Gearbox has released a significant patch for Borderlands 4 that makes some quality-of-life improvements such as smarter loot drops and a new Legendary Loot Indicator for your radar. These arrive alongside visual polish and stability updates for a “smoother” experience on Kairos, Gearbox said.
Digging into the detail, Class Mods have been adjusted to drop more for your current character, which is a welcome change for those on the hunt for ever-improving builds. The loot feed is now updated to display total current currency after spending or receiving money, and the likelihood of unintended movements or knockbacks while reviving a teammate is reduced. And it’s worth noting that the patch adds a new Legendary Loot Indicator to the combat radar for easier identification of high-rarity drops. given how busy with loot Borderlands 4 can get, this is also welcome.
In the patch notes, below, Gearbox said it was wrapping up work on Photo Mode, while other updates like support for multiple active Big Encore Machines and more options for scaling difficulty are coming.
Further into the future, Gearbox said it’s looking at ways to improve shared character progression, add additional endgame-focused activities (Takedown), launch cross-save support, and more. Major Updates, which deliver larger-scale changes, are planned to deploy about a month apart.
Today’s update launches alongside Bounty Pack 1: How Rush Saved Mercenary Day, which is now free for all players. How Rush Saved Mercenary Day is the first of five post-launch DLC Bounty Packs coming to Borderlands 4. While How Rush Saved Mercenary Day is free for all players, Bounty Packs 2, 3, 4, and 5 are included with Borderlands 4 Deluxe Edition, Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition, the Borderlands 4 Bounty Pack Bundle, and will be available for separate purchase.
Borderlands 4 November 20 Major Update Patch Notes:
Bounty Pack 1: How Rush Saved Mercenary Day
We’re stoked for you to team up with Rush and teach Minister Screw the true meaning of Mercenary Day! This being a holiday-themed Bounty Pack, we knew we had to deliver it to you by the end of the year. However, the team realized that there was more mayhem than time when it came to getting as much into Bounty Pack 1 as originally planned while never slowing down in their mission to improve the Borderlands 4 player experience.
So in the spirit of the season, we’re giving a gift to all Borderlands 4 players by making Bounty Pack 1 free! Thank you for all the passion and support you’ve given us as a community. We’re hard at work making sure future Bounty Packs are more fully loaded with the compelling content players have been asking for. In addition, we’re now adding a new Bounty Pack 5 (more on that in a bit); there’s a lot of amazing stuff coming to Borderlands 4, so stay tuned!
Added support for How Rush Saved Mercenary Day content! Jump into this free content today by finding and interacting with the gift-wrapped present (marked on your map as a new mission) in any major hub, which will initiate the mission to assist Rush!Added support for the Bounty Pack 1 Vault Card! Playing Borderlands 4 with a Vault Card active gives you more loot and XP via Daily and Weekly challenges, and it can be leveled up at your own pace (no time limits or expiring rewards here). You can activate it via the Vault Card screen in your ECHO menu. Vault Card progression works just like leveling up: it’s all driven by how much XP you’re gaining. By exploring Kairos, killing enemies, and completing quests, you’ll fill up your Vault Card progression in addition to your regular XP!This includes 4 new pieces of rerollable gear and 24 new cosmetics to earn!
Notable Changes
We wanted to pull these out specifically as they have been heavily mentioned in the community.
