Borderlands® 4 News

[p]Hey Vault Hunters! Welcome to “This Week on Kairos” - a weekly post where we share everything happening across the world of Borderlands 4, from developer updates to community highlights and beyond.[/p][p]Every Friday, we’ll be here with the latest news, fan creations, dev spotlights, helpful resources, and anything else we think you’ll want to see. Whether you're looking to catch up, dive deeper, or just see what your fellow players are up to, this is the place.[/p][p][/p][h3]Our Latest Update:[/h3][p]We’ve rolled out several updates since launch, with more coming soon. Here’s what you may have missed:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]A guide on how to submit a ticket can be found here: [/p][p]https://steamcommunity.com/app/1285190/discussions/2/673972930559959886/[/p][p][/p][p]When you submit a ticket, please remember to attach your DxDiag or MSinfo file. If you need assistance with doing that, here’s a walkthrough:[/p][p]https://support.borderlands.com/hc/en-us/articles/44564441894291-PC-How-do-I-attach-a-DxDiag-and-MSinfo-file[/p][p][/p][p](Note: This section is going to be structured the same each week, so although it looks the same, rest assured it’s being updated weekly!)[/p][p]
[/p][h3]See a new Vault Hunter this weekend![/h3][p]We’ll be at the Tokyo Game Show this weekend! Get ready for your introduction to the first of two new Vault Hunters coming to Borderlands 4 as part of the paid Story Pack* DLCs. We'll be showing off this new playable character during the Gearbox panel at Tokyo Game Show 2025 this Saturday, September 27, starting at 7:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM CT / 10:30 PM ET![/p][p][/p][p]You can watch the Gearbox panel at the times listed above over on the Tokyo Game Show Twitch or YouTube channels. We can't wait for you to meet this new Vault Hunter![/p][p][/p][h3]Rafa Community Challenge: YOLT[/h3][p]Hope you don’t have any plans this weekend, because a new Community Challenge has commenced! [/p][p][/p][p]COMMUNITY CHALLENGE: YOLT[/p][p]From September 26-28, collectively get 20,000,000 Second Winds as Rafa this weekend to earn:[/p]

• [p]"Savings Savior" Vault Hunter skin usable by Rafa[/p]

[p]To get a Second Wind, you need to kill an enemy while you're in the Fight For Your Life downed state, which will instantly spring you back into the action![/p][p]For all the information on this challenge, check out the Steam announcement: [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h3]Steam Community Screenshots[/h3][p]As you take screenshots and drop them in Steam, we’ll round up a few of our favorites for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy the beauty of chaos - er, I mean, Kairos![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h3]Behind the Team: Brandon Schulz, Borderlands 4 NPC Designer[/h3][p]Every week, we’re spotlighting one of the minds behind the mayhem. You’ll get to learn about folks from both Gearbox and 2K, and how each person who touches the game both influences and is influenced by Borderlands 4. This week, we're talking with Brandon Schulz, Gearbox’s NPC Designer:[/p][p][/p][p]How do you approach creating characters that feel alive in such a wild, over-the-top universe?[/p][p]Brandon: So much of what makes the Borderlands universe so wild and over-the-top are the characters themselves. In that way, our Narrative team makes my job easy when it comes to making those characters feel alive in gameplay—we simply take their wackiest, most unique characteristics and translate them into player-facing NPC mechanics. For example, Amara is known as the world-famous "Tiger of Partali," a ruthless (but also flashy) fighter who is often characterized by her ability to conjure six individual Siren arms: as such, when designing her NPC combat abilities for BL4, we made sure to emphasize that ruthless-but-flashy fighting style not only by referencing what players already know and love about playing her in BL3, but also by taking inspiration from fighting games that personify hand-to-hand combat so well.[/p][p][/p][p]What’s the balance between narrative goals and gameplay needs when designing characters?[/p][p]Brandon: Generally speaking, we find that balance by starting with two constraints: 1) What is needed from a gameplay standpoint, and 2) What makes sense given the narrative background for that NPC.[/p][p]With that, we essentially create a Venn Diagram with those constraints on either end, and start brainstorming ideas that hopefully land in the middle where there is an overlap. Sometimes the lines need to be fudged a bit on one side or the other—it can be a bit of a push and pull process—but ultimately in the end we’ll always go with whatever sounds/feels the most fun. From there, it’s all about playtesting, iterating, and responding to feedback until the NPC feels both mechanically satisfying and narratively authentic.[/p][p]
[/p][h3]Community Creative Corner[/h3][p]Our community members aren’t just gamers—many of you are also artists. Whether it’s cosplay, digital art, or some yet-to-be-invented medium, we’re your biggest fans. Check out this week’s hand-picked fan creations:[/p][p][/p][p]- rottenzone[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]- krotiation[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]- flippythedog200[/p][p]
[/p][p]That’s it for this week—with more updates, more chaos, and maybe a few surprises coming next Friday. Until then: keep your ECHOnet tuned and your loot luck high.[/p][p]Happy Hunting,
The Borderlands Team[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]
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[p]Every Vault Hunter in Borderlands 4 is a full-on badass, but you've probably picked your favorite by now. We want to see everyone excited to rep their go-to Vault Hunter, or expand their horizons and try rolling a new character class—so we're kicking off a series of Community Challenges that'll unlock a new cosmetic for each Vault Hunter![/p][p][/p][p]Just like with the Break Free Pack, we'll be monitoring stats behind the scenes to track how much mayhem Borderlands 4 players are collectively causing. If the Community Challenge conditions are met by the end date, we'll share out a SHiFT code for the reward that'll be redeemable by all. We're kicking things off with a Community Challenge featuring Rafa the Exo-Soldier:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]COMMUNITY CHALLENGE: YOLT[/p][p]From September 26-28, collectively get 20,000,000 Second Winds as Rafa this weekend to earn:[/p]

