One thing that Destiny got wrong, in my opinion, was its skill tree – which wasn’t so much of a tree as much as a linear progression of skills. Borderlands does skills so much better, I think – by actually making it a bit of a branching tree. And now you can play with Borderlands: The Pre Sequel!’s trees from the comfort of your browser.
Head on over to http://borderlandsthegame.com/skilltrees/index.html and you can start mucking about with the Skill Trees available to each of the game’s four…sorta heroes: Claptrap the Fragtrap, Wilhelm the Enforcer, Athena the Gladiator, and Nisha the Lawbringer.
This is a perfect tool for the those of us who love to plan our characters, something I think comes from having played pen-and-paper role playing games as young nerds. Of course, the Skill trees don’t take in to account any of the inevitable loot you’ll find, much of which bumps up your abilities and skills.
Here’s a look at em:
I got to play with Claptrap for a bit, and I fell in love with his random and chaotic VaultHunter.exe skill, which attempts to analyse the situation at hand, determine which Vault Hunter’s skills would be best for the job and apply an action skill based on that hunter. Naturally, Claptrap being Claptrap, it can and does often goes awry.
I really didn’t think I’d be keen on The Pre-Sequel! because at its core, it really is just more Borderlands. But then I realised: It’s MORE BORDERLANDS!
It’s coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 next month – though I really wish It’d be on the new consoles too.
Last Updated: September 18, 2014
TGS Babay (Umar)
September 18, 2014 at 11:09
I want this for all rpgs. Make a companion app to plan ahead to trick out your character. Imagine sitting on the bus experimenting with different builds for darks souls …. damn this is cool
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 11:25
Imagine sitting on the bus? Does not commute… um.. compute.
Edit – this is where this comment was supposed to be :/
Admiral Chief Assassin
September 18, 2014 at 11:26
XD
Sageville
September 18, 2014 at 11:28
Oh you!
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 11:10
Imagine sitting on the bus? Does not commute… um.. compute.
Hammersteyn
September 18, 2014 at 11:14
That’s what I’ve been saying. Why isn’t this on the new consoles. B2 looks kak on the PS3 compared to Destiny. Or are we possibly getting a remastered GOTY version later?
Labey-Kun
September 18, 2014 at 11:26
Well Destiny does have better artist and engineers so you can’t really blame 2K, Plus they had a $500mill budget compared to B2 which had around $35mill
Ryanza
September 18, 2014 at 11:37
Destiny didn’t have a $500 million budget.
Destiny 1, Destiny 2, Destiny 3, Destiny 4 = $500 million. Why would Activision spend $500 million on one game? The most expensive game development goes to the GTA games and it shows.
Destiny doesn’t look like a $500 million game. lol.
Labey-Kun
September 18, 2014 at 11:48
Well It could float around $300 Mill, with Marketing adding another $50 Mill or so, but like I said Bungie has better engineers and artist, and I don’t think any company can match Rockstar North because those guys have insane developers that knows why they doing,I think the only company that can match Rockstar is Naughty Dog because they always produce excellent quality with the tools they got.
Ryanza
September 18, 2014 at 12:06
$300 million then adding marketing making Destiny $350 million development? Come on now. Bungie has said that the development of Destiny is no where near $500 million. $500 million = development and marketing over 10 years.
GTA 5 hold the record for most expensive video game ever produced. $265 million including marketing. And the marketing for GTA is big, I mean really big.
Destiny development including marketing, around $150 million I would say. But we will see when the data gets released.
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 11:34
You can’t compare the two, their art direction is completely different. Borderlands uses cartoon-style cell-shaded graphics, Destiny is far more realistic.
Hammersteyn
September 18, 2014 at 11:53
No I get that, but I mean it looks pixelated in some parts, you can see the blocks. And some parts of the game doesn’t even render completely. It’s a classic example console vs. PC graphics.
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 12:03
hehe – makes me think of the Minecraft section in the Caustic Caverns.
RinceThis
September 18, 2014 at 11:56
What you said.
Jedi Consular Kromas
September 18, 2014 at 11:25
I much prefer to just jump into the game and sort out the skill trees later unless it is an MMO and I need the perfect raid spec. I would much prefer something like Dragon age keep to muck around with till the game gets released. Speaking of that. Does anyone know when it gets released since the game is a month away?
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 11:31
Me too. If a game has a host of skills but there’s a “best” build that doesn’t even use half of them, then the game designer has failed.
Matthew Holliday
September 18, 2014 at 12:27
less interested in the skill trees.
more interested in the action skills and potential upgrades.
find out which character I want to play first etc.
Sageville
September 18, 2014 at 11:27
I’m bugged this isn’t going to next gen consoles…
Spaffy
September 18, 2014 at 11:56
PC FTW!!!!
…said no Destiny player ever
Corrie Botha
September 18, 2014 at 12:02
What’s a Destiny? is it something my PC does?
Spaffy
September 18, 2014 at 12:04
I’m not sure. My PC doesn’t do it 🙁
Sageville
September 18, 2014 at 12:38
Suppose I’ll have to play this on my PC then… in between Destiny games.,,,
Spaffy
September 18, 2014 at 12:42
Oh lucky you
Sageville
September 18, 2014 at 13:42
Yes, I love rubbing it in to the underlings…
ULTIMATE MASTER RACE GOOOOOO!
Kensei Seraph
September 18, 2014 at 11:50
It was Diablo II that taught me about planning skill trees.
RinceThis
September 18, 2014 at 11:55
More Borderlands can never be a bad thing!
Kensei Seraph
September 18, 2014 at 11:58
Agreed.
However, I fear that one day we will both curse those words.
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 12:05
It is when you’ve played over 300 hours. Maybe in another year or 2.
RinceThis
September 18, 2014 at 12:22
Obsessive much?
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 12:45
Obsessive just right.
Matthew Holliday
September 18, 2014 at 12:31
150 on borderlands 1
350 on borderlands 2
still ampt for the presequel.
ToshZA
September 18, 2014 at 14:03
Wilhelm all the way for me.
Kensei Seraph
September 18, 2014 at 12:03
Anyone else finding the yellow bar strangely soothing?
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 18, 2014 at 12:04
I prefer a well-stocked bar when I need soothing.
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
September 18, 2014 at 12:33
Yellow bar?
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/cd/e2/73/china-bar-signature.jpg
Kensei Seraph
September 18, 2014 at 13:01
That obviously a red bar.
You should have your eyes tested.
Matthew Holliday
September 18, 2014 at 12:05
finally.
been asking about this for weeks.
took them long enough to get it running.