.

Mission Brief: Most of the worlds caught in the wake of Black Inferno"s march are simple farming and extraction planets, but still contain valuable resources Spears" clients are looking to acquire. By staging diversionary raids, Spears can send in his salvage crews while the local militias are engaged.

Rewards: 568,125 C-bills, 105 Reputation, three Tier 3 Medium Pulse Lasers, four Tier 3 Small Pulse Lasers, seven Single Heat Sinks, eight Class V Jump Jets

Mission 2: 160 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 15 Raid Mission on Quincy to destroy the primary comm center to prevent the local militia from coordinating their defense.

Mission 1: 175 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Raid Mission on Marlowe"s Rift against First Amphigean Light Assault Group defended communication towers to assist the Davion offensive.

Mission 2: 175 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Demolition Mission on Misery V against a McGee"s Cutthroats firebase to end their raids against Davion supply lines.

Mission 1: 175 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Demolition Mission on Bergman"s Planet against a Forty-first Avalon Hussars command post to prevent them from launching yet another successful raid on a Draconis world.

Mission 2: 175 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Raid Mission on Gandy"s Luck to destroy a Forty-first Avalon Hussars ammo depot, diminishing their invasion effectiveness.

Mission Brief: The Cavaliers are approached by a representative of the Taurian Concordat with a contract to investigate and destroy a suspected Federated Suns raiding party that struck Cyrton to determine their origins and intentions before Protector Calderon rashly orders a preemptive counterinvasion of the Federated Suns.

Mission 1: 220 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 30 Warzone Mission on Montour to defeat the raiders and determine if they are really are AFFS troops or pirates engaged in a false flag deception.

Mission 2: 220 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 35 Warzone-like Mission on Pirate"s Haven, joining the Taurian Guard in neutralizing the pirate forces and their artillery defenses.

Mission 3: 250 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 50 Warzone-like Mission on Pirate"s Haven attacking the pirates" last redoubt in the so-called "Black Cliffs," again with support from the Taurian Guard.

Mission Brief: The Cavaliers are contracted by the Magistracy of Canopus to support the First Canopian Fusiliers in their efforts track down and destroy a Marian Hegemony employed pirate unit called the El Giza Ghost Riders.

Mission Brief: The Draconis Combine hires the Cavaliers to track down and kill two high value defectors who have crossed into Federated Suns space to show the fate of those would betray House Kurita.

Mission 1: 200 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 24 Assassination Mission on Ronel to kill Hester Troy, now serving in the Blue Star Irregulars mercenary unit.

Mission Brief: The Draconis Combine is launching an invasion thrust into the Federated Suns, offering mercenary units supporting contracts to strike Federated Suns–employed mercs and force them to withdraw.

Mission 1: 200 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 27 Demolition Mission on Kentares to destroy the command post of the Blue Star Irregulars and to weaken the Davion defenses in the region.

Mission 2: 200 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 27 Assassination Mission on David to eliminate an MIIO agent, code name "Vulpes," before his evacuation by the Addicks Draconis March Militia and prevent damaging intelligence on the Kurita offensive efforts reaching Davion hands.

Mission Brief: Noting the Cavaliers" success on Kentares, House Davion offers a contract to betray the Draconis Combine to ensure the safety of MIIO Agent Vulpes with critical intel on the Combine"s efforts.

Mission Brief: With its hands full with the Draconis Combine invasion in the region, the Federated Suns is seeking small and agile mercenary units to engage in behind the line raids in Combine territory to take the pressure off.

Mission 2: 200 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 27 Assassination Mission on Homam to eliminate Richard Saito of the Fifteenth Dieron Regulars, the Kurita high commander involved in the hiring of mercenaries to support the invasion thrust into Federated Suns–space, to shatter the morale of both the Fifteenth"s and the mercs fighting under his banner.

Mission Brief: Noting the Cavaliers" success on Matar, House Kurita offers a contract to betray the Federated Suns and eliminate the commander of the Crater Cobras, shattering the Davion defensive efforts.

Mission Brief: The Cavaliers are hired by Avalon Shipping to serve as bait, garrisoning insignificant targets whose locations have been leaked to lure pirates away from the real ones.

Mission 2: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 36 Warzone Mission on Listowel against Castell"s Pillagers responding to false intel about Avalon Shipping"s fake depot.

Mission Brief: The Draconis Combine hires the Cavaliers to assist the Sixth Arkab Legion in destroying the rebel Crimson Inclination group, led by the charismatic High Lord Fransson, who"ve taken over Najha.

Mission 1: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 55 Beachhead Mission on Najha to clear the Crimson Inclination artillery to allow the Arkab Legion to breach the capital city"s defenses.

Mission 2: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Demolition Mission on Mannedorf to destroy a bolt hole used by the escaping Crimson Inclination located by the ISF.

Mission 3: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Assassination Mission on Ardoz to hopefully put an end to the Crimson Inclination by defeating Fransson and his top lieutenants.

Mission 4: 50 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Raid Mission on Marawi to speedily and stealthily destroy radio towers to prevent the surviving members of the Crimson Inclination from connecting with the martyred Fransson"s LOKI agents, before leading their remaining five "Mechs into a narrow, muddy ravine where the Sixth Arkab Legion will be waiting to ambush them.

Mission Brief: Duke Elias von Richter has excluded his younger brother Emil from his will. An incensed Emil has been rumored to be forming a mercenary force to take the dukedom by force, with the Cavaliers hired to investigate further.

Mission 1: 240 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 35 Assassination Mission on Penobscot with the Duke Richter sending the Cavaliers to investigate and defeat key members of the "mercenary" forces gathering on world.

Mission 2: 240 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 40 Warzone-like Mission on Penobscot which sees the Cavaliers help Penobscot"s Honor Guard hold the line against the Free Worlds League forces assisting Emil"s coup against the Duke.

Mission 3: 240 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 40 Warzone-like Mission on Penobscot against Emil and the retreating League forces, where the Cavaliers and Honor Guard must strike the heavily defended mountain pass leading to his mountain villa to capture the usurper.

Mission Brief: Duchy of Tsitsang is a collection of five system in the Sarna Commonality harshly ruled with an iron fist by Duchess Karis So. With her people openly rising up in rebellion, the Cavaliers are hired to deal with this insurrection quickly, only to escalate matters.

Mission 1: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 41 Demolition Mission on Bora III to destroy the rebel base as an example to those who would oppose Duchess So and the Celestial Wisdom.

Mission 2: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 45 Assassination Mission on Ovan to eliminate rebel leader Josh Vorsythe and shatter the rallying point for the rebellion against Duchess So.

Mission Brief: Seeking to drive the last surviving Capellan DropShip manufacturer out of business, Davion-based DropShip builder New Syrtis Shipyards is undercutting the prices of vessels built by Rashpur-Owens Incorporated, additionally negating the losses by illegal smuggling goods over the Davion-Liao border in the newly built vessels intended for Capellan buyers. Rashpur-Owens hires the Cavaliers to destroy key NSS facilities used in this trade to put a stop to the scheme.

Mission 1: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 45 Demolition Mission on Ares to destroy the transfer station used by New Syrtis Shipyards to sell to the Confederation under the table.

Mission 2: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 45 Raid Mission on Bethel to destroy facilities housing important components used to maintain New Syrtis Shipyards fleet of

Mission Brief: Silvan Vaughn of the independent watchdog group Eyes on Democracy contacts the Cavaliers with concerns that the leading candidate for a regional trade federation presidential election, Casper Owens, may soon be assassinated so that Duke Hasek-Davion can install a puppet candidate who will be more amenable to his demands, thereby gaining more influence over local administrative and logistical operations.

Mission 2: 295 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 55 Raid Mission on Monhegan on a regional Eighth Syrtis Fusiliers armory to discourage them from making another assassination attempt.

Mission 4: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 65 Assassination and Defense Mission on Novaya Zemlya supposedly to attack Count Anton Vitios" remote base and end his attempts on the candidate"s life, only to discover that Silvan Vaughn was using the Cavaliers to break through the Syrtis Fusiliers" defenses to assassinate Casper Owens himself.

Mission Brief: The ISF have learned of rumors that House Steiner is planning to attack a Cosby BattleMech and Myomer Research Firm facility that is home to "Project Cold Snap," an attempt to develop "Mech Myomer that is designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. The Cavaliers are hired to defend then retaliate against the Lyran attack.

Rewards: 3,214,820 C-bills, 250 Reputation, one Tier 4 large laser, one Tier 4 AC/20-BF, one Tier 4 LRM-20 with Artemis IV, one Double Heat Sink, four tons of LRM Artemis ammo, four tons of AC/20 ammo

Mission 1: 250 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 50 Warzone-like Mission on Kajikazawa as the Lyran attack against the research facility in the frigid wastes begins.

Mission 2: 250 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 50 Demolition Mission on Borghese to destroy a Defiance Industries armor manufacturing plant to make the Lyrans pay for trying to steal Cold Snap.

Mission Brief: With the backing of a Protectionist Minister of Trade, the Obsidian Harvest Corporation was able to secure an exclusive fixed-price contract from the Free Worlds League Parliament for an unexpectedly rich vein of rare minerals. With the greedy company now offering their full supply to Lyran traders for three times the market value and refusing to honor the League contract, a Free Worlds League representative approaches the Cavaliers to deal with the situation delicately before word gets out.

Mission 1: 250 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 55 Raid Mission on Amity with the Cavaliers performing a surgical strike to cripple Obsidian"s communication relays to convince the company to cease its rogue activity.

Mission 2: 320 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 55 Warzone-like Mission on Amity to assist the planet"s militia forces attack Obsidian"s headquarters in the primary dig site, the rogue company hunkering down with the Homer"s Hooligans mercenary unit as defenders as they attempt to blackmail the League to save themselves.

