Borderlands Class Guide The Hunter (Mordecai)
Borderlands Strategies Hunter Skill Trees for creating Hunter Builds
Nov 9, 2009
Borderlands offers a unique First Person Shooter / Role Playing Game blend with intense action. It features online cooperative multiplayer for up to 4 players just like Halo 3. But, instead of featuring an epic campaign like most FPS games, Borderlands features a mission-based, action RPG with experience points, 4 different character classes, leveling up, skill points distributed across three branches, and loads of loot.
The following strategy guide offers information, strategies, skill trees, and more to help players create a good Hunter build.
Mordecai as The Hunter Overview
Action Skill Bloodwing (Cooldown 28 seconds): The Hunter sends off his trained Bloodwing to attack a nearby enemy. At first, the Bloodwing is a fairly weak Action Skill, but numerous skills can upgrade it to be more powerful, and the quick cooldown timer means frequent use.
The Hunter might be a difficult class to use for the first run-through, as it requires precision aiming to deal maximum damage with critical hits.
The Sniper Skill Tree - Sniper Skills List
The Sniper Tree, predictably, focuses on increasing The Hunter's effectiveness with Sniper Rifles, however, a few skills here and there benefit just about any Hunter build.
- Focus: Increases weapon accuracy (all weapons) by +5% accuracy and -10% sniper rifle stray per level
- Caliber: Increases sniper rifle damage by +4% per level
- Smirk: User and teammates receive additional experience by killing enemies with critical hits, +3% experience per kill per level
- Killer: Killing an enemy briefly increases all weapons' damage by +8% and reload speed by +6% per level
- Loaded: Increases sniper rifle magazine capacity by +15% per level
- Carrion Call: Shooting an enemy with a sniper rifle reduces Bloodwing cooldown timer by 0.8 seconds per hit per level
- Trespass: Bullets receive +1% damage increase and have a +20% chance to ignore shields per level
Focus and Killer are two great skills beneficial to just about any build, increasing accuracy for all weapons permanently, and damage / reload speed for a few seconds after each kill. Smirk is great for impatient players, and for playing online co-op.
Trespass is a fantastic skill that allows bullets the chance to ignore armor - a great skill for late-game enemies. Caliber and Loaded are for Hunters with a sniper focus, and Carrion Call is great for enhancing The Hunter's Bloodwing action skill.
The Rogue Skill Tree - Rogue Skills List
The Rogue Tree focuses Mordecai's proficiency with his Bloodwing action skill / pet, and even allows Mordecai to receive more items drops with the Swipe and Ransack skills.
- Swift Strike: Increases Bloodwing damage by +20% and speed by +8% per level
- Swipe: Bloodwing causes enemies to drop additional items, 1 extra max drop per level
- Fast Hands: Increases reload speed (all weapons) by +8% per level
- Out for Blood: Health gained when Bloodwing inflicts damage, +7% of damage per level
- Aerial Impact: Bloodwing attacks can daze enemies, +20% chance to daze (creatures of same level) per level
- Ransack: Killing an enemy increases amount of loot received for a few seconds by +20% per level
- Bird of Prey: Increases the number of targets Bloodwing can attack before returning, +1 target per level
Bloodwing is a powerful Action Skill, but the benefits will not truly prosper until the final skill in the branch - Bird of Prey - is maxed out, allowing the Bloodwing to attack a total of six targets before returning. Before then, increasing speed and damage with Swift Strike, receiving health regeneration from Out for Blood, and allowing for a chance to daze enemies with Aerial Impact will help craft the Bloodwing into a formidable partner.
Swipe and Ransack are great for getting more loot, but will not enhance The Hunter's combat in any way, so adding skill points in those areas should be saved for later. And Fast Hands, adding quicker reload speed for all weapons, makes for a great skill for any build.
The Gunslinger Tree - Gunslinger Skills List
The Gunslinger tree focuses on pistols and revolvers. Since Borderlands has no option to dual weild pistols, players may find this tree to be the weakest of the three.
- Deadly: Increases damage from critical hits by +6% per level
- Gun Crazy: +8% chance to fire two bullets per pistol shot instead of one per level
- Lethal Strike: Increases melee damage by +10% and gains 35% chance to deal extreme damage with a lethal strike for +100% damage per level
- Riotous Remedy: Killing an enemy grants chaotic health regeneration for up to 3% max health over seven seconds per level
- Predator: Decreases Bloodwing cooldown by 3 seconds per level
- Hair Trigger: Increases pistol (and revolver) fire rate by +4% and magazine size by +6% per level
- Relentless: Killing an enemy increases fire rate by +8% and each bullet receives 25% chance to deal +20% additional damage per level
Deadly adds more damage to critical hits, making it an excellent choice for any build. Gun Crazy and Hair Trigger offer good boosts for pistol / revolver users. Predator greatly enhances the Bloodwing by significantly reducing the cooldown timer. And Relentless adds greatly to damage and makes 1 out of ever 4 shots a "Killer Shot" with a huge damage bonus, and when combined with a critical hit, offers some of the best damage dealing available in Borderlands.
The two weak skill points in this tree, Lethal Strike and Rioutous Remedy, should generally be avoided. Even pistol users should avoid getting within melee-striking distance, and "chaotic health regeneration" results in an unreliable means of regaining health. Even at max level, up to +15% health healed over 7 seconds is simply not enough to prevent death in most situations.
The Hunter Class Conclusion
Mordecai works best as a long-range gunner, particularly with Sniper Rifles, but he works well as a gunslinger with a magnum focus as well. Focusing on the Bloodwing through the Rogue skill tree is also effective, especially to help teammates in online co-op.
Interested in more classes for Borderlands? Then check out the Borderlands Class Guide. Interested in more great games for the 2009 Holiday season? Then check out the Best Xbox 360 Games for Holiday 2009.
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