• [p]"Savings Savior" Vault Hunter skin usable by Rafa
• [/p]

[p][/p][p]To get a Second Wind, you need to kill an enemy while you're in the Fight For Your Life downed state, which will instantly spring you back into the action! If you hadn't already guessed from the name, this Community Challenge is themed around Rafa's Character Short "YOLT" where he gets more than enough kills to get back up off the ground:[/p][p]
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]And don't worry, we're not excluding the other Vault Hunters—we're prepping Community Challenges with a Vault Hunter Skin reward for Vex, Amon, and Harlowe in the coming weeks. [/p][p][/p][p]While you're wreaking havoc as Rafa this weekend, make sure you don't miss the new Vault Hunter reveal at the Borderlands 4 panel happening at Tokyo Game Show 2025; full details here![/p][p][/p][p]Whether you choose to blast enemies with Rafa's Peacebreaker Cannons and APOPHIS Lance or slice them up with his twin Arc-Knives, get out there and show us how easily you bounce back from the brink of defeat![/p][p][/p][p]*Requires a copy of Borderlands 4, SHiFT Account, and Internet connection. Must redeem by December 31, 2030. One redemption per SHiFT Account. Terms apply. [/p][p]
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[p][/p][p]Get ready for your introduction to the first of two new Vault Hunters coming to Borderlands 4 as part of the paid Story Pack* DLCs. We'll be showing off this new playable character during the Gearbox panel at Tokyo Game Show 2025 this Saturday, September 27, starting at 7:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM CT / 10:30 PM ET![/p][p][/p][p]We first shared a glimpse of this new Vault Hunter's silhouette in our Post-Launch Roadmap, but you can expect plenty more details during the TGS panel. As a reminder, here's how you can get this new Vault Hunter included in Story Pack 1 as soon as they're available:[/p]

• [p]Own Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition[/p]
• [p]Own the Vault Hunter Pack (included in Super Deluxe Edition)[/p]
• [p]Own Story Pack 1: Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned (included in Vault Hunter Pack)[/p]

[p][/p][p]You can watch the Gearbox panel at the times listed above over on the Tokyo Game Show Twitch or YouTube channels. We can't wait for you to meet this new Vault Hunter![/p][p][/p][p]*Story Packs are paid post-launch DLC that are included with the Borderlands 4 Vault Hunter Pack, and included in Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition. They will also be available for separate purchase (base game required). Exact release timings of each Story Pack to be announced at a later date and will be subject to change. Terms apply.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]
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Another day, another Borderlands 4 update aiming to smooth out more of the performance problems which have plagued the looter shooter since launch, especially on PC. Unfortuntely, this latest patch looks to have led to an uptick in stuttering for some players, with Gearbox recommending some shader messing around as a potential fix.

In fairness to the studio, you can't say they haven't been working hard to get Borderlands 4 running a bit more smoothly since problems in that department became apparent, with this being the third post-launch patch targeting performance in the past couple of weeks. One of them was confusingly noteless, but hey.

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