While the neon-soaked mission itself is pretty dang fun, Borderlands 3’s ongoing “Revenge of the Cartels” event has been embraced by the community for another reason: the introduction of weapon anointments that raise damage to astronomical levels. There was some worry that these anointments would no longer appear on drops after the event ends in June, but Gearbox has confirmed to Kotaku that that won’t be the case.
“We’re happy to share that all anointments introduced during ‘Revenge of the Cartels’ will remain in the loot pool after the event ends,” Gearbox explained via email. “We value our community’s feedback and will continue to evaluate anointments to ensure we’re giving players the best possible experience.”
After reaching the Borderlands 3 level cap, anointments are the best way to improve your character’s build. These random attributes can appear on everything from weapons to shields, with cool effects like boosting damage after using a Vault Hunter’s unique action skill or increasing movement speed. When the “Revenge of the Cartels” event was introduced last month, a whole host of incredible anointments were also added to the game which, when combined with the event’s new weapons, absolutely melted tough enemies.
Borderlands fans love nothing more than putting together overpowered builds and wrecking the game’s strongest bosses. So when Gearbox community manager Noelle Pugh said that these Cartel anointments would stop appearing with loot when the event closes on June 4, players were obviously miffed. Many of these anointments—most notably the ability to inflict 300% damage on enemies above 90% health—have become essential parts of many builds. In some cases, the anointments have also made characters like Moze the Gunner, who remains noticeably weaker than her counterparts, viable in the endgame Mayhem mode.
Fortunately, Borderlands 3 players won’t have to contend with a horrifying, anoint-less future after “Revenge of the Cartels” ends, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the bonuses anointments bestow tweaked in future patches. Gearbox has been vigilant in ensuring no one weapon is elevated too far above the others, although more recently this has meant improving relatively weaker gear rather than nerfing the strongest. I’m always in favour of developers giving players more room to experiment and very happy I no longer have a firm deadline for farming these Cartel anointments.
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