Borderlands 4 Patch Notes: What You Need to Know
Since its launch, Borderlands 4 has seen a wave of community feedback—especially around performance, bugs, and quality-of-life features. The September 25, 2025 update is its biggest patch yet, targeting stability, loot, UI, and Vault Hunter balancing. Below is a clear, structured breakdown of what’s new and what to expect.
1. Patch Overview & Key Highlights
This update — officially “Borderlands 4 Update Notes – September 25, 2025” — brings a number of major changes:
- New Weekly Activities to keep the endgame fresh Borderlands+1
- Stability and performance improvements across all platforms Borderlands+1
- Console Field of View (FOV) slider added (with caveats) GamesRadar++2Borderlands+2
- Adjustments to rewards, progression, and gear balancing TwistedVoxel+3Borderlands+3MentalMars+3
- Vault Hunter and weapon tweaks to fix bugs and balance builds GameSpot+2TwistedVoxel+2
Let’s dive deeper into each major area.
2. Weekly Activities & Rotations
One of the most exciting additions in this patch is the expansion and rework of weekly activities, designed to keep players returning.
- Big Encore Boss
• The weekly Big Encore Boss now rotates to a tougher variant of an existing boss.
• Its loot pool has been upgraded to reward stronger drops. Borderlands+2GameSpot+2 - Wildcard Missions
• These missions now include guaranteed Legendary drops each run — letting you chase your ideal rolls. GameSpot+2Borderlands+2 - Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine
• The location has been moved.
• The item offerings have been refreshed, and they vary by player (i.e. each player’s vending machine may differ). Borderlands+2MentalMars+2
These weekly rotations give players new targets and more reason to revisit high-level content.
3. Stability & Performance Improvements
Performance was one of the most criticized issues at launch. This patch directly addresses many of them:
- General stability improvements across PC and console, including fixes for crashes, hitching, and low FPS. Borderlands+2GameSpot+2
- Animation updates and menu loading speed improvements to reduce lag in UI transitions. Borderlands+2GameSpot+2
- Black screen / infinite loading fixes
• On Xbox: resolution of black screen after the Vault Symbol loading screen. Borderlands+1
• Rare infinite loading screen scenarios during crossplay are addressed. Borderlands+1 - Auto-detect graphics preset may now set to High or Very High in some cases when using “Run Auto-Detect” in the visual settings. Borderlands+1
Caveat for console FOV: While the patch adds a console FOV slider, Gearbox warns that raising FOV above default may cause performance dips. GamesRadar++1
4. Rewards, Progression & Loot Adjustments
To smooth out endgame progression and reduce frustrating edge-case bugs, the patch implements several changes:
- Skill Points & Multiplayer
• Fixed an issue where players could lose or be rewarded extra unintended Skill Points in multiplayer. Borderlands+2MentalMars+2 - Contract target spawn
• Ensured that Contract target enemies spawn more consistently. Borderlands+1 - Repkit Lifesteal Challenge
• Now tracks lifesteal from any source, not just specific ones. Borderlands+1 - Region discovery trophies & achievements
• Prevented trophies or achievements from unlocking prematurely (before all areas discovered). Borderlands+1 - Unowned DLC visibility
• Prevents unowned DLC content from showing up in chests or UI menus. Borderlands+1 - Reward Center & cosmetic fixes
• Resolved an issue where the Reward Center could stop working after claiming Gilded Glory Pack rewards. MentalMars+1
• Cosmetic redemption and DLC bundle redemptions have been cleaned up. MentalMars+1 - Progression from UVH (Ultimate Vault Hunter)
• Adjusted timing so players can properly rank up from UVH 4 to UVH 5 after completing required Wildcard Missions. MentalMars+1
These fixes aim to reduce frustration and make sure the progression loop feels fair and stable.
5. Vault Hunter & Weapon Balancing
The patch also tackles specific bugs and balance issues in Vault Hunter classes and weapons:
Vault Hunter Fixes
- Harlowe the Gravitar
• Fixed several skill and passive bugs. GameSpot+2TwistedVoxel+2 - Amon the Forgeknight
• Improved passive restoration.
• Adjusted action skill behavior and targeting logic. TwistedVoxel+1 - Vex the Siren
• Corrected augment scaling and companion damage consistency. TwistedVoxel+1 - Rafa the Exo-Soldier
• Fixed stacking issues with the Blowout passive. TwistedVoxel
Gear & Weapon Tweaks
- Hellwalker
• Now always spawns with Fire element. TwistedVoxel+1 - Tediore weapons
• +10% damage and larger magazine size buff. TwistedVoxel+1 - Order Pistols & Snipers
• Buffed to improve performance and viability. TwistedVoxel+1 - Projectile, targeting, reload, and ammo bugs
• Fixed various bugs related to reload animations, ammo desyncs, wrong target behavior, and projectile miss-tracking. TwistedVoxel+1
Gearbox notes that more balance changes are still in the pipeline and may arrive in near-future updates. GameSpot+1
6. UI, Visuals & Audio Enhancements
To polish the player experience, the patch includes a range of UX, visual, and audio improvements:
- UI / UX
• Improved gear thumbnails, menu clarity, and navigation. TwistedVoxel+2GameSpot+2
• Fixed compass display errors and matchmaking hints. TwistedVoxel+1
• SHiFT UI got updates for smoother use. TwistedVoxel - Visuals / Graphics
• Corrected disappearing objects, VFX bugs, clipping issues, and environment glitches. TwistedVoxel+1
• Improved NPC paths, ambient creature spawns, and animation consistency. TwistedVoxel+1 - Audio
• Adjusted radio music mixing, fixed missing weapon and mission VO, reduced voice-over cutouts. TwistedVoxel+1
These refinements enhance immersion and reduce jarring technical interruptions.
✅ Conclusion & Expectations
The September 25 patch is a substantial step forward for Borderlands 4. It doesn’t solve everything, but it addresses key pain points: stability, loot rewards, class bugs, and UI quality. Players will appreciate the new weekly content, the console FOV slider, and cleaner progression mechanics.
However, Gearbox has made it clear that more balance passes are coming, so don’t expect perfection just yet. For fans of the game, this patch reinforces commitment to post-launch support.
If you’re playing Borderlands 4, make sure to restart your game after patching (to avoid matchmaking/connectivity glitches) and test the new features. Don’t forget to share your feedback with the developers so your playstyle concerns are heard.