Borderlands 3 Tips & Tricks
A beginner's starter guide for Borderlands 3 covering fast travel tricks, skill tree priorities, elemental weapon matchups, and economy habits. Aimed at new players and franchise newcomers on their first Normal Mode playthrough.
11 Tips · 5 categories
1 tipExploration
Fast Travel From Anywhere in the World
Open your map from your ECHO to fast travel to any discovered location at no cost. Your vehicle also acts as a moving fast travel point, so you can sell gear at a shop or turn in a quest and immediately warp back to wherever your vehicle is parked.
3 tipsProgression
Don't Skip Survivability Skills Early
In your first playthrough, skill builds matter far less than staying alive. Fight for Your Life and other recovery skills keep your progression moving forward. You can respec at any time, so pick what keeps you on your feet rather than chasing pure damage output.
Farm Early Bosses Multiple Times for Legendaries
Borderlands 3's save system lets you quit and reload to fight any boss again after killing it. Mouthpiece, the first boss on Pandora, drops the Mind Killer legendary shotgun and is fast to reach. Equip any loot luck mod on your shield before each attempt to improve drop chances.
Complete Side Missions to Stay Level
Borderlands 3's level scaling works similarly to the first two games, so skipping side content will leave you underleveled for main story missions. Exploring open-world zones in vehicles also reveals more fast travel points and surfaces new quests through exclamation mark icons on the map.
3 tipsCombat
Learn Elemental Matchups for Every Enemy Type
Fire beats flesh enemies, shock destroys shields, and corrosive or cryo works best against armor. Using the wrong element often results in a damage penalty rather than neutral damage. Normal Mode is forgiving, but building these habits now makes True Vault Hunter Mode much easier.
Alternate Fire Mode Carries the Elemental Effect
If a weapon shows an elemental icon but hitting enemies produces no elemental effect, the element is tied to the alternate fire mode. Toggle fire modes to access it. This trips up most players during their first several hours.
Use Environmental Hazards in Every Fight
Melee elemental barrels to knock them toward enemies, then shoot them to trigger an explosion with the matching element. Destructible cover can be shot through once broken, so don't waste time flanking when you have the ammo to destroy it. Shock machines and target markers scattered around early areas also deal bonus damage when shot.
1 tipMultiplayer
Use Matchmaking for Quests You're Struggling With
Pause the game and navigate to Social to access the matchmaking system, which pairs you with players at a similar story point. Select the non-competitive option so other players don't compete for your loot drops. There is no reason to grind through a difficult quest alone when this option is available.
3 tipsEconomy
Check Your Inbox After Every Level
Manufacturer reward packages for completing weapon kill challenges are delivered to your Social inbox, not surfaced on the main HUD. Check it every level to collect gear that scales to your current level. Pre-order and VIP items are also claimed here when you redeem them.
Spend Early Money on Backpack SDUs
As soon as you meet Marcus and gain access to Sanctuary, spend your money on Backpack SDUs from his shop. You can typically afford two to three upgrades immediately, which cuts down on the constant inventory management and selling trips that slow down your early game.
Use Item Score to Compare Gear Quickly
When comparing multiple weapons or pieces of gear at the same level, the item with the higher item score is almost always the stronger choice. The exception is elemental matchups: a lower-scored shock weapon beats a higher-scored fire weapon when fighting shielded enemies.
Verified: 2026-05-24 · All content is original with full credit to original creators.