Anointed enemies are perhaps one of the most controversial elements of Borderlands 3 among the fanbase. These eridium-infused enemies come in several different shapes and sizes, and feature unique abilities that make them significantly more challenging than standard fodder enemies - and in some cases, even more challenging than some bosses in the game.
One of the biggest advantages of the Handsome Jackpot DLC over the base game is that Anointed enemies are nowhere to be seen, meaning players can have fun killing enemies and getting loot without having to worry about these broken enemies. As such, there are some major issues with Anointed enemies that Gearbox Software should address in a future update to make them a better fit for the game as a whole.
Good Idea, Bad Execution
The concept of Anointed enemies in Borderlands 3 is similar to that of Badass and Super Badass enemies: big health bars that can dish out massive damage if players aren't prepared. They are designed to be much tougher enemies that increase difficulty in moment-to-moment combat. However, Anointed enemies are nowhere near as fun to fight compared to Badass enemies, but why?
For starters, Anointed enemies feature high damage attacks that are often completely unfair to the player. Some feature abilities that cannot be countered or fought against, which leads to the fight just being frustrating. Lastly, these enemies feel no more rewarding than standard fodder enemies. Despite a small eridium drop, they do not feel like they drop legendary weapons at a higher rate than the standard Psycho at times - and that needs to change.
Immunity is Anti-Fun
The most difficult and annoying Anointed enemy in the game is, many would agree, the Anointed Militant. This hulking beast of a man features a large health pool, heavy hitting attacks, a wild meteor storm ability, and an immunity shield to top it all off. Half of the bosses in the main story didn't even feature some of these abilities, and perhaps the most egregious of these is the immunity shield. The Anointed Militant can summon the shield at-will and rotate it to block incoming damage. This is especially frustrating if the Militant is on top of a player when they enter Fight for Your Life since the Militant can block any attempts to get back up.
Immunity just isn't fun to fight against, especially if it's a prolonged immunity that the player has no control over. Gearbox removed Annointed immunity to Cryo damage, so clearly they recognize that fans aren't happy with fighting immune enemies. Hopefully Gearbox will at the very least remove or adjust the Militants immunity shield - if not outright remove the Militant as many fans want.
Wild and Annoying Abilities
Each type of Anointed enemy has unique abilities that set themselves apart from the rest of the enemies in the game. While there's the Militant running wild, there are also Anointed versions of Tinks, Fanatics, and Psychos that each have some annoying traits. The Tinks can rapidly change in size making them a nightmare to try to pin down with attacks and abilities. The Psychos aren't usually too bad - they hit incredibly hard and can grow in size to be comparable to a Badass Psycho, but their worst trait is being able to teleport to surprise enemies.
Outside of the Militant, the worst Anointed enemy has to be the Fanatic. This nightmarish enemy can constantly fling out energy orbs that track the player and cannot be destroyed. The orbs move slow but since the Fanatic can throw out many of them, it gets overwhelming and downright annoying very quickly. Even if players are kitted with the most powerful gear in the game, these enemies can be frustrating to take on. Each Anointed enemy needs to have a cooldown on their abilities to limit the use of the abilities that players are fed up with.
Strong Enemies with Weak Rewards
At the end of the day, Borderlands 3 is all about loot. Players have the expectation that when they defeat a powerful enemy they will have a higher chance at powerful rewards. Since Anointed enemies are sometimes more challenging than bosses, they should have a much higher drop rate. With the introduction of dedicated loot drops many fans are calling for Anointed enemies to have a more dedicated loot pool as well. Perhaps Anointed enemies could have a higher drop rate of legendary gear that is listed as a "world drop" or perhaps they can live up to their namesake and have a higher (or guaranteed) chance to drop Anointed gear. These powerful enemies need to be rewarding for how difficult they are to fight, hands down.
Anointed enemies are currently a nuisance that are plaguing Borderlands 3's Mayhem modes. With the introduction of Mayhem 4 to Borderlands 3, these enemies are becoming far too annoying to fight for how little players get out of the encounter. Their abilities need to be tuned back to be more in-line with other enemies in the game (though they should not be as easy as standard enemies), but the rewards they drop need to be worth the challenge. Most Anointed enemies have annoying abilities that need to be changed or given a cooldown. While some fans are calling for their outright removal, there are definitely some ways Gearbox can adjust them without removing these new enemy types.
Borderlands 3 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.