WhileBorderlands 4is in development, the community is anxiously waiting to see what the next series installment will offer. Some fans are hoping thatBorderlands 4’s could finish the vault-hunting storiesfor good, while others would prefer a love letter culminating in the best that eachBorderlandsgame has offered so far before a conclusive finale. At any rate, one feature that’s at the front of the waiting list for a return to the franchise is the Weapon Proficiency Ranks from the originalBorderlandsgame.
Weapon Proficiency Ranks in the originalBorderlandspaved the way for additional progression systems in future games beyond the max character level. RecentBorderlandsgames have instead utilized an upgraded version of Weapon Proficiency Ranks, but this feature returning shouldn’t be dismissed so easily. Ultimately, cases can be made both ways for Weapon Proficiency Ranks to return toBorderlands 4.
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Against: Badass Ranks Are Better Than Weapon Proficiency Ranks
If it’s ever a competition between these 2 features,Borderlands’ Badass Ranksare far more worthy of coming toBorderlands 4. Badass Ranks have much more variety and unconditional benefits compared to WP Ranks. WP Ranks only apply to single weapon types and must be leveled up individually, so they can potentially be futile when switching to new/different weapon types. Badass Ranks on the other hand have far more bonuses than just weapon performances. To add insult to injury, the few bonuses that Badass Ranks have that apply to weapon performances benefit every single weapon type simultaneously. WP Ranks are limited by how specialized they are, whereas Badass Ranks allow players to become universally stronger.
For: Borderlands Games Can Never Have Too Many Progression Systems
Adding WP Ranks toBorderlands 4would give the player more to doafter reaching the max level inBorderlands. One common theme between WP Ranks and Badass Ranks is that progression beyond character levels is a must-have inBorderlandsgames. Ultimately there’s no reason that Badass Ranks and WP Ranks have to compete with each other, except that they overlap a bit, so the more, the merrier. Removing the weapon-related bonuses from Badass Ranks would still leave the progression system in a great spot and most importantly it would make room for WP Ranks to return and coexist with Badass Ranks.
Against: Weapon Balancing Issues at High Levels in Borderlands
WP Ranks coming toBorderlands 4can be a slippery slope. At extremely high levels, WP Ranks can turn almost any gun inBorderlandsinto a powerhouse. This is beneficial for weapons that are on the brink of being useful or for weapons that happened to drop with unfavorable stats, but it can be problematic for weapons that have intentional limits for balancing purposes. Even though theBorderlandsfranchise gamesaren’t necessarily competitive multiplayer games, having weapons that are blatantly too powerful could taint the experience for some players. One way to counter this slippery slope is to keep the originalBorderlands' WP Rank capacity of 50 levels. However,Borderlands’ Badass Ranks have never had a capacity, so this example again shows that Badass Ranks are the more favorable pick, despite the potential for creating the same balancing issues.
For: Weapon Proficiency Ranks are the Perfect Opportunity to Bring Back Eridian Weapons
One popular argument for a separately requested fan-favorite feature to return inBorderlands 4is the originalBorderlands’ Eridian weapons. These alien weapons had their own WP Rank as a recognized weapon type inBorderlands, and they essentially relied on WP Ranks to be useful in high-level gameplay. Eridian weapons have infinite recharging ammo, except they don’t inherently come with a lot of ammo charges or a hasty recharge rate. WP Ranks would benefit these types of guns by increasing the ammo as well as the recharge rate, among other stats like damage, accuracy, rate of fire, and stability. If the beloved Eridian weapons are going to make a return inBorderlands 4, WP Ranks should absolutely come as a complimentary feature.
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