Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel: Complete Guide

Everything you need to play Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel well on PC: the low-gravity and oxygen systems, the six Vault Hunters and their skill trees, the Grinder, the difficulty and level-cap ladder, and how to farm and co-op efficiently.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC build (no new content since 2015; the game is still sold on Steam and supports SHiFT codes). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Watch your O2 bar. On Elpis's surface, oxygen drains constantly. Your Oz kit supplies it; refill from O2 vents, geysers, Oz generators, oxygen canisters dropped by enemies, and air bubbles (Oxygen Generators create pockets of breathable air). If it hits zero, you start losing health.
• Jumping costs air. Double-jumps/boosts and ground slams spend O2. Use them freely in combat, but don't hover around carelessly in long vacuum stretches.
• Butt slam everything. Crouch mid-air to slam. Slams are a real damage source, especially with Oz kits that add elemental slam damage, and they shatter frozen enemies.
• Cryo is the new element. Cryo weapons slow and then freeze enemies. Frozen targets take extra damage from melee and slams and can be shattered. Laser weapons are a new weapon type, not a new element.
• Pick a character you'll enjoy for 50+ levels. Each has three skill trees and one action skill; respeccing at a Quick Change station is cheap, so experiment.
• Hoard Moonstones for the Grinder. Moonstones are the special currency for Moonstone chests and for Grinder recipes that add Luneshine (bonus stats) to gear.
• Complete side missions as you go. They keep you at level for the story and many hand out purple/blue gear and skins.
• Redeem SHiFT codes. Golden Keys open the Golden Chest in Concordia for high-level gear. Codes come through official Borderlands social channels and events.
• Don't rush True Vault Hunter Mode. Finish Normal, then TVHM. Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM), the third playthrough, unlocks once you reach level 50 in TVHM.

The Vault Hunters

The base game has four characters; two more came as DLC: Jack (November 11, 2014) and Aurelia (January 27, 2015). Both are in the Season Pass and the collection bundles.

Character | Class | Action skill | Skill trees | Plays like

Athena | Gladiator | Kinetic Aspis (raise a shield that absorbs frontal damage, then throw it) | Xiphos, Phalanx, Ceraunic Storm | Tanky melee/elemental hybrid; best beginner pick

Wilhelm | Enforcer | Wolf and Saint (attack drone + healing/shield drone) | Hunter Killer, Cyber Commando, Dreadnought | Sustain and damage from drones; easy solo

Nisha | Lawbringer | Showdown (auto-aim plus gun damage, fire rate, and reload buffs) | Law & Order, Fan the Hammer, The Riflewoman | Gun-focused DPS, big crits

Claptrap | Fragtrap | VaultHunter.EXE (refills health and fires a random, context-based action package) | Boomtrap, I Love You Guys!, Fragmented Fragtrap | Chaotic; great fun, unreliable, co-op support

Jack (DLC) | Doppelganger | Expendable Assets (summons two Digi-Jack clones) | The Hero of this Story, Greater Good, Free Enterprise | Summoner/clone damage plus gun buffs

Aurelia (DLC) | Baroness | Frost Shard (a seeking shard that deals constant cryo damage) | The Huntress, Cold Money, Contractual Aristocracy | Cryo sniper with a "Servant" co-op contract mechanic

Tree names above follow Lootlemon's skill calculators (linked in Sources).

Build archetypes (qualitative)

• Athena, Ceraunic Storm: every fire or shock hit builds Maelstrom stacks that raise your elemental damage; Storm Weaving rewards weapon swaps. Excellent all-rounder.
• Athena, Xiphos: melee and bleed stacking with the Blood Rush dash, whose cooldown resets on kills or fresh bleeds.
• Athena, Phalanx: shield and Aspis uptime, heavy survivability and team support; good for solo UVHM.
• Wilhelm, Hunter Killer + Dreadnought: Wolf does damage, Saint heals, Dreadnought improves Saint and adds healing zones and resistances. Very forgiving. Cyber Commando adds laser bonuses and the Power Fist melee.
• Nisha, Law & Order: shields, melee, and Order stacks for sustain.
• Nisha, Fan the Hammer: Showdown uptime and kill-skill gun damage; the classic "delete the boss" build.
• Nisha, The Riflewoman: accuracy and critical hits with rifles.
• Claptrap: Boomtrap adds explosive damage to non-explosive guns; I Love You Guys! supports the team and extends Fight for Your Life; Fragmented Fragtrap picks a "subroutine" (gun-type, defensive, melee, elemental and more) for rolling bonuses. Expect randomness from VaultHunter.EXE by design.
• Jack: The Hero of this Story links your survivability to your clones; Greater Good leans on gun damage, kill skills, and team support; Free Enterprise rewards weapon swapping and manufacturer variety.
• Aurelia: The Huntress for sniping and crits; Cold Money for cryo; Contractual Aristocracy lets an ally accept a contract by meleeing her, becoming her Servant (she gains gun damage, they gain shield capacity; the contract ends if either of you dies).

Stat priority for most builds: pick a damage element or weapon type, match your Oz kit and class mod to it, and keep a shield that covers your weakest moment (low O2, reloading, or melee range).

Core Systems

Low gravity and oxygen

• Oz kits are their own gear slot, alongside shield, grenade, and class mod. They define your O2 capacity and often add slam effects (elemental slams, bonus damage when airborne, etc.).
• Inside buildings with atmosphere (and in Concordia) O2 doesn't drain.
• Hovering while aiming is a tactic: many Oz kits and skills buff you in the air, and you get a clean line of fire on enemies behind cover.

Weapons and elements

Element | Good against | Notes

Incendiary (fire) | Flesh | Doesn't work in vacuum (no oxygen) — enemies in airless areas can't burn

Shock | Shields | Standard shield stripper

Corrosive | Armor | Robots, armored enemies

Cryo | Everything (slow/freeze) | Frozen enemies take bonus melee/slam damage

Explosive | General | Solid neutral choice

Laser (weapon type) | Varies | Continuous or burst beams; many roll with an element

Note: fire's vacuum limitation is a real design rule on Elpis — bring a non-fire option for airless zones. Borderlands 2's Slag element isn't in The Pre-Sequel; cryo fills the "debuff" role instead, so build around freezing rather than slagging.

The Grinder

In Concordia, the Grinder turns three items into one. Grind three items of the same rarity for a chance at a better-rarity item; add Moonstones to add a Luneshine (bonus attribute) to weapons. Use it to recycle vendor junk into useful gear. It's a gamble; expect many mediocre results.

Vehicles

• Moon Buggy: fast, gunfire and missiles.
• Stingray: hoverbike with a boost; good for crossing large areas.
• Spawn them at the vehicle stations placed at the edge of big outdoor zones.

Difficulty and level cap

Mode | Unlock | Notes

Normal | Default | Story mode

True Vault Hunter Mode (TVHM) | Finish the story | Tougher enemies, better loot

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM) | Reach level 50 in TVHM | Enemies hit much harder and scale to you; you need an element-appropriate build and real sustain

Level cap is 50 in the base game, raised to 60 by The Holodome Onslaught (December 2014) and to 70 by Claptastic Voyage and Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 (March 24, 2015), per Wikipedia and the Steam DLC pages.

Story Walkthrough Outline

The Pre-Sequel is told as a flashback: Athena, interrogated on Sanctuary by Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai, recounts how a Hyperion programmer named Jack (before he's "Handsome") recruited her crew to find a Vault on Elpis. The main path, in broad strokes:

• Helios under attack — the Lost Legion, led by Colonel Zarpedon, ambushes the crew on Hyperion's moon base; Jack sends you down to Elpis by moonshot rocket.
• Early Elpis and Concordia — you meet junk dealer Janey Springs, fight scavs and kraggons (including the boss Deadlift), and reach Concordia, your hub (vendors, Moxxi, the Grinder, the Golden Chest).
• Shutting down the jamming signal — a signal from Elpis stops Jack from using Helios's defenses. With Moxxi's help you trace it to the Meriff, Jack's former subordinate who now runs Concordia.
• Hyperion's war machine — you raid a Lost Legion base run by the Bosun and the Skipper, recover the military AI Felicity, and help scientist Gladstone put her into Jack's Constructor prototype. Felicity fights you before her personality is deleted, and the Constructor becomes the basis of Jack's robot army.
• Zarpedon and the finale — assault Helios with the robot army, defeat Zarpedon, and reboot the Eye of Helios, which turns out to be the Destroyer from the first game converted into a weapon. Back on Elpis, the Vault is already open and guarded by the Empyrean Sentinel. The epilogue shows how Jack becomes "Handsome Jack".

