Gearbox has revealed what players can expect from the Borderlands 4 endgame when it launches on 12th September for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC – and then 3rd October for Switch 2 – as well as what’s coming down the pipe through the post-launch roadmap.
Once players have wrapped up the main story of Borderlands 4 and, presumably, freed the planet Kairos from its dictatorial leadership, the endgame will have continued activities and progression through weekly challenge missions, character Specialisations, and the returning Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
Here’s how Gearbox describes this:
- Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode – Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode has been reimagined for its return. This post-game difficulty option will challenge players through five unlockable levels that increase in difficulty. Additionally, applying lessons learned from past franchise entries, this mode no longer requires players to replay the campaign to gain new ranks. Instead, players will move up ranks through curated mission challenges that put their chosen build to the test, growing more difficult through progression and removing the need to re-farm the same gear.
- Firmware – Each rank of Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode includes exclusive Firmware, which are set bonuses for gear that players will first experience throughout the campaign. The more firmware a player acquires results in a higher stat bonus. These powerful Firmware bonuses can be transferred once to another item, at which time the original item is destroyed and the Firmware bonus cannot be re-transferred.
- Weekly Wildcards – Multiple incentives will be provided to allow players to continue their search for the best loot: Weekly Wildcards offer rotating missions with a guaranteed Legendary reward. In the Weekly Big Encore Boss, Moxxi’s Big Encore selects one boss for the week that can be unlocked with Eridium for a larger iteration with increased drop rates. Maurice’s Black Market Machine sends players across Kairos in search of its spoils, with varied loot for every player’s game. Each of these activities is available for online matchmaking by intent, encouraging players to group up with friends, or find new ones whose interests align.*
The roadmap for the “first few months” of the game extends through Q1 2026, promising both free and paid content, the latter of which are broken out into story packs and bounty packs.
- Story Packs – The first of two announced “Story Packs” features the return of the indomitable fan-favorite Ellie in “Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned.” Featuring a cosmic horror theme with a bloodier, darker tone, this “Story Pack” includes an all-new region of Kairos to explore, multiple engaging main and side missions, all new legendary gear, and the introduction of the first post-launch playable Vault Hunter. In addition, this pack brings four new Vault Hunter Skins, two new Vehicle Skins, three ECHO-4 Drone Skins, as well as attachments, and one ECHO-4 Frame.
- Bounty Packs – With the launch of the first “Bounty Pack,” players will experience narrative-based missions that expand the Borderlands universe. These missions will reveal more about the new characters players encounter on Kairos, starting with Rush, the gregarious leader of the Outbounders. Each Bounty Pack includes new Main Missions, a new boss, new Legendary Gear, one Player Skin, one ECHO-4 Drone Skin, one new Vehicle, and a Vault Card, allowing players to unlock 24 Cosmetics and four pieces of rerollable Gear.
Free for all players, seasonal mini-events will include the Halloween-y Horrors of Kairos in October, offering new Legendary Weapons, new Cosmetics, and a new Weather Variant. Further to this, Invincible Bosses return in new high-level boss arenas built to make the most of Borderlands 4’s enhanced traversal, with a new Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode launching alongside each one, and there’s new Legendaries that will serve as the rewards for beating them.
Borderlands 4 Preview – Guns, grapples and big boss battles
We went hands on with Borderlands 4 at Gamescom 2025, saying, “what I did see from this all-too-brief hands on opportunity was the potential that all of these additions off. Having enjoyed the earlier games in the Borderlands series, but skipping out on the last game, Borderlands 4 looks promising after, and is likely to pull me back into the looter shooter fold when it launches on 12th September.”