Updated the Weekly Wildcard Missions to set additional start points in missionsDev Note: This feature will allow future Weekly Wildcard Missions to jump straight to the meat of a mission.Class Mods have been adjusted to drop more for your current characterConverted the Phosphene weapon challenge from character-based to profile-wide progressionDev Note: This long-term grind is aimed at our most dedicated community members who invest the most time in the game. Still, we agree that completing this collection is more a reflection of your dedication to the game and not to a specific Vault Hunter. This is the first example of allowing more progression to be shared between all characters on your account.Updated the loot feed to display total current currency after spending or receiving moneyReduced the likelihood of unintended movements or knockbacks while reviving a teammateDev Note: When reviving another player, the reviving player is temporarily given more mass, making enemy attacks less likely to bounce you away from your partner.Added a new Legendary Loot Indicator to the combat radar for easier identification of high-rarity drops
Gameplay & Mission Progression
Addressed an issue that could cause the loss of SDU Tokens or Specialization points; this also returns missing tokens and points to those impactedResolved an interaction where players could not repurchase a boss encounter after all party members were defeated and respawned in multiplayerSlide-attacking lootable objects will now open or break them consistentlyResolved progression blockers for more intuitive gameplay during Faction Survivalist, Wayward Gun, Another Day, Another Universe, the Badass Phalanx bounty, and the Black Market TutorialCorrected behavior where mission items could disappear after replaying and exiting a mission, preventing completionPrevented rare instances of some enemies turning into NPCs and becoming unkillableAdjusted tracking on some challenges and achievements to award progress as intendedDev Note: The Professional now only awards progress for designated challenge conditions, while Private Reserve and What Have We Here? will progress correctly when opening chests with melee attacks. The Arena Grande achievement should consistently unlock in multiplayer.Mort will revive players more consistently during Thresher Rancher Resolved a condition where vehicles could be instantly destroyed if summoned immediately after using a Repkit with the Splat traitAdjusted object placement and pathing across multiple missions, ensuring proper enemy spawns, interactions, Echolocation, and waypoint alignmentSynchronized some mismatched animations and behaviors in multiplayerResolved a reported issue where players could become briefly suspended in midair when exiting mission replay while jumping or swimmingAddressed a bug causing the Chopper vehicles to remain in a falling state after performing a vertical jump or powerslidePrevented vehicle summoning in restricted indoor areas such as the Umbral Foundry FortressRemoved the penalty during Scoundrel Roundup: Kilo if the panel is shot twiceUpdated Mimicron’s combat behavior so it can no longer be stun-locked by singularity effects in the Tipping Point BunkerUpdated Patrol Ripper contract to progress with intended sourcesUpdated the Order Bunker boss Fractis encounter to ensure the boss remains defeatable after entering its shielded phase in The CrawlfortAdjusted behavior in The Next Quest Thing so the mission can consistently be accepted after saving and reloadingImproved enemy physics in Gone Are My Leggies to prevent The Beastie from being launched out of the playable area when hit with high-impact weaponsRestored ECHO Log rewards for completing optional objectives in three micro-missions when played soloAdjusted Arjay’s resistances so status effect damage-over-time now applies correctlyDev Note: Visual inconsistencies with Arjay’s wings might appear as a result of this change, but will not impact gameplay. Adjusted arena boundaries so Locust’s gas canisters now spawn correctly within the arena during the Idolator Sol encounter in Fortress Indomita
Vault Hunters
Amon, the Forgeknight
Updated Forgeknight Forgedrone challenge so it unlocks properly upon meeting completion requirementsCorrected skill tree investment functionality to prevent Forgeknight from applying skill points out of orderUpdated weapon input handling so Forgeknight can reliably swap weapons after using the whip attack
Rafa, the Exo-Soldier
Exo-Soldier’s Soltado Kill Skill passive has been adjusted to function properly with two skill pointsImproved PROJECT: Raiju capstone behavior so APOPHIS Lance consistently damages enemies during extended uptimeAdjusted Booming Business passive’s functionality to prevent grenade spawns when the passive skill exceeds its intended level capUpdated the Temerario passive skill so it provides the intended gun damage bonus rather than a general damage increase
Vex, the Siren
Updated challenge tracking so the Target Prescience passive only progresses when damaging valid targets
Harlowe, the Gravitar
Ensured that QED passive skill would remain functional in multiplayerUpdated Gravitar’s Zero-Point Action Skill so it now properly enters cooldown when used on enemies immune to Stasis. Previously, using the skill on a Stasis-immune target after affecting a normal enemy could cause it to remain active instead of triggering cooldown
