Badass

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.

Strategy

Badasses are tougher than normal enemies and can withstand heavier damage than regular foes. Human Badasses are often equipped with extremely powerful and accurate weapons and grenades and will quickly seek cover when engaging an enemy. Unlike regular Creatures, non-human Badass variants frequently have an extra elemental property associated with them and often have extra attacks. These elementally-powered Badasses may drop an Artifact of their elemental type when defeated.

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.

BadMutha

Upon beginning the second playthrough, 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. BadMuthas should be avoided until your character is a good few levels above them. They may be very challenging, and the Bruisers (now 'brutes') a little bit more so at the beginning of the second playthrough.

Notes

• While most badass variants will deliver more damage than their normal counterparts due to either elemental properties or better equipment, the Badass Psycho is an exception. It will take them several swings before characters are crippled. However, their much higher health pool makes them a much greater threat than regular Psychos if left unchecked.

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 player's level. They are substantially tougher than both the Badass and BadMutha enemies, and should not be taken lightly.

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Badass levels in Borderlands 2

In Borderlands 2, most enemies have badass variants with of up to 5 badass levels. Between badass levels, appereance 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 taken out quickly. Goliaths will only receive increased health and damage output, while varkids and savages additionally gain new abilities.

Badass Evolution

Certain enemies in Borderlands 2 can evolve during the fight, namely the Goliaths, Varkids and Savages. Their final evolution form, or Supreme Ultimate Badass rank, possess a unique name and are usually much bigger than their evolutionary precursors. They can only spawn in True Vault Hunter or Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. 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 cocon-like 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 tremendus amounts of experience points, especially if an enraged goliath killed another one who had already killed a few enemies, which technically multiplies the XP of the latter's kills by nine.

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

Notes

• Unlike Borderlands 1, badass psychos have vastly increased damage compared to their normal counterpart and can easily defeat unprepared players.