Badass

A Hunter battling a Badass Psycho

A Badass is an elite version of a regular enemy. In addition to having the word "Badass" preceding their names, they can also be distinguished by their glowing eyes, increased size and other artistic deviations like spiked armor. They are not named foes and should not be confused with bosses.

Quick Answers

What makes a Badass enemy different from regular enemies?

Badass enemies are elite versions of regular foes, identifiable by their glowing eyes, larger size, and unique features like spiked armor. They possess a diverse range of attacks, some inflicting high damage regardless of resistance, and can drop artifacts upon defeat. In Borderlands 2, enemies have badass variants with up to five levels of badassness. Badass Psychos, for instance, are larger and can withstand substantial damage before defeat.

Provided by: Fandom

What are some distinguishing features of a Badass?

In the Borderlands series, a Badass is an elite enemy variant. They are identifiable by their glowing eyes, increased size, and unique features like spiked armor. Variations include the Badass Psycho, larger than normal with an enlarged right arm, and the Badass Guardian, a larger, more powerful version of a Principal Guardian with a distinct glow and a larger back protrusion.

Provided by: Fandom

How does the Badass Psycho differ in terms of damage?

The Badass Psycho, distinctively larger with an enlarged right arm, can endure substantial damage but inflicts less compared to normal or burning psychos. He is unable to throw his axe when out of range. In Borderlands 3, he has new attacks like Quake, Spin Attack, and Flail. His moniker varies with the game's difficulty level.

Provided by: Fandom

What are the benefits of defeating a Badass in the game?

Overcoming a Badass enemy in the game brings multiple advantages. These elite enemies, identifiable by glowing eyes, increased size, and unique features like spiked armor, are tougher and deal more damage than regular foes. However, their defeat grants substantial experience and above-average loot, making the challenge worthwhile. The Badass Ranks earned and the rewards bought with them benefit all your characters. Badasses appear in different forms, such as bandit and Crimson Lance variants.

Provided by: Fandom

Are Badasses considered as bosses in the game?

In the game, Badasses represent elite variants of standard enemies, identifiable by glowing eyes, larger size, and unique artistic features. Despite their enhanced abilities and up to 5 levels of badassness, they are not classified as bosses. They can evolve during combat, with the Supreme Ultimate Badass rank being their final form. Nonetheless, they do not hold the status of bosses.

Provided by: Fandom

Borderlands

Strategy

Badasses are tougher than normal enemies as they take and deal more damage, with the exception of the Badass Psycho (in terms of damage). Although they are much harder to kill, the experience they give and the above average loot they can drop generally makes killing a badass more rewarding than killing regular foes.

Human badasses are present in the form of bandit and Crimson Lance variants. They act the same as their normal counterparts; Badass Psychos rush the player, Badass Brusiers slowly walk towards their position and Badass Raiders make use of cover while fighting. All Crimson Lance badasses have additional shoulder armor, which in turn blocks damage from an attack if it lands on them. The original three Lance badasses (infantry, engineer and defender) act the same as their normal counterparts, though the DLC Lance badasses have additional features and also make use of Scorpio Turrets.

With the exception of normal Badass Skags, all badass creatures are elementally attuned to incendiary, corrosive or shock attacks, which causes their damage dealt and taken to fluctuate depending on their affinity. These creatures tend to utilize a different array of attacks, some of which can deal very high damage regardless of resistance. They are also capable of dropping artifacts corresponding to their affinity when killed.

Spiderant Queens, though not having elemental properties, are considered to be Badass enemies by the game.

BadMutha

When Playthrough 2 becomes active, badasses will be replaced by the considerably more powerful BadMuthas, and will spawn more often. They are similar to a badass in most aspects, but compared by level (say a 30 Badass vs. 30 BadMutha) are more powerful.

Superbad

Beyond the second playthrough (even though there are no story or missions), the badmutha enemies become superbad, and like all the main bosses beyond the second playthrough, they are often above the characters' levels.

---

Borderlands 2

Badass levels in Borderlands 2

In Borderlands 2, most enemies have badass variants with of up to 5 badass levels. Between badass levels, appearance and combat style may vary as they gain additional abilities. All badass enemies will become more powerful with each rank and can quickly become overwhelming if not eliminated quickly. Goliaths will only receive increased health and damage output, while varkids and savages additionally gain new abilities.

Few enemies may also appear as chubby, which is a especially rare and powerful kind of an badass.

Badass Evolution

Certain enemies in Borderlands 2 can evolve during the fight, namely the goliaths, varkids, and savages. Their final evolution, or Supreme Ultimate Badass rank, possesses a unique name and is usually much bigger than their evolutionary precursors. They can only spawn in True Vault Hunter Mode or Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. Badass Savages from the Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt DLC need a nearby Witch Doctor to evolve. Varkid metamorphose to the next badass rank after a short time in a cocoon-like varkid pod, during which they are defenseless.

After evolution, enemies will fully replenish their health and increase in level. They will also have increased experience points and loot rarity (loot level does not increase according to their level). Goliaths will triple any enemies' experience they killed and add to his own, which can result in tremendous amounts of experience points, especially if an enraged goliath killed another one that had already killed a few enemies, which technically multiplies the XP of the latter's kills by nine.

The fifth evolution level of goliaths, varkid and savages, namely GOD-liath, Vermivorous the Invincible and Omnd-Omnd-Ohk, will be very difficult and time-consuming to kill. If a player team is wiped out, they will be restored to full health. Like other unique enemies, they have a chance to drop specific legendary items.

Badass Level	Goliath	Varkid	Badass Savages
Base Lvl	Goliath	Larval Varkid	Badass Savage
Lvl 1	Raging Goliath	Adult Varkid	Super Badass Savage
Lvl 2	Badass Goliath	Badass Varkid	Ultimate Badass Savage
Lvl 3	Super Badass Goliath	Super Badass Varkid	Omnd-Omnd-Ohk
Lvl 4	Ultimate Badass Goliath	Ultimate Badass Varkid
Lvl 5	Fatal GOD-liath	Vermivorous the Invincible