Borderlands 4 Update Adds Halloween Event And More

Borderlands 4 has introduced one of its most significant updates since the initial release, featuring various quality-of-life enhancements and improvements, along with a limited-time Halloween-themed event, Horrors of Kairos. As part of this, gamers will have the opportunity to earn two new Legendary weapons: the Legendary Order Grenade and Legendary Tediore Assault Rifle.

Horrors of Kairos is a complimentary event running from October 23 to November 6, transforming the atmosphere during boss encounters into “a terror-inducing blood rain.” Gamers will have opportunities to obtain the Legendary weapons by vanquishing the world bosses. Gearbox also unveiled the capabilities of each of the new weapons.

• “Murmur” Legendary Tediore Assault Rifle: Finishes off weakened foes with guaranteed critical hits on targets under 35% health
• “Skully” Legendary Order Grenade: This lethal grenade launches projectiles as it homes in on the nearest target

Gearbox’s update notes provided guidance for PC users equipped with NVIDIA GeForce hardware, advising them to upgrade their drivers to version 581.57, which was released on October 14. The studio stated that the update resolved “a number of GPU crashes.”

Earlier this week, the September 2025 video game sales statistics for the US indicated that Borderlands 4 achieved a franchise-record launch. The Borderlands series is approaching the 100 million sales milestone across all titles, and Borderlands 4 allegedly only needs to move 6 million copies to reach that franchise benchmark.

Gearbox is set to launch Borderlands 4’s inaugural DLC on November 20. Nevertheless, the Switch 2 adaptation of Borderlands 4 has been delayed indefinitely. The complete patch notes can be found below.

Borderlands 4 October 23 Update

Progression, Loot, & Rewards

• Reduced Specialization Respec Machine cost from 5000 Eridium to 1500
• Introduced drops to a specific boss encounter that was previously not yielding loot
• [PC] Ultimate Vault Hunter Level 5 Rank Up mission now accurately increases rank on Steam
• Provided missing cosmetic rewards for players who completed Kairos Speaks with 155 Echo Logs prior to a past update
• Enhanced equipment management when accessing Rewards while operating vehicles
• Lost Loot Machine logic updated to better prioritize superior-quality loot in overflow scenarios
• Lost Loot Machine SDU upgrades now correctly expand slots during multiplayer sessions
• Resolved a reported issue with the Lost Loot Machine that could result in duplications in multiplayer
• Loot enemies now yield increased cash
• Golden Chests can now consistently be accessed after joining a session and redeeming SHiFT keys
• Reward Center functionality adjusted post-claiming the Gilded Glory Pack, to maintain its effectiveness
• Break Free reward bundle redemption standardized, will now accurately apply across accounts as intended
• Modified unlock conditions so Rift Incompatible achievement now correctly completes for all players in multiplayer
• Cut That Out achievement now unlocks when observing the board from a greater distance.
• Level-based progression updated so Crimson Rising achievement unlocks at character level 10 as intended
• Timing adjustments made so Catch a Ride! achievement unlocks only at the designated progression point
• Challenge tracking revised so Jakobs Throwing Knives no longer count as gun kills
• Ensured that Bobblehead collectibles in Pester’s Grotto and Motherbird Node were accessible.
• Discovered locations now remain found when reverting to single-player after multiplayer
• Various Fast Travel stations have been modified to unlock when intended, addressing issues noted in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode
• Vault Key animations now function correctly during ECHO-4 sequences
• ECHO Log pickup in Unpaid Tab now registers accurately
• Amara’s Escort to Core objective now consistently progresses when replayed
• Improved various cases of mission waypoints not displaying correctly

Gameplay & Missions

• Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine can now be interacted with reliably in multiplayer
• Legendary Vending Machine no longer closes unexpectedly during Vend of the Line
• Made general enhancements to avoid enemies getting stuck upon spawning, and tackled various reported spawn point issues
• Addressed bounties Beatloaf, Grip, and Shagriculture not reliably appearing
• Rectified reported situations of Terminus Range Vault enemies getting trapped on ledges during encounters
• Resolved a reported issue in co-op during the Splashzone boss encounter, leading to more consistent behavior
• The Howl Capture Station no longer reactivates post-safehouse capture
• One Fell Swoop has been updated to prevent players from being left suspended in the air. Bio-Bulkhead now displays the correct elemental icon and movement has been smoothed to eliminate jitter after specific attacks
• Warden Scathe no longer clips through arena barriers during his boss encounter
• Improved Echo Location guidance across numerous missions
• Patched collision gaps, holes, clipping, and invisible walls
• Rectified Order drop pod events to consistently reach the ground and no longer appear suspended in the air
• NPCs should no longer cause players or vehicles to get ensnared when players run them over
• Pangolin enemies can now be harmed by grenades while in ball mode
• Chain Master trait now binds to all allies within range when multiple enemies possess the ability
• Mangler enemies no longer desynchronize their position when dodging in multiplayer

