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Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, the upcoming FPS/RPG from Gearbox Software, is nearing its launch. The latest spin-off entry in the Borderlands saga is hotly anticipated by fans of the franchise, partly since it is based on a beloved fantasy-themed Borderlands 2 DLC.
Also contributing to the hype are the countless improvements and new features it brings to Borderlands's run-and-gun formula. The gameplay so far suggests indicates it is an evolution of Borderlands 3, including the game engine. However, there are a few factors that set it apart, including one of the main introductions to this installment: melee weapons.
Swing and slash your way through Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Unlike previous Borderlands games, melee will be one of the core combat aspects of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. While players could only deliver a weak bash before, they can now equip actual melee-oriented gear into a dedicated weapon slot.
Here are five things to know about them:
1) Melee weapon varieties
In a nutshell, there are three categories of weapons in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands: one-handed, two-handed and blunt. One-handed melee gear includes swords, perhaps even daggers. Two-handed is all about heavy blades, such as greatswords and claymores. Blunt, as the name indicates, includes weapons like a hammer or anything that cannot cut or slash enemies. Each of them supports different playstyles as well.
2) Manufacturers
There will be four different makers of melee gear in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, each having a unique esthetic. They are:
- Swift:
They specialize in swords; their weapons have fast attack speed but low damage and can overwhelm enemies with quick strikes.
- Kleave
They make weapons such as axes and scythes. They have medium attack speed and low damage. However, they make up for that with high critical damage.
- Bonk
As the name indicates, these weapons are about bruising and bashing enemies, and have medium attack speed and high damage. But the tradeoff is low critical damage. Hammer time, anyone?
- Valora
By far the slowest of all but also the hardest hitters (since they're two-handed weapons), Valora weapons do not allow players to lunge due to their weight.
Each of these allows for specializations in different tactics. Also, all of them come in elemental varieties: fire, lightning, frost, poison and dark magic (lifesteal).
3) Melee weapon parts
In Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, melee weapons consist of individual parts, just like long-range weapons,. The permutation of these parts is what creates the dozens of varieties that Borderlands is known for.
For example, a sword is made up of the Blade, Blade Mod, Hilt and Hilt Mod. But what are mods? These parts determine the bonus stats attached to that weapon, such as crit damage. Hilt mods, in particular, have one of several traits for green and above rarity melee weapons.
These include: Vampire, allowing the weilders melee attacks to restore 6.1% of their max Health; Ward, which is basically a rebrand of Borderlands' Shields; Caustic, which increases Status Effect Chance and Damage by 18.8% for 10 seconds; and Archmage, which can restore 3.4% of Spell Cooldown.
4) Melee via Action Skills
Several of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands classes specialize in dealing melee damage, like Brr-Zerker and Stabbomancer. The former can be deadly as they are also a frost spell user. Freezing enemies doesn't just leave them open for attack but also take thrice as much melee damage.
Some classes' Action Skills do melee damage. The Stabbomancer's Ghost Blade, for example, can summon twin floating blades at target locations that deal area-of-effect (AOE) damage. Having the correct melee weapon equipped is vital, as the Ghost Blade depends on the slotted melee gear for effectiveness; after all, it deals 75% of the damage.
5) Synergy in battle
Players can also perform small attack combos by holding down the melee button. It is quite handy when enemies close the distance and you're about to reload. Additionally, many skills also amplify melee damage dealt in one way or another, so there is plenty of incentive to go for melee builds when playing Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.
For example, the Clawbringer class's Oath of Thunder skill lets their melee attacks inflict lightning damage on foes. Melee won't be the player's primary means of offense, but a build or two might be viable, given how flexible the game's multi-class system and skill trees are.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands releases on March 25, 2022 for PC, PS4, XB1, PS5 and XSX|S.
