Note: These observations are, so far my own, and as they are mere observations, they may not be 100% accurate. Especially in the case of numerical ranges such as the price to activate.
If you have a piece of gear that is an exception to one of the rules I have listed, please show me a picture so that I may update the appropriate areas.
In Battleborn, there are 5 tiers of gear, AKA loot, which follows the usual color coded progression that has become popular in various games revolving around the acquisition and utilization of loot. Games such as Destiny, The Division, and of course Borderlands.
However, unlike in those other games, Battleborn is unique in that there is an argument for the usefulness of every tier of loot. When you get the same item of a higher quality, it is not automatically better with numerically higher stats. Instead the various levels of quality impart different qualities onto the gear item. In order of rarity, from least to most rare, it goes: white (common), green (uncommon), blue (rare), purple (epic), orange (legendary).
All Gear
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All gear does exactly nothing until activated each mission with shards. Don’t pay the price, don’t get the effects.
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The price of activation scales with the relative power of the effects. If a piece of gear is exactly 2x more expensive to activate than another piece of the same type and quality, then it does exactly 2x as much to your stats as the cheaper piece.
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Negative effects reduce the cost of activation by a significant margin, ranging from 100% off on white gear, to roughly 40% off on greens, roughly 33% off on blues, and roughly 28% off on purples.
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Negative effects also will never be the same as the primary effect or secondary effect.
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All primary and negative effects are constantly active once the gear piece has been activated. There are no special requirements for these benefits or detriments beyond the shard cost to activate the gear.
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Primary and negative effects scale the same, meaning that they cancel out. For example, if you had a green piece of gear that increases reload speed but slows attack speed that costs 400 shards to activate and another green piece of gear that increases attack speed but slows reload speed that costs 400 shards to activate, you would gain exactly 0 benefit in either attack speed or reload speed and would only be affected by the secondary bonuses.
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Secondary effects are scaled lower than primary effects, meaning that you won’t generally see a gear piece’s secondary effect be greater than the primary effect of the associated gear piece. It is still possible though, and a very good indicator that you have a weak gear piece.
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Secondary bonuses and the requirement to activate them, if any, are determined by the faction that the gear piece is from, with the partial exception of blue gear as their secondary bonuses are set by the type of gear.
White Gear
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1-2 effects
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1 primary positive effect
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Potential for a negative effect
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Cheap to activate, free to activate if there is a downside
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Price ranges from 300 to 420 shards if there are no negative effects
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Sells for 10 credits
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Good for an early advantage
Green Gear
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2-3 effects
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1 primary positive effect
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1 secondary positive effect, active only under certain conditions, different effect than the primary effect
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Potential for a negative effect
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Still relatively cheap to activate, no longer free to activate if there is a drawback
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Price ranges from 510 to 715 shards if there are no negative effects
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Sells for 25 credits
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Very good if you want to stack a certain stat cheaply
Blue Gear
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2-3 effects
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1 primary positive effect
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1 secondary positive effect, active only under certain conditions, same as the primary effect
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Potential for a negative effect
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Can be very expensive, in some cases more expensive than a similar purple to activate
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Price ranges from 675 to 925 shards if there are no negative effects
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Sells for 70 credits
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Good for greatly boosting a single stat
Purple Gear
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2-3 effects
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All effects are active constantly
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1 primary positive effect
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1 secondary positive effect, different than the primary effect
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Potential for a negative effect
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Rather expensive, with some pieces reaching over 3x the cost of the cheapest white gear
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Prices range from 775 to 1050 shards if there are no negative effects
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Sells for 150 credits
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Good for being basically a green, but more consistent and more expensive
Orange Gear
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3 effects, all positive
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1 primary effect, always active
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1 secondary effect, always active
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1 legendary effect, active under certain circumstances
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The most expensive gear in the game, bar none
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Price is a consistent 1800 shards to activate
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Sells for 250 credits, only ever sell duplicates though!
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Good for being basically a purple but with an additional bonus, if price is no object
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Legendary effects can be a wide variety of effects that aren’t otherwise accessible, and very powerful in the correct situation
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Legendary gear is specially named, with every piece of gear sharing the name having the exact same set of effects, though the power of the effects can vary from piece to piece.
Other Notes
- ■■■■ Swift and everything about that prefix. It’s the only secondary bonus in the game that is as powerful as a primary bonus. It’s the only exception that I’ve seen so far to the rules above.
- Turning on advanced and/or hardcore difficulty will increase the chances of a higher quality item dropping, including legendaries.