Vault Hunter Adjustments

Harlowe the Gravitar

• Addressed some Gravitar setups that reportedly caused performance slowdowns; they should no longer hinder UI elements

  from refreshing or Battle For Your Existence sequences from finalizing

• Gravitar passive and Augment enhancements to Gun Damage now accurately apply to Ripper Heavy Weapon barrels and the Ripper Legendary Heavy Weapon Steamer; Entanglement interactions also operate as intended
• Gravitar class modifications have been modified to no longer generate +5 Pencils Down and push passives beyond their designated limit

Inventive Flashes

Equilibrium Modifications:

• Neutron Capture now transforms all Gun Damage into radiation, and now exclusively applies to Gun Shots, rather than all instances of Gun Damage.

Developer Note: Neutron Capture is one of the finest damage scalers in the entire game, but during assessments, we discovered that it was mistakenly applying to all instances of Gun Damage and was able to scale in unforeseen manners as a consequence. This new adjustment will still ensure Neutron Capture remains one of the finest (if not the finest) damage scalers in the game, but the power level will align much more closely with our expectations. Furthermore, since all damage from the Gun is converted into Radiation, it should provide more scaling avenues for ingenious build creators, allowing for significant enhancements from Gun Damage.

Cosmic Radiance – Passive

• Flux Generator + Annihilation interaction revised so generated grenades now scale accurately with character level

Amon the Forgeknight

• Shield visuals refined for increased clarity in combat scenarios

Trait – Forgeskill

• Modified interaction with Forge Master class mod so Forgeskill now adheres to its cooldown in multiplayer

Onslaughter – Catastrophe

• Camera behavior stabilized when combining Onslaughter with Order Legendary Pistol Noisy Cricket
• Attack frequency of Rocket Punch is now stable in multiplayer

Equilibrium Modifications

• Seeing Red Duration reinstated no longer increases with each point invested, and is now 4 seconds for all tiers.

Developer Note: Seeing Red was always designed to possess substantial damage scaling potential, but it was intended to be challenging to sustain. We didn’t aim to diminish this passive’s strength, but we are making the effect more difficult to maintain.

Scourge – Retribution

• Scorched Kairos passive now shows consistent magazine size values for the Ordnance gadget
• The Forgewave no longer fires unintentionally during Glacial Rapture
• Projectiles no longer become stuck in the air when Forgemaster Firewall is active during the Fortress Indomita boss encounter
• Blackout Shock Damage now accurately scales with invested points
• Blackout is now 15% per point, down from 21% per point

Developer Note: After rectifying the scaling of the DoT (damage over time), we found that Blackout was slightly overperforming, so we applied a minor re-adjustment. This will still result in an overall buff, now that the DoT scales correctly.

Crucible – Cybernetics

• Visuals fixed so Forgeknight Forgeaxe no longer vanishes when activating Crucible simultaneously while throwing with Double-Edge
• Animation of Crucible while climbing corrected
• Raging Inferno Incendiary Damage now properly adjusts with invested points
• Vex the Siren
• Challenge “Me, Myself, Myself, and I.” now tracks accurately in multiplayer, independent of clone duration on other participants
• Dead Ringer – The Fourth Seal
• Specter’s replicated weapon now showcases proper visual effects when firing with a Maliwan Element Switcher
• Incarnate – Vexcalation
• Bleed from Bloodletter has been revised so it no longer recursively triggers itself, preventing unintended damage cycles
• Phase Phamiliar – Here Comes Trouble

Equilibrium Modifications

• Double Trouble Illusion Damage Multiplier is now 75%, up from 50%
• Double Trouble Illusion’s Duration is now 8 seconds, up from 5 seconds
• Apex Beast Damage Dealt increase boosted to 15% from 10% per stack of Unsealed
• Rafa the Exo-Soldier
• Free Grenade from Filantropo class mod now delivers appropriate damage even without a grenade equipped
• People Person skill tree
• Action Skills – APOPHIS Lance
• APOPHIS Lance altered to penalize Gun Accuracy instead of Gun Handling, resulting in projectile speed remaining unaffected.
• APOPHIS Lance now gains benefit from cooldown reduction effects

