Starting Today, Borderlands 3 Goes ‘80s with Latest Free Event

You don’t know it yet, but you’re about to turn Joey Ultraviolet’s criminal underworld upside down. See, Borderlands 3‘s latest free, time-limited event – Revenge of the Cartels – revolves around an Eridium cartel composed of three distinct gangs and controlled by the ruthless Joey Ultraviolet. Over the course of the next six weeks, you’re going to kick his ass. A lot.

Starting today, you’ll notice Cartel operatives causing trouble all across the Borderlands, including areas found in each of the game’s campaign add-ons. When you take down one of these operatives, two things will happen: first, a wave of Cartel Thugs will warp in to avenge their fallen comrade – and they might even bring a unique, Badass-level Underboss with them. If you successfully eliminate these reinforcements, you’ll collect some Hideout Coordinates.

Collect enough coordinates and your scaly shipmate Maurice (remember him from Bloody Harvest?) will be able to warp you to Joey Ultraviolet’s from his neon-soaked tropical hideout, a new discrete area added specifically for Revenge of the Cartels. There you’ll face not only Joey himself but also waves of enemies from one of three Cartel gangs: the tech-obsessed cyborgs of CryptoSec, the meat-charring debt collectors of The Burnt Ends, or the Eridium dust runners known as The Purpatrators.

Each gang sports its own distinctive look, offers a unique roster of Underbosses, and most importantly, enjoys its own Legendary loot pool. Naturally, we recommend paying Joey multiple visits to increase your chances of snagging every hot new Legendary item. Thankfully, you’ll never face the same gang twice in a row, so the first thing you’ll want to do after leaving Joey’s glitzy mansion is start collecting coordinates for your next trip. Be sure to collect all the best gear before the event ends on June 4 or you might miss out!

Oh, and if Legendary gear isn’t enough to convince you, how about some cool event-specific cosmetics? Revenge of the Cartels introduces a set of 18 limited-time Challenges you can only complete while the event is live. Be sure to track your progress via the event tab in your ECHO Device menu to make sure you’re hitting your goals. Here’s a look at what’s available:

• 3 Challenges: ‘VECH-tor Graphics’ ECHO Device Skin
• 6 Challenges: ‘Retro Outrunner’ Weapon Trinket
• 10 Challenges: ‘Framed Firewall’ Room Decoration
• 14 Challenges: ‘Hotline Pandora’ Vault Hunter Head
• 18 Challenges: ‘Death by Filigrees’ Vault Hunter Skin

With all of that said, you can always opt out of the event if you’d prefer to just play the game as you normally would. But with an all-new area, fresh enemy types, limited-time Challenges, and of course, tons of new gear, we hope you consider opting back in later. Just remember: Revenge of the Cartels starts today but ends on June 4.

Before we go, we wanted to mention one more thing for all you high-level players out there: Mayhem Mode 2.0 is now live! That’s right, we’ve completely overhauled Borderlands 3‘s end-game to create a more enduring and rewarding experience. If you’re a high-level player looking for a reason to jump back in, you can read more on borderlands.com.

Between Mayhem 2.0, Revenge of the Cartels, Borderlands Science, our ongoing mini-events, and next month’s Guardian Takedown, there’s really never been a better time to jump in and enjoy Borderlands 3. We hope to see you out there, Vault Hunter!

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