The Inside Gearbox Software panel took place at PAX East 2012 on Sunday 4/8 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM.

Participants included: Randy Pitchford [President/CEO, Gearbox Software], Brian Martel [Chief Creative Officer, Gearbox Software], Mikey Neumann [Writer, Gearbox Software], Jeramy Cooke [Art Director, Gearbox Software], Paul Hellquist [Creative Director, Gearbox Software], Brian Burleson [Producer, Gearbox Software], John Mulkey [Sr. Design Director, Gearbox Software], David Eddings [Voice of Claptrap]

Panel: I know you are all very excited and want this panel to start, so let me call very quickly some members of the Borderlands Team. The first one, give it up for the Creative Director, Paul Hellquist. Our Art Director, Jeremy Cooke. Our Concept Designer, Scott Kester.

Panel: We are going to talk about a few of the skills on our brand new characters

(Screen shows: Salvador Skill Tree: Gun Lust)

Panel: Salvador, this is about his Gun Lust tree. The Gun Lust tree is about him manipulating his weapons as quickly ans as fast as he can. Swapping in as many as he can. There are some impressive ones, ones we call "Gamechangers". This one is called "Down Not Out", and in this skill, we break the rules of our "Fight For Your Life" system which is new to Borderlands 2, and he is the only one that can use his guns, his actions skills, while fighting for his life. So if you think this one can die, you got some issues. "Don't Kill but Overkill" is another one of the gamechangers. This one you get pretty close to the end of the game. Any excess damage you do after killing someone gets rolled over to your next attack, so you can use it to kill the next guy, and the next guy. The Rampage tree is about dual wielding all the time. If you use that tree you will be dual wielding all the time. Choosing this tree will have you focus on dual wielding throughout the game. There is a skill that gives you extra ammunition if you get a kill so you can just keep firing. So just keep firing. Another skill makes it so that the longer you hold down the trigger, the faster the weapons will fire. (Brawn Tree - Gunzerker) We also have melee override skills, such as one that takes your normal melee attack and overrides it with a super melee attack that lets you do a huge uppercut and knock people back it's really awesome. Another skill, Out of Bubblegum, when your skills are depleted, the weaker he is, the tougher he gets. We also have action skill augment where you can reuse the action skill button to add an additional effect to your skill. This one makes him invulnerable.

(Screen shows Maya Skill Tree: Motion / Siren)

Panel: Skills such as shields quickly regenerate increasing your reload, fault arc, another one of our gamechangers, you get down to the end of the motion tree, it completely changes your action skills you no longer lock enemies in place, instead they become part of your team. Any of the enemies in the entire game. So you can get that Bad ass Skag on your team, or those crazy threshers.

(Screen changes to Maya Skill Tree:

Panel: The Harmony Tree is a support tree, this is a very co-op centric tree, helps you keep your team together. She has a Rez skill where she can resurect anyone who is in the downstate using her action skill.

(Screen shows Maya Skill Tree Scorn, Cataclysm)

Panel: This is really cool, in the Cataclysm tree, the high damage tree for the Siren. She has a power that lets her reflect bullets off herself to hit enemies, causing the enemies to kill themselves.

Continued at: Part 2 - Axton the Commando, Zer0 the Assassin