Boss tips:

• Deadlift: strip his shield with shock, then burst. Stay mobile around his electrical attacks.
• Felicity (Constructor): a big robot fight; keep moving and use corrosive on armor.
• Colonel Zarpedon: multi-phase; strip shields, rotate between cover and air.
• The Sentinel / Empyrean Sentinel (final boss): a multi-phase fight; match elements to its shield/armor phases and keep O2 topped up.

DLC Overview

DLC | Released | What it adds

Shock Drop Slaughter Pit | Launch (pre-order bonus) | Arena challenge

Handsome Jack Doppelganger Pack | Nov 11, 2014 | Playable character (Jack)

The Holodome Onslaught | Dec 2014 | Wave-based challenge arena framed by Athena's interrogation; level cap to 60

Lady Hammerlock the Baroness Pack | Jan 27, 2015 | Playable character (Aurelia)

Claptastic Voyage and Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 | Mar 24, 2015 | Story campaign inside Claptrap's mind (find the "H-Source" code), level cap to 70

The Season Pass covers Jack, Holodome, Aurelia, and Claptastic Voyage. Claptastic Voyage is the only story DLC: Jack sends you digitally into Claptrap's mind to recover the H-Source (Hyperion secrets hidden there by CEO Harold Tassiter), and the final boss is 5H4D0W-TP, Claptrap's evil subroutine. The Holodome Onslaught is a wave-based arena, so buy it mainly for the level cap increase if you're not into horde modes.

Farming and Endgame

• Golden Keys: save them for when you hit a new cap; the chest scales loot to your level at the time you open it.
• Boss farming: save and quit, then reload to respawn bosses. Many legendaries have favored drop sources; check a loot table before committing a long farm.
• Moonstone chests: open them when you see them; they're good for rare-quality loot.
• UVHM: match elements to enemy types, keep a strong shield, and invest in sustain (Athena's regeneration, Wilhelm's Saint, Nisha's Order).

Co-op

• Up to four players online; also split-screen on consoles.
• Loot is shared (first come, first served) — agree on loot rules.
• Aurelia's Contractual Aristocracy tree (the Servant contract) and Claptrap's I Love You Guys! tree are strongest in co-op.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Ignoring O2 in vacuum. Carry a larger-capacity Oz kit early and learn where vents are.
• Using only fire weapons. They don't ignite in vacuum.
• Never slamming. Slam damage scales with your Oz kit and skills; it's a core damage tool.
• Selling everything instead of Grinding. Three blue weapons can become a purple; don't let the Grinder go unused.
• Starting TVHM underleveled. Do side missions in Normal first.
• Overlooking DLC level requirements. Claptastic Voyage expects a high-level character.

Advanced Tips

• Combine cryo and slams: freeze, then slam for a shatter.
• Use air time to break line of sight and dodge ground-based attacks.
• Laser weapons often have excellent sustained DPS; test them early.
• In co-op, stack the same elemental damage (cryo team) to make fights trivial.
• Respec freely; Quick Change stations are cheap, and many players swap between farming and boss builds.
• Use SHiFT golden keys at the level cap for highest gear quality.

FAQ

Is Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel canon? Yes. It's the story between Borderlands and Borderlands 2, showing Jack's turn into Handsome Jack.

Do I need to play Borderlands 1 or 2 first? No, but it helps. The best order for story is 1, then Pre-Sequel, then 2 — though many players play 2 first so the Jack reveal lands.

What's the max level? 50 base, 60 with The Holodome Onslaught, 70 with Claptastic Voyage and UVHM Upgrade Pack 2.

How do I unlock UVHM? Reach level 50 in True Vault Hunter Mode. UVHM is the third playthrough, with much tougher enemies that scale to your level.

Which character is best for solo? Athena and Wilhelm are the most forgiving; Nisha is excellent with good pistols.

How is the story framed? Athena tells it as a flashback while being interrogated on Sanctuary by Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai; the events themselves take place between Borderlands and Borderlands 2. The credits scene shows Jack taking over Hyperion by killing CEO Harold Tassiter.

Can I still play online? Yes, via Steam co-op. It's also available on NVIDIA GeForce NOW for PC owners (announced August 2025).

Is it worth it after Borderlands 4? Yes for the story and its unique moon mechanics; it's often discounted heavily in 2K sales (most recently the 2K Summer Sale ending July 9, 2026).

Sources

• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on Steam
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel — Wikipedia
• Steam news for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
• Gearbox SHiFT
• Claptastic Voyage DLC on Steam
• Season Pass on Steam
• Lootlemon skill calculators: Athena, Wilhelm, Nisha, Claptrap, Jack, Aurelia