Mission Brief: The Capellan Confederation hires the Cavaliers to defend the descendants of a group of former Federated Suns MechWarriors who defected from the Ninth Avalon Hussars in 2862, nicknamed the Cerberus Hounds. After over a century of living within the Confederation, their location has been discovered by the Federated Suns who are now determined to destroy them.

Mission 1: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 38 Defense Mission on New Westin to protect the Cerberus Hounds from attacking First Kittery Borderers forces.

Mission 2: 230 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 38 Warzone Mission on Grand Base I to hold back the vengeful First Kittery Borderers to allow the Cerberus Hounds to evacuate Capellan civilians.

Mission Brief: The Capellan Confederation has detected a weak coded signal coming from a planet on the Liao Periphery border that should be uninhabited. Though they are unable to decode the message, the Cavaliers are hired by the Confederation to investigate what is a suspected pirate or wildcatter colony.

Rewards: 350,000 C-bills, 1,044 Reputation, one Tier 0 Gauss rifle, one Tier 0 LB 10-X, five tons of Gauss ammo, four tons of LB 10-X ammo, five Double Heat Sinks

Mission 1: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Raid Mission on Egress that sees the Cavaliers sent to destroy the illegal colony"s communication relays only to encounter heavily armed House Davion defenders.

Mission 2: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Warzone Mission on Repulse III to confront the deciphered source of the errant transmissions: a House Davion strike team preparing to raid the Capellan industrial world as a means to field-test prototype Lostech equipment rediscovered by the New Avalon Institute of Science.

Mission Brief: The Capellan Confederation is seeking mercenaries to directly partake in a frontline invasion into Davion space in order to reclaim historically Capellan worlds.

Mission 1: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Demolition Mission on Bacum to destroy a spaceport headquarters being used by the retreating Seventh Crucis Lancers, thereby slowing their withdrawal and giving the Capellans more time weaken their forces further.

Mission 2: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Assassination Mission on Narellan to kill Fifth Davion Guards commander Walter Jackson to disrupt his battalion"s planned deployment into Liao space.

Mission Brief: House Liao is invading Federated Suns territory on the border of the Kittery salient. House Davion is unable to redeploy significant portions of their forces away from other battlefronts and requests the services of a dependable mercenary outfit for a staunch defense.

Mission 1: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Warzone Mission on Teng III against the First St. Ives Lancers, who are using the planet as the tip of the spear for a larger assault on Davion territory. The Cavaliers are tasked with holding them back until Davion reinforcements can make landfall.

Mission 2: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Warzone Mission on Bacum to supplement the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers defenses and hold off the Second St. Ives Lancers for as long as possible.

Mission Brief: Pavel Shenzeng"s son was downed in battle and taken captive by a band of pirates who are holding him and several others for ransom. Unwilling to bow to such a request, Pavel seeks the services of a mercenary to help rescue the prisoners.

Mission 1: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Raid Mission on Lopez to destroy the pirates" main command center which will disable power to the prison facility and allow the POWs escape.

Mission 2: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Warzone Mission on Ryerson X to distract and draw the pirates away from their true operating base to give an infiltration team enough time to extract the prisoners.

Mission Brief: Baron Oliver Kincaid, an old friend of Mason"s father, has died and bequeathed his custom Kate and his estranged son, Bowen, that will require the Cavaliers to unravel.

Mission 1: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 65 Demolition Mission on Holt to destroy a bandit-held compound that may have picked up the Agincourt after looting one of the four possible locations where Oliver Kincaid might have stored it.

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Raid Mission on Ibstock to destroy satellite stations used by Bowen"s Arrow at the second location to spread increasing misinformation and interest on the location of the Agincourt.

Mission 3: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Defense Mission on Bernardo at the third location to protect a decommissioned base once used to store the Agincourt from capture by Bowen"s newest employees, elements of the storied Waco Rangers.

Mission 4: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Beachhead and Demolition Mission on Berenson which forces the Cavaliers to choose between first securing a nearby civilian city or striking a Waco Ranger forward operating base, before eventually killing Bowen Kincaid to protect and claim the Agincourt.

Note: In the final mission, securing the city first will result in the arrival of a friendly lance of light "Mechs to support the attack on the Waco FOB, at the cost of additional enemy "Mechs overall.

Mission Brief: With Romano Liao seeking to show her sister Candace that the Confederation can strike her secessionist St. Ives Compact at will, the Cavaliers are hired to assist the Second Confederation Reserve Cavalry to cripple the St. Ives Sentinels to teach them the price of their betrayal of House Liao.

Mission 1: 310 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Warzone-like Mission on Vestallas III assist the Reserve Cavalry to capture a heavily guarded interplanetary communications relay on an isolated tropical island to prevent the Sentinels on Vestallas IV learning of the upcoming attack.

Mission 2: 310 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 55 Raid Mission on Vestallas IV to cripple satellite relays in Wong Tai Sin City to ensure the Sentinels remain in the dark of the ambush.

