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Grab your guns: Four-day ‘Gear Up Weekend’ event hits Borderlands 2 [Update]

Earnest Cavalli
By
Vermivorous

Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt, the third DLC campaign addition for Gearbox Software’s excellent open-world first-person shooter Borderlands 2, will debut on the various digital distribution platforms on January 15. That’s wonderful in and of itself, as Borderlands 2 is one of our favorite releases of the past year, and more content for the game is always welcome. However, the real story here isn’t the DLC, but instead what Gearbox has planned to herald its release.

This morning the developer kicked off festivities by making the following announcement on its official blog:

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The festivities begin today, January 11, with Vault Hunters reporting an influx of powerful shotguns throughout Pandora. To join in the fun, simply boot up Borderlands 2 while connected to the internet and start looting before the supply runs dry — based on current conditions, expect the excess to be exhausted on Saturday, January 12 at 10:55AM CST / 4:55PM GMT

Powerful shotguns sound like a great reward for fans, but there’s something odd about this announcement. Why would Gearbox host an in-game event that only lasts for a single day?

We wondered the same thing, but instead of speculating wildly, we went straight to the source for more information on what’s happening here. As it turns out, Gearbox has only revealed the first of four days of festivities. This event actually runs through Tuesday of next week (which makes sense, given that Tuesday happens to be January 15, the day that Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt hits retail). 

When this article was first published we included a list of scheduled events for this weekend provided by Gearbox, but unfortunately it seems that the list we were given is a tentative work in progress. That unfortunately negates a lot of what we’d originally written here, but according to Gearbox representatives the only inaccurate part of the list was the specifics. Thus, we can tell you that each of the next three days will almost definitely feature an increasingly large drop rate from one category of Borderlands 2’s weaponry. On Tuesday, the fourth day, it’s likely that Gearbox will boost the spawn rate of one of the game’s most difficult enemies, making him/her/it invaluable to veterans hoping to pick up some of the game’s rarest loot. We don’t know which enemy this might be, but we’ve got a feeling that it will be Vermivorous. Don’t quote us on that, as we no longer know any specific details of this event, but it certainly seems quite likely.

As Gearbox mentioned, it’s very easy to get involved in this whole thing. All you need is a copy of Borderlands 2, a gaming machine to play it on and a functional Internet connection. Just log into the game and each day’s special effect will automatically be applied. Enjoy your new toys.

Update: This article previously contained a list of scheduled events that Gearbox had revealed to us and which we published. Unfortunately, that list was a tentative work in progress and may not accurately reflect the events Gearbox has in store for the weekend. We’ve since excised the list from this piece, and altered its text to reflect current information. Keep an eye on Gearbox’s official blog for more.

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Tales from the Borderlands follows two characters -- Rhys and Fiona -- as they relate similar-yet-different stories of their time spent in pursuit of a Vault key, and the immense wealth that they believe comes with it. There's a framing encounter at the start of the game that reunites these characters after some time apart and sets up their flashbacks; much of the driving action unfolds in the past.

Meet Rhys. The premiere episode's first "movement" gives Rhys the floor. He's a Hyperion employee, stationed way up above Pandora on the company's H-shaped space station. The death of Handsome Jack at the end of Borderlands 2 triggers a power struggle that ends with Rhys missing out on a big promotion, passed over in favor of his douchey office rival, Vasquez (voiced by Patrick Warburton).
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