All Vault Hunters
Adjusted critical hit calculations so gun and enhancement damage now applies correctly to all valid hit regionsAdjusted Cryo resistance scaling so enemy resistances now correctly match each player’s level in multiplayer sessionsPrevented Action Skills from activating during the first loading screen before entering active gameplayUpdated kill volume logic to ensure Vault Hunters cannot cheat death while in FFYL and healing with the Legendary Shield Guardian AngelEnsured sniper ammo displays full capacity when creating a level 30 Vault Hunter
Gear and Rewards
Adjusted melee damage on Bayonet weapons so that melee damage increases with bayonet partsUpdated beam weapon behavior so they will deal proper damage when thrownAddressed an interaction allowing players to infinitely scale the splash radius of homing sticky projectiles when using Torgue Legendary Pistol Queen’s Rest with certain builds and firmware combinationsUpdated Skully grenade to adjust projectile damage for consistent outputCorrected boss health bar updates so sustained heavy Ordnance damage with Amon now displays correctlyUpdated Torgue Heavy Weapon Ravenfire so it now correctly applies elemental damage when equipped with elemental partsAdjusted Maliwan Heavy Weapon behavior so projectiles created from a hit don’t detonate immediately after spawningCorrected the explosion delay of Fuel Rod Discharge to match its description of 3 seconds when used on Ripper shotgunsAdjusted Rolling Thunder underbarrel grenades on Torgue shotguns to behave predictably on vertical surfaces instead of ricocheting excessivelyPrevented bosses from floating when Exo-Soldier’s Booming Business passive skill was triggered with Order Legendary Grenade SkullyAddressed a condition where the Vladof Legendary Shield Heavyweight could lose functionality after activating Forgeknight Onslaughter skillAdjusted projectile interaction during the fight with Vile Ripper so players can now destroy the homing “Unstable Ore” projectilesUpdated collision behavior so Jakobs Throwing Knife grenades correctly impact the orb surrounding Vile Ordonite of Corrupted enemiesAdjusted some gear that was behaving inconsistently in multiplayer, such as: the bounce-back force of The Order Legendary pistol Noisy Cricket, reload animation timing for the Jakobs shotgun Hot Slugger, and misaligned accuracy of the Daedalus pistol Bonn-91Standardized some instances of Firmware 3-piece bonus cooldowns to appear consistently. Visual cooldowns have been added for Oscar Mike, Ahoy, and Daed-dy O’Drops are no longer kept in the air when lowering the platform in All Charged Up Restored functionality allowing players to loot and preview weapons from red chests after completing the Blacklime Bunker
Gear Balance:
Darkbeast
Addressed a scaling issueExplosion Chance increased from 5% to 20%Damage increased by 15%
Prince Harming
Addressed a scaling issueSelf Damage amount reduced from 5% to 1.5% of damage doneDamage increased by ~24%
Onslaught:
Damage increased by 75%
Ruby’s Grasp:
Damage increased by ~40%
Lucky Clover:
Damage increased by 37.5%
Vamoose:
Damage increased by 20%
Asher’s Rise
Addressed a scaling issueDamage increased by 5%
Firmware Balance:
Get Throwin’:
Ordnance Damage increased from 10% to 35%
Daed-dy O’:
Damage increased from 20% to 35%Mag Size increase from 15% to 20%
Rubberband Man:
Damage Reduction increased from 5% to 10%Lifesteal increased from 5% to 10%
Jacked:
Zoom-in Speed bonus increased from 20% to 35%Hyperion Shield Capacity bonus increased from 25% to 50%Ricochet chance increased from 30% to 40%
Atlas Ex:
Mode Swap Speed increased from 25% to 33%Damage while locked increased from 10% to 25%
Atlas Infinium:
Fire Rate bonus increased from 5% to 12%Damage bonus increased from 10% to 15%
Reel Big Fist:
Explosion Radius slightly increased
Airstrike:
Missile damage increased by 35%Decreased Cooldown from 8s to 5s
UI, UX, & Text
Restored filter functionality to Lost Loot menus and addressed non-functional filter selections and sorting dropdowns Updated the Lost Loot menu so the selected sort option is retained after exiting and re-enteringAdjusted map icon layering so Main Mission icons no longer overlap Wildcard Mission GiverAdjusted scrolling behaviors in menus in splitscreenEnsured the Transfer Machine remains open after exiting inspect modeAdded separate sensitivity sliders for mouse and controller inputs in the Controls (Basic) menu on PCCorrected the buddy widget display so respawned characters no longer appear as “still respawning” Updated item rarity displays to show the correct color and tier when playing in non-English languagesRemoved extra ECHO Log slots Restored missing item thumbnails in the bank menu and improved loading speed for equipped and backpack item thumbnails when large numbers of items are stored in the bankUpdated Explore Menu positioning so it displays correctly in front of the explored region during vertical split-screenAdjusted layout so Item Cards no longer overlap when compared in horizontal split-screenAddressed a reported issue where weapons could unequip