Mission 3: 310 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Warzone-like Mission on Vestallas IV to eliminate a detachment of St. Ives Sentinels responding to supposed pirate raid preparing to strike Jinshan, not realizing the Reserve Cavalry and Cavaliers lie in ambush.

Mission Brief: Baron Ishmael Stroud hires the Cavaliers to follow up on rumors of the fate of his son, thought lost for over a decade in suspected pirate space.

Rewards: 20,905 C-bills, 1,467 Reputation, two Tier 3 Large Pulse Lasers, one Tier 3 ER PPC, one Tier 4 Small Pulse Laser, one Tier 3 AMS, three tons of AMS ammo

Mission 1: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 67 Raid Mission on Watermael I to destroy the pirates" storage facilities holding their loot to search for clues and weaken them.

Mission Brief: The Cavaliers are hired by Gibson-born elements of the Fourth Regulan Hussars serving as the honor guard for Count Derrick Cameron-Jones convinced that traditionalists who view those from Gibson as traitors to Regulus will launch a false-flag attack during a goodwill tour to prove they are unworthy of the position.

Mission 1: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Defense Mission on Kearny as the Cavaliers must protect the base where the Count is currently being guarded

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Warzone Mission on Mauripur to stand between the rogue elements of the Hussars and the Count"s evacuation DropShip.

Mission 3: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Assassination Mission on Diass II with the Count sending the Cavaliers to eliminate lead conspirator Daxa Mahat to teach the dissidents a lesson.

Mission Brief: The Free Worlds League intelligence agency SAFE hires the Cavaliers to quietly deal with the Federated Suns-employed Lexington Combat Group from escalating tensions in the region, having secretly infiltrated League space to launch attacks against the Capellan Confederation wearing Free Worlds League Military colors to trick the Capellans into launching counterattacks against House Marik.

Mission 1: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Assassination Mission on Anegasaki II to eliminate Captain Venessa Jym, commander of the Lexington Combat Group detachment in League space before the Davion mercenaries can launch their attack.

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Defense Mission on Calloway to protect a local colony from the anger of the still disguised Lexington Combat Group, lashing out at the nearest League site for preventing its planned attacks against the Confederation.

Mission 3: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Demolition Mission on Daneshmand VII to destroy the true mastermind of the plan, a rabidly anti-Liao colony supported by rogue elements of the Fourth Fusiliers of Oriente who hired the Lexington Combat Group, or so it would seem...

Mission Brief: An anonymous group of "concerned citizens" seek to hire the Cavaliers to strike at manufacturers in the region to purportedly prove that the Captain-General must devote more resources to the defense of this supposedly safe interior region. Yet curiously all the attacks are seemingly against just one of the many manufacturers in the area.

Mission 1: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Demolition Mission on Ngake IV against an Earthwerks-FWL manufacturing hub, with Earthwerks security quick to respond.

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Demolition Mission against an Earthwerks-FWL food plant on Wallis IX, their employer promising nobody will truly go hungry.

Mission Brief: A disgusted soon-to-be ex-employee of Quickscell, Inc. reveals that the Cavaliers have been lied to and the whole contract is actually an attempt to weaken Earthwerks purely to increase sales for Quickscell products in the region, offering an alternate contract and a more modest reward if the Cavaliers instead betray the duplicitous Quickscell.

Mission: 270 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Raid Mission to destroy three Quickscell depots on their regional headquarters on Regulus (location may vary).

Mission Brief: Doomsday cult Church of Kali member Aditi Whidbey has gone rogue, forcing the normally highly secretive zealots to hire an outside mercenary unit to deal with her, but the Cavaliers efforts are complicated by the liaison Will of Kali"s increasingly threatening tone as well as the surprise appearance of advanced BattleMechs unseen in centuries.

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Demolition Mission on Housekarle to destroy a base of operations used by Whidbey"s forces protected by unusually advanced "Mechs.

Mission 3: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Assassination Mission on Grand Base to kill Aditi Whidbey"s high-ranking adjunct Captain Warner and his Royal-equipped forces.

Mission 4: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Assassination Mission on Claxton to assault Aditi Whidbey"s final redoubt among the remains of the 309th Royal BattleMech Division in a horrific toxic and lava filled canyon to finally kill the heretic and her remaining followers.

Note: For the final mission, a jump-capable "Mech is required in order to find and destroy the auxiliary base, a secondary objective worth 987,654 C-bills in bonus payout.

Mission Brief: Despite the Free Rasalhague Republic"s disdain for mercenaries in the wake of the Ronin War, the Cavaliers are hired to assist against a resurgent group of ronin led by former Fifth Amphigean Light Assault Group member Satoshi Takeda who has captured an FRR world in the name of the Coordinator despite the

Mission 2: 325 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Warzone-like Mission on Dehgolan to assist elements of the First Tyr defeat Takeda"s artillery-protected forces.

Mission 3: 325 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Assassination Mission on Dehgolan to hunt down Takeda"s lieutenants before they can enact retribution upon the planet"s civilian population for their leader"s death.

