Mordecai

Mordecai is the game's "Hunter." He relies on damage dealt with precise marksmanship and the use of falconry to defeat enemies and acquire loot.

Background
At the age of 17, Mordecai won an Interplanetary Sharpshooting competition with a revolver. The other competitors, who were using sniper rifles, accused him of cheating and eventually got him banned from the competition for "unsportsmanlike conduct," although many witnesses noted that he didn't display any unsportsmanlike behaviors until after the accusations began. He now travels from planet to planet with his trusty companion Bloodwing, searching for "everything this freaking universe owes me," which Mordecai has defined as a better gun and unlimited cash.

(Information taken from the Borderlands manual)

Gameplay
Mordecai's play style is that of a sharpshooter. He is well suited for ranged combat, being able to have improved accuracy and dealing the most damage with well placed critical hits. Based on how his skill points are distributed he is also able to do high damage with other guns, though most of his skills lead to a preference of sniper rifles and pistols. His melee weapon is a sword, which can also be a tool of great harm. All of these advantages come at the expense of his own durability under fire. Mordecai's active ability calls his bloodwing, a red-eyed alien bird that can be a very helpful companion along your search for the vault.

His three skill trees are Sniper, which increases his skills with sniper rifles as well as group experience bonuses and accuracy; Rogue, which mainly focuses on increasing the potency of his Bloodwing as well as gaining loot; and Gunslinger, which improves his usage of pistols, as well as his melee weapon. Playing Mordecai involves making extra use of shields and evasive maneuvers, more than any of the other classes. Fighting in close quarters and boss battles can be difficult, while many fights in open areas will be much easier.

Active Ability
Mordecai has a Bloodwing as a pet, which is a deadly winged predator that can be unleashed upon enemies to damage or kill them.

The Bloodwing can be commanded to attack enemies and can also be upgraded for increased damage and speed as you progress through the game. If you place your crosshairs over an enemy and the crosshairs turn red, then activate Bloodwing, it will attack the target you had in your sights. If you blind-fire Bloodwing, it will seek out the nearest target in the general direction you're looking in. Bloodwing's attack range is limited however, and more suitable to close combat conditions than for supporting long range sniping.

Bloodwing can also be equipped with artifacts to give him elemental damage bonuses.

Bloodwing bears the unique ability to be called back which allows him to be used again immediately if he hasn't attacked a target. Even a single attack forces you to wait for the full cooldown.

Bird of Prey isn't quite as useful as it could be. It would appear that the Bloodwing AI will never attack the same target twice in a row. It will only rarely attack the same target more than once even when multiple enemies are present. A useful tactic when using the Bird of Prey skill is when there are two enemies remaining, The Bloodwing will constantly attack the two enemies back and forth until it's reached its limit. This is especially useful once Crimson Lance Engineers send out their scorpio turret.

Bloodwing Tips

 * 1) Bloodwing can be launched immediately before entering a vehicle and it will continue to follow until the skill timer expires. It will attack enemies near the vehicle as Bird of Prey permits.
 * 2) Bloodwing can become entangled on obstacles, so some care should be taken to ensure it has clear air when launched.
 * 3) Health returned from Out For Blood occurs when the Bloodwing returns, rather than when it strikes.
 * 4) Bloodwing can be recalled by pressing the action skill button, returning before the skill duration expires, and interrupting it from attacking any additional targets with Bird of Prey. This can be useful if the health return from Out For Blood is urgently needed.
 * 5) Bloodwing's Aerial Impact skill combined with Bird of Prey can be useful for getting past areas unharmed, when speed is preferable over combat. Dazed enemies will have trouble hitting targets, making them easier to run past.

Skill Tree Calculator
Check out the skill calculator at the official Borderlands site

Quotes
When opening a chest:
 * "So, you want me to share huh?"
 * "I'll just take a gander here"
 * "Lady Luck, be kind."
 * "Satisfaction abounds."
 * "Hmm...So many to choose from."
 * "What do we have here?"
 * "Don't mind if I do."
 * "Well, shit, look at that!"

When scoring a critical hit:
 * "Boom! Hehehehehehe..."
 * "What? You didn't like that?"
 * "Did that hurt?"
 * "Feel it!"

When scoring a kill on a Badass enemy:
 * "So big, so angry, so dead."
 * "Nothing like a challenging kill."
 * "I don't think he liked me."
 * "Another trophy for my wall."
 * "Not bad, not bad."

When scoring an Action skill kill:
 * "Good boy!"
 * "Someone's getting a treat."
 * "Get 'em Blood!"
 * "You like my pet!
 * "Give 'em hell, Bloodwing!"
 * "That's my boy!"

When requesting a duel:
 * "You looking at Bloodwing? They lookin' at you, Blood?"
 * "C'mon, little girl. Make me laugh."

When leveling up:
 * "Another notch on my rifle."
 * "Can it be? I'm getting even BETTER at this!"

When spawning a vehicle:
 * "Let's get our feet out of the dust"
 * "We're going too slow."
 * "Time for a nice, relaxing drive"

When requesting to swap (Gunner/Driver) seats in a vehicle:
 * "You can't hit shit!"


 * "Swap with me!"


 * Thats enough for you! switch seats with me!

When idle:
 * "Sure is great, standing here. I LOVE IT!"
 * "Now that you mention it, I DO love standing here doing NOTHING!!!"
 * "How long you gonna admire that dirt?"

When crippled:
 * "Augh! Why? WWHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY!? Erugh..."
 * "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I NEVER DIE!"

When reviving an ally: When out of ammo:
 * "What the Hell's wrong with you? Get UP!"
 * "Don't make me pick you up again!"
 * "Don't slip on your blood getting up. C'mon."
 * "I got no bullets!"
 * "Shit, out of ammo!"

Trivia
''"troops will deploy today if all goes to plan. just met a man named mord-ee-kai. dude, eat something ." ''Referencing Mordecai's rather thin build, which also brings up the question of how Mordecai is even supposed to hold sniper rifles and Rocket launchers.
 * The voice actor of Mordecai is Julio Cedillo [IMDB Link]
 * The name Mordecai may be a reference to a pet falcon named Mordecai (seeing as Mordecai has a bloodwing which is similar to a pet falcon) in the movie "The Royal Tenenbaums" By Wes Anderson.
 * A bug existed in the initial release of Borderlands that enabled the Hunter to spawn multiple Bloodwings at once. The glitch in action can be viewed here.
 * In the Secret Armory of General Knoxx, his wanted poster states his bounty is $1,000,000.00 for "Poaching and possesion of an endangered species", and in red text at the bottom, "another million for that annoying bird"
 * Mordecai's name may also be a reference to Major Alfred Mordecai of the U.S. Ordnance Department dating from just before the Civil War. Major Mordecai's procurement research and decisions were a major contributing factor to US military philosophy emphasizing superior marksmanship instead of overwhelming firepower.
 * Mordecai is compared to a Truxican Wrestler at the start of the game when Marcus says, "You in the leather! What's your story? You look like a Truxican Wrestler moon-lighting as a dominatrix!" "Truxican Wrestler" appears to be be a play on the words, "Mexican wrestler," as Mexican wrestlers wear matching masks and suits, not too dissimilar to Mordecai's. The name also appears on a melee orientated class mod.
 * General Knoxx makes a comment on Mordecai on his twitter account:
 * Mordecai's character model prior to the game's release was much beefier looking when compared to the final design.
 * Mordecai's name may be referencing a character in the story of Purim, a soldier named Mordechai saved the king, and as such, he was given a parade in his name.