10 Tips & Tricks To Make You Battleborn Ready Before Release

What is Battleborn? This is a question that prompts a different answer almost every time it’s asked. Is it a hero shooter? Is it a MOBA? Is it an RPG? Well in truth, it’s all of these and more. The true nature of Battleborn sees MOBA mechanics infused with thrilling first-person combat, a challenging RPG-style story and various competitive modes taking inspiration from the popular FPS game modes of yesteryear.

While this unique combination of features and mechanics is Battleborn’s greatest asset, it’s also it’s biggest weakness. The MOBA elements of the game are plain to see but small yet innovative changes to the foundations of the genre add different levels of depth that some players may not be expecting. Then of course you have the players that jump into Battleborn as an arena-based first-person shooter with a single goal of having the highest kill-to-death ratio. Don’t worry about these guys, they’ll be gone by week 4.

To help you prepare for the release of Battleborn on May 3rd we’ve compiled a list of tips and tricks that will help you settle in to your new surroundings. While some may appear painfully obvious at first, we’re sure you’ll learn a trick or two.

If you’re anything like me, chances are you’ll pick your go-to Hero based on the simple question: Do they look like a bad-ass? Sometimes, if you’re lucky, this can result in you choosing a Hero that caters to your individual playstyle and is both balanced and viable in terms of the current build of the game. More often than not however, you’ll find yourself knee deep in enemy fire as a ranged squishy or sitting aback behind a wall of team mates with enough HP to withstand a nuclear blast.

Every Hero in Battleborn has their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s never easy to change a style of play you’ve developed over years of gaming to suit a specific Hero or role, instead look for a character that utilizes a set of skills and abilities that appeal to you as player. This may seem like a no-brainer but I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen a Boldur be the last Hero into battle.

If you need some help unlocking your Hero of choice be sure to check out our guide – How to unlock all characters in Battleborn.

Depending on the game mode you’re playing the minions on your team play slightly different roles. However, in all modes the minions are able to assist you in more ways than you think. For example, the minions spawned in Meltdown come in identical waves each time. Each wave, which spawns once every 60 seconds, consists of basic gun bots and a single more powerful unit called a Shepherd.

Despite the obvious differences in size and firepower the Shepherd boasts another key element that sets it apart from its lesser useful comrade, it can create an overshield. This overshield applies to both nearby minions and nearby allied players, giving you a huge boost to your shield so you can take down a turret, clear a wave of enemy minions or harass an enemy player without losing your actual shield or health.

The overshield is applied once every 15 seconds from the time a wave spawns. At the very start of a Meltdown match you can run to the minion spawn points on either side and grab an overshield instantly, giving you a huge advantage in any pre-minion skirmishes.

Although turrets may seem weak and expensive, ignoring them can be fatal and a sure-fire way to send your team to an early retreat. If you are near an allied turret, defend it as you would your own life. Not only can turrets deal additional damage to nearby enemy players and minions, they can also help to control a lane or area while your team is fighting elsewhere.

If a wave of enemy minions meets a wave of friendly minions and neither team has players in the area, the one controlling the nearby turret will win the fight every time. The same applies for buildables that are not directly damage related. Constructing a healing device and your team can return to the field of battle much quicker than returning to spawn. Likewise with the turrets that speed up allies and slow down enemies, if one team loses this in a lane they’ll soon find minions pushing much faster than expected.

All too often you see players so determined to kill another player they’ll push so far that the turrets defending the enemies main spawn take them apart in a few hits. Killing enemy players is rarely a prime objective. Each of the game modes in Battleborn have deeper mechanics at work, it’s not a simple arena-based shooter where a good kill-to-death ratio guarantees victory.

If you find yourself chasing an enemy Hero with low health, make sure you evaluate the situation quickly but thoroughly. Do you have any allied Heroes nearby? Does your victim have friends in close proximity? Have you pushed beyond the range of minions or turrets your team control? Killing an enemy Hero can be a great benefit to your team but only if you minimize the risk of giving your enemy the same benefit from taking you down.

The way in which character builds and items work in Battleborn is a little confusing at first but it’s a vital part of building your Hero. Once you reach level 3 you unlock the ability to assign up to 3 items to a Loadout. You can then apply this Loadout in a lobby prior to starting the match. Any Loadout can be equipped to any Hero but you’ll often find it’s beneficial to build Loadouts around specific roles. It’s all well and good having a fantastic healing Loadout but if you find yourself stuck with a tank or assassin, your items will be next to useless.

Pay attention to the cost. Creating a Loadout with all Legendary items priced at 1,800 Shard’s each isn’t necessarily the best way to go. You need to balance your builds so that you can gather enough Shard’s to create the items without completely denying your allies of their chance to grab Shard’s and buy items.

Most of the items in Battleborn come with pros and cons but careful construction of Loadouts can often see the negatives of the item canceled out. For example, an item that improves critical hit rate but drastically lowers reload speed. The reload speed penalty for Oscar Mike would be a severe disadvantage but put that same item on Galilea and you’ve got all the critical hit rate bonuses without the penalty as she does not need to reload.

