This mission is started by talking to Sir Hammerlock in Liar's Berg after completing both "Shielded Favors" and "Bad Hair Day". Sir Hammerlock will send you to Blackburn Cove to kill a Midget riding a Bullymong.
| Normal | True Vault Hunter | |
|---|---|---|
| Level: | 5 | 35 |
| Money: | 39 | 1,187 |
| XP: | 362 | 10,369 |
| Gear: | Customization Head | Customization Head |
Leave Liar's Berg through the gate leading North. When you get the chance, turn left and run past where you found the fuse for the lift in "Shielded Favors". Be mindful as you pass through the area as it will have likely repopulated; you can choose to fight them again, or just run for it.
Just past the built up area is a narrow slot that opens into a clearing with Bullymongs in it (that you may have visiting during "Bad Hair Day"). Kill the Bullymongs or run past them to activate the travel point. Alternatively, you may run into them, and then back out again, causing them to give chase; the Bullymongs will then attack any bandits that they see. This is helpful if you're having problems getting past the two factions. In the ensuing confusion, hightail it to the travel point.
Just past the Bullymong nest is a travel point access to the Southern Shelf - Bay.
As you first enter, you'll be in a cave with a Med and Ammo Vendor to your right. The Ammo Vendor is easily missed as it is situated directly behind the Med Vendor; the two machines had been roped together back to back and you won't be able to see the Ammo vendor unless you walk around to look directly behind the Med Vendor. Restock shields, health and ammo as needed and then proceed out to the bay proper. As you continue forward from the cave, you'll encounter another set of Bullymong. After this first set, if you travel to the right, there will be successive sets of them. It shouldn't be too difficult to deal with one nest at a time but if you rush ahead, you may find yourself dealing with multiple nests at the same time.
Alternatetively, if you travel to the left, you can run past this first set of Bullymong before they fully spawn; activate a rope raft, and quickly travel across a small water divide beyond towards a cave, thus avoiding the beasts altogether. At this point, you can just turn around and snipe at them. I'd recommend clearing out the initial set of Bullymongs first. It's easy enough to stay up on the large ledge that you start on and fight the Bullymongs. Attack one and they'll start jumping up onto the ledge. While this might seem daunting, this should keep them coming at you only one or two at a time.
Either way, after you've made your way across the water divide by using the roped raft, walk up a few steps to see a small encampment area with a few loot boxes on the right; note the telescope looking over the bay. Using all four of these will complete a challenge in this area.
Continue forward past the encampment and down onto a landing with a lever controller that raises a submerged bridge; pull the lever and the draw bridge will rise out of the water. Cross to the other side and this will put you into a Bandit camp. Note, as soon as you travel onto the controller platform, it causes houses directly across the water to spawn bandits. Neutralize them before raising the submerged bridge to prevent midgets from rushing you.
Blackburn Cove
Blackburn Cove is inhabited by all manner of Bandits, Psychos, and Midgets but few badasses. It can be tackled in alternative ways depending on your personal play style; if you're the run and gun type, then straight up the middle is the quickest way to finish the mission; you're just here to kill the Midgemong and nothing else interests you. However, if you're the type that wants to explore every nook and cranny to max out on XP or loot, then the longer method is to go into the town and then quickly turn right. This way will first take you over all of the boats and maximize your loot potential, especially from the last, large boat at the back. This may be a little bit tough with the enemies on the shore sniping your left flank as you're trying to advance; the boats don't provide the best cover. You could also just go to the left and avoid the ships all (and the loot) altogether. A final option is to go left, clear as much of the area as you possibly can, and only then backtrack for the boats to the right to clean them up too. This is the longest method, but nets both the safest tactical consideration as well as the most profitable.
As you head into the camp, Kill any enemies coming out of the first buildings before going over the next likely spawn point. After the bridge, on the left is a checkpoint with minor loot nearby. Grab it and continue past it to where the choice will split left and right. From here, go left and up to the exploding cannister. From this position, you can clear a good portion of the camp. Directly ahead of you is a long sight line so you can pick off enemies at a good distance or kill enemies easily who are approaching.
While doing this, you need to watch out for other enemies (easy to do in co-op) because some may try to attack from your right flank (by the boats) and more likely, they'll attempt to attack from behind you. Keep an eye on your radar to see if any new active red dots appear, indicating their presence. They will spawn from above and then drop behind you; they will likely attack in groups, so if you notice a bunch of red dots congregated into one area just throw one or two well spaced grenades to dispatch the lot. As you clear the alley in front of you, make your way forward through it.
When you get to the end, you can start climbing up stairs and using the elevation vantage point to help clear the area beneath and the boats in cove. But don't go anywhere near a central set of doors at the highest platform, or you'll activate the level boss who in turn triggers a continual supply of reinforcements. Kill what you can and then return to the beginning of the camp to tackle the boats. There are still going to be a good number of enemies on these boats still and there's not a lot of cover so it's very important to move just one boat at a time. The last boat is going to be riddled with loot, and from it you can get back to the end of the camp. Explore thoroughly before jumping from the ship onto the dock, as you'll have to go back to the beginning of the camp again to get back on this boat. If you're one to maximize loot potential, then for now, ignore the various large treasure boxes (outhouse, car trunk); you'll gain access to Vendors after defeating the boss. This way, after selling out saved loot from your backpack you can return later to those bypassed containers to scavenge all their loot without worrying that their open contents have already expired.
When you are prepared, make your way up to the top of the camp and approached the doors marked on your HUD. When you do, the boss will appear. There is a challenge for killing this level boss. It is also difficult to kill him before he can summon reinforcements; you may not be able to do that until you're stronger.
Midgemong
Midgemong is a Midget riding an Adult Bullymong. For the most part, the pair is going to try and ride away from you will attack with powerful ranged weapons. The pair can take a significant amount of damage (I nearly ran out of ammo) but they become rather predictable once you get the hang of it. They tend to move about the camp and climb up to inaccessible perches from which to attack you. Stay near the bar entrance that they had emerged from when you've figured out where they are going, wait for them to get there -- or shoot at them if they aren't moving along -- shoot at them.
They'll often remain stationary for a good amount of time. While they have a ranged weapon, it is largely innaccurate beyond medium range, or the distance from any of the perches to the spot where you started the fight. Wait for them to roost, then engage them. Once you've seen that pattern, it becomes relatively easy. Just whittle Midgemong down a little at a time as he goes from perch to perch. It might be worthwhile to go for the Midget first because once the rider is gone, the Bullymong will move about the area like any Bullymong except he'll be heavily armored. However, going for the Bullymong first may leave you with a superior armored Midget. The choice is up to you.
During this fight, most of the bandit reinforcements are going to appear directly below the stairs that this fight starts near. A good portion of these enemies are going to be Marauders; they will try to shoot you from there but they won't be able to hit you for the most part. Sometimes, you'll get a Psycho or Midget that will rush the stairs up towards you. These are the only real threat for the most part so just keep your eyes peeled. When you have killed them, watch for any stragglers and make your way back to Sir Hammerlock to complete the mission.
Lastly, if you're now low on ammo or want to sell collected loot, there are three vending machines inside the bar area where the Midgemong emerged. Be wary however, because as you enter the bar's doorway a sequential pair of Badasses will come out of the back door towards you. This can be a very unsettling surprise if one is very low on ammo. Also, killing these guys won't completely eliminate their threat; they will continue to randomly respawn at any time that you are in this room. I was using one of the machines once when I suddenly realized that I was being shot at. Regardless, I foung that using grenades and a rapid fire rate weapon (like the SMG), will take them down quickly. Ensure you refill with new ammo and grenades before leaving, on the chance you may need to return (especially for those that needed to delay opening treasure boxes) and trigger another spawn. Alternately, for those who heartily want to max out on XP and loot, this is the perfect location as there is access to ammo and a point of sale for the dropped loot from all the constantly respawning bandits.
