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The Talon of God is the final story mission in Borderlands 2 given by Mordecai. The mission is performed, starting at Sanctuary and continuing in Eridium Blight, Hero's Pass and Vault of the Warrior locations.

Background[]

"You must find and kill Handsome Jack before he can awaken the Warrior partially to save Pandora, partially to save Lilith, and partially because Jack is a real bastard.
Jack is holed up in Hero's Pass, where the Warrior is buried. You will need Claptrap to get you through the Hyperion defenses set up there."

Walkthrough[]

Objectives[]

  •  (optionals)
    • + Talk to Zed
    • + Talk to Scooter
    • + Talk to Tannis
    • + Talk to Moxxi
    • + Talk to Hammerlock
    • + Talk to Marcus
  • Talk to Claptrap (eliminates optional objectives)
  • Go to Eridium Blight
  • Meet Claptrap
  • Follow Claptrap
  • Defend Claptrap
  • Continue alone
  • Find Jack
  • Defeat the Warrior
  • Call Moonshot
  • Kill Handsome Jack
    • + Let Lilith kill Jack
  • End this

Strategy[]

Before going to the final fight, talk to the characters around the Sanctuary. Each of the key NPCs completes its monologue with the donation of an item; Tannis gives a relic, Zed a shield, Scooter a Grenade Mod, Hammerlock a Sniper Rifle, Moxxi a Submachine Gun, and Marcus an Assault Rifle. Most of these will be blue rarity, although other rarities (especially purple) are also possible[1]. Each of the mission objectives to talk to them will be checked off the list when the item is taken. The Vault Hunters must then travel to the Eridium Blight to meet Claptrap and defend him while he opens the gate to Hero's Pass.

In Hero's Pass, the Vault Hunters must fight through a multitude of Hyperion robots and personnel to reach the Vault of the Warrior. Mordecai and Brick assist until their drop barge is shot down by JET Loaders.

The final confrontation takes place between the Vault Hunters, Jack, and The Warrior. Jack is armed with dual wrist launchers that fire energy bolts and sustained incendiary beams. He begins the battle utilizing a cloaking device, while continuously spawning weak holographic decoys that triggers kill skills and second winds. Once his non-regenerating shield is depleted, Jack becomes vulnerable to incendiary damage and will call in Hyperion Loader reinforcements and switch his combat style to deploying turrets and corrosive grenades while calling in personal shield surveyors to protect him (which has stats similar to a Badass Surveyor, but cannot attack). He will also occasionally use an extended area of effect special attack in which he bombards the area around him with mortar-like energy blasts, or sweeps the area in a 360-degree angle with his energy beams (these attacks often have the effect of destroying his reinforcements, including his own shield surveyors). Jack's durability is above average (with a shield almost 2-3x tougher than a boss of a similar level and three times the health of a badass psycho). Shots to his head will yield critical hits. Jack may also sometimes run to a console and use it, which provides an opportunity to deal extra damage. After Jack is defeated, he will force the Vault Key into a fitted slot below and summon The Warrior.

The Warrior uses fire and its tail to attack from one of three positions; it can also walk across the stage to inflict major damage from stepping on Vault Hunters, before diving into the lava and launching them into the air with its tail. Upon emerging from the lava, the Warrior will occasionally climb one of the massive statues, rip a chunk of rock from it, and throw it as a weapon. Most of the Warrior's attacks can be avoided by taking cover behind rocks and statues. The central island provides several excellent places to do this, with two rocks to the north of the console providing overhead cover which can also prevent characters from being knocked into the air. The first ammo console will block most of the Warrior's attacks, as well as those from volcanic crystalisks, except for the fire breath by the Warrior when emerging from the side. The ammo console on the right is also a viable choice, as the Warrior's attacks barely even reach there.

The Warrior takes reduced damage from attacks hitting it anywhere but the four volcanic scales on its chest, and a critical hit spot in its mouth. The Warrior is resistant to incendiary, explosive, and slag damage. The scales can be broken for a second wind and to reveal a critical hit spot, but will regenerate when the Warrior dives into the lava.

The Warrior dives down into the lava at various times during the battle, offering around 3 seconds when characters can reposition, or restock with ammunition. This happens randomly or if it takes a large amount of damage in a short period. If the Warrior dives into the lava head-first then it will use its tail to hit the central area three times, which can knock characters high into the air with the risk of landing in the lava. If The Warrior enters the lava tail first by backing in, the lava rises faster but this is the best time to go for more ammo. The Warrior is a large target, so it's usually not hard to reacquire when it resurfaces, but checking the red blips on the radar can also help to narrow down the options on where to look if the Warrior resurfaces completely off-screen.

Four to five volcanic rakks fly around the central platform, providing an easy source of second winds. Additionally, a volcanic crystalisk spawns whenever the Warrior dives into or emerges from the lava. It is best to kill the crystalisks promptly, as their explosive crystal bombs can easily launch an unfortunate Vault Hunter into the lava. These enemies will be hostile to the nearby loaders, should they remain alive when the Warrior is summoned.