Mission Brief: A joint venture on the production of Land Trains centuries ago has proven highly successful for both Gienah Automotive and DuraPaq Solutions, but the terms are heavily biased toward DuraPaq who get the lion share of the profit. The Cavaliers are hired by an aggressive Gienah Automotive executive seeking to secretly strike at DuraPaq facilities, damaging them enough to cause delays that would trigger contract penalty clauses that would "rebalance" the flow of profit more favorably toward Gienah.

Mission 2: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Raid Mission on Schererville targeting communication relays to prevent a spy leaking word to DuraPaq that Gienah was behind the Kilarney strike and avoid shattering the joint venture entirely.

Mission Brief: Following a dual SAFE and Lyran Intelligence Corps investigation, the Lyran Commonwealth suspects an unknown party of attempting to provoke a war by raiding both sides of the Free Worlds League/Lyran Commonwealth border using "Mechs painted in the colors of the other nation.

Mission 3: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Assassination Mission on Hyde to kill the DEST commander Tai-i Jules Tanaka and put an end to the false flag attacks.

Mission Brief: The Tamarind Mining Corporation wants to hire the Cavaliers to eject local civilians from lands above radioactive mineral deposit the Free Worlds League Parliament has ceded to the company, but the locals" fanatical religious devotion for Star League-era ruins located there mean they will not go easy.

Mission 1: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Raid Mission on Labouchere to destroy the region"s communication relay towers with such ferocity to hopefully frighten the civilians into leaving.

Mission 2: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Demolition Mission on Alula Borealis to destroy a portion of the ruins the locals hold dear, while the Clifton"s Rangers have been hired to defend their sacred site.

Mission 3: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Warzone on Promised Land with the incensed and inconsolable civilians using every last C-bill remaining to them to send the Clifton"s Rangers to destroy the Cavaliers.

Mission Brief: After receiving information from the MIIO about a threat on his life, Duke Thaddeus Cole hires the reputable Cavaliers to reinforce his security detail but not in time before his estate is attacked and daughter Samantha is captured.

Note: The final mission gives you a choice between a head-on assault on the Shadow Unit base, or a longer route around the edge of the facility. The latter will require you to engage 2-3 lances of light and medium "Mechs, miscellaneous ground vehicles, and VTOLs, but spread-out along the path. Engaging the base directly only requires dealing with the garrison"s heavy/assault lance and VTOLs, but all simultaneously while moving uphill through a choke point.

Mission Brief: The Cavaliers are hired by Enhancements Diversified, a Free Worlds League bionics manufacturer whose clinics and facilities are under attack by rabid anti-bionic fanatics.

Mission 1: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Defense Mission on Sheridan to protect one of ED"s bionics facilities and the city around it from fanatic attack.

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Warzone Mission on Bedeque IV to hold back a large fanatic attack group from reaching one of ED"s clinics.

Mission Brief: An anonymous group of Lyran officers are offering contracts on the lives of Lyran Guards "Social Generals" in order to prevent needless deaths of soldiers by ineffective leaders.

Mission 1: 360 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 80 Assassination Mission on Veckholm to kill Colonel Angus Kempf while he"s engaged in pointless parade in his overequipped assault "Mech.

Mission Brief: Interstellar Expeditions had previously hired elements of Jake Kalmar"s band of pirates led by Yaros Regas to support its investigations in the Deep Periphery, but the band is now on the losing side of an escalating conflict with the Oberon Confederation. Seeking to protect IE"s involvement, Sebastian Speers hires the Cavaliers as new recruits to reinforce and resupply Regas" "privateers."

Mission 1: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 60 Raid Mission on Somerset to gain the trust of pirates by raiding a Lyran Commonwealth logistical facility.

Mission 3: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Demolition Mission on Icar to eliminate a Steiner monitoring station and provide cover for the pirate smuggling operation.

Mission 4: 380 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 90 Warzone-like Mission on Star"s End which sees an attempt to parlay with Yaros Regas at the moon base Port Aliveri, Jake Kalmar"s main storage facility, interrupted by the arrival of forces led by Tyler Erickson of the Oberon Confederation.

Mission Brief: With the ISF learning of rumors of an alliance between Houses Steiner and Davion, the Cavaliers are hired to raid Steiner outposts masquerading as a Davion unit to spoil any such relations.

Mission 1: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Demolition Mission on Tomans III to destroy an Arcturan Guards forward base while broadcasting Davion IFF codes.

Mission 2: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Demolition Mission on Bessarabia II to destroy an Arcturan Guards defended ice mining complex as "House Davion" to allow the ISF to hack Lyran communications to discover the route of secret Davion caravan.

Mission 3: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Raid Mission on Cusset to destroy the meeting site of Steiner and Davion envoys while masquerading as House Steiner forces to try and shatter any lasting Steiner-Davion alliance.

