Borderlands 2 is an action role-playing game played from a first-person perspective. The gameplay revolves around the completion of missions and the collection of randomly generated loot (such as weapons, shields, skins, and other items) with various rarities, statistics, and elemental effects. Four playable character classes are available in the base game, each with their own unique abilities and skill trees: Axton, "the Commando", can summon a turret to provide offensive support. Maya, "the Siren", can "phaselock" enemies by trapping them in a sphere of energy for a few seconds. Zer0, "the Assassin", can temporarily become invisible and spawn a hologram decoy to distract enemies; an attack delivered in this state provides bonus damage. Salvador, "the Gunzerker", can use his titular ability to temporarily dual-wield weapons.
New gameplay elements added to Borderlands 2 include a trading system during multiplayer play; slag, a substance that increases damage to targets that are covered in it; new "E-Tech" weaponry; Eridium bars, a new currency for purchasing storage upgrades and other premium items; and the "Secret Stash," a small storage area for transferring items between characters. Increased character customization options are also made available, with collectable items unlocking different character head designs, color schemes, and vehicle paint schemes. A major addition to the game is the "Badass Rank" system; points are awarded for completing various in-game challenges, which in turn award tokens that can be redeemed to increase the player's base stats. These stat improvements apply to all of a single player's characters.
Similarly to the original, completing the main story campaign unlocks "True Vault Hunter Mode", a New Game Plus which increases the difficulty of the game by making enemies stronger, accordingly improves the probability of finding rare and higher-quality items, and allows the player's character to reach level 50. There is also an "Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode" that spawns more difficult enemies and further increases the probability of rare item drops. This mode also raises the level cap to level 61 (72 with an additional DLC pack, The Raid on Digistruct Peak).
Plot
Characters
Like its predecessor, Borderlands 2 features four playable characters: Axton the Commando, Maya the Siren, Salvador the Gunzerker, and Zer0 the Assassin. New to Borderlands 2 are two additional characters available as downloadable content: Gaige the Mechromancer and Krieg the Psycho.
The four player characters from the first game, Roland, Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai, return in the form of non-player characters that the new characters will encounter on Pandora, or in various missions. Other characters like the Guardian Angel and Claptrap return to aid the player during quests. Characters from the first game such as Scooter the mechanic, Dr. Zed, Marcus the guns and ammo merchant, Mad Moxxi, and the insane archaeologist Patricia Tannis join new faces such as the cyborg Sir Hammerlock and Scooter's sister Ellie as quest giving characters.
Setting
Five years have passed since the events of Borderlands, when the four Vault Hunters, Roland, Mordecai, Lilith, and Brick were guided by a mysterious entity known as "The Guardian Angel" on the planet of Pandora to the Vault, a mysterious alien structure that was rumored to hold ancient and exotic technology and riches. Instead, these Vault Hunters were confronted by an alien abomination known as "The Destroyer" inside the Vault. After defeating The Destroyer, a valuable mineral called "Eridium" started flourishing through Pandora's crust. Handsome Jack, president of the Hyperion Corporation, secures this new resource and makes use of it to attempt to "bring peace" to the planet. Now, Handsome Jack rules over the inhabitants of Pandora with an iron fist from his massive space station Helios, always visible in the sky in front of Pandora's moon. Meanwhile, rumors of an even larger Vault hidden on Pandora spread across the galaxy, drawing a new group of Vault Hunters to the planet in search of it.
Story
The game opens with six Vault Hunters (Axton, Gaige, Krieg, Maya, Salvador, and Zer0) aboard a Hyperion train on Pandora. Jack, supposedly supporting them, suddenly sabotages the train and leaves the Vault Hunters for dead in a frozen wasteland. The Vault Hunters are found by the last remaining CL4P-TP ("Claptrap") unit. The Guardian Angel contacts the Vault Hunters and instructs them to accompany Claptrap to the city of Sanctuary, and to join the Crimson Raiders, an anti-Hyperion resistance movement made up of former Atlas soldiers and Pandoran citizens, in order to defeat Handsome Jack.
Upon arriving at the gates of Sanctuary, the Vault Hunters are asked to rescue Roland, now leader of the Crimson Raiders, who has been captured by a bounty hunter called the Firehawk. The Vault Hunters meet the Firehawk, who turns out to be Lilith, whose powers as a Siren have been significantly enhanced by the new supply of eridium. Lilith informs the Vault Hunters that Roland was actually captured by a group of bandits. After fighting through the bandits' territory, the Vault Hunters rescue Roland and return to Sanctuary.
Roland and Lilith learn that that the Vault Key stolen from Tannis is being transported aboard a Hyperion train, and ask the Vault Hunters to retrieve it. To accomplish the mission, the Vault Hunters enlist the aid of former Vault Hunter Mordecai, and of Tiny Tina, a psychotic, explosives-obsessed girl. The Vault Hunters derail the train, but instead of finding the Vault Key they encounter Wilhelm, a powerful Hyperion cyborg and one of Handsome Jack's enforcers. The Vault Hunters kill Wilhelm and recover his power core, which Roland recommends be used as the power source for Sanctuary's shields. The power core turns out to be a trap; it allows the Guardian Angel, who is actually working for Jack, to lower the city's shields and render it vulnerable to a bombardment from Helios. Lilith saves Sanctuary, which was originally a large spacecraft, by activating its engines and teleporting it away to the sky.
