There’s a lot to get to this week, so let’s dive right in! As you may know, a few months ago, the friendly denizens of the /r/Battleborn subreddit took it upon themselves to create Battleborn Day. Battleborn Day is a day that is by the community and for the community. It’s also a day that encourages veterans to take newcomers under their wing and show them the ropes. We thought this was great; so much so that we decided to support it by throwing in some fun in-game events. Well, /r/Battleborn is at it again and have decided that Battleborn Day should make a triumphant return.

As such, this Saturday (February 18th) has been deemed Battleborn Day 2.0, and just like last time, we have a few things planned to help support this great community effort. We can’t emphasize that last part enough, by the way - this event is solely organized by the community itself. We’re just along for the ride, and we’re happy to support it in any way we can. Here’s what you can expect to see happening in-game from Friday, February 17th at 2pm PT (5pm ET) until Monday, February 20th at 8am PT (11am ET):

Lootpocalypse

Boss Drop Rate increases: 50% (Normal difficulty) 75% (Advanced difficulty)

Champion and Elite enemy drop rate increases

All enemies and bosses drop more higher rarity gear

Rare and Epic packs have an increased chance to drop more Rare, Epic, and Legendary gear

Commander packs have an increased chance to drop more Epic and Legendary gear

Also:

Legendary and Faction Loot Packs will be available for purchase

Skins and Taunts will be on sale

Special Battleborn Day Titles

Additionally, everyone who logs into Battleborn during the Battleborn Day festivities will automatically unlock TWO gold skins – Ghalt’s “Firstborn” and Kelvin’s “Phase Transition”. That won’t be all you’ll see on Saturday, so make sure you’re following @Battleborn on Twitter – ya know, just in case there’s more. (There will be more.)







As we approach the Choctaw Festival of Gaming, we are going to slow the rate at which we push out balance related changes in an effort to let the metagame stabilize. We believe that this will allow more players to get a concrete sense of the current meta and adapt to the state of the game. That said, we’ll continue to keep an eye on things during this time and make any necessary changes at the most appropriate time(s) possible.

As always, each week’s hot fixes begin rolling out on Thursday at 12pm PT (3pm ET).

General

Fixed an issue that allowed Beatrix and Benedict to be continually healed for “1” hp when at max health

Meltdown: Finale

Increased the regulation score limit from 300 to 400











This week in Battleborn Versus Queues:

Saturday, 2/18 - Versus Draft is back for Battleborn Day! This will be the start of a normal weekly rotation. Grab your team and jump into Battleborn Draft Saturdays for challenging competitive fun!

Looking to the future:

Next Wednesday 2/22, Solo Queue returns for the start of a regularly weekly rotation. Every Wednesday, Solo Queue or Solo/Duo queue will be available for mid-week small team queuing.





Dunk Squad

Lost Heroes

You may have come across information recently on the upcoming $10K Battleborn tournament at the Choctaw Festival of Gaming that’s happening March 3-5 in Durant, OK. Last weekend the online qualifiers were held and it was a pretty action-packed tournament. We want to give a brief shout out and a “congrats!” to the winners:

In winning the qualifiers, both teams have earned themselves official sponsorships from Gearbox, including hotel and airfare to the Choctaw Festival of Gaming, tours of the Gearbox Software studios, and more! Congratulations!

We’ll also have a contingent of Gearbox developers on hand at the tournament as well and look forward to an awesome weekend of hanging out with the community and taking in some competitive Battleborn!





This week’s lore sees Kid Ultras pitching his own… T.V. show?!





From: ULTRAkid@lasernautsleague

To: p_hemsworth.IV@hemsworth

Subject: Pitch

Hey Phoebe!

Kid Ultra here, and boy do I have a GREAT IDEA that I’d like your input on! I’ve been SIDEkicking around this idea for a while. Everyone knows about the great heroes of history (like Captain Aster and Inspector Spectre, Ghost Detector). BUT, WHAT IF (bear with me) we made NEW HEROES?

Here’s my idea: with your help, we could make a holoshow about crime-fighting and justice, to inspire the next generation of BATTLEBORN! I’ve already reached out to Captain Aster via the Little Lasernauts League official mailing list, but so far I haven’t gotten a response. Luckily, we have some of our own talent on our team who were happy to help!

I’ll have some footage to show you later, but for now, I’ve attached a sample of the script I’m working on for our first episode.

Let me know what you think!

Also we need funding.

Potentially a Holoshow Hero,

Kid Ultra





FADE IN:

TITLE SEQUENCE

NARRATOR (v.o.)

“While transporting a petrified Bliss-frost sculpture and an Aztanti flowerpot, the LLS Morningstar II ran afoul of a rogue quark-storm! Though the crew escaped on emergency shuttles, the storm transformed and twisted them, granting them incredible abilities, and an instinct for EVIL. Endowed with sentience, Icebreaker and Evergreen, with the help of the ship’s AI ‘Ultro’, patrol the universe in search of the villainous crew members to send them to the one facility that can contain them: the Port Mynos Museum of Uncanny Criminal History!”

(SUPER AWESOME THEME MUSIC)

TITLE CARD

“STARRING: Kelvin as ICEBREAKER,”

TITLE CARD

“Miko as EVERGREEN,”

TITLE CARD

“and Kid Ultra as ULTRO”

OPENING CREDITS

“Written for holoscreen by K. Ultra

Produced by Ultra Productions, a subsidiary of Hemsworth Media

Directed by Kid Ultra

(etc.)”

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DOCTOR NEFARION’S LAIR – NIGHT

Two figures, a humanoid mushroom and an ice-golem, roam the halls of the abandoned manufactory. They are stoic, but cautious. The air is tense with danger. EVERGREEN holds up a hand, signaling a halt.

EVERGREEN

“Our quarks are vibrating…we have a bad feeling about this.

ICEBREAKER

“Yes, I feel it too. Ultro, what do your sensors show?”

ULTRO (over radio)

“It looks like there’s a wavefront scrampression propagating through the isotopic magnetochrons in the manufactory.”

ICEBREAKER

“Where there’s magnetochronal scrampression, there’s fire; Doctor Nefarion must be close—“

DOCTOR NEFARION

“Closer than you think, Icebreaker! I’d counted on you two goons showing up, but didn’t think you’d be here so soon.”

EVERGREEN

“We are not here to negotiate, Nefarion! Are you going to come with us quietly, or must we pacify you?”

DOCTOR NEFARION

“Ah ah ah, I’d be careful if I were you. Or have you not noticed the décor?”

Littered throughout the room are the DEPLETED MAGNUS CORES, some faintly glowing, others conspicuously dim.

EVERGREEN

“Depleted Magnus cores? But why?”

DOCTOR NEFARION

“Say hello to my latest creation, the BLACKSTAR MK.IX!”

BLACKSTAR crashes through the wall behind EVERGREEN, knocking them to the ground.

ICEBREAKER

“Prepare to feel my frostbite!”

Icebreaker prepares to chomp Blackstar with his signature “Frostbite” attack.

QUICK CUT:

INT. MORNINGSTAR II BRIDGE – NIGHT

Just before Icebreaker’s jagged icicle-teeth clamp down, Ultro finalizes his analysis.

ULTRO

“Hold it, Icebreaker! I’m detecting a lot of anti-vibrancy in the electrosignature of Blackstar’s core! That can only mean one thing…he’s powered by—“

QUICK CUT:

INT. DOCTOR NEFARION’S LAIR – NIGHT

EXTREME CLOSE UP – NEFARION’S EYES

NEFARION (interrupting)

“—DARK IONS! Unless you want to trigger a trans-universal negative energy cascade, I’LL be giving the orders around here! [evil laughter]”

A vortex of energy swirls around Blackstar’s core, reminiscent of the Magnus cores around the room, except totally EVIL.

NARRATOR (v.o.)

How will our heroes make it out of the manufactory alive? Will Doctor Nefarion’s dastardly plan succeed? Will Blackstar’s dark ion engine defeat the powers of justice? Tune in next week for more MORNINGSTAR II: THE OMICHRONICLES!





What if we told you that we’re finally ready to announce the release date for the fifth Battleborn Story Op, _Phoebe and the Heart of Ekkuna_r? You’d probably assume there would be a livestream coming up soon. Well, you’d be right, and here’s the best part: you’re not going to have to wait very long. That’s because we’ll be holding our next livestream TODAY at 3pm PT (6pm ET) on the Gearbox Software Twitch channel and talking about - what else - Phoebe and the Heart of Ekkunar! Join Gearbox New Media Manager Elisa Meléndez, Writer Sam Winkler, and Designer Brian Thomas as they delve into all the details surrounding the fifth Story Op!

Don’t forget to follow the channel so you can get notifications every time we go live, and be eligible to win a Battleborn MEGA Code in the chat!



