It’s almost Thanksgiving (well, here in the US at least) and you know what that means – time to devour some delicious birds in the name of gratitude. We thought it would be fitting to try and stuff Battleborn with as much Thanksgiving fun as possible, so we decided it’s time for a bird hunt.

Yes, that’s right – as much as we love Benedict, Toby, and Ernest, natural predators (Pendles) and hunters (Marquis) have to eat. It’s the circle, of life after all. With that in mind, this coming weekend will be open season on our Aviant allies in the Battleborn Bird Hunt event! The Battleborn Bird Hunt will be a unique and limited time PVP experience. Think Chaos Rumble, but with more feathers.

It doesn’t matter if you decide to play as a bird (Benedict, Toby, Ernest) or a hunter (Pendles or Marquis); everyone who plays in this limited-time experience will get Double XP. Of course, character uniqueness will be off and these characters will be unlocked for everyone, so this is a great chance to send your level on these characters sky high.

Here is a rundown of the Battleborn Bird Hunt:

Starting TODAY at 2pm PT (5pm ET) and runs until Monday at 8am PT (11am ET)

Benedict, Toby, Ernest, Pendles, and Marquis are unlocked for everyone

Double Command AND Character Rank XP (Bird Hunt mode only)

Character Uniqueness: OFF

Global Chat: ON

Don’t forget - New Media Manager Elisa Meléndez and Community Manager Joe King will be live on the Gearbox Software Twitch channel today at 3pm PT (6pm ET) to get things kicked off with a Let’s Play stream. You can expect more interaction with the chat on this one similar to our recent Extra Life stream! Also, you should probably follow the Twitch channel while you’re there so you can have your shot at winning a PAX MEGA Code (just sayin’).







As we mentioned above, the Thanksgiving holiday is approaching here in the US and our team is looking forward to taking a much-needed break. In the interest of winding things down for the holiday, we only have a couple small hot fixes for this week, and none planned next week (more on that below). This week’s tweaks center around our pal Boldur.

Fixed two issues with Boldur’s L10 “Axe Mastery” augment:

The damage increase provided while Rune Power was active on Boldur’s Axe was much higher than intended.

The damage increase was being applied to all damage dealt rather than just his Runic Axe primary attack.

![image](upload://mYaSDljHdc4MW2pCphhFKtepj2W.png)This week, we have another great edition of Community Badass. TheOnlyTachyon, aka Tyler Medina, is a dedicated Battleborn streamer who has recently become a bit of a studio favorite here at Gearbox HQ. What started one day as an innocent request from a in-the-know community member to check out his favorite Battleborn streamer quickly became a full-on raid of Tachyon’s stream by many of the Gearbox team! We had a great time hanging out in his chat with his viewers that day, and many of us have been hooked ever since. You can check out his stream to see for yourself. There’s a link in the latest edition of [Gearbox Community Badass](https://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/t/gearbox-community-badass-theonlytachyon/1550881)!

This week’s lore comes to us courtesy of the Spymistress herself:





FROM THE DESK OF RENDAIN, YOUR TYRANT

TO: Secretary Boolicsyco

FROM: New Jennerit Empire Interim Chief Counselor Deande

DATE: y.19959, d.8

Fred, your negligence bordering on incompetence as underwarsecretary proved vital to my success. However, your performance in the coming weeks will in large part decide your continued career outside of a jail cell. Though you were inarguably complicit with the worst war criminal this universe has ever known, I’ve convinced Lord Executor Vylo that your utility during this transition outweighs the danger you pose to society. Do not test me. Now, I’ve begun preparations on an actionable itinerary, and will need you to make the necessary arrangements:

Item 1: Please contact Dr. G. Kleese aboard the UPR engineering ship Nova and inform him that I need his assistance in changing the Tyrant’s official letterhead. It appears that Rendain hasn’t updated his operating system in decades and I can’t make heads or tails of it. [Personal note: As happy as I am not being in the same room as that lunatic, if anyone is qualified for archaic tech support, it’s Kleese.]

Item 2: I am appointing former Blademaster Verod Rath to the office of Warmaster, along with all its titles and honors. Issue a summons order to Lord Commander Rath and schedule a meeting with whoever is Lord of Ceremonies these days. Additionally, the positions of Blademaster and Spymaster are now vacant. Reach out to the other Counselors and schedule a meeting to discuss possible candidates. [Personal note: Rath might not like being pulled from the front lines, but if the Jennerit people are to survive, we cannot afford to overlook his strategic value as a commander.]

Item 3: The Pact of the Dying. Send word to The Guilded Enclave, “Commander” Reyna Valeria, The High Observatory, and Chancellor V. Shields that we need to convene to renew the Pact and discuss changes to its terms. [Personal note: we can finally change that ghastly name; it appears we may not be “Dying” after all.]

Item 4: Thus far, the only common language established with the Varelsi is violence. We’ll need to determine some other method of cultural exchange if the Empire is to survive, now that Rendain’s arrangement is broken. Contact Baroness Phoebe Hemsworth IV of the LLC and request an audience—Phoebe is one of the universe’s leading researchers in the field of Void sciences, and may be our best hope for deciphering how Rendain managed to negotiate his treasonous agreement with the Varelsi. [Personal note: need to ask Mellka if the Eldrid have installed a new Black Observer yet.]

Item 5: The Jennerit people have always admired personal excellence above all else, and require a hero to venerate, following this nasty “deposing” business. I had submitted the Thrall liberator Attikus for the Rite of Sustainment, but he rejected the honor out of hand, something about “enough experiments for more than one lifetime.” Speak with Sister Benniteg and get me a short list of other possible options, someone who would look good in a parade. [Personal note: contact Galilea and see if she’s interested in finishing what she started.]

Item 6: Speaking of the Thrall, release notes had indicated that their infertility was biologically enforced, assuring us that their population would never be host to unforeseen genetic variance. It would appear that, following the destruction of the broodhalls, they have proven her wrong. Life has found a way. The Thrall diaspora has scattered them across the system, and we receive reports daily of new pups being whelped. Contact Dr. B. Lucavi and set up a meeting. [Personal note: loath as I am to further modify them, if we can’t get this gestation period in check, a population boom will deplete what little resources remain.]

Item 7: Last item. The matter of Constable Cuddles. It appears that Lothar personally oversaw the daily care of the royal lapdog. My schedule does not allow such personalized attention. I will be appointing a replacement I have personally and thoroughly vetted. However, given that the replacement is not of Jennerit descent, I will see to it that a measure of special care be taken to stay abreast of his performance and demeanor. [Personal note: not a permanent solution, of course, but this is the only way to get at least SOME time with that handsome blue devil.]

Addressing these issues should buy us some time until the next crisis arises, by which time I expect the Empress to relieve me and take a firmer grip on the wheel of the Empire. Which reminds me, inform Guard Captain Crex that I want a full complement of his finest to non-violently suppress attempts at memorial services for Lenore. I’ve heard far too many whispers of mourning and don’t want people getting the wrong idea. [Personal note: I know she’s alive. While she lives, so does the empire, and so does Solus.]







As we mentioned above, Thanksgiving is coming up, so just like there are no hot fixes scheduled for next week, The Battleplan will be taking a week off as well. We’ll be back at it again on December 1st, and we’ll be excited to get caught up with all of you. If you’re also in the US, enjoy the holiday and we’ll see you in two weeks!