In a panel at PAX East, Gearbox Software just revealed that Borderlands 2 will add a new class—the "Mechromancer" sometime after the game releases this October. The class is in the conceptual stages only and will be developed once the game goes into its certification stages later this year. Concept art for the character was shown during a Gearbox Software panel at PAX.
To clarify confusion regarding our original wording, while preorders will receive the Mechromancer for free, the content will release to all players at the same time. That date is not set but a Gearbox representative said it would be 60 to 90 days after the game releases.
Furthermore, those who did play the first game (and still have their gamesave, of course) will be given a custom character skin and a unique head as a thank-you, Gearbox said at the same panel.
Some of the game's special edition premiums—which the studio had put up to a suggestion box last year—also were revealed. There will be two tiers of special editions. The "Deluxe Vault Hunters Edition" at $99, gets a Marcus Kincaid bobble head. He's the weapons supplier with the lothario accent who narrates the first game. The second, an "Ultimate Loot Chest Edition" (pictured above) delivers you a stylized Borderlands loot chest with all the goodies packed inside. It doesn't open up with hydraulics—it's more like a jewelry box, but it matches a community suggestion as best it could. More goodies and premiums in both editions will be announced later.
Finally, the Gearbox gang tossed out Easter eggs with codes inside, redeemable at a special website, that allowed attendees to compete to potentially insert their names into Borderlands 2 or Aliens: Colonial Marines as an Easter egg.