Practical guides for Borderlands 4 — Gearbox Software and 2K's looter shooter set on the hostile planet Kairos, released September 2025. Four base Vault Hunters (plus DLC characters C4SH and Loveless), three swappable action skills apiece, a Licensed Parts weapon system, and endgame content expanding through Bounty Packs and free updates.
From picking your first Vault Hunter to endgame legendaries — practical BL4 knowledge that holds up across patches.
Why it isn't free, what the 24 cosmetics and 4 rerollable Legendaries are worth, and how it differs from Bounty Pack 4.
02How to unlock the DLC, where to find its boss and three mini-bosses in the Toxic Scowl, and every confirmed Legendary and Pearlescent drop.
03What to do after the campaign: how UVHM's 7 ranks work, why Mayhem Modifiers are gone, Wildcard Missions explained, and what to prioritise first.
04How to unlock the fight, all four phases, elemental weaknesses, and every confirmed loot drop.
05Dedicated boss drops, Takedown at Hadron Abyss loot, Circle of Slaughter farming, Moxxi's Encore resets, and god-roll tips for the Licensed Parts system.
06Every Vault Hunter's playstyle and skill tree strengths ranked, so you pick the class that fits how you actually want to play.
07The strongest endgame builds for each Vault Hunter as of Patch 1.8, with skill trees, key skills, and weapon recommendations.
08S through C tier rankings of legendary weapons after Patch 1.8, with notes on which guns work across multiple builds versus niche picks.
09The fastest routes from level 1 to 60 — main campaign priorities, Vile Bounties, Drill Site farming, and endgame XP loops.
10How C4SH's Fortune and Windfall mechanics work, the leveling skill path, endgame build options, and the best weapons for the casino bot.
Borderlands 4 is a looter shooter first-person RPG developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games, released on September 12, 2025 for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game takes place on the hostile new planet Kairos and features four base Vault Hunters — Amon, Harlowe, Rafa, and Vex — each with three swappable action skills and the largest skill trees in the franchise's history. Two additional DLC characters, C4SH and Loveless, have been added post-launch. The series is known for its billions of procedurally generated weapons, co-op play, and irreverent humour.
The base game includes four Vault Hunters: Amon (the Forgeknight, a warrior with the Forgeskill trait), Harlowe (the Gravitar, a combat scientist who links enemies with Entanglement), Rafa (the Exo-Soldier, an ex-Tediore soldier whose Overdrive trait boosts speed and damage), and Vex (a Siren whose Phase Covenant trait converts damage to her equipped gun's element). Two DLC characters — C4SH (a former casino dealer-bot who uses Fortune stacks and Windfall state) and Loveless (an Anshin hacker-assassin) — are available through paid post-launch content.
The level cap is 60, giving you access to 387 total skill points across your character's three skill trees. Each skill tree has a trunk and three specialised branches, making it possible to focus deeply on one archetype or mix elements from two trees. Most endgame builds begin solidifying their shape around level 40, with the final 20 levels filling in capstones and cross-tree support skills.
As of Patch 1.8 (June 2026) the endgame includes Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM) with increased difficulty scaling, Vile Bounties (repeatable high-XP kill contracts on bounty boards), Drill Site events on Kairos, Circle of Slaughter (wave-based survival challenges), and Takedown at Hadron Abyss (the first endgame raid, added in Patch 1.8, featuring the Child of Terramorphous boss). Paid Bounty Packs add narrative missions, new legendary gear, and Vault Cards. Cross-Platform Save support was also introduced in Patch 1.8.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 has been indefinitely delayed. Gearbox cited the need for additional development and polish time. No confirmed release date for the Switch 2 version has been announced as of mid-2026. The game is currently available only on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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