BORDERLANDS
ARID BADLANDS

Fresh Off The Bus

Guardian Angel

LVL 2 :: $0 :: 0 EXP

 

After you’ve chosen your profession for Borderlands (I’ll be doing this guide as a Hunter) you’ll enter into the backside of Fyrestone. The small robot named Claptrap will tell you the basics of playing the game. What button reloads and how to switch weapons and all that other fun stuff you’ve probably learned a million times in a million games.
There is a small hidden secret area right away. If you head left instead of following Claptrap you can go behind the Motel and grab a bunch of money, ammo, and weapons up on the roof.
The first mission is simply following Claptrap and eliminating a few bandits to learn about combat. Once you hit Level 2 and get to town the real fun begins.

The Doctor Is In

Dr Zed

LVL 2 :: $0 :: 48 EXP

 

Skags At The Gate

Dr Zed

LVL 2 :: $313 :: 144 EXP

 

Claptrap Rescue

Dr Zed

LVL 2 :: $0 :: 72 EXP

 

The next three missions are all tied together. The Doctor Is In is simply introducing you to the main NPC is in the area Dr Zed. Open the garage door to get in. Make sure to rob him and everyone else you ever meet in this game blind by going through his lockers and strongboxes. Zed will then gives you a mission to go kills some Skags at the front of the town. On the way there some bandits attack poor Claptrap which opens the Claptrap Rescue mission in the middle of the Skags mission. So first thing we need to Rescue Claptrap. Eliminate the bandits that have jumped the fence then head back into the main center of town. A repair box is sitting on the ledge on the right before you get to Zeds. Grab and then head back to Claptrap and repair him. Claptrap will thank you and open the front gate of the city. Just head outside and right in front of you will be a group of Skags.
ACHIEVEMENT/TROPHY OPPORTUNITY: My Brother is an Italian Plumber, Killed an enemy plumber style.
Jumping on an enemy’s head does 3 damage and there won’t be an easier time then right away to get this out of the way. Use your pistol and hit the Skags 3 times so they are low on heath. Then jump around until you kill one. Once the achievement/trophy pops finish off the rest of the Skags and then return to Dr Zed to turn in.

Fix'er Up

Dr Zed

LVL 2 :: $188 :: 192 EXP

 

Dr Zed’s vending machine is broke and you need a shield out there in the harsh Borderlands world. The game points you in the right direction of all nav points and the in-game map is SICK so you should never really get lost. To get the part you need head out of town and hug the left wall. There will be Skags to kill on the way. Simply grab the part from the vending machine on the ground and head back to Dr Zed’s place. Use the part on the vending machine and then buy yourself your first shield. There is only one for sale so the choice isn’t that hard. Then talk to Zed to complete the mission.

Blinding Nine-Toes

Dr Zed

LVL 2 :: $313 :: 480 EXP

 

Time to take it Nine-Toes by eliminating a small gang of his that is spying on Fyrestone. Leave the city and head to the small camp to the upper right. There are more bandits then needed but for EXP sake you should just go ahead and eliminate everyone there. You can save yourself some damage by using the rock entrance as cover to only expose yourself to 1 or 2 bandits at a time. Once all the bandits are dead loot the area for Money, Ammo, and Weapons and then return to Dr Zed for your reward.

Nine-Toes: Meet T.K. Baha

Dr Zed

LVL 3 :: $0 :: 90 EXP

 

Nine-Toes: T.K.'s Food

T.K. Baha

LVL 2 :: $313 :: 480 EXP

 

Got Grenades?

T.K. Baha

LVL 2 :: $0 :: 48 EXP

 

First we need to go and meet T.K. Baha. T.K. is a new NPC in the area that will be giving us many quests. To show T.K. that we are worth his time he’s going to send us off the find some food of his that the Skags have stolen. All 4 pieces are in a big area just to the side of his location. You can bolt through the Skags and just grab all the food, but you’re better off killing all the Skags for EXP. Once you have all 4 pieces return to T.K. Next T.K. wants us to get some grenades. Head into Fyrestone and Marcus will open up the weapons vending machines. Just use the vending machines to buy some grenades. Loot all the boxes in the area and make sure to sell any weapons you’ve acquired that you don’t want. You don’t get a lot of inventory space and there is no reason to be carrying a bunch of junk around with you. Once you are done in the area head back to T.K. to finish the missions.

Nine-Toes: Take Him Down

T.K. Baha

LVL 4 :: $0 :: 2,880 EXP

 

It’s time to actually eliminate Nine-Toes. This is your first real mission. Follow the waypoints on your nav to get to the Skag Valley entrance. Once in Skag Valley work your way through a TON of Skags to get to the grave site and find the new, better weapons T.K. has left for you. Make sure to always be checking that you have the best weapons equipped. Next you need to enter then cave area that Nine-Toes is in and eliminate all the bandits on the outside. Loot for weapons, ammo, and money. It’s possible you’ll get a grenade mod or better weapon from these bandits, but it’s also possible to get nothing. Make sure you all healed up and have full ammo and your good weapons ready before dropping into Nine-Toes lair. The secret to Nine-Toes is to bolt up the left side and crouch behind the metal panels. Nine-Toes and his two large Skags can’t really get to you very easily here so you should have no problems eliminating them one at a time. Just peek out and unleash into someone and then pull back, heal and reload, and then repeat. Once all 3 are dead make sure to loot Nine-Toes’ pistol the Clipper. It’s your first elemental modded weapon as it adds fire damage. This is a great early levels pistol to have. Loot the entire area. Toliets, lockers, everything! Make sure to get all the large weapons and ammo crates on the stage area. Once you’ve loaded up head back to T.K. On the way the Guardian will give you some comments and advice.

Nine-Toes: Time To Collect

T.K. Baha

LVL 7 :: $2,210 :: 108 EXP

REWARD: Grenade Mod

Job Hunting

Dr Zed

LVL 7 :: $0 :: 108 EXP

 

Catch-A-Ride

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 7 :: $0 :: 108 EXP

 

T.K. Has More Work

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 10 :: $776 :: 360 EXP

 

Now that Nine-Toes is dead a whole slew of mission paths are opening up for us.First lets head down to Dr Zed to give him the good news. Zed give you a Grenade Mod as a reward for finishing off Nine-Toes. Then he’ll send you around the corner to the Bounty Board to get some more missions. The Bounty Board is going to be a mission starting point for A LOT of mission so remember this spot well. We’ll get two this first time which are just going to send us to the Catch-A-Ride and then back to T.K. So let’s head to the Catch-A-Ride. We’ll get to meet Scooter and he’ll let us know the Catch-A-Ride is broken. The mission we get to repair it is a little out of our league right now so we’re going to head back to T.K. and do some things for him first and level up.

T.K.'s Life and Limb

T.K. Baha

LVL 7 :: $2,210 :: 4,320 EXP

REWARD: Shotgun

T.K. has 2 mission for us so we’ll do them in order of easy to hard. So the first mission we are going to do for T.K. is to get his leg back from a giant Skag in Skag Valley. Head back to Skag Valley and “Scar” is in the upper left side. You’ll see a metal bridge but it’s raised at the moment so we have to go around. Fight your way through Skag after Skag after Skag until we get to the big daddy “Scar”. Use your Clipper fire pistol to set him on fire and side dodge his attack while firing and reloading. Once he’s down, loot the Leg and all the other stuff that falls and as always check the area for creates and boxes. Then head back to T.K. for your reward.

Why Are They Here [FOUND IN SKAG VALLEY]

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 7 :: $1,658 :: 1,944 EXP

REWARD: Shield

This is kind of a hidden mission. As you enter Skag Valley there is a recorder sitting on a bench to the right of the vending machines right in the starting area. Pick it up to accept the mission. Your job is to find 2 more recorders just like this one that are scattered in Skag Valley. But don’t worry because the locations are on your nav system and on the map. This mission is very straightforward and you simply need to follow the nav computer and eliminate all the Skags to get to the Recorders. On the way to the second and final one, you’ll encounter your first set of Rakks. Flying bat-like creatures.
ACHIEVEMENT/TROPHY OPPORTUNITY: Rootinest, Tootinest, Shootinest, Killed 5 Rakk in under 10 seconds.
If you can eliminate them all very fast you’ll get an achievement for it. Don’t worry if it doesn’t pop right here there are plenty of chances to get this in the game. Once you have all the recorders just head into Fyrestone and turn in the quest at the Bounty Board. You’ll get a nice shield out of it.

By The Seeds of Your Pants

T.K. Baha

LVL 9 :: $1,386 :: 1,980 EXP

REWARD: Sniper

For this mission you need to recover 8 Bloodstone Plants from Skag Valley. Travel to Skag Valley and check the map to see that they are all on a path just outside of the starting area. Just work your way slowly through the path and get all the plants.

Bone Head's Theft

Scooter

LVL 10 :: $1,552 :: 4,320 EXP

 

Bone Head is just to the side of Fyrestone. This battle is pretty easy because as you enter the area you can hug the left wall and go up on a small platform and be in good cover the entire time. Just pop up, fire, drop down, and reload. Repeat.

The Piss Wash Hurdle

Scooter

LVL 10 :: $0 :: 720 EXP

 

Return To Zed

Scooter

LVL 10 :: $1,552 :: 720 EXP

REWARD: Storage Deck Upgrade - Weapon Slot

Sledge: Meet Shep

Dr Zed

LVL 10 :: $0 :: 144 EXP

 

Grab a vehicle from the Catch-A-Ride and head over to the jump just past Bone Head area. Then drive around to the gate, kill everyone, and push the button to open the door. After that head back to Dr. Zed in Fyrestone and he'll tell you to go see Shep. Shep is back just past the gate you just opened under the awning.

Sledge: The Mine Key

Shep Sanders

LVL 10 :: $0 :: 1,440 EXP

 

Get The Flock Outta Here

Shep Sanders

LVL 10 :: $2,329 :: 2,880 EXP

 

Braking Wind

Shep Sanders

LVL 10 :: $2,329 :: 3,023 EXP

REWARD: Shield

All three of these missions take place in the giant wind fan area so we're going to do them all at once. First, Get The Flock Outta Here, is right to left as you enter the area. Jump into your turret and blaze all the Rakks. After that head to the small building and eliminate all the enemies, then head into the building. The key isn't here but they were nice enough to leave a note letting you know where to find it. The Braking Wind will be easy since everyone is dead. Just run around to the three fans and push their buttons to turn them on. Then return to Shep to turn them in.

Get A Little Blood On The Tires

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 10 :: $2,329 :: 1,152 EXP

 

A quick little mission. Grab a vehicle from the Catch-A-Ride and then just drive around and run over Skags and Bandits. Super easy. Head back to the Bounty Board to turn in.

Hidden Journal: The Arid Badlands

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 13 :: $5,454 :: 2,699 EXP

 

This a pretty fun mission that has you running all over the Badlands to get 5 Journals. They are pretty fun to listen to. First, One is in Bone Head's area in the back left against a wall. You have one just outside that area at the gate up the ramp and in the overlook. One is where you were blinding Nine-Toes. One is in the wind farm. This is probably the hardest one. You need to climb up the roof of the building where you went to the Mine Key. Jump on the railing and then the side roof and then finally on the actual roof. The journal is inside the broken air conditioner box. Final one is between a bunch of barrels in the last area.

Circle of Death: Meat and Greet

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 12 :: $0 :: 504 EXP

 

Circle of Death: Round 1

Rade Zayben

LVL 12 :: $1,947 :: 1,680 EXP

REWARD: Shield

Circle of Death: Round 2

Rade Zayben

LVL 15 :: $4,105 :: 2,652 EXP

REWARD: Grenade Mod

Circle of Death: Final Round

Rade Zayben

LVL 18 :: $9,612 :: 4,800 EXP

REWARD: Revolver

You don't have to do all of these at once. Follow the map to find Rabe Zayben. The Circle of Death is a small arena where waves of Skags come at you. You don't need to do all of them in a row. If you do die, they actually get easier the next time so just go for it.

Scavenger: Sniper Rifle

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 12 :: $0 :: 1,932 EXP

REWARD: Sniper

This is the first of several Scavenger missions where you need to find a bunch of parts scattered throughout an area to put together a weapon. The parts can be up high where you need to perform a couple of jumps, or hidden on the ground in a box. Your best bet is to watch the video to see exactly where everything is.

Sledge: To The Safe House

Shep Sanders

LVL 14 :: $0 :: 5,760 EXP

 

Another big ass building fight. Enemies DO respawn but if you need health or to sell weapons you can backtrack to the start pretty easy to use the vending machines. Just take it at a good pace and work your way through the building. This is also the location of the first Claptrap rescue. Since these rescues are a separate missions I will be covering them in separate videos but make sure to check the Claptrap section to see exactly what you need to do. There is an arena boss at the end to eliminate, then grab the actual key, and then you do have to fight your way back out.

Sledge: Battle For The Badlands

Shep Sanders

LVL 17 :: $6,866 :: 9,804 EXP

REWARD: Class Mod

Finally time for another boss battle and with it another piece of the Vault Key. Some points of interest on your journey to Sledge: First, when you go up the first set of stairs head to the left. This room provides a good overlook of a large area of the map and you can snipe enemies from here. It also provides a good place to pull back to if you get into trouble. The actual battle with Sledge can be tough. It's VERY close quarters and his weapon does a lot of damage. The only saving grace is the constant stream of low level enemies that you can easily take down for Second Chance if need me. After he goes down don't forget to loot the Key piece and you can exit from a new side door to get out of the area a lot quicker.

The Legend of Moe and Marley

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 15 :: $4,105 :: 6,120 EXP

REWARD: Incendiary Artifact

Head over the the indicator on the map. Moe and Marley were not there for me but they are patrolling down below. Your best bet is to snipe one of them to death before moving on to the other. There will be Skag adds to deal with but I don't find this battle too difficulty. When it's over head back to the Bounty Board for your reward.
NOTE: Make sure to use the artifact to add it to your character. Artifacts can be changed for your skill at any time in the skill tree. Remember that matching artifacts do no damage. IE. fire on fire doesn't help you.

Shock Crystal Harvest

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 15 :: $0 :: 3,672 EXP

REWARD: Shock Artifact

You just need to work your way through the caves shooting the crystals as you go. You'll get 4 per set.
NOTE: There is a Claptrap here. Watch the separate Claptrap Rescue videos for exact locations.
NOTE: If you really don't want to go through the cave you can blow the first one and then exit out of the game. When you come back in the gameall the crystals will reset. This way will take a lot longer so I don't suggest it, but you can do it that way.
NOTE: Make sure to use the artifact to add it to your character. Artifacts can be changed for your skill at any time in the skill tree. Remember that using artifacts on enemies with the same type of element does no damage. IE. fire on fire doesn't help you.

What Hit The Fan

Shep Sanders

LVL 13 :: $4,363 :: 2,699 EXP

 

Very easy mission. Grab a vehicle and head to the fan. All you need to do is use the vehicles rocket launder to blow the shiny quest parts off the fan. Return to Shep for easy money and exp.

Scavenger: Combat Rifle

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 15 :: $0 :: 2,346 EXP

REWARD: Combat Rifle

This is the second of several Scavenger missions where you need to find a bunch of parts scattered throughout an area to put together a weapon. The parts can be up high where you need to perform a couple of jumps, or hidden on the ground in a box. Your best bet is to watch the video to see exactly where everything is.

Leaving Fyrestone

Dr Zed

LVL 18 :: $0 :: 1,200 EXP

 

With Sledge dead its time to move on. Dr Zed will let you know that you can head into the Dahl Headlands for your next set of missions. After you do this one quick mission 3 final Bounty Board missions will open up in Fyrestone and those are your last ones.

Find Bruce McClane

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL - :: $- :: - EXP

 

Product Recall

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 15 :: $4,105 :: 3,468 EXP

 

So we need to go find Bruce McClane and I don't believe that a single time we go looking for them its ever come out good. This is no exception. Bruce is dead. When you find he you discover that he's been passing bad cigars. So as a service to Pandora we need to go and get them. Head to the box that is high on the side of the cliff then just snipe all the enemies below. Once they are dead, jump down and get the last 2 boxes. Mission Complete!

Insult To Injury

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 15 :: $2,736 :: 4,080 EXP

REWARD: Sniper

In this mission you need to remove 10 skulls from pikes inside a bandit compound. Just kill everyone and then work your way around the compound getting all the skulls.

Schemin' That Sabotage

Fyrestone Bounty Board

LVL 18 :: $7,689 :: 4,800 EXP

REWARD: Grenade Mod

All three of the fuses need to be placed in the large open area that you went through on your way to Sledge. Once those are planted head to the top and push the plunger to blow the area sky-high. Final mission in the Arid Badlands COMPLETED!