Borderlands 3 is celebrating Valentine’s Day with a new event and a level cap increase

After a good half year of action, Borderlands 3 players have pretty much done everything that they can in the game. Played through the campaign with all of the characters? Check! Gathered an arsenal of weapons that has enough power to crack a planet in half like a fresh egg? Check! Wondered why some old guy next to you is going on about some fella named George Constanza whenever Typhon has a line or two? Check and check!

One thing that could draw players back to Gearbox’s colourful loot ‘n shoot extravaganza? Pure maths! Vault hunters in Borderlands 3 are currently capped to a level 50 character build, one that will soon be expanded on with an increase of an entire three levels come February 13. That may sound like a piffling number when compared to Borderlands 2 and how it eventually allowed players to reach level 80, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a massive upgrade according to Gearbox and how characters operate in Borderlands 3.

“Compared to Borderlands 2, your perks and your abilities in your [Borderlands 3] skill tree are way more impactful from point to point,” Borderlands 3 creative director Graeme Timmins explained on Twitch, via Kotaku.

Just handing out the same number of levels and skill points would really destroy the game in terms of balance and also homogenize everyone’s build. In Borderlands 3, we’re looking at it a lot differently. In this first one, we’re gonna do just three levels. Long term, we’re exploring some other ways to encourage further player growth that might not be completely tied to skill points.

Alongside the level cap, the Valentine’s Day event Broken Hearts Day will also add some romance to Pandora and the planets beyond its bandit-infested influence. In typical Borderlands fashion that is, according to the press blurb:

Particularly lovesick enemies across the Borderlands will soon have special hearts floating around them. These hearts take a variety of forms, and shooting them produces any of a number of unique effects, from buffing your party’s damage output to temporarily converting an enemy to an ally to simply exploding into a pile of loot. The more hearts you break, the more rewards you unlock, with five total rewards up for grabs – including special skins and Legendary weapons unique to this event.

Beyond that, Borderlands 3 will also b fine-tuning several other aspects of its overall design in the months to come:

• True Vault Hunter Mode;
• Skippable Cutscenes;
• Guardian Rank Toggling;
• Event Toggling;
• Fight for Your Life Improvements;
• Mayhem 2.0;
• Twitch ECHOcast Extension Additions

Broken Hearts Day and the level cap increase kicks off on February 13. Like true love, reaching that level climax will be messy, chaotic and absolute bliss for a brief moment in time before you reach for the nearest cigarette to bask in the afterglow of all that bullet penetration you just went through.

Last Updated: February 12, 2020