What’s Actually Worth Doing in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel?

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is one of those games that’s easy to enjoy in short bursts and weirdly easy to overcommit to. That’s the trap. It has the usual Borderlands loop of quests, loot, skill trees, and constant gun churn, but it also has long stretches where you’re bouncing through low-gravity maps, backtracking through moon bases, and doing side content that feels a lot less funny the third time you hear the joke.

If you’re a busy adult, the smart way to play this game is not to treat it like a completionist project. Treat it like a solid, mid-tier Borderlands campaign with a few genuinely great character classes, a strong Handsome Jack setup, and enough optional content to waste your evening if you let it.

The short version: the main story is worth playing, a handful of side missions are worth doing for the writing or rewards, the Claptrap DLC is absolutely worth your time, and most of the full-clear impulse is safe to ignore.

Why Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Can Eat More Time Than It’s Worth

This matters because The Pre-Sequel does not pace itself especially well. It starts with novelty. You get moon jumps, oxygen kits, lasers, cryo weapons, and the neat idea of seeing Jack before he fully becomes the monster from Borderlands 2. Early on, that’s enough.

After a few hours, you start to feel the friction. Movement across big lunar maps is slower than it first seems. A lot of quests send you through similar-feeling facilities. The oxygen system is mostly harmless, but it’s still another thing in the background. Combat is fun, especially once your build starts clicking, but the rhythm of play has more downtime than Borderlands 2.

If you have endless time, that’s fine. If you’re squeezing this in after work, it matters a lot. You want the stuff that gives you payoff fast: strong story beats, fun class synergy, worthwhile loot upgrades, and side missions that actually add something. You do not want to spend three sessions clearing every exclamation mark on the map because you feel like you should.

You really don’t have to.

The Parts That Are Absolutely Worth Your Time

Play the main campaign straight through

This is the easiest recommendation in the whole game. The main story is the reason to be here. Seeing Jack’s turn from ambitious Hyperion boss into the version you know from Borderlands 2 is the best thing The Pre-Sequel does. The campaign also gives you the strongest concentration of unique environments, better scripted moments, and the most reliable sense of momentum.

The key story path through Helios Station, Concordia, the moon surface, and the final push to the Eye of Helios is worth it. It fills in the Borderlands timeline in a way that’s actually fun instead of just lore homework. If you already like Jack, this lands even better. If you don’t, the story still works because he’s such a strong center of gravity for the whole game.

I would not wander too far off the main path early. The campaign alone gives you enough variety to stay engaged, and it keeps the pace from getting bogged down.

Pick a class with momentum, not novelty

Your character choice matters a lot more in a busy-life playthrough than people admit. Some classes make this game feel fast and satisfying. Others make it feel like work until later levels.

Athena is an easy recommendation. The Kinetic Aspis is useful from the start, lets you play aggressively, and gives combat a nice rhythm. She feels strong without requiring a ton of setup.

Wilhelm is another good use of your time. Wolf and Saint keep fights moving, and he scales into a very comfortable solo class. If you want a low-friction run where you don’t have to micromanage every encounter, he’s great.

Nisha is maybe the biggest time-saver if you just want to shred through content. Showdown is simple, effective, and very satisfying. She can flatten a lot of the game’s weaker combat spaces, which honestly helps the pacing.

Claptrap is funny in theory and occasionally hilarious in practice, but I would not recommend him for a first or time-limited playthrough unless the chaos is the whole reason you’re here. His action skill is a joke machine first and a consistency tool second.

Aurelia is great if you like sniping, but she feels better when you know the game a bit and can commit to that playstyle. For a cleaner first run, Athena, Wilhelm, or Nisha are the best calls.

Do side quests that give real payoff or strong writing

You do not need to clear every side mission, but a few are worth detouring for. The best optional content in The Pre-Sequel is either funny enough to justify itself, useful enough to help your build, or connected closely enough to the setting that it rounds out the campaign.

The mission chain around Janey Springs is worth your attention early because Janey is one of the better new characters and those quests help Concordia feel like more than a hub you pass through. Springs gives the game some personality when the broader map design starts feeling repetitive.

The Pickle-related content is more mixed. He matters to the story, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for every extra bit involving him. He tends to be more memorable than enjoyable.

The Zarpedon and Lost Legion conflict is also strongest on the main path. Optional errands tied loosely to the war effort are usually less interesting than they sound.

As a rule, do side quests when you are underleveled, when the reward clearly fits your current build, or when the questline is attached to a character you actually enjoy hearing from. Skip the rest.

Use cryo weapons and lasers when they drop well

This is less about completion and more about enjoying the game efficiently. Cryo is one of the best additions in The Pre-Sequel. Freezing enemies makes crowd control much easier, and it speeds up fights in a game that occasionally drags between combat peaks. If you get a good cryo gun, use it.

Lasers are also worth trying instead of sticking stubbornly to old Borderlands habits. Some of them are excellent, and they help the game feel mechanically distinct instead of like a lesser Borderlands 2 remix on the moon.

If your build feels flat, it’s often because you’re ignoring the tools this game is actually good at.

