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I've found two weapons so far that have some red text in the properties box. One was a revolver that said "I am free now". Another was a sniper rifle that said "I can see my house from here." I believe I got them both as bonus rewards for the assassin quest in Southpaw Steam and Power. I assume they won't be the only weapons in the game with properties that are in red text, though.

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Do these properties actually do anything like give hidden bonuses to the weapon, or are they essentially just some flavor text?

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  • The image above isn't of a gun I found... just something I found by googling around, since I'm not in a position to take my own screenshot at the moment. But it shows the red text I'm talking about.
    – Sterno
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 13:07
  • There's a "raging bull" or something effect for SMGs that has properties similar to the Anarchy SMG for BL1; multiple bullets per trigger press, good fire rate.
    – Zelda
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 15:38
  • I wish there was a way for me to add to the bounty. This is something I'm very interested in and would gladly bump it up to 500.
    – l I
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 13:27
  • @yx. After seeing the length of the list and some chat last night, I'm actually regretting the bounty and thinking it was a bad idea. Seems a bit longer than what we typically put in answers on this site and there was some chat last night that I shouldn't have added it, and as a standalone question people would have voted to close it as "too broad". So far, pretty much every answer points at the wiki.
    – Sterno
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 13:45
  • yea, the amount of effort to list every one is huge
    – l I
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 14:10

4 Answers 4

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Though the list is as of this writing incomplete, there is a long list of the red texts and what many of them mean on Wikia.

That page is bizarrely hard to find in the wiki's navigation menu, and Google seems not to have found it yet either, but it exists.

The two you specifically asked about:

  • I can see my house from here. - Increased zoom level (Quest reward)
  • I am free now - Additional critical hit damage (Dropped by Assassin Oney)
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    Upvote for that link alone. I was getting really aggravated by the B2 redtext link going to B1's redtext page
    – Fambida
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 7:02
  • Upvote for being the first person to answer with a B2 link rather than a B1 link.
    – Keith
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 11:40
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In the previous Borderlands, red text indicated an additional bonus that was given in the form of a riddle. Some of them are more obvious than others.

"I can see my house from here," probably has a long range scope. "I am free now," is theorized to have extra critical damage.

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  • Oh, I always thought it was just flavor text? At any rate you're answering about the wrong game :)
    – badp
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 13:33
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    His second link was about Borderlands 2, and I think referencing Borderlands 1 was just to back up the idea that a bonus does indeed exist. I'm definitely interested in a full list of unique properties and their effects, and will likely bounty this question in a few days in hopes of getting one!
    – Sterno
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 13:45
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    @Sterno - Such a list will, sooner or later, show up on the Borderlands wiki.
    – SaintWacko
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 14:53
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    @SaintWacko I'd prefer it shows up sooner, and on Arqade!
    – Sterno
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 15:34
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These lines indicate a certain effect inherent to the gun. The text itself often gives a hint of what that special ability does. Sometimes the description relates to the boss or enemy who dropped the weapon.

If you're having a problem finding out what special ability your red-text weapon has, try searching on the internet for it or ask a new question about red-text you are interested into on Arqade.

Sources:Borderlands Wiki,Gearbox Forum

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    That's why Arqade exists; so that when you Google something, we show up! Telling someone to search the internet...is sort of counter productive.
    – Frank
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 13:41
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    @fbueckert Better now? Personally i think red-text abilities should be posted somewhere else because there are probably hundreds of them,if each person would ask about all of them individualy it would be just a spam of red-text related questions.
    – MaxBedlam
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 13:57
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    Exactly. Which is why, depending on how many there are, they should all be encompassed in a single question. This one. I'd recommend removing your entire second paragraph, as it doesn't address the question at all.
    – Frank
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 13:58
  • There do seem to be a lot more flavor texts in Borderlands 2 than there were in the first game. In Borderlands, only orange guns had flavor text (with a few exceptions), but I keep seeing blues with flavor text in Borderlands 2.
    – SaintWacko
    Commented Sep 21, 2012 at 14:55
  • @SaintWacko I think part of that may be that orange/red weapons are more rare this time around. I've found ONE in my whole first playthrough.
    – Fambida
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 6:58
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Red Text Found in the stats boxes of guns are sometimes cryptic or humorous messages. These lines indicate a certain effect inherent to the gun. The text itself often gives a hint of what that special ability does, and is almost always a pop-culture reference.(sorce: http://borderlands.wikia.com)

Each text has its own power be it a boost in some stat or other crazy effects some weapons can only be looted from certain enemies other can be find in chests repeatedly

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