Equipment

• Skills that enhance Gun Handling now accurately increase Projectile Speed
• Resolved issues where swapping weapons with the Free Loader Enhancement on an Order weapon with a Ripper magazine would cause all weapons to inaccurately consume ammo
• Health restoration from Legendary Repkit Adrenaline Pump now functions accurately when combined with Legendary Shield Guardian Angel
• Reduced critical chance on Jakobs critical knife to 30%
• Developer Note: It had to happen, you anticipated it!
• Jakobs Legendary Pistol San Saba Songbird no longer stacks indefinitely when swapping weapons
• Using a Jakobs Shotgun with Torgue sticky projectiles and the Knife Launcher underbarrel no longer inflicts knife damage after changing fire modes
• Jakobs weapon parts updated so ricochet effects only activate from intended damage sources
• Ripper Legendary Shotgun Golden God overheating effect now resets correctly when switching weapons
• Adjusted behavior on Maliwan Legendary SMG Ohm I Got so the first three shots no longer consume ammo without causing damage during sustained fire
• Maliwan Legendary Heavy Gun Gamma Void corrected to apply suitable increased Radiation damage to foes within the Singularity
• Weapons with COV magazines now operate correctly if a repair animation is disrupted with a Repkit in multiplayer
• Daedalus Legendary SMG Frangible removed from loot tables
• Daedalus Legendary AR First Impression decreased the critical damage multiplier
• Recoil behavior enhanced while charging and firing Order ARs and Torgue Heavy with Triple Barrel parts with Gun Handling passives
• Vladof Flamethrower underbarrel no longer inflicts infinite damage or bypasses Bio Armor
• Torgue Grenades with Spring and Apex Augments now always detonate on their first apex
• Grenades with Spring Augment and Divider Payload now have the correct three additional bounces when combined
• Gadgets no longer reset to maximum uses after achieving Second Wind
• Healing Orbs spawned from Legendary Repkit Kill Spring can no longer heal foes
• Order Legendary Shield Cindershelly combat voice lines now activate at the intended frequency, less frequently to minimize distraction
• Tediore underbarrel names now accurately align across item cards and ammo widgets
• Maliwan Lingering Payload and Splat Pack Augment projectiles no longer continue to persist when thrown at vending machines
• Equipment Balance: Assault Rifles:
• Star Helix fire rate increased by 33%
• Bonnie and Clyde base damage increased by 40%; Pair of Thieves: Bonus damage granted increased to 150% from 100%
• Bugbear base damage increased by 40%; Rotary Gun: Max Damage increased to 200% from 100%
• Rowan’s Charge base fire rate increased by 100%
• Rowan’s Charge recoil slightly reduced
• Lucian’s Flank base damage increased by 50%
• Lucian’s Flank recoil slightly reduced
• Aegon’s Dream base damage increased by 35%

Heavy Weapon Ordnance:

• Gamma Void base damage boosted by 450%; Singularity Duration reduced to 6s from 10s, Radiation damage amp raised to 50% from 40%, Gamma Void Cooldown extended by 100%
• Ravenfire base damage increased by 25%
• Class Mods: Developer Notes: Class Mods concerning Melee Damage, Action Skill Damage, and specific one-off stats on Legendaries have been enhanced to make them more appealing.

All Class Mods:

• Melee Damage Action Skill Damage on level 50 class mods has risen to 60%
• Skill Damage on level 50 class mods has increased to 45%

Siren Class Mods:

• Avatar’s Attunement Skill Duration on level 50 class mods has been elevated to 45%
• Kindread Spirits’ Command Skill Cooldown rate on level 50 class mods has been boosted to 45%
• Forgeknight Class Mods:
• Blacksmith’s Forgedrone Duration on level 50 class mods has been enhanced to 45%
• Blacksmith’s Legendary Effect now also boosts all Forgedrone Damage by 20% per active Forgedrone
• Viking’s Detonation Damage on level 50 class mods has increased to 60%
• Forge Master’s Forgeskill Damage on level 50 class mods has risen to 60%
• Elementalist’s Legendary Effect now also enhances all Damage Dealt by Amon by 2% per active Affinity Stack

Gravitar Class Mods:

• Bio-Robot’s Hazard Damage on level 50 class mods has increased to 60%
• Skeptic’s Stasis Damage on level 50 class mods has been increased to 60%

Other Gear:

Dev Notes: Gear attributes that pertain to Melee and Action Skill Damage have greater effectiveness. We aim to elevate these builds somewhat, while distributing the power among the various gear pieces to enhance their appeal.

Rep Kits:

• Hard Hitter now provides 50% Melee Damage Dealt, up from 40%

Firm Ware:

• Reel Big Fist now offers 25% Melee Damage at rank 1 and 2, up from 15%/25%
• Action Fist now confers 25% Melee Damage at rank 1, up from 15%
• Action Fist now grants 30% Action Skill Damage at rank 2, increased from 30%
• Action Fist now bestows 30% Action Skill Damage on Melee Kill, up from 25%

Shields:

• Boxer Armor Shields now provide 20%/30%/50% Melee Damage depending on parts rolled, up from 15%/25%/40%
• Berserker Energy Shields now offer 20%/30%/50% Melee Damage based on parts rolled, up from 20%/27.5%/35%

Specializations

Groundbreaker:

• Groundbreaker now exclusively accumulates Gun, Action Skill, and Ordnance damage.

