Intellectual properties taking foundational stylistic cues from George Miller’s Mad Max will always struggle to distinguish themselves aesthetically from their inspirational material. That apocalyptic touchstone of cinema juxtaposes against it’s bleak wasteland characters so grotesquely original that little room is left for imitators to introduce anything that could feel alien by comparison.
As the Borderlands franchise matures, however, it becomes more successful at doing so… mostly because it mixes in actual aliens with its ever-expanding cast of deranged gearheads. Borderlands 3’s Hag enemies belong to the latter group and play a similar role as Borderlands 2’s Goliaths; keeping you on your toes when your encounters with vanilla psychos start to feel pedestrian.
These monstrous maidens aren’t too much trouble on their own, then again, Borderlands doesn’t patiently serve the player new enemies in an orderly queue, so even a single Hag can ruin your day quickly. Read on for tips on taking down these wardens of Konrad’s Hold.
7 On Shoulders Of Giants
Technically speaking, every regular Hag enemy the player encounters is actually two enemies, or sometimes as many as eight enemies… more on that later. For now, it’s prudent to pay attention to the Hag Rider Tink – the miniature psycho perched atop the big lady.
Hags themselves are slow and clumsy, and their own cryo-donut gun shoots nonthreatening rings that fizzle out if they hit an obstacle. For this reason you won’t need to worry about the Hag itself if you keep at a distance, but you will need to worry about half-pint raining grenades down on your from afar. Also note that the Hag can and will shoot her little helper at you directly if all else fails, squash the Tink quickly because the Hag can deploy more than one at a time and eventually this will feel overwhelming.
6 Heartbreaker
While the Tinks mentioned above are undoubtedly the most threatening weapons in the base-model Hags arsenal, they also act as a weak point, a kryptonite, for the Hags themselves. What’s the common weakness of every invincible superhero out there?
The people they love. If you can’t shake a Hag that’s chasing you down, or need a break from the onslaught of projectiles coming from the Tink, kill two birds with one stone by taking out the Tink while it’s piloting the Hag. It’s cruel, but the emotional anguish felt by the Hag after the loss of its friend will stun it temporarily, allowing you to escape or deal damage without interruption.
5 Keep Count
As mentioned earlier, the Hag enemies aren’t just one enemy and they will deploy their Tink army against you when provoked. How many soldiers strong is this army? Seven.
Seven Tinks doesn’t make for a huge militia by any means, but considering the Hag is usually already in a group of other psychos, having seven more bite-sized bombers chasing you can be a hassle.
4 Fire Cleanses
To series veterans this last tidbit of standard-model Hag slaying advice is probably obvious but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless – fire weapons: never get caught without one. Each Borderlands has relied on a similar rock-paper-scissors system for prioritizing elemental damage against types of enemies. Incendiary, shock, and corrosive damage are the constant trio through each game, with BL2 introducing slag weapons and BL3 replacing slag with cryo and radiation weapons.
Incendiary weapons are most damaging against flesh – regular, red HP – enemies, except for variants of that enemy which deal fire damage themselves, or mini-bosses, such as Badass Fire Skags or Demoskaggon. Through the first BL3 playthrough regular Hags will always be without shields (which favour shock damage) or armour (which favour corrosive damage) so incendiary guns are always safe. Getting too close to Hags makes them punch the ground, creating a shield-bursting shockwave, so remember that elements work against you as well.
In True Vault Hunter Mode Hags become Goons and will be armoured. Using the right or wrong weapon confers more drastic elemental bonuses and penalties during TVHM
3 Corrosion Explosion
With the standard Hags out of the way, what’s to be done about their irksome, beefed up variants? Borderlands’ “badass” enemies are the specialized among the specialized. Hags and Goliaths keep the player from getting bored by waves of psychos, and Badass Hags exist to shake things up even more.
Like other badass variants, Badass Hags are decidedly more explosive. Most badasses launch rocket after rocket towards the player, Badass Hags are different in that they volley mines, in groups of three or seven, that litter the map and explode when touched or after a short timer. Unlike regular Hags, these ones are combat-ready and armour-clad, apply corrosive damage to that yellow HP bar as necessary.
2 Wind’s Howling
Gale Hags, as the name implies, are extra chilly and particularly rare breeds of Hags sporting two cryo cannons for arms. They appear without the Tink pilots carried by other Hags, but their dual cannons make them all around more aggressive. Approach them as you would any other Hag, but beware of the increased rate of cryo and knockback attacks to which they have access.
1 Fall From Grace
Think Badass Hags are the last of your worries? Think again. BL3 also brought about “anointed” mobs, the result of Troy Calypso imbuing various psychos and bandits with a bit too much Siren magic. As a general rule, anointed enemies walk much slower than their regular variants, and that’s true for the already slow Hags as well. But don’t think they can’t chase you down – all anointed mobs can also phasewalk (i.e. teleport) which makes the lumbering Anointed Hags particularly fearsome.
Anointed Hags are still vulnerable to fire, but outright immune to cryo damage – unlike normal Hags – and with their dramatically increased HP pool the player should really make sure to focus on elemental damage.
