PS4 - Midnight Club

PC - Team Triggered

This week we’re excited to be shining the spotlight on some of the more competitive members of the community, as well as celebrating the arrival of some new skins to the Marketplace. First off, a big shout out to Helix Gamers League for putting on a couple of awesome Battleborn tournaments this past weekend. Tournaments took place on PS4 and PC, and some of our devs even stopped by to check out the action! Of course, we also have to give a salute to the winners:

A big thanks goes out to all the teams that participated and especially to HGL for organizing the tournaments! If you’d like to look into possible Gearbox support for YOUR tournament, check out our website for details.

Speaking of competitive Battleborn, this Saturday, February 11th is the day for the online qualifiers for the Choctaw Festival of Gaming, which takes place March 3rd-5th in Durant, OK. This will be the first large scale public Battleborn tournament and we’re very excited to see how it goes. You can sign up now and get all the details for Saturday’s qualifiers and we’ll see you in Oklahoma!

On top of that, new skins are arriving in the Marketplace today. Make sure you’re completing those quests and earning that Platinum so you can outfit your main in the latest Solus system fashions! Today’s “Marketplace Fashion Show” includes:

Attikus (Grid Iron)

Beatrix (Web Doctor)

Pendles (Ouroboros)

Ghalt (Warlock, Stock, and Barrel)

Orendi (I AIM WITH MY HANDS AND EYES)

Platinum prices for skins may vary, so check out the Marketplace for details!







As usual, we have a few small adjustments to let you know about. Weekly hot fixes being rolling out on Thursdays at 12pm PT (3pm ET).

El Dragón:

Increased base max shield from 300 to 400

Increased the damage of the Power Fist augment’s combo finisher approximately 12% from 126 to 142 at level 3

Increased the amount of Health Regeneration granted by Hang Time from 84 to 112 HP over 4 seconds

Ban/Pick Draft:

Adjusted the draft order of the 5v5 Ban/Pick Character Select Style to match the draft order found in Captains Draft

We also have a _PC only_ update rolling out today alongside our hot fixes. This is a small update that includes a few quality of life changes, as well as some bug fixes. Full notes can be found on [our Knowledge Base](https://gearboxsoftware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/210007213-PC-Update-Hot-fix-Information).**Upcoming Queue Changes**

As planned, we have a few queue changes for this week, and one sneaky update next week before the next Battleplan, so we’ll cover them both!

Queue Changes this week:

Solo Queue- This long-requested queue finally makes an appearance this Thursday. Only single players can match into these versus matches. Hopefully, this will help reduce the dominance of pre-made teams in competitive queues, and create some interesting competitive match-ups. For it’s introduction, Solo Queue will use the Ban and Pick Draft selection mode to add that extra edge to competitive selection. In addition, we will be resetting the ELO Matching ranks used in this queue—everyone gets a fresh start!

(Xbox and PS4 Only) Incursion Queue returns; Quick Match is updated- We have heard many requests from the Xbox and PS4 communities, and so this week we’re returning a dedicated Incursion queue to the versus line-up. With that, Incursion will be moved from Quick Match, giving Xbox and PS4 players a little more selection in which modes they prefer to play. Incursion will use the standard Quick Select character select method. We have heard several requests to make the Incursion queue a Draft Select queue, and we’re considering that for a future update. We would love to hear your opinions on your preference!

Bots Battle- It’s not going anywhere! Enjoy showing those AI Bots who’s boss!





Queue Changes next week:

Solo Queue becomes Solo / Duo Queue- Love is in the air, and what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to buddy up with your gaming soulmate and jump into the Solo / Duo queue! Since a number of us are still looking for our gaming soulmates, individuals can still queue in as well. Everything remains the same here from Solo Queue, except that teams of two are now allowed to queue in as well.





As always, keep providing your feedback! We’re watching the play statistics and listening to your requests, and we’ll continue to try and keep things fresh while maintaining some of your favorite options.











This week, we thought it was about time for another edition of Community Badass. This time around, we’re honoring forum member @FlamesForAll, who says he is best summed up by Montana’s title “Friend to All”. Flames is well regarded by the community as a friendly guy who is always up to contribute to a good conversation. Check out our Community Badass feature on FlamesForAll here on the forums!