Once the Warrior is destroyed, the Vault Hunters may endure an angry speech from a dying Jack about the impossibility of his defeat. His diatribe can be cut short with a gun or melee attack, or have Lilith deal an energy blast.

Check the Vault Key in the middle after Jack is dead to finally finish Borderlands 2!

Completion[]

"Minion - we defeated Jack, destroyed the Warrior, and saved Pandora! If that doesn't deserve a high-five, NOTHING does!"

Transcript[]

Main article: The Talon of God/Transcript

Notes[]

  • While shielded, Jack quickly regenerates health, making it impossible to defeat him with regular weapons if the drone is not destroyed quickly enough. One way to prevent this is to use an E-tech Vladof sniper rifle at close quarters. This can remove around a fifth of his health if the gun has a larger magazine.
  • Regardless of how Jack is finished, there will be a substantial quantity of loot dropped from both Jack and the Warrior. Jack drops a unique head customization: Handsome Jack's Mask.
  • The Warrior's fire breath doesn't damage the Sabre Turret's Phalanx Shield.
  • Axton's turret will often target the rakk flying around the vault, but as long as they are not attacked, they will go back to flying around once the turret vanishes.
  • Maya's Cloud Kill will damage The Warrior the full duration of the skill regardless of The Warrior's movement.
  • When one of the volcanic rakk dies a new one will immediately spawn in the southwestern corner of the Vault and fly toward the center of the map, effectively giving an infinite source of second winds.
    • Deathtrap can give a Mechromancer easy second winds by killing the rakk using its ranged shock attack. If the character has Upshot Robot, it is possible for Deathtrap to stay active for a very long time, since the rakk are generally very weak.
  • The optional objectives to talk to various townsfolk run in batches of three. Only once Tannis, Scooter and Zed have been spoken to will the next three appear on the objectives, or offer items. Talking to Claptrap will remove all of the six optional objectives from the objective summary, blocking access to them.
  • In True Vault Hunter Mode, every NPC item will be scaled to the character's level, up to level 50, except the one given by Marcus; his weapon will be scaled up to level 47. In Normal mode, Marcus gives a level 25 rifle, the others give items that are level 30.
  • There is a bug where if Moxxi is given enough tips that she offers either Good Touch or Bad Touch before talking to her in this mission, a second gun will appear in her hand after taking the first weapon, effectively giving two guns for her part of the mission. The bug works in reverse if repeated: Moxxi verbally offers a weapon, but nothing is in her hand.
    • A similar bug happens if Moxxi is supposed to offer some other item next time she is talked to, such as her camera in the mission Home Movies. She will give both the submachine gun and the other item at the same time, but the optional objective will not be achieved. She can be talked to again for a second submachine gun.
  • If the Warrior is defeated while standing over the computer console, it may fall onto the console, making it difficult to activate the Moon Shot. The same issue happens if Jack falls onto the Vault Key. Players have reported that they can still access the objects with a little careful positioning, including facing characters to one the side of the objects.
    • As of Patch 1.8.0, The Warrior despawns after calling moonshot so the loot may be collected with ease.
  • If the Vault is entered again after completing the final mission and the Warrior is defeated, a bug may happen where an unbeatable version of Jack will spawn. Jack can be killed but he will respawn infinitely.
  • A teaser cutscene follows Jack's demise, depicting several Eridian vaults hidden on other worlds.
  • The completion of this mission unlocks True Vault Hunter Mode. Completing this mission during True Vault Hunter Mode will unlock Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
  • The completion of this mission unlocks the "Cool Story Bro" achievement/trophy (both means of slaying Jack are valid).
  • An energy barrier screens the shelf overlooking the lava lake where the Warrior is fought after Jack is engaged with. This blocks attacks between the Warrior and any respawned Vault Hunters, but there are several raised positions on rocks and scaffolds to the sides that allow small lines of sight on the Warrior during brief periods when it rises above the screen. The energy barrier is deactivated after the Warrior is defeated.
  • During the mission, the Warrior has a very high chance to drop one of its corresponding legendary items once it is killed by moonshot. It has a normal drop rate if fought again.
    • If one save-quits the game before calling the moonshot, the character will start at the fast travel and only need to call the moonshot. This can be used to farm for the Warrior's legendary items.
  • As of update 1.8.0, the Warrior's fire breath, as well as the lava, will reach and hurt a Vault Hunter standing just below the energy barrier. Previously, the Warrior's throwing rock attack, as well as the attack from other creatures were the only attacks that can reach here.

Trivia[]

  • At the end of the cutscene signaling the game's completion, Lilith will say "no rest for the wicked", referencing the intro song from the first game, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked".

Video Walkthroughs[]

References[]

  1. "Borderlands 2 walkthrough - The Talon of God", youtube.com (Thegamerwalkthroughs), 2012-10-21
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