Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 content is now here! And... strangely enough, it's completely different from what Season Pass 1 had brought about a year back. For quite some time, we had been given no context by Gearbox as to what, exactly, Season Pass 2 would entail. We did expect more story-based DLC, however, and perhaps an evolution of the concept to some extent.

For better or worse, Season Pass 2 content is something entirely new. It's not going to offer more story-based campaigns, and it doesn't seem like we'll even necessarily be getting more planets and locations to fight in. We'll get to that a bit later on. The focus of Season Pass 2 lies, instead, in mechanical improvements, game modes, and cosmetics. We're sure everyone's got their own opinion on this development, so we'll forego any sort of review for the time being.

Instead, we'll tell you precisely what is Borderlands 3 Season 2, explain its many sub-divided extensions, and let you figure out if that's something that suits you, too. We'll cover the Director's Cut, the Designer's Cut, and everything else that Gearbox had previously announced. Word of warning, though: there's a lot of ground to cover. Strap right in!

What is Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2?

Obviously, Season Pass 2 is yet another iteration of Borderlands 3's comprehensive post-launch support plan. It is not, however, very similar to Season Pass 1. Quite the opposite, in fact. Whereas the first Season Pass delivered all-new locales and campaigns, it seems like the second Season Pass will iterate on this existing content instead. It did come as a bit of a shock to us, too. Now that the first batch of SP2's content has been out for a week, we've developed our opinions properly.

As we've mentioned a few times already, Season Pass 2 is oriented towards endgame, if towards anything at all. Since Borderlands 3 does arguably suffer from the lack of meaningful endgame activities, this is a good thing we think. After all, the promised Takedown "raid-alikes" haven't been coming in as fast and hard as Gearbox suggested they would. From what we can tell, Season Pass 2 aims to alleviate this issue in a variety of ways. Here's what you get by buying it:

• Director's Cut Content
• Designer's Cut Content
• Full set of the Multiverse Final Form Cosmetics

If this doesn't sound awfully clear, don't worry: it's not. If you dig a bit into announcements and promo materials, however, things finally start shaping up. Let us explain!

What kind of Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 content should we expect?

According to Gearbox themselves, Season Pass 2 content is essentially split into two halves. One of them is the Director's Cut. The other is the Designer's Cut. It's strange to us just how unclear most of the materials for this content is. Whereas it was plainly obvious, for example, that Season Pass 1 added a bunch of new stories and campaigns, there's no such matter-of-fact description available for Season Pass 2. That's precisely what we hope to deliver.

Borderlands 3 Designer's Cut Content

The first order of business: Designer's Cut content is now available for all players who purchase Season Pass 2. It is also, despite its name, not an exclusively cosmetic piece of content. Quite the opposite, in fact! Designer's Cut includes a batch of things we'd even go so far as to say are mandatory for dedicated players. Especially if you're just eager to play more Borderlands 3.

Designer's Cut includes Arms Race and bonus Skill Trees for all characters. No, really: that's what you get in what might sound like a batch of cosmetics at first.

Now, Arms Race has admittedly been a bit of a hit-or-miss for many players, but it's still pretty darn fun. Especially in short, explosive bursts. Or, perhaps, when you still want to play Borderlands 3 but would also like a change of pace. We sure enjoyed it for what it is. If you're unaware, it is essentially a start-from-the-bottom kind of rogue-lite-ish shooting gallery where you target-farm desired loot.

More important, however, are the new Skill Trees for existing characters. These are a real hoot. Find our really short descriptions below!

• Amara gets a zipping elemental orb to dish out damage at range
• FL4K gets a Loader-bot pet and trap-like skills
• Moze gets the Iron Cub: an AI-controlled support unit
• Zane gets a shoulder-mounted cannon

It's some really interesting stuff, we promise. Adds a whole bunch of variety to the game's central gameplay loop, if nothing else, and that alone makes it a must-have in our book.

Borderlands 3 Director's Cut Content

Now, the Director's Cut is a way bigger unknown than the Designer's Cut. That, as you can imagine, isn't perfect if you want to know what you're getting into with your purchases. The official sales pitch from Gearbox does sound enticing enough, however, and it promises to alleviate our main concerns with the game: "a gameplay focused add-on that includes additional missions, end-game content, and behind-the-scenes extras!"

So, Takedowns, we think. Of course, we're also hoping for Gearbox to surprise us with other stuff, but there's no telling how that might go in the long run.

The Director's Cut release date is currently scheduled for Spring 2021. A bit of a wait for that one, then.

Borderlands 3 Multiverse Final Form Cosmetics

Finally, this is the cosmetic pack we mentioned at the start. The full set of Borderlands 3 Multiverse Final Form cosmetics isn't that special, outside of looking incredibly snazzy. It's got some lore behind it, in that these would be the four Borderlands 3 Vault Hunters had they not, y'know, become Vault Hunters. A fun addition, though it's more like an underscore to the two aspects of Season Pass 2 we've already gone through.

Borderlands 3 New Characters in Season Pass 2

If you were hoping for some Borderlands 3 new characters to drop alongside Season Pass 2, we're sorry to disappoint. As of today, there's been no suggestion of this ever coming to pass. Further still, Gearbox even went so far as to say that they have no intention of ever releasing additional characters for Borderlands 3.

"We are focused on the main game for now, but my feelings are that it might be better for us to put our time into expanding what the existing vault hunters can do and how interesting their future growth is instead of adding new ones to start over with," said Randy Pitchford of Gearbox fame. "Data seems to support this," he concluded.

We feel this decision is underscored even further with the introduction of all-new Skill Trees for existing characters. After all, since Borderlands 3 fully supports all sorts of wacky additions to the Vault Hunters we already have, there's little point in adding more. Whether this is a pro or a con, however, is up to you.

Should I buy Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2?

That's the looming question, isn't it? Is Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 worth the asking price? Our sense of things so far is that it is a good investment, if you want more out of Borderlands 3. Truth be told, many players don't ever reach Mayhem 10 tiers of Borderlands 3 gameplay, and we're not sure if they will be interested in whatever endgame content might drop later on. There's just so much stuff already available in Borderlands 3 that we think the content coming with Season Pass 2 might be a bit of an acquired taste.

Remember. Season Pass 1 included 4 full campaign DLCs that were actually pretty darn neat all around. Obviously, it was more expensive than Season Pass 2 is, but it's also the kind of content many will simply find more interesting. However, we do like the fact that Gearbox is finally pinpointing proper endgame with their new batch of post-launch content. New game modes are always welcome, and technical additions such as skill trees will be infinitely more interesting to an endgame player than regular campaign DLC might be.

It's a pretty hard decision, really. Ideally, you'd get both and swim in awesome content for months. If you're hard-pressed and want to go with one or the other, however, consider our cheat-sheet below!

Borderlands 3 Season Pass 1 Content

• Mad Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot
• Guns, Love, and Tentacles
• Bounty of Blood
• Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic FusterCluck
• Butt Stallion Cosmetic Set

Get started with Borderlands 3 Season Pass 1 content today!

Borderlands 3 Season Pass 2 Content

• Director's Cut
• Designer's Cut
• Final Form Cosmetic Set

Upgrade your Vault Hunters with all-new Skills & Gadgets in Season Pass 2!

We'll concede that there's no way Season Pass 2 adds more content than Season Pass 1 did. Having said that, there's plenty more coming to Borderlands 3 in the coming weeks and months, and we'd advise you to keep a close eye on the upcoming endgame options for sure.

The rest will be up to you!