Transaction-Packed is a side mission in Borderlands 3. It is available upon reaching Desolation's Edge on Nekrotafeyo.

Background

"Help Claptrap debug an early access Augmented Reality game on your ECHO device. And don’t let Mickey Tricks pull any...well, underhanded shenanigans."

Walkthrough

Objectives

• Pick up ECHO cartridge
• Talk to… the hologram?
• Find first portal hotspot
• Talk to Mickey
• Follow and protect Lana
• Buy upgrade
• Destroy Portal
• Continue protecting Lana
• Buy the same upgrade again
• Continue protecting Lana
• Destroy Portal
• Protect Lana… again
• Keep forking over money
• Protect Lana… again (continued)
• Destroy Portal
• Talk to Mickey
• Find second portal Hotspot
• Talk to Mickey
• Find and gather an energy source
• Gather ALL energy sources: 0/100
• Optional: Purchase a non-predatory upgrade
• Give energy sources to Lana
• Destroy Portal
• Talk to Mickey
• Find final portal hotspot
• Talk to Mickey
• Defeat Rak’nagob, Destroyer of Worlds
• Optional: Give us money to get this over with
• Destroy Rak’nagob’s portal
• Talk to Mickey

Strategy

Vault Hunters are tasked with entering an ECHOnet game through VR simulation, and must escort Lana and destroy portals. Along the way, Lana will be attacked by various prototype enemies which are very weak and can be destroyed with minimal difficulty. Should Lana take enough damage, she will be incapacitated and must be revived.

After speaking to Mickey Tricks, Vault Hunters will escort Lana through a "Portal Hotspot" to destroy three portals. En route to each portal, she will be blocked by a wall that forces them to purchase a "Wingshoe upgrade". Each of these are available for $1, but will allow the mission to proceed. Once Lana reaches a portal, it must be destroyed. Guardians also pose a threat to anyone passing through the area.

Once the first hotspot is cleared, Vault Hunters must proceed to the second hotspot a short distance away. They are then tasked with collecting 100 energy sources while also being presented with another 'upgrade'. Unlike the previous 'upgrades', these do not need to be purchased and can be collected manually. However, the 'upgrade' reduces the required energy sources to 10. Once collected, the fourth portal must be destroyed.

After proceeding to the fifth portal, Vault Hunters are confronted by "Rak’nagob, Destroyer of Worlds". Like the other "in-game" enemies, Rak’nagob presents no threat. However, he does posses a large health pool. Another 'upgrade' is offered that gives a substantial damage boost against Rak’nagob and it too can be ignored in order to kill Rak’nagob without it. Once he is dead, the final portal must be destroyed to end the mission.

Completion

Turn in: Mickey Tricks

Notes

• This mission will cost $3, or $5 if the last two 'upgrades' are purchased.
• The "prototype" enemies and Rak’nagob are considered Maliwan enemies and will count towards Maliwan related challenges.
• Despite appearing as Maliwan Death Spheres, the "prototype" enemies do not possess a critical hit spot.
• The final area of the mission is also a spawn point for a large amount of Guardians. They will not spawn while the mission is active, but will after completion. It is recommended to leave the area immediately after turning in the mission if the player does not wish to fight them or is under-leveled.

Trivia

• This mission is a parody of particular modern, Triple AAA video games that are in the state of buggy, unfinished early access-like games and has pay-to-win microtransactions. This is evident from how the game glitches a lot from the graphics, stiff movements, lack of noteworthy designs in the enemies, a lack of a proper story, and simplistic gameplay. Furthermore, the game constantly presents paywalls as literal walls that hinder the player’s progress to make them pay real world money to beat the game. Furthermore, said microtransactions are deliberately made as predatory in that it preys on and manipulates the player’s psychological incentive to get upgrades due to intentional disadvantages to maximize revenue.
• The name Transaction-Packed is a combination of the phrase "action-packed" and "transaction", referring to the numerous microtransaction 'upgrades' in the mission.
• Selecting the decline button on the 'upgrades' will cause Mickey to inform the player that the button is broken, leaving the accept button the only option.
• Refusing to purchase the last two 'upgrades' (by completing the associated tasks without selecting accept) will cause a confused Mickey to remark on the player’s reluctance to purchase them.
• Lana is depicted in a constant "T-Pose", even while running, falling, and incapacitated. Her turning animation also involves her upper and lower body turning in separate directions.
  • One of Lana's under attack lines, "Hey, Listen! I'm under attack!" is a reference to The Legend of Zelda's Navi, a guiding follower who is notorious for repeating the exact line throughout the game and not saying anything else with said voice.
• As with the other missions in the Clapslist line, this mission is in reference to the fake objectives list in Claptrap's Secret Stash from Borderlands 2.