Morningstar

Morningstar
"...would smell as sweet."
Manufacturer:	Hyperion
Type:	Sniper Rifle
Rarity:	Unique
Element:	Shock, Incendiary, Corrosive, Slag, or None
Game:	Borderlands 2
Special Part(s): GD_Weap_SniperRifles.A_Weapons_Unique. Sniper_Hyperion_3_Morningstar GD_Weap_SniperRifles.Barrel. SR_Barrel_Maliwan_Morningstar GD_Weap_SniperRifles.ManufacturerMaterials. Material_Hyperion_3_FremingtonsEdge

The Morningstar is a unique aftermarket talking Hyperion sniper rifle. Morningstar is obtained from the mission Hyperion Contract 873 located in The Highlands.

Special Weapon Effect

"A Rose by any other name..." – Increased damage. Adds a short-lived 20% critical hit damage bonus for each critical hit. Berates the user in a nagging, whiny voice any time they reload, kill an enemy, swap weapons, or score a critical hit.

Usage & Description

The Morningstar has slightly boosted damage for a Hyperion sniper rifle, greater than any blue rarity Hyperion rifle but less than those of purple rarity. This makes it a solid performing weapon by itself, but the Morningstar also has a second, hidden characteristic which makes it an attractive sniper weapon.

Each consecutive critical hit performed with the Morningstar will add an extra 20% damage to any subsequent critical hits for a short time, similar to Critical Ascensi0n. Like Critical Ascensi0n each multiplier can stack, though unlike that skill each multiplier wears off independently. This effectively limits the maximum number of stacked multipliers to 3. Though it functions similarly to the skill, the multipliers operate separately from Critical Ascensi0n and will stack with that ability.

Though its special effect is outperformed by a small number of unique weapons, the Morningstar is still a "better-than-blue" weapon, making it an especially attractive option for players looking for an excellent level-appropriate sniper weapon.

Although it is not tactically relevant, the inherent comedic value of the weapon may also offer some incentive toward use, especially in multiplayer environments.

Quotes

When reloading:

• "Oh, great, now you're wasting ammo!" (Subtitles omitted "Oh, great")
• "There are children on Promethea who can't afford ammo, you know!" (Subtitles omitted "you know")
• "If you were a better shot, you wouldn't need to reload!"
• "Well, at least you stopped shooting for a little while!"

After a kill:

• "Wonderful shot! Murderer!"
• "Someone is now an orphan and doesn't know it yet!"
• "They might have been raised in a broken home"
• "They might have been nice if you got to know them"
• "That was murder by most definitions."
• "You don't talk to your parents as often as you should."
• "Good job ending that life!"
• "Most serial killers thought they were good people, too."
• "By not donating to charity, you indirectly murder thousands of people every day!"
• "You don't exercise as much as you should... fatty!"
• "Your clothes were probably made by slaves."
• "They were probably just defending themselves."
• "Oh, maybe they were just having a bad day."
• "They had a family."

After a critical hit:

• "Oh!"
• "How could you?!"
• "Eh!"
• "You're a bad person."
• "Bad, bad person!"
• "Ooh!" (Pronounced differently to "Oh!")
• "How do you feel now?"
• "Please..."
• "Feel bad."
• "Murderer!"
• "Oh no."
• "Aah!"
• "You feel bad yet? 'cause I do!"
• "Guilt!"
• "Ahh!" (Pronounced differently to "Aah!")
• "Horrible. You're just horrible!"

When switching to a different weapon: ^{(Currently these quotes do not play under normal circumstances)}

• "You can't ignore me."
• "Just wait until I tell your father!"
• "Oh fine, be that way!"

Notes

• If the Morningstar is put away during a quote-generating event, typically reloading, its voice may remain active even when using other weapons. Currently this is the only way to hear the "weapon switch" quotes.
• The subtitles don't give the entire quote from the weapon.
• This weapon was dropped by Saturn on day 20 of the Borderlands 2 Loot Hunt. A hotfix on that day increased the duration of the short-lived 20% critical damage bonus.

Trivia

• The red text is a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The full quote is "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" and is said by Juliet, who argues that the names of things don't matter, only what things are.
• The name of the weapon is similar in theme to what the red text is referring to. "Morning Star" is the name given to Venus in ancient times. It is also observed as "Evening Star" by the ancients. Due to the the orbit of Venus being shorter than Earth, it appears in the morning only during certain time of the year, and eventually switches appearance to the evenings.
• The weapon and the mission that grants it as a reward are a reference to an XKCD web comic, specifically, FPS Mod (notably XKCD comic #873, referenced in the mission number), in which an individual laments the fact that nobody likes his mod that gives a short guilt-inducing factoid about each enemy killed by the player. When completing the mission, the weapon is referred to as "the Hyperion ex-K seedy," a homophone for XKCD.
• The weapon is voiced by Monica Rial.