We all knew it was a matter of time before Gearbox Software announced a level cap increase. But we also pondered what the pricing would be. Would it be free for the season pass holders? Are they going to do the insane and make us pay more for it? And when the heck is it going to release? Also, at the beginning of the month they teased a new, 6th playable character as well. When is that going to release? What kind of character is it going to be? Gearbox has finally answered most of these questions – to an extent.

First off, the level cap increase will add an additional 11 levels for your characters to acquire. The good news is that the Season Pass holders will get this for free. The bad news is that non-Season Pass holders will have to pay 400 MSP ($5) for it. I think that the additional 11 skill points should make for some interesting builds for all the characters that are available right now. Maybe I can finally reach the bottom on both sides for Axton’s turrent….

Along with the level increase, there will also be an “new” weapons rarity: Pearlescent. Veteran players from the first game should recognize this type as it was included in that game, but oddly enough not Borderlands 2. Well, it will be in there now for all of you that like to farm the heck out of this game. Bonus incentive: win/win.

In addition, there is also a new mode available for players who have beat True Vault Hunter Mode and are level 50. It is called Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode and will scale all enemies to the highest level character in your party.

Now for the new 6th playable character. His name is Kreig.

Kreig archtype is based around the Psycho from Borderlands 2. He almost sounds a bit like Wolverine as his skills are best used in a crowd of people. Such as his Blood Axe Rampage which lets you regain health for every enemy you hit. Bad news is that Kreig is not included in part of the Season Pass and you will have to pay 800 MSP ($10) for him. Not a bad deal even though most will complain that “it should be included in the Season Pass”. Not true as Gearbox stated that the Season Pass was for 4 campaign related DLC, not characters.

So the level cap increase will be available to download on April 2nd and Kreig the Psycho is targeted for a May launch. No word on when the fourth campaign DLC will launch, but it is expected to release before June 2013.

Personally I’m looking forward to Kreig and the level cap increase. I’ve also seen on the Gearbox Forums there is a rumor that there will be a Black Market update as well in Ultimate Vault Hunter mode.

“There will be inventory/backup/storage increases in the update (Free update).
More ammo SDU’s will be available in the black market along with eridium
maximums increased.”

I haven’t seen this actually confirmed, but it would be nice to see an increase in the storage. What do you all think about this?