When you first enter the field of battle it’s not a terrible idea to get used to a very small selection of Heroes so that you’re experienced, knowledgeable and skilled in at least a couple of roles. As a beginner you’ll also be learning the mechanics of the game as well as the Hero you choose, so don’t spread yourself too thin until you’re confident that you know the mechanics of the game mode you’re playing.

However, don’t get too comfortable playing a single Hero. Once you understand the basic mechanics start to experiment with other Heroes gradually. Not only does this make you a more valuable team mate, being able to adapt to roles needed in a specific match, but it will also make you a more skilled opponent in combat. Defeating an enemy Hero is much easier when you’re familiar with their skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and the best way to do this is to play the Hero yourself.

In the heat of battle it can be very easy to spam every ability available, ignoring purpose and design in favor of a hit-and-hope strategy where you randomly mash buttons and hope for the best. I probably don’t have to tell you, that’s not a good idea.

Basic ability management is second nature to the majority of players but you’ll often find Heroes with abilities that can suit a very specific purpose, and suit it well. I’ll return to the ever reliable Oscar Mike for another example here. With the right Helix choices Oscar Mike can have a drastically reduced cooldown on his stealth ability, while also triggering a shield recharge on use. This gives Oscar Mike a huge boost to survival in many situations but that’s not always it’s best use.

The higher difficulties of story mode can be very challenging, even for an experienced team of players. Having a skilled Oscar Mike almost guarantees success if used correctly. As long as your stealth is available and not on cooldown you can instantly disappear, recharge your shield, lose any aggro you have and then resurrect up to two team mates before you’re visible to the enemy again.

Obviously this is a very specific example but don’t under-estimate your Heroes ability on the battlefield. A quick glance at the description of your abilities will teach you enough to fight, but the really skilled players will know the potential uses for each and every skill inside and out.

Every Hero in Battleborn has 2 (3 once you unlock mutations) unique progression paths available as they level up through each match. The choices you make can drastically change many of your abilities and if you’re not careful you’ll soon find that your characters abilities in combat worsen as the match progresses. Each time you level you can pick a new Helix and although you’re free to select both choices, most of the Heroes in Battleborn have “build sets”. Oscar Mike for example can spec into a build that offers increased damage from stealth and better movement speed but this comes at the cost of harder to aim grenades and less survival potential due to the lack of shield recharge.

The way you play a Hero could be entirely different to someone else playing the same Hero. You don’t want to spec yourself into 2-3 stealth Helix’s and then spend the entire match spamming your grenade and missing. You can check a Heroes Helix options in the games main menu and although it’s always good to keep an open mind and adapt your build to better suit a particular situation or team make-up, making the wrong choice can seriously hinder your potential.

Reading up on the Helix options prior to battle can also give you a huge advantage on your enemies. You’ll often find yourself leveling during a fight but if you have to stop and read your choices before making a decision, you’re wasting valuable time. When you level choose your Helix as quickly as possible as the new perks and abilities that become available could just be enough to turn a losing battle into a victory.

It’s very easy to become so wrapped up in your little world that you forget you’re playing a multiplayer game but communication and teamwork are vital ingredients if you hope to achieve victory. Informing your team of your intentions, whether that be initiating an attack against an enemy player or going for a shard, drastically increases your chance of success as they can lend aid should the need arise.

If you find yourself in a match with teammates of much lower levels, use the communication tools available to share your knowledge of mechanics and improve the experience for everyone involved. Everyone learns at different speeds and enjoys different aspects of the game so don’t be that guy that rages the entire game because you’re expecting a team of level 5’s to perform at the level of much more experienced players.

One of the more innovative elements of Battleborn is the in-game economy and currencies surrounding the purchasing of items and construction of towers. You earn Shards by destroying placements around the map – this applies whether you’re playing multiplayer or story mode. Shards come in various shapes and sizes, from small purple containers in story mode to large crystal like objects in competitive play. There are also very small Shard deposits that you can collect simply by running over them, whereas the bigger ones require a small amount of damage before you can collect the Shards.

Shards are vital if you hope to emerge victorious. Collecting Shards allows you to purchase items that you’ve selected in your Loadouts and it also lets you spawn turrets, Super Minions and other beneficial structures for your team. Learn the spawn locations and pay attention to timers. For example on Meltdown the large Shards on both sides spawn every 2 minutes with roughly 5 seconds of time to actually spawn. So by 28:00 in a Meltdown match, you and your team should be ready to take down the Shards in the middle of the arena before safely grabbing the Shards closer to your spawn.

Managing your Shard’s plays a huge role in your chances of success. Grabbing some early towers can be a huge benefit to your team. Spawning Super Minions after you wipe the enemy can give you a huge lead and buying your cheaper items early in the game can really help to compliment your build.

When you’re gathering Shard’s be careful that you don’t just horde them for the sake of it. If you’re finishing a game with all of your items and 1,000 Shard’s, you’re hurting your teams chances. A balanced team with each player having the chance to buy their items is the best way to go. Check your allies regularly, once everyone has their items go crazy and gather as many Shard’s as you can. Just be sure to use them before it’s too late.