Mission Brief: Fearing that a member of the Kuritan Royal Family is in danger, the ISF hire the Cavaliers to pose as decoys to draw the Kokuryu-kai, also known as the Black Dragon Society, out of hiding.

Mission 1: 360 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 80 Defense Mission on Altenmarkt to protect a local duke who"s conducting a tour of the worlds under his authority.

Mission 2: 360 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 80 Warzone Mission on Maule to engage the pursuing Black Dragon forces, having revealed the Cavaliers" subterfuge.

Mission Brief: The Cavaliers find themselves drawn into internal Draconis Combine intrigue when they are offered a contract from the Internal Security Force to remove an Order of the Five Pillars backed politician.

Mission 3: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 88 Assassination Mission on Shimosuwa to eliminate O5P leader Neophyte Jasmine and help the ISF permanently remove Chairman Nakamura from office.

Mission Brief: Retired general and former member of the Steiner High Command Lionel Stanz is opposed to the Davion-Steiner alliance and is hellbent on sowing seeds of discord and starting a war using a rare nuclear device in his possession.

Mission 1: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 90 Demolition Mission on Muphrid against Stanz"s Isle of Skye militia forces to destroy one of the warhead"s relay stations.

Mission 4: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 90 Warzone-like Mission on Summer, joining the Fifth Lyran Guards to capture the warhead and kill Lionel Stanz and his supporters.

Mission Brief: The Lagom-gumi yakuza clan approach the Cavaliers to protect a region close to the Periphery from pirate attacks after attempts to convince the DCMS to do so have failed.

Rewards: 410,000 C-bills, 7,860 Reputation, two Tier 1 LRM-15 with Artemis IV, two Tier 1 SRM-6 with Artemis IV, one Tier 4 Ultra AC/5, four tons of SRM Artemis ammo, four tons of LRM Artemis ammo

Mission 2: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 90 Demolition Mission on Susquehanna to destroy the stronghold of the Bredäng Warriors pirate band before they can strike another defenseless populace.

Mission Brief: A humanitarian aid mission from the Inter-System Advocacy has gone missing and the Cavaliers are hired to attack the pirates suspected of being responsible, only to be dragged into a much murkier situation involving early Succession War WMDs and a population pushed too far.

Rewards: 850,750 C-bills, 4,500 Reputation, one Tier 3 ER PPC, one Tier 3 Large Pulse Laser, one Tier 4 LB 10-X AC Solid Slug, four Tier 4 Small Pulse Lasers, four tons of LB 10-X AC ammo

Mission 1: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 95 Raid Mission on Predlitz III to destroy the bandits" comms towers as a distraction, allowing the ISA to access bandit communications to search for clues to location of the lost volunteers.

Mission 2: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 95 Raid Mission on Polcenigo to smash the bandits" command center in this region to impact their effectiveness while hopefully providing leads on the whereabouts of the ISA volunteers.

Mission 3: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 95 Demolition Mission on Luzerne to shatter ancient ruins housing chemical weapons the fanatical locals are using to as leverage against their rulers to free the ISA volunteers held hostage.

Mission Brief: Incensed at repeated ill-treatment by the DCMS, Rasalhagian Luukas Ranta of the First Altenmarkt Militia has gone rogue, forming a pirate band around those troops loyal to him to strike the Combine. Wishing to eliminate this embarrassing problem before any other members of the showcase Altenmarkt Militia might rise up and shame the Coordinator, the Cavaliers are hired to kill Ranta and his subordinates.

Mission 1: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 95 Assassination Mission on Irece to eliminate Shane Shimizu, one of Ranta"s subcommanders, to liberate a captured farm.

Mission 2: 400 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 95 Assassination Mission on Outer Volta to eliminate Ranta"s second-in-command Lucius Ueda, to lure Ranta into the open.

The thirty-three Core Campaign Mode High Reward Quests are present in Career Mode but with dramatically different reputation levels, tonnage, and difficulty requirements along with altered C-bill and Reputation rewards in response to the six different starting locations. The mission types, briefings, and locations remain the same.

Mission Brief: In the Lyran Outworld Systems, baseball is big business and the return of the Twentieth Skye Rangers and their storied regimental baseball team has electrified the Premana league. Recognizing the Premana Pacers don"t stand a chance against them, team representative Nicholas Haas hires the Cavaliers to ensure the Skye Rangers are too tied up with military matters to be able to play.

Mission 1: 145 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 7 Raid Mission on Rijeka to destroy a Twentieth Skye Rangers manufacturing and storage facility providing material and sports equipment for the regiment"s baseball team.

Mission 2: 145 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 10 Demolition Mission on Mezzana to destroy the planned administrative space and team barracks to tie up the Rangers and prevent them from playing.

Mission 3: 160 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 15 Warzone Mission on Acrux to draw out members of the Rangers team who are also enlisted in the military, the theory being that enough Steiner casualties would amount to a weakened roster.

Mission Brief: A representative of Bowie Electronics, Alarion Branch accuses TharHes Industries of sending disavowed forces to steal several BattleMechs fitted with prototype proprietary equipment, secretly hiring the similarly disavowed Cavaliers to prevent TharHes from reverse engineering the equipment.