and disappear when changing their customization in the Status menuCorrected overshield coloration and behavior for pets and buddy widgets so that health, shield, and armor visuals now display properlyAdjusted Contract trackers to only appear when the Contract is activeResolved a reported issue where mission-related celebratory notifications could display duplicate iconsAdded the missing “Restart to Apply Changes” prompt when adjusting texture quality during gameplayUpdated option descriptions to be more intuitive and player-friendlyAddressed the chaos displayed by the “SHiFT code is valid” countdown in the SHiFT menuUpdated controller prompts so the correct input type displays when opening the SHiFT menu from the main menRemoved an extra scrollbar that could appear when Reporting UsersAddressed text inconsistencies in some side missionsUpdated D-pad functionality on controller to behave as expectedPreserved key bindings that could be removed between sessions for non-English keys Standardized ECHO Log tracking for the Kairos Speaks challenge to ensure totals display consistently between general and mission log views Updated localization, mission naming, and various text descriptions across the gameUpdated end credits
Visuals
Addressed reported instances where players could become invisible when performing a Vault-level transition during a travel tunnelAddressed an issue with missing parts and textures on gearUpdated ECHO-4 character model and digistruct to have lights, eyes, and thruster effects appear correctlyAdjusted fishing point visuals so markers no longer appear incorrectly on terrain near Sandytoes VillaUpdated level geometry and collision across multiple regions to prevent players from becoming stuck, falling out of bounds, or being blocked by invisible surfacesAdjusted grappling points and traversal paths in multiple missions to prevent players from chaining grapples into unintended areas or losing functionalityAddressed misplaced or inaccessible loot containers, including strongboxes and vending-area chests in The Wireworks and WindspearAddressed inaccurate rendering of water in some locationsCorrected lingering slide smoke effects that could appear when moving or jumping after performing a slideTurned off the mining laser after shutting down the second Eridium generator in Terminus RangeCorrected visual stretching on character and NPC cloth when adjusting the FOV while the game is pausedUpdated Dark Subject mission so Tim’s weapon now properly disappears with his model during the “Kill Tim”Addressed multiple reported animation inconsistencies including gear, NPCs, hand stuttering, root-lock issues, and visual glitches during combat actions. These improvements remove visible sliding or snapping during melee or grapple sequencesImproved environmental synchronization in multiplayerAdjusted mouth animation timing for Callis in Another Day, Another Universe and for Numba One in Mob Mentality so dialogue syncs correctlyBalanced underwater lighting and brightness near Belton’s Bore (The Low Leys, Mountains) for more consistent visual clarity when diving below the surface Repaired a purple light texture that appeared after interacting with the Auger Shrine in Terminus RangeOptimized beam effects on some Order gear with lasersStandardized bullet shell ejection visuals for Daedalus pistols[SPOILER] The smoke during Sophia’s death wasn’t goth enough and was changed from orange to black Updated the fade on digistruct to be less uniformResolved flickering from Exo-Soldier’s PROJECT: Raiju Capstone effect when used inside the Order BunkerUpdated vehicle materials to display correctly after applying paintjobs in the customization menuAdjusted deployable barrier visuals on shields and Shield Boi Faded the red light trails from Atlas underbarrel tracking Darts and Balls on Jakobs pistolsTuned brightness of target marker visuals when using the Ripper Sniper Rifle tracking mode against certain bossesCorrected firing animations for Vladof submachine guns with the Extra Barrel underbarrel and Torgue shotguns with Daedalus ammo switcherAdjusted Order grenade to no longer slide across the ground when dropped from the inventoryAdjusted animation blending for Daedalus shotguns using Maliwan Element Switcher to eliminate abrupt snapping and to prevent the secondary magazine from appearing loaded when using the primary firing mode
Audio
Resolved a reported issue where the crowd could continue to make sounds after they stopped spawning during the Null and Void missionPrevented host players from temporarily losing audio if another player joined their session while they were in an ECHO menu in multiplayerAddressed missing or incomplete sound effects when looting in multiplayer sessionsMade the really loud bird in Grasslands quieter Additional audio balance adjustments
Player Experience
Improvements to stability and optimizationDev Note: We are continuing to investigate and will make further improvements to stability and performance.Updated PS5 controller LEDs to change color based on the player’s active elemental typeAddressed unintended adaptive trigger feedback that occurred with Ripper weapons while reloading or firing without ammo
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
