The underlying problem that players eventually encounter in the endgame of everyBorderlandsgame is an abundance of money and a lack of ammunition. Standard money significantly wanes in usefulness as players progress in any of the franchise’s games, at which point the separate endgame currencies inBorderlandstake over. Without anything worthwhile for players to spend their fortune on, money could stand to take on new purposes inBorderlands 4.
Borderlandsgames have a maximum capacity for money that will display in the player’s inventory, but players can continue to collect money, it just won’t be continually tracked above a certain amount of digits. Players can ultimately amass a ridiculous amount of money inBorderlandsbecause of how abundant money becomes. Therefore, the balance of money inBorderlandsgames highlights how sparse some of the other economies are in contrast, like the ammo economy in theendgameBorderlandscontent like Takedowns.
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Borderlands' Ammo Economy Needs an Improvement in Borderlands 4
Buying storage deck upgrades inBorderlandsallows players to increase specific inventory sizes, but the capacity for these SDUs is very easy to reach in the natural flow of progression. The most common things for players to spend money on inBorderlands’ endgame content are skill point resets, ammo refills, or the passive money loss when players die.
While SDUs allow players to have more ammunition in the early game, these inventory upgrades don’t always hold up in the long and difficult endgame content, like the Takedowns, Slaughter Domes, or theCircles of Slaughter inBorderlands. With all this in mind,Borderlands 4should aim to solve these problems going forward, potentially by meeting somewhere in the middle of the ammo and money economies in-game.
What it essentially comes down to is that the sweet spot between needing an ammunition vending machine and having access to one isn’t always balanced in the player’s favor inBorderlands’ endgame content. As long as players have the money and are staying alive to be able to spend it, the ammunition economy inBorderlandsgames could stand to be a little more generous.
The upcomingBorderlands 4is the perfect opportunity to solve this problem intheBorderlandsfranchisebefore future games suffer from the same shortcoming. One way thatBorderlandscould shake things up is by adding portable ammo packs that players can purchase and hold in their inventory for a rainy day.
Borderlands 4 Should Take Inspiration from Destiny
Another looter shooter franchise has already made some big strides in the way of balancing currencies and ammo thatBorderlandscould learn from. Back in the originalDestiny, players could purchase portable ammo packs for each ammo type in the game. Portable ammo packs were great; though, in the grand scheme of the game’s lifecycle, they were eventually removed and replaced.
Nowadays inDestiny 2, portable ammo packs live on through Raid Banners. Unlike what the name implies, Raid Banners can be used in a variety ofDestiny 2’s endgame content beyond just raids. Raid Banners can be placed at specific checkpoints in difficult activities to grant everyone on the team full ammo and fully recharged abilities.
Not every Vault Hunter has access to skills that passively allow players to regenerate ammo, so portable ammo packs would help to level the playing field between the best ofthe best Vault Hunters in theBorderlandsfranchise. Even the Vault Hunters that can regenerate most ammo types often can’t regenerate grenades or rockets, but that could change with portable ammo packs.
Ultimately, having access to portable ammo packs inBorderlandswould be game-changing to solo players and full teams alike. Not only would portable ammo packs have immense utility throughout theBorderlandsgames, but they could also be the change that the money economy in the game needs.