Mission 1: 145 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 11 Raid Mission on Tiruppur to destroy a series of workshops that Bowie believes are being used to reverse-engineer their products.

Mission 2: 160 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 15 Demolition Mission on Nuneaton to raze a reportedly off-the-books TharHes facility that the operatives used as a staging area to equip themselves before making their theft.

Mission 3: 160 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 15 Assassination Mission on Kostinbrod to eliminate the real party who stole the Bowie "Mechs: the Willy Pete Gangers.

Mission Brief: Learning one of their competitors is arranging for a number of Eire MechWorks facilities to suffer a "setback," the company hires the Cavaliers to defend against the attack.

Mission 2: 175 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 20 Raid Mission on Zanderij to counterattack and destroy warehouses belonging to Eire"s competitor to teach them a lesson.

Mission Brief: A mercenary broker named Miller approaches the Cavaliers with an anonymous backer"s contract to strike key strategic targets belonging to both House Steiner and House Kurita, seemingly trying to incite the next war.

Mission 2: 315 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 70 Raid Mission on Port Moseby to take out a camouflaged Kuritan communications relay monitoring Steiner transmissions in the region.

Mission 3: 340 Tonnage Limit, Difficulty 75 Assassination Mission on Sakhalin (LC) to remove Wilhelm Shaw, an old-guard LCAF general who has learned the real goals of the plot, which is actually to prevent tensions in the region from escalating.

Starting at Reputation Level 5, the following rewards are available with the Rise of Rasalhague DLC and presented by the Bounty Hunter after encountering friendly and enemy mercenary units in procedurally generated missions.

Mission Brief: Seemingly impressed with Mason"s intel gathering efforts, the Bounty Hunter enlists the assistance of the Cavaliers on a particularly difficult bounty - the assassination of Martin Sandoval. But going after such a high-ranking member of House Sandoval is risky in the extreme, with ECM support from two of Bounty Hunter"s associates needed to even reach the heavily defended Robinson Rangers outpost he"s stationed at, the odds of completing the mission let alone avoiding the Federated Suns discovering the Cavaliers involvement is exceedingly slim.

The following notable transmissions include important benefits or rewards. As indicated, some are only available in Campaign Mode or with the Heroes of the Inner Sphere DLC.

Transmission: Former Nik"s Cavaliers member Cornelius Kaffenberger III, call sign "Goblin," left under bad terms with Nikolai Mason. Now down on his luck after the disastrous last mission of the Daron"s Demons and hearing Nikolai has passed on: "Goblin" has reached out to Ryana seeking employment.

Transmission: Ryana discovers hidden transmission codes embedded within a historical document and broadcasts them shortly after arriving in Valentina, amazed to receive a ping back from a long-range beacon originating from an asteroid field within the system. It leads to an SLDF-marked BattleMech orbital drop cocoon which had been masked by the ore-rich asteroid it had been attached to.

Transmission: An old friend of Nikolai, Colonel Richard Markson of the Markson"s Marauders mercenary unit contacts Jake Mason to offers his condolences and to discuss the existence of contract options outside the purview of the ComStar-backed Mercenary Review Board. If Mason can prove he has what it takes without his father around, Markson promises to hook him up with how to find these additional sources of work.

Transmission: Ryana informs that there is a collection of nations out on the most remote regions of Lyran space. They"re so far from Lyran eyes that they are practically independent nations, and with that freedom comes conflict and opportunity.

Transmission: Ryana has received word of a particularly dangerous conflict zone. Wedged between Fed Suns and Draconis space, the Outworlds Alliance is a valuable tactical area for the two houses.

Transmission: Ryana informs that a revolution is brewing in the Rasalhague region. The residents there have long sought to be free from Draconis rule and the Lyran Commonwealth is backing Rasalhague freedom, since a new territory would create a buffer between them and Draconis space.

Transmission: Ryana informs that fighting has broken out in the Taurian Corridor, a territory on the periphery of Federated Suns space. Contracts offered are highly lucrative, but also quite dangerous.

Friends with a gamer in life? Check their Twitter or Facebook pages in the last week or so and you’ll probably see them posting a LOT about a game called Borderlands 2.

The sequel to the surprising RPG shooter from a few years ago is already incredibly popular, thanks to its focus on guns and loot—and hopefully a better storyline. (The lackluster ending from the original was the only reason I was disappointed in that game.) There’s also four new characters for you to choose to play as.

It’s a franchise with an incredibly distinctive look, unexpected humor amidst the violence and an insane amount of missions that you’ll only see in a game like Skyrim. Most are expecting to spend between 80-100 hours on this game, whether it’s via single player (like me) or with friends in co-op.

The Post Game Report already reviewed the game, but I recently spoke with Paul Hellquist, Creative Director at Gearbox Software, the developer of Borderlands 2, over email to talk about the game.

So for anyone that hasn’t been paying attention to the trailers, previews or reviews, let’s get into where Borderlands 2 begins in terms of plot and setting after the end of Borderlands.

At the end of Borderlands, our heroic vault hunters have opened the mythical vault only to be disappointed that it did not contain the promised fortune and glory. Nevertheless the opening of the Vault started a chain of events that leads up to where Borderlands 2 begins.

A savvy young businessman who calls himself Handsome Jack has exploited the opening of the vault to corner the market on a new alien substance called Eridium that has started to appear since the vault was discovered. He has used his vast wealth to purchase the intergalactic Hyperion corporation and is now hell bent on civilizing Pandora for fun and major profit.

Civilizing for Handsome Jack means killing anyone and anything that stands between him and his goals. He also has an intention of waking a beast called ‘The Warrior’ to help him accomplish these goals.

I have to admit—I didn’t love the story, and especially the ending of the original Borderlands. What can you tell me about the direction of the story this time around that’s going to get me excited again?

The story in Borderlands 2 is much more ever-present. Throughout all of your adventures, whether it be plot or optional side missions, the quirky and fun characters that make up the Borderlands cast will be in constant touch with you providing valuable and entertaining information to keep you engaged. The plot has a bunch of surprises to keep you on your toes. There are a lot more action oriented events and more moments that actually change the course of the story that will surprise the player in interesting ways.

The weapons have much more style and personality than they did in the first game. All of the statistical differences remain but each weapon manufacturer provided unique advantages and disadvantages that affect how you use them and your choices as to which work best with your character or person preferences. We’ve taken the bazillion weapons theme and also applied it to grenades which can now combine behaviors for even more insane outcomes.

You can now find things like Homing Corrosive Transfusion grenades that home in on targets, explode with corrosive damage to melt your enemy’s face off and also heal you at the same time! This type of behavior is far above anything we could do in the first game.

Shields have also gotten the “bazillion” treatment with hundreds of thousands of different shields to find this time around. There are shields that absorb bullets, shields that damage enemies who injure you and many more!

Talk to me about Handsome Jack. Unless I’m focused too much on him, it seems like he’s really going to be the main antagonist the entire game, which, if I remember, was missing from the first game. Walk me through the idea behind creating Handsome Jack and what his role in the game is.

We knew that for Borderlands 2 we had to have a villain that could live up to the larger than life cast of the game. That is when we started developing Handsome Jack who is most definitely the main antagonist for Borderlands 2. Our goal was to create a villain that you love to hate.

To that end it was important for us to have him always be entertaining to listen to. You love to hear what he has to say and you laugh with him and then realize what he is saying and doing is super evil. We have landed in a really awesome place and I think players are going to really enjoy fighting Handsome Jack.

All of the four characters you can choose to play as are new—the original four are back, but not playable. How come you guys opted to go with new characters?

The main reason for all new playable characters was that we really wanted this to be Borderlands 2. We felt that it was very important to bring new and exciting gameplay to the sequel and the best way to do that was with all new characters with new skill trees and abilities for players to explore.

There were a lot of potential pitfalls with bringing back the original characters with this goal. Some of them include alienating fans of certain characters if we brought back say, Roland and Lilith, but not Brick and Mordecai for example.

Another major issue that goes away is that Borderlands is about growth and growing your character. If we brought back the original classes players might expect that they would start at level 50 and grow from there. We wanted new and returning customers to feel comfortable starting from the beginning again which becomes very simple with new character classes.

Finally, we really were excited to explore the original vault hunters in the story and plotline. We wanted to get to know them as people, not cyphers and we felt the fans would as well.

I’ve read a number of previews about the re-worked AI and how they’re smart enough to take cover when wounded, flank, etc. Anything else we should know about the re-worked enemy’s AI? And how do you balance making the AI more real and more of a challenge, without making them, well, too much of a challenge?

We’ve spent a lot of time on the AI to make them feel more responsive and reactive to what is happening around them. Enemies communicate with each other providing behaviors like skags grouping up to share elemental abilities, commander bandits telling the others to charge the player or all throw grenades, robots that call for repairs and robots that respond and provide those repairs.

It creates a much more dynamic and ever changing tactical situation during combats. It’s really awesome. To balance that we made the player characters more powerful. All of the player characters skills and abilities are more potent than in the first game. The value that each skill brings to the character is more noticeable than it was in the first game in order to offset the more challenging AI.

This achievement is given for defeating the massive boss called Terramorphous the Invincible. He is only accessible after players have defeated True Vault Hunter mode and will require you to bring some friends if you want to have avoid the achievement’s prediction!

I have to confess—and I know you’ll make fun of me—I almost never touch multiplayer or co-op. I played Borderlands entirely by myself as a single player. Why should I drop my rule and finally play some co-op or multiplayer in Borderlands 2?

There are more enemies to fight, more of our “badass” mini-bosses and as a result more loot of higher quality. The combat mayhem gets really over the top when you have multiple players combining their action skills in interesting ways to di