What You Can Skip Without Missing Much

Do not full-clear every map

This is the biggest time sink in the game, and the payoff just isn’t there. The Pre-Sequel has several areas that feel larger than they need to be, especially when you’re revisiting them. Chasing every objective marker across those spaces turns a good 45-minute session into two hours of low-stakes cleanup.

If a map is asking you to crisscross oxygen pockets and jump pads for side tasks you do not care about, move on. The game will survive. So will you.

Most optional errands that are only there for XP

If you need a level or two, sure, knock out a side mission. But don’t grind side content just because your quest log looks unfinished. The rewards are inconsistent, and a lot of these missions are only okay once. They are not where the game’s best moments live.

This is especially true in the middle stretch, where the campaign’s momentum drops and the temptation is to fill the gap with side content. That often makes the pacing worse, not better.

The Holodome Onslaught is easy to deprioritize

If you really love arena combat and just want more shooting, fine. Otherwise, skip it. The Holodome is repetitive, light on meaningful progression, and not the thing that will make you glad you spent your limited time with The Pre-Sequel.

It’s the kind of content that looks harmless, then quietly consumes your whole evening.

TVHM and UVHM are optional, not essential

For most busy players, one playthrough is enough. True Vault Hunter Mode and especially the higher-difficulty replay loop only make sense if you genuinely love your build and want more combat optimization. They are not required to appreciate the game, the story, or the classes.

Borderlands games always have that pull toward rerunning content for better loot. With this one, I think the return drops off pretty fast unless you’re a real series diehard.

How to Play It Efficiently So It Stays Fun

Stay lightly overleveled, not obsessively complete

The sweet spot is doing just enough side content to stay comfortable on the main path. If the campaign starts hitting harder than you’d like, do one or two side quests with decent rewards, upgrade your gear, and get back to the story.

Do not try to solve every difficulty bump with a two-hour side quest binge. Gear matters more than raw checklist progress anyway. A strong shield, a good cryo weapon, and a class mod that supports your core build will do more for your enjoyment than clearing five random jobs.

Respec early if your build isn’t clicking

The Pre-Sequel’s classes can feel dramatically better once you commit to a focused tree path. If your damage feels weak or fights are taking too long, don’t just push through. Respec.

Nisha wants to lean into gunplay dominance. Athena gets more fun when the Aspis loop comes online. Wilhelm benefits from committing to the drone support fantasy instead of scattering points everywhere. A messy build turns this game into a slog faster than people expect.

Use fast travel aggressively and quit cleanly between objectives

This sounds obvious, but this is a game where one extra detour can turn into a lot of dead time. If you only have 30 to 45 minutes, pick a clear objective before you start. Finish one story mission, one side quest with a known reward, or one hub cleanup pass in Concordia. Then stop.

The game is much better when you treat sessions as contained chunks instead of open-ended marathons.

Playing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on Handhelds

This is actually a pretty good handheld game if your expectations are right. On Steam Deck, the mission structure works well for short sessions, and the looter-shooter rhythm translates nicely to a couch or commute setup. You can knock out a quest, sort loot, and feel like you made progress in 20 to 40 minutes.

The catch is readability and navigation. Borderlands UI has never been especially elegant on smaller screens, and inventory management still feels fiddly. Long movement stretches across lunar maps also feel more noticeable on handheld because they eat a bigger percentage of your play window.

If you’re using something like a Backbone One through streaming, this is best when your connection is solid and you’re planning combat-heavy chunks, not precision menu time. The shooting is forgiving enough for handheld play, but sorting backpack junk and comparing weapon cards is still the least fun part of the experience.

My honest take: handheld is a good fit for campaign progress and side quest cleanup, especially if this is the only way the game gets played. Just don’t expect it to make the slower parts less slow.

If You Only Have 20 Minutes, Do This

Pick one story objective and commit to it. That’s the best use of your time, almost every time.

If you’re between main missions, do one of these instead:

• Clean out your inventory and sell trash so your next session starts clean.
• Respec your skill tree if your current build feels clunky.
• Run one side mission with a clear reward, especially if you need a level bump.
• Check vending machines in Concordia for a shield or weapon upgrade before the next story push.

What you should not do in a 20-minute session is start a vague exploration run or a multi-step side quest in a huge map. That’s how you end up stopping in the middle of a boring traversal segment and dreading coming back.

The Best Version of This Game Is Smaller Than the Game Wants to Be

That’s really the heart of it. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is worth playing, but it’s not worth squeezing dry. The best version is a focused one: play the campaign, use a class that gets rolling quickly, take side quests with real payoff, try cryo and lasers, and make time for the Claptrap DLC if you want one piece of extra content that truly earns it.

That DLC, by the way, is the one major add-on I’d actively recommend. Claptastic Voyage is more creative than a lot of the base game, has better scenery and a stronger gimmick, and feels like a better use of extra hours than grinding postgame modes. If you finish the main story and want more, do that next.

Everything else should pass one simple test: is this making tonight’s session better, or is it just making the checklist longer?

If it’s the checklist, skip it.

You are not missing the real game by being selective. In The Pre-Sequel, being selective is how you get the real game.