Borderlands 4 developer Gearbox has released the biggest update to the looter shooter since launch, adding a Field of View (FOV) slider on console, various performance improvements, and various Vault Hunter and gear buffs.
The September 25, 2025 update adds new Weekly Activities, stability and performance improvements, adjustments to some rewards/progression, and further refinements across UI, audio, visuals, and gear. Check out the patch notes, from the Borderlands website, below.
Of particular note is the addition of a FOV slider on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, something players had asked for. Gearbox chief Randy Pitchford had responded to the complaints to suggest fairness might have had something to do with the lack of a FOV slider in Borderlands 4, although all that comment did was confuse fans given the PC version has it and there’s crossplay at launch. While its arrival is welcome, Gearbox warned console players that increasing the FOV past the default could cause some dips in performance.
Creative director Graeme Timmins had flagged that Gearbox was more interested in buffing than nerfing Borderlands 4 in the short term, leaving broken builds alone for the time being. And today’s update reinforces that approach, with no nerfs to speak of. Indeed, Timmins took to social media to say Gearbox had too many buffs to fit into today’s update, so it broke them up into their own balance update that’s due out early next week.
The update also includes fixes for the high-profile memory leak issue for Borderlands 4 on console, which causes the framerate to degrade the longer you play. But there’s more to come. “We believe we’ve made significant improvements there, but we’re still investigating data to make sure any remaining issues continue to be resolved,” Timmins explained. “We’re confident that today’s update makes a big difference though, and we’re excited to get feedback/data on it.”
Performance improvements on PC are also welcome. Borderlands 4 is still on a mixed Steam review rating, with most of the negative comments revolving around PC performance. The tech experts at Digital Foundry have said their initial analysis of Borderlands 4 on PC shows significant stutter problems, and have advised against running the game on its ‘Badass’ graphics setting, which suggests there are indeed problems with the Unreal Engine 5 title.
If you are delving into Borderlands 4, don’t go without an updated hourly SHiFT codes list. We’ve also got a huge interactive map ready to go and a badass Borderlands 4 planner tool courtesy of our buds at Maxroll. Plus check out our expert players’ choices for which character to choose (no one agreed).
Borderlands 4: All Vault Hunter Skill Trees Ranked
Borderlands 4: All Vault Hunter Skill Trees Ranked
Borderlands 4 September 25, 2025 update patch notes:
Change List:
Weekly Activities:
- Weekly Big Encore Boss has switched to a tougher variant of a different existing boss with an even more rewarding loot pool for those that take it on.
- The Weekly Wildcard Mission has changed. These Missions feature a guaranteed Legendary drop that you can repeatedly earn to get your ideal roll.
- Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine has moved to another location and changed its offerings. Remember, while the location is the same, your vending machine items are different from other players, so ask around to see if someone has the item you’re looking for!
Stability & Performance
- Improvements to stability and performance.
- Addressed various instances of hitching, low FPS, and crashes.
- We are continuing to investigate and will make further improvements to stability and performance.
- Updated character animations for performance improvements.
- Graphics Preset could be set to High or Very High when using Run Auto-Detect in Visual Menu.
- [Xbox] Corrected an issue where players would get a black screen after the Vault Symbol loading screen.
- Addressed rare issues of infinite loading screens during crossplay.
- Improved loading of characters in menus to reduce visible delays when entering character select.
Rewards & Progression
- Addressed a reported issue where players could lose or be rewarded unintended extra Skill Points in multiplayer.
- Addressed an issue that could prevent Contract target enemies from consistently spawning.
- Updated Repkit lifesteal challenge to track lifesteal from any source.
- Prevented region discovery trophies/achievements from unlocking before discovering all areas.
- Prevented instances of unowned DLC content appearing in chests or in menus.
- Improved clarity of DLC-related warnings and reward availability.
- Addressed a reported issue where the Reward Center could stop working after claiming the Gilded Glory Pack rewards.
- Rewards Center popup now correctly excludes already-claimed cosmetics.
- Reduced sell prices on Gilded Glory Pack gear in Vending Machines.
- Updated the Break Free Pack reward bundle to redeem properly in all instances.
- Challenge timing has been updated so players can properly progress from Ultimate Vault Hunter (UVH) 4 to UVH 5 after completing the required Wildcard Mission.
- When ranking up in multiplayer, players that are not the host will not see the change to their UVH level, but will be able to switch to the higher level. This will be addressed in an upcoming update.
- Updated Class Mods to prevent them from dropping with incorrect skill points.
Vault Hunter Changes and Balance Adjustments
Harlowe the Gravitar
- Gravitar Ground State Capstone has been corrected to remove inaccurate verbiage about enemies taking reduced damage when they do not.
- Gravitar Flux Generator no longer heals enemies with Potential Transference Capstone.
- Updated Gravitar Accretion passive to consistently grant Lifesteal to allies.
- Addressed various reported issues with Gravitar Unstable Energy Pocket created from CHROMA Accelerator Action Skill.
- Includes instances where it would not disappear properly, convert to Cryo Damage, or split as intended with certain skill tree combinations. Skills that saw updates: Special Purpose Magnets Augment, The Shattering Light Capstone, QED passive, Break the Ice passive, Containment Breach Augment, and Eureka! Passive.
Amon the Forgeknight
- Forgeknight Primal Surge passive now properly restores Shield and Ammo.
- Forgeknight Firewall Action Skill has been adjusted so Vengeance cannot be stored by Firewall before Scourge is active, as intended.
- Forgeknight Onslaughter Rocket Punch now connects more reliably with shielded enemies.
- Addressed a reported issue with Forgeknight Forgeaxe not consistently seeking nearby enemies.
Vex the Siren
- Addressed a reported issue with Siren Grave Harvest Augment being triggered while Incarnate is not active.
- Addressed a reported issue where Siren Blight Attunement passive could occasionally fail to damage the Timekeeper.
- Damage caused by Siren Spirit Bomb passive now counts properly as Companion Damage and changes its color to match attuned element.
Rafa the Exo-Soldier
- Addressed a reported issue preventing Exo-Soldier Blowout passive from stacking properly when repeating Action Skills.
Gameplay
- Addressed a reported issue in the “Overwriting a Wrong” Side Mission where nodes would not spawn consistently.
- Addressed a reported issue in the “Talk to Zadra” Mission where the objective could fail if players exited and relaunched mid-dialogue.
- Updated beam hit detection, as it was causing beams to not be blocked properly. Eg: Forgeknight Forgeshield.
- Repkits now consistently consume the correct amount of charges after activating Forgeknight Scourge action skill.
- Prevented Forgeknight from sliding at the end of Molten Slam.
- Addressed various reported instances of enemies getting stuck.
- Impacted Missions: during “Kill Order Forces” in the Fadefields, “His Vile Sanctum” Mission, and “A Lot to Process” Mission.
- Addressed reported desync issues observed with Lightweight Armature enemy movement in multiplayer.
- Updated Zadra’s Lab Fast Travel unlock to after discovery.
Gear
- Vladof Atling Gun Heavy Weapon Ordnance now properly targets Primordial Guardian Inceptus.
- Queen’s Rest Pistols with Daedalus Ammoswitcher licensed underbarrel now shoot the correct projectiles.
- Gear with the Short Circuit Augment now traces properly toward enemies instead of random directions.
- Addressed reported edge cases where interrupting reload could cause ammo desyncs that would prevent ammo from firing.
Gear Balance Changes:
- Hellwalker: now always spawns with Fire element.
- Tediore weapons: +10% Damage and +10% magazine size.
- Order Pistol Lucky Clover (Rocket Reload): increased fire rate.
- Order Sniper Rifle Fisheye: increased Damage.
UI & UX
- Updated gear thumbnails in cases where they did not display properly, and ensured stand-in thumbnails load properly.
- Updated various UI visuals for alignment, consistency, and clarity.
- Adjusted inventory dropdown menus to prevent unintended selected changes.
- Added D-pad navigation support to the Reward Center and improved handling of the Inventory Overflow message.
- Prevented Matchmaking Menu hint bar from displaying incorrect prompts when joining another player’s game.
- Addressed compass occasionally displaying incorrect location name after teleporting.
- Updated localization and various text descriptions across the game.
- Added various improvements to compass, custom waypoint placement, and ECHO location.
Visuals
- Addressed carryable objects disappearing or appearing in the wrong location after being picked up; includes cases in Ready to Blow, Lost Capsules, and Hangover Helper Missions.
- Improved triggering of Armor Segment breaks VFX when Shield Capacity effects expire.
- Updated NPC and enemy pathing.
- Addressed VFX concerