Lance Defender

Lance Defender
Character Type	Enemy
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Group Affiliations	Crimson Lance
Game	Borderlands

Lance Defenders are the mainstay defensive units of the Crimson Lance in Borderlands.

Appearances

• Borderlands
• The Secret Armory of General Knoxx

Strategy

Lance Defenders wear the same heavy armor as Lance Engineers, making them very durable but also very slow, capable of only moving at a walking pace. In addition to their heavy armor they carry heavy, bullet-proof riot shields. In their other hand they wield a sidearm, usually a repeater or revolver. They frequently have shields on top of their heavy armor, adding to their already impressive durability. Like all Crimson Lance they also use grenade. When killed, they frequently drop their weapon, shield, and grenade mod.

Lance Defenders show no interest in seeking cover, preferring instead to rely on their riot shields. When under fire they will move slowly forward or back, covering themselves closely with their riot shields, thus presenting a dramatically reduced targeting opportunity for enemies in front of them. They also draw their shields in closer when reloading.

While their shields are bullet-proof and protect a large portion of their body, shots to their shield will cause the Defender to flinch and recoil their shield, making them temporarily vulnerable. Sniper Rifles and semi-automatic weapons are most effective on Defenders. Sniper Rifles can strike with distance precision at their head, while semi-automatic weapons can knock the shield aside and damage the Defender with critical hits and body shots. If all else fails, a good caustic weapon (the Maliwan Defiler is particularly effective) can incapacitate a defender in seconds, and thus is recommended to be kept on hand when traveling through areas occupied by Crimson Lance. Semi-automatic weapons with scopes (as opposed to iron sights) are a good choice because they have a relatively low recoil as opposed to automatic weapons. Shotguns don't have high enough accuracy to be useful, and revolvers generally have low ammunition capacities and slow reload speeds. The same goes for Launchers.

Another strategy is to wait for them to reload (as this process requires them to lower their riot shield and expose themselves to incoming fire) and unload upon them with a support machine gun or SMG.

Badass Defenders are considerably, about 30%, more massive than any other Lance unit. They wear extra-heavy, bullet-proof armor that renders their upper bodies immune to gunfire. As a result, only head shots or foot shots will actually deal damage to Badass Defenders. They do still flinch to both body shots and shield shots, which opens them up for head shots.

Notes

• Lance Defender's name changes based on the difficulty level that they appear in:
  • Playthrough 1: Lance Defender
  • Playthrough 2: Lance Warden
  • After Playthrough 2: Lance Sentinel

• Badass Defender's name changes based on the difficulty level that they appear in:
  • Playthrough 1: Badass Defender
  • Playthrough 2: BadMutha Warden
  • After Playthrough 2: SuperBad Sentinel