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For the second playthrough of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3, see True Vault Hunter Mode.

Playthrough 2 is a feature in Borderlands that allows players who have completed the game's story-line to start the game over again with the same character on a more advanced mode. It is unlocked once The Destroyer is defeated on Playthrough 1 and can be accessed immediately by loading the character's game. The character retains all items and levels gained in Playthrough 1 and will face off against similarly higher level enemies in an otherwise identical story. The enemy levels range from level 32 at the start, to level 50 by the end, downloadable content enemies will similarly undergo level increases as well. Items will be encountered in higher level versions to match the enemies and general difficulty of Playthrough 2. Mission rewards will also scale.

Playthrough 2 Structure[]

The structure of the missions in Playthrough 2 does not change. The player is forced to buy a shield and grenades despite having them from the first Playthrough. The maximum number of Weapon Equip Slot SDUs still remains at four equip slots; the missions that featured these as rewards in the first playthrough will offer different rewards in the second. Rewards for the missions will otherwise be enhanced quite noticeably with higher level items offered and in the case of the Claptrap Rescue missions a number of Grenade Mods appear as rewards instead of SDUs, though there is a small chance of obtaining a "bonus" Backpack SDU during the first five rescue missions from the original game and two of the rescue missions found in the DLC's. Ammunition pickups are similarly upgraded, yielding double the amount of ammunition per item than in Playthrough 1.

Post Playthrough 2 (Playthrough 2.5)[]

When The Vault is first entered in Playthrough 2, all enemies throughout Pandora will see their level increased to 48-52. Items will likewise be encountered at maximum levels, with the vast majority being level 48. This setting is frequently referred to by the player community as "Playthrough 2.5" or "Playthrough 2+". The goal of this world modification is to allow players to fight balanced enemies anywhere.

Playthrough 2.5 is unlocked as soon as the mission Find Steele completes upon entering the Vault. Killing the Destroyer, or leaving it alone, has no effect on this global difficulty change.

Missions[]

No new missions are available at this point, but unfinished missions can still be started or completed. The quality of mission rewards are not actually increased compared to classic Playthrough 2, but the higher level enemies can lead to better mission-specific loot. It is a unique chance to encounter higher level unique enemies, or high quality chests. Some missions can be useful to retain for better loot in post Playthrough 2, such as:

Patch 1.4.0+[]

The higher level cap provided by The Secret Armory of General Knoxx "broke" Playthrough 2.5 in the sense that enemy levels (48-52) were no longer matched with that of the players' (61). The planned Patch 1.4.1 further increased this level cap by +8 levels. Patch 1.4.0 changed Playthrough 2.5 by making all enemies scale to the character's level. For example, a level 64 character will encounter level 62-66 monsters throughout Pandora.

Enemy Names[]

For the second Playthrough, the names of all the enemy types are changed. The new enemies are more difficult but otherwise unchanged - for example, Bruisers become Brutes, but their behavior remains the same. In addition, the description "Badass" is replaced by "BadMutha," and enemies with this description are considerably more powerful than the Badasses of Playthrough 1. Reaching the end of Playthrough 2 again changes all the names, including changing "BadMutha" to "SuperBad".

Notes[]

  • Badass Skags are called AssKicking Skags in Playthrough 2.5
  • None of the DLC enemies, such as Zombies (all variations, including species), DLC3 Crimson Lance, Prisoners and Loot Midgets receive a name change.
Headstone Mine
Playthrough 1. Playthrough 2. Playthrough 2.5.
Badass Psycho BadMutha Maniac2 SuperBad Lunatic2
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