Come to think of it, why *do* we get fewer weapon types with every release?

Borderlands 3 Borderlands 3 General Discussion
#1

BL1 had Vladof shotguns, Torgue snipers, Hyperion launchers, Eridian weapons (not a bad idea, just needed fixing), and S&S munitions.

BL2/PS Had Maliwan launchers, Tediore launchers, Lasers (though admittedly I’m fine with these becoming mods to existing weapon types, same with e-tech).

BL3 dropped Maliwan and Tediore launchers, and the only real case of ‘more types’ is that now Torgue uses different elements.

I don’t mind increased focus on types to ensure they’re more different, but a lot of these things just needed tweaking. Why wouldn’t Torgue want a sniper that creates explosions from a distance? Hyperion constructors use missiles often, why not make a launcher?

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#2

Too much time and effort for no money. They learned from EA and Activision you can charge more and produce less as long as you box it up real nice and don’t get so greedy with Microtransactions even the most simple folks realize they are getting the shaft.

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#3

Scope? Themes? idk the reasons but they’re probably reasonable

#4

When I discovered that there is no Hyperion pistols in this game, I was very surprised. I guess that adding 3 or 4 barrels per weapon type for each manufacturer made that they had to cut out other weapon types for some manufacturers, I guess.

#5

I was dissapointed, as they were my faforite. The Synergy was great.

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#6

Pre-Sequel’s laser weaponry was SOOO awesome. I miss it in Borderlands 3. All that remains are some legendary beam weapons.

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#7

We do have non-legendary beam weapons, just that due to the fact that most weapons are best disregarded unless they do something unique and op, you’d not notice unless you made an effort to try everything.

#8

While there are less types of weapon per manufacturer they ones we do have are vastly more distinct.

If you compare weapons in BL1 almost all of them are generic - no real differences except slight stat differences in damage, accuracy, reload, etc. Its relatively easy to create a lot of different weapon types in such a situation cause the differences between a dahl, atlas, or valdof assault rifle were largely just numerical with a new color pallet on top. By BL2 there were noticable differences but some types (malawian mostly) still weren’t well differentiated.

Considering the rather drastic differences between manufacturers now I’d dare say we have more variety than ever - without even looking at legendaries/unique weapons. Sure there may not be Tediore launchers anymore but a Torgue gun always feels like a Torgue gun and a Malawian always feels like a Malawian gun.

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#9

Certainly, but we could easily have introduced new types for manufacturers without actively removing weapon types.

Heavy weapons could easily be expanded to offer more than just launchers; Jakobs cannons and Vladof miniguns, for example. Maliwan chemical throwers, or modify Tediore launchers so that they travel in a straight line when you reload them (which I think was the biggest problem with them in BL2).
Vladof shotguns and smgs would have been a welcome addition, and Atlas could have boundless potential had it not been locked to a single concept (probably the most restricted of all manufacturers, imo).

Creating more types could have allowed for even more diversity and expansion of concepts. The closest thing we have to new weapon types is the alternate firing mode on Vladof guns.

#10

I’m with Silben. The weapon diversity is so much better in BL3 overall, that I just don’t think it matters. I’d go as far as to say that the manufacturer diversity was perhaps the single biggest improvement over BL2.

Tediore was always my favourite manufacturer, yet even so I way prefer the Tediore guns in BL3 - they’re just so much interesting, with so many different types: bombs, mirvs, heat-seekers, crabs, flying drones, trash-talkers etc.

Meanwhile, Jacobs was probably my least favourite manufacturer in BL2 because they were so boring - but now in BL3 I love those too, since the ricochet-on-critical mechanic gives them something special.

There are some combinations which probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense (eg. Hyperion pistols…with tiny little shields?). But certainly there are ones that would have worked. I certainly think Tediore launchers in BL3 could have been awesome. But I find it hard to criticise the guys responsible for manufacturer diversity for that, when overall those guys did such a stellar job.
Maybe focusing on fewer combinations gave them more time and/or freedom to make the existing combinations better?

The big fail for me though has been Maliwan. They’ve become all but useless ever since elemental-rich annointments started taking over.

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