Dev Note: Groundbreaker was leading to recursive loops that could create infinite damage by accumulating “Bonus Damage” across the board. We still want this skill to remain effective, but it shouldn’t scale infinitely. We’ll be observing Melee builds following this adjustment to ensure they meet expectations and will modify further if needed. This ultimately required rectification to establish a baseline before we consider additional buffs/changes.

UI & UX & Text

• Sorting configurations in menus now persist when navigating tabs or leaving the menu
• “Toggle Junk” behavior has been fixed to target the intended item in Bank menus and Backpack
• Weapon wheel no longer freezes when opened near Guns vending machines
• Combat Radar now includes a dedicated Legendary Loot Indicator, making valuable drops easier to identify during combat
• Press/Hold input now cancels properly without causing unintended actions
• “Apply Settings” prompt only appears when alterations are made
• [PS5 and Xbox] Splitscreen updates, including number text scaling, Equipment/Backpack enhancements, scrollbar behaviors, Party list format, and “Flip Card” functionality
• Restored Fullscreen resolution controls and switching behavior
• Weekly Activities now populate after campaign completion
• Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine timer updates to indicate correct cooldown
• Firmware 3-Piece bonuses (Ahoy, Oscar Mike, Daed-dy O’) now display cooldown icons; Deadeye Tier-3 stacks now show in the passive bar
• Boss Bar spacing corrected when Combat Radar is activated
• Transfer Machine naming has been standardized across the game
• Travel notification now shows the initiating player’s name
• ECHO Location path remains legible over time; improvements made to pathfinding
• Updated various UI visuals and icons for alignment, consistency, and clarity
• Updated localization and various text descriptions throughout the game
• Standardized/updated terminology across gear, menus, customization, and manufacturers

Visuals

• Updated assorted character and NPC animations
• Corrected various reported instances of VFX not rendering as intended
• Grapple Vault points now display proper models rather than placeholders
• Reduced reported instances of visual pops at cinematic beginnings

Audio

• Audio and VO now remain enabled when returning to menus after level traveling in multiplayer
• Adjusted audio mix for improved balance throughout gameplay and VO
• SFX volume slider now correctly affects high HDR-value sounds
• Addressed several reported instances of VO not playing as intended in multiple missions and scenarios
• Vault Hunter battle voiceover frequency has been adjusted to reduce line repetition
• Missing pain reaction audio restored for several named NPCs
• Improved various subtitle timing and text
• Background music now continues as expected during the Idolator Sol boss battle
• Unique audio cue restored for Phosphene (shiny) gear spawns

Settings & Accessibility

• Personal Cross-play settings can now be modified immediately after changing Party Privacy from Local Only to Public in Session Settings
• Air Dash is now fully operable on controller when Toggle Crouch is set to Off under Accessibility → Gameplay
• Individual graphics options now reset properly after making changes and then choosing Run Auto-Detect in Options
• [PS5 and Xbox] Field of View resets reliably to Default on consoles without displaying mismatched values

Player Experience

• Enhancements to stability
• We are actively investigating and will implement additional improvements to stability and performance.
• Addressed multiple reported issues across multiplayer, missions, menus, and engine systems.
• Improved matchmaking and session stability.
• Addressed performance in multiplayer when encountering large numbers of homing projectiles
• Refined graphics settings and shader management
• Improvements made to patch reliability and automation processes
• Ocean could occasionally fail to load

Miscellaneous

• [Epic] Rich Presence now displays correctly in non-English languages on Epic
• [PS5] Friend list now loads accurately after logging out and back in during patch checks on the title screen
• Joystick input now behaves consistently when lowering deadzones
• [PS5 and Xbox] SHiFT account linking verification codes now auto-copy and apply correctly on console

Weekly Activities:

Weekly Big Encore Boss has shifted to a stronger version of a different existing boss with an even more rewarding loot pool for those who challenge it.

• The Battle Wagon

The Weekly Wildcard Mission has changed. These missions feature a guaranteed Legendary drop that you can repeatedly obtain to secure your ideal roll.

• Mission: Dark Subject (Vampiric, Cold Hearted, Invisible)
• Legendary Gear Reward: Kickballer

Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine has relocated and altered its offerings. Remember, while the location is the same, your vending machine items differ from other players, so inquire around to see if someone possesses the item you’re searching for!