I used to love Claptraps. Y’know, those adorable, dancing robot thingies that would give you more inventory space or provide you with access to hidden weapon caches. I even drew them from time to time. And now the romance is over, thanks to the mission flow in Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution, the last bit of DLC for Borderlands.
Upon arrival in Tartarus Station, players meet up with Tannis in her secret workshop. She’s trying to build something and needs claptrap parts to get it done. Thus, you’re given the first mission of the DLC:
- Patricia Tannis needs parts to build her magnificent…something. Head down to the Hyperion Dump and search the scrapped claptraps for parts and bring them back to her. (Clap-Components: 0/5)
Okay, five parts. That should be easy enough, and it is. You head off to the Hyperion Dump to shoot up seemingly endless swarms of angry Claptraps. As their robot bodies explode, they drop parts like gears, wires, and motherboards. Five are quickly acquired, but picking up extra parts don’t add to your collection. In fact, you can’t even really tell how many you have as nothing is actually listed in your inventory. Which sucks considering the next quest from Tannis is this:
- Tannis needs some more parts to complete her creation’s Infinite Improbability Drive. If you can’t find any lying around, just rip them out of some claptrap spines. (Clap-Components: 0/42)
That means any extra parts you previously picked up are nulled. There’s no point in gathering more than what is needed. Kind of stupid in terms of a design process, but whatever. It’s not like we’re gonna have to collect a stadium-load more of these things, right? On to the next quest!
- Tannis needs more parts to ensure the protection grid holds on her device’s ecto-containment unit, safeguarding against total protonic reversal, which would be extraordinarily bad. (Clap-Components: 0/75)
Dammit. Enter Hyperion Dump, shoot Claptraps, exit Hyperion Dump, enter again, rinse and repeat and feel bored. Gee, I wonder what the next quest will be?
- The “popcorn” setting on Tannis’ device is malfunctioning. Well, it’s not so much malfunctioning as creating deadly mutant corn. A few more parts should fix that! (Clap-Components: 0/100)
Oh boy. Good, good. I haven’t collected claptrap parts in ages.
- Just a few more parts and Tannis’ magnum opus shall be revealed! Tremble in fear at the might of Tannis and her fearsome…what is this thing, anyway? (Clap-Components: 0/150)
Go sleep with a badmutha skag, Tannis. You suck.
Let’s do some math. That’s a total of 372 claptrap parts collected. The most frustrating aspect though is that you simply can’t collect claptrap parts as a collectible. Only during these missions do they matter, and once you’ve acquired your target number, the rest are voided of purpose. I know for sure I could have cleared a few of these missions out faster if I’d been allowed to use the previous parts I found while out on the hunt. Would it really have been terribly hard, 2K/Gearbox, to design a slot in your inventory for claptrap parts? Me thinks not.
So, the first five missions in the DLC are a straight collect-a-thon, and not a very fun one at that. And all that work results in Tannis building an android version of herself so she won’t be so lonely anymore. Um…what?
The Collector (50G): Completed Tannis’ crazy request
Crazy disappointing to be more exact.
Grinding Down 
I couldn’t agree more….the worst part is this is the same exact mechanic as in the Zombie Island of Dr Ned DLC, where you have to collect a horrific number of brains, and you can only gather what that quest allows you to. No one liked it then, and I am really surprised they brought it back again in full.
I have every achievement in Borderlands except the last few collection quests of Claptrap (fish bags, pizza, panties, 3D glasses) which are just impossible.
Your drawn claptrap is adorable by the way 🙂
Thank you! Heard that the Braaaaaains quest for the zombie DLC was frustrating. I probably won’t pick up anymore DLC for Borderlands and just wait for the, hopefully, forthcoming sequel.
I have the 3D glasses Achievement already, but the rest might take awhile. The drop rate for pizza, oil cans, and bobbleheads is extremely low. That might have to be another post 😀
Tell me about it!
I’m currently collecting parts for Patricia, and I decided to look online to see how many parts were needed exactly. I
I am WAY too addicted to this game.
It was the same addiction I had to FallOut 3, and Red Ded Redemption. Haha.
Great read, and blog!
thanks for the intel, now I’m not going back for 100 parts.
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The collection missions, while poorly done, aren’t meant to be done alone. ANY Claptraps drop the parts (Same with undead) so they can be done concurrently with the main missions
Im sorry to inform you that you did it wrong and wasted your time. These missions are intended to be completed as you progress through the dlc and kill the claptraps to andvance. What you call the “first five missions” are in fact four optional missions that serve little purpose and can be ignored.
So I don’t click the optional mission but claptrap parts still show up? Seeing all the motherboards, gears and wires is really ticking me off. Is there a way to make them disappear?