The Talon of God

[[Category:Vault of the Warrior missions]]

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.

At the end of this grand mission, the Vault Hunters will finally be able to find the Vault, and kill the Handsome Jack and also the "Warrior" summoned by him.

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
Kill Jack
Defeat the Warrior
Call Moonshot
- + Let Lilith kill Jack
Kill Handsome Jack
End this

Strategy

Before going to the final bosses, talk to the characters around the Sanctuary. Each of the key NPCs completes its monologue with the donation of the blue rarity item; Tannis gives a Relic, Zed a shield, Scooter a grenade mod, Hammerlock a sniper rifle, Moxxi an SMG, and Marcus an assault rifle. Most of these will be blue rarity, although purple is also possible. Each of these mission objectives to talk to them will be checked off the list not when actually talked to, but when the item is accepted. Then the Vault Hunters must 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 though a multitude of Hyperion robots and personnel, for a short time assisted by Mordecai and Brick, to reach the Vault of the Warrior. Upon this red-hot lava-filled stage, the final confrontation takes place between the Vault Hunters, Jack, and ultimately The Warrior. Jack is armed with dual wrist launchers that fire energy bolts as well as sustained energy beams, and begins the battle utilizing a cloaking device, while continuously spawning easily killed holographic doppelgangers. Once his non-regenerating shield is depleted, Jack 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. 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 own troops, including his own shield surveyors). Jack's durability is above average (his shield is more than twice as strong as those used by most other human minibosses, and he has three times as much health as a similar level badass human). 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. Players can avoid most of the Warrior's attacks 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 of volcanic crystalisks, except for the fire breath by the Warrior when emerging from the side.

The Warrior takes reduced damage from attacks hitting it anywhere but the four volcanic scales on his chest, two volcanic scales on each side, and a critical hit spot in his mouth, and is additionally resistant to fire and explosive damage. The scales can be broken for a second wind and to reveal a critical hit spot, but 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 players can reposition their characters, or restock with ammunition. If the Warrior dives into the lava head-first then he will use his 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 non-aggressive volcanic rakk fly around the central platform, providing an easy source of second winds. Additionally, a volcanic crystalisk spawns around the same time 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.

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 alternately talking to Lilith causes her to end Jack's life and secures the optional objective.

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.

Completion

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

Notes

The Warrior's fire breath cannot penetrate a Sabre Turret's Phalanx Shield.
Axton's turret will often target the rakk flying around the vault, but so long as they are not attacked they will go back to flying around once the turret despawns or is picked back up.
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 south western corner of the Vault and fly toward the center of the map, effectively giving players 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 any of the six optional "talk" objectives from the objective summary, blocking access to them.
To count as complete the optional objective as talked to townsfolk, their offered items must be collected. Vault Hunters will be forced to drop, sell, or store items first if their inventory is full.
In True Vault Hunter Mode every NPC item will be at level 50 except the one given by Marcus; his weapon will be 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 a player tips Moxxi enough 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 Touch gun, 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 SMG and the other item at the same time, but the optional objective will not be achieved. Thus she can be talked to again for a second SMG.
Bug (random issue): 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 arises 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 disappears after calling moonshot so the loot may be collected.
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 respectively.
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. 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 no longer appears after the mission is finished.
During the mission, the Warrior is almost guaranteed to drop one of his corresponding legendary items when killed by moonshot. It has normal drop rate if fought again.
- If one save-quit the game before calling moonshot, next time Vault Hunter starts the game they start from the fast travel and only need to call moonshot. This technique can be used to farm for Warrior's corresponding 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.
Once the gate to Hero's Pass is unlocked, if the Vault Hunter stays in the area a bit longer Claptrap will cloak and cry.

Trivia

At the end of the cutscene signalling 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".