Team Talk | Who will be your starting Vault Hunter in Borderlands 3?

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Borderlands 3 has released today and, just like with Pokemon and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, we've got some pretty strong opinions on who you should start your career with. Join us for a light-hearted, friendly, debate about the best character, and the others, in Borderlands 3.

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by Chris Brand

@SuperCrisco

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by Team PTC

@pass_controller

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Chris | Amara

The majority of my time in Borderlands 2 was spent with the enigmatic Maya, so fellow Siren and all around badass, Amara, seems right up my alley.

Lore-wise, we don't know a lot about Sirens. They have strange tattoos covering half of their bodies, supernatural abilities and, according to Handsome Jack (who is, admittedly, a proven liar), there can only be six in the universe at any given time.

Maybe I'm attracted to the mystery surrounding the Sirens more than the gameplay benefits Amara could provide, though her skill trees suggest a fair amount of utility. The three active abilities offer crowd control for those hectic encounters with smaller mobs and straight up damage for tanky boss fights. 

With enough skill points deposited in the Fist of the Elements tree, you can convert a percentage of your weapon damage to elemental damage, spread status effects to nearby enemies, or gain life steal. If that's not your thing, investing in the Brawler tree and getting right in the thick of it with melee attacks and shotguns is a fine alternative.

Amara's skills may not be the most exciting but I trust solid damage numbers over, often inconsistent, friendly AI.

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​Sam | FL4K

I have to be honest and say that I really don’t like the Borderlands series, although Telltale Games’ narrative-based adventure Tales from the Borderlands does stand as a notable exception.

Gearbox Software’s looter shooters have historically bored the pants off me and so I’ll be opting out of Borderlands 3, likely much to the chagrin of the salivating general gaming populous. If I were to be a glutton for punishment and give the latest cel-shaded shooter a try, however, I’d probably opt for FL4K the Beastmaster.

This gender-neutral, robotic Vault Hunter doesn’t do anything to appeal to me in themselves, but coming bundled with what are essentially three pet doggy companions makes for an easy win. Unfortunately you can only summon one at a time, but it’s pretty cool that they all have different abilities designed to complement your chosen playstyle as you upgrade their master’s attributes.

As for FL4K’s competition? Zane’s a total snooze fest, Amara’s stuck in the shadow of fellow multi-muscly-arm-owner Machamp, and Moze is pretty much just a Titanfall reject...

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Liam | Moze

Sam’s Team Talk choices have come a long way since the dark days of Sobble, but once again we find ourselves at loggerheads following a fleeting alliance against Chris, James, and their moody magicians, although I will allow that Zane is by far the most boring character on offer here, closely followed by Amara and her magic fists.

I mean, if you’re going to survive on a hostile planet, it’s best to do so in the company of a giant death machine that also cooks dinner and doubles up as an alarm clock, rather than with a mutant ‘dog’ in ski goggles. Titanfall reject indeed!

But there’s also an element of pragmatism to my choice. I know you’re supposed to play these sorts of games with people you like, or, failing that, your friends and family, but nine times out of ten I’ll end up going stag, so having an autonomous mech in tow will at least give enemies something else to shoot at. As Moze herself points out: “When your BFF’s a BFG, you don’t need anyone else watching your back.”

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James | Zane

Having played as Zero on a recent replay of Borderlands 2, it's been an assassin-tastic time on Pandora, and I'm looking forward to continuing the adventure in a similar vein.

Zane is a different kind of character though. While Zero is quiet and robotic, Zane is described as a suave, James Bond-esque character who is "wealthy and has a lot of gadgets at his disposal."

There's an advantage immediately to choosing the gentleman's assassin, in that he can equip two action skills rather than one, which lends itself to a wider variety of movesets across his Doubled Agent, Hitman and Under Cover skill trees.

You have the tried and tested decoy (now known as a "Digi-Clone") as well as a SNTNL drone and a shield barrier to play with as we explore not just Pandora, but a few other planets for a change.

In skills, I'm amused to see we have one called "Nanites or Some Shite" which causes your barrier to give you and your allies health regeneration, faster reload speed and quicker shield recharge when cowering near it.

The character itself is related to bandit leaders Captain and Baron Flynt and is a "semi-retired" hitman, suggesting he might have seen a few things in his time. Though with Borderlands as a series it's rare your character is particularly important to the plot, more along for the ride.

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Let us know who you've chosen and if we managed to change your mind.