Before we get to this week’s lore, we wanted to shout out to another of our amazing community cosplayers. Everyone give a well-deserved digital high-five to JessilynCupcake for this incredible Beatrix cosplay! We’ve been hoping to come across a great Beatrix cosplay for a while now and we finally have our first. Check more of her awesome cosplays from various games and franchises on her Instagram (linked above). Well done and nice work!

















In this week’s lore, we dive into the latest issue of Galactic Archeology Magazine for a little light reading…





Galactic Archaeology Magazine, issue #3922

/Dragons in the Detritus Ring?

//Startling discoveries on Chunk Corb II, pg. 4

/Uncovering the Jennerit Legacy

//New findings beneath the Fighting Pits, pg. 9

/The Curse of the First Observer

//Thurston Alcott Brantlecroft III recalls the fateful foray, pg. 13

/Proto-Aelfrin Power Rites

//Gone but not forgotten, pg. 16

/Cracking the Codex

//Stunning insight into ancient Eldrid private lives, pg. 29

/Trekking Beneath Ekkunar

//New site raises questions, pg. 22

|Ekkunar’s history is largely told through the ruins of the Aztanti (though some less-reputable sources claim there is evidence the structures were not built by aliens) and the mythstones they left behind. Their stories, like their civilization and Ekkunar itself, were fragmented and scattered–incomplete pieces of a dozen different puzzles that many have spent their lives trying to cobble to form a cohesive picture. Now, as we approach the anniversary of the tragedy of Amenin, new evidence points to an as-yet-undiscovered site.

|Radical techniques pioneered in “superveil spectrography” have breathed life into many Aztanti relics, such as the “Imotzta Ledger”. Through its recent analysis, researchers believe they’ve found reference to a temple complex hidden deep within the vast chambers of Ekkunar’s heart. However, progress has been stymied by an unforeseen tangle: an unidentified background interference has disrupted any attempt to pinpoint the theoretical site using traditional geosonic instrumentation.

|Luckily, regular contributor and sponsored adventurer Baroness Phoebe Hemsworth IV has volunteered to lead an expedition with her own private research team. We asked Lady Hemsworth about her peculiar methodology:

//GA: Lady Hemsworth, many in the field have criticized your unorthodox approach to archaeological study, citing concerns of an unqualified research team lacking in accountability. If your critics were sitting here, what would you say to put them at ease?

//PH: Yes, well, their “ease” is hardly a concern of mine, isn’t it? I believe that if real progress is to be made in this day and age, it cannot be accomplished through a position of ease, you’ve got to get your hands dirty! Not literally, of course, that’s what the team is for. But to my critics, I should say, “Leave it to me.” For Hemsworth Intelligence Enterprises, and myself personally, the impossible is an everyday endeavor, whether it’s developing a neurally networked set of telekinetic swords, or the genesis of the most advanced intelligence the universe has ever seen.

//GA: But didn’t the Magna Carta go offline?

//PH: It must have had its reasons. In any case, we’re not here to talk about past accomplishments, we’re looking towards the future! Of the past!

//GA: Of course. Ms. Hemsworth, if the collected efforts of The New Galactic Archaeological Society couldn’t make headway in locating the site, what makes you so confident you and your team can?

//PH: Well, thus far they’ve attempted the orthodox approach and met nothing but failure, haven’t they? And mine is, as

you say, decidedly un-orthodox. Have you ever heard the definition of insanity?

//GA: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

//PH: Going in against a Hemsworth. Give me a line of credit long enough and an asset on which to rest it, and I will move the multiverse.

//GA: One last question, Lady Hemsworth: are you at all concerned with your line of credit amidst rumors of your father Baron Bertholomew’s failing health?

//PH: I’m sorry, that’s all the time I have. Good day.

While Galactic Archaeology carefully selects all regular recipients of its endowments and sponsorships, in the interest of factional impartiality, we are currently accepting applications from qualified third-party researchers unaffiliated with the LLC for an interim position accompanying the Hemsworth expedition. Submit all inquiries to the Editor.







To finish things off, it looks like some of our friends on Reddit have decided it’s time for another Battleborn Day! We like the sound of that, so we’ll try to find some ways to celebrate alongside the community. We’ll have more info on that next week; but in the meantime, mark your calendars for February 18th!