FollowingBorderlands 3’s first major story DLC, Mad Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, many are wondering what future DLC will look like. The next set of releases has yet to be revealed, but players know they will get 3 more story DLCs, more seasonal events, and more Takedowns to accomplish going through 2020. Yet, the very first DLC may have established a pattern that could see more Vault Hunters return in futureBorderlands 3DLC. As such, please take note that this article containsSPOILERSfor Mad Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot.
Before moving forward, it’s worth mentioning that, as the first story DLC, it’s impossible to tell if this is a one-off occurrence or the establishment of a pattern. The mainBorderlands 3campaign, however, adds further proof that it could be the latter. As players progress the main story along, they meet various Vault Hunters like Maya, Zer0, Brick, and Mordecai, so in many ways, it can be described as a walk down memory lane. This pattern of meeting old Vault Hunters is evident in the main campaign, so it’s not a stretch to assume DLC could do the same.
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As evidence of that, players meet Timothy Lawrence in theBorderlands 3Handsome Jackpot DLC, who some may know better asJack’s Doppelganger fromBorderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Timothy was hired and cloned by Jack, coming to his aid alongside Vault Hunters Athena, Nisha, Wilhelm, Claptrap, and Aurelia in pursuit of the Vault on Elpis and to defeat Zarpedon. Even if it were just one more Vault Hunter per DLC, it would be a great way to bring back old favorites.
Of course, several characters have either already appeared (Claptrap) or died during the campaign (Aurelia), so characters likely to return would be the few who remain alive. Assuming that this is the establishment of a pattern, that means players could likely see Athena, Axton, Salvador, Gaige, Krieg, and/or Fiona in future DLCs followingMad Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, as these Vault Hunters are still alive as far as the world knows.
Another point to consider on whether or not these characters return is the form that futureBL3DLC takes. While Lilith is assumed dead,theBorderlands 3endingseems to suggest that a “Search for Lilith” DLC is possible, while many others may also want to see anotherD&D-based DLC, an exploration of the robotic characters, Zero and FL4K, and how those characters are connected, and far more. Yet, it stands to reason that the various Vault Hunters could still return.
Perhaps the most popular of the missing Vault Hunters are theBorderlands 2DLC characters, Gaige the Mechromancer and Krieg the Psycho. Considering that Gaige has a major connection with her Deathtrap and presumably all things robotic, tying her into a DLC that also explores Zer0 and FL4K’s background doesn’t seem to be a stretch. Krieg, on the other hand, has several voice recordings inBorderlands 3, and there was a recent “leak” that saidKrieg was originally part of the game, acting as an undercover agent in the Children of the Vault. If that were to be true, that could mean there’s already data files of Krieg that could easily be turned into DLC. It’s worth reiterating that this is mere speculation, though, and when and if they appear is entirely up to Gearbox.
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Axton and Salvador are harder to speculate, perhaps because they are the more generic Vault Hunters of the bunch. In many ways, these characters were Roland and Brick 2.0, and the original two have proven to be more popular, yet many would be glad to see them return with perhaps more development upon their characters. IfBorderlands 3were to have anotherD&Dstory DLC led by Tina, for example, it would make sense that Axton and Salvador could return to play characters (The PCs) much like the originalBorderlandscrew returned for theBorderlands 2 DLC, and it would be easy enough to show more of their character in this regard. However, that seems to be bit of a stretch, so it remains to be seen if they get any post-launchBL3love.
The other two living Vault Hunters are Athena and Fiona. The two are nicely connected for their roles inTales From the Borderlands, where Athena also gets married to Janey and also gets captured to tell the original Vault Hunters Jack’s backstory. Athena could return in any number of ways, as she has appeared frequently throughout the franchise, but perhaps her DLC could help deliver upon and fully understand the Watcher’s Warning, as it doesn’t really seem to be applied toBorderlands 3. The war with the COV could have been it, but that hardly captures the full warning of needing “all the Vault Hunters” possible.
Fiona, on the other hand, is closely connected to Rhys, and considering his popularity, it wouldn’t be surprising for there to be a DLC where he is involved. As such, it would be the easiest scenario for Fiona to return in a DLC connected to him. Not to mention, with the resurrection of Telltale Games, Fiona appearing in aBorderlands 3DLC could be a good jumping point to get aTales from the Borderlands 2somewhere down the line.
However, it’s worth mentioning that with 3 story DLCs to go and 6 possibleVault Hunters, it’s unlikely that all would appear—even if this did prove to be the start of a pattern. It is possible that Gearbox doubles up on some characters, seeing the pairs mentioned above return, but given that this pattern is currently unconfirmed, that seems less likely. Either way, players will just have to wait and see what lies in wait forBorderlands 3, and keep their fingers crossed that at least some of these characters return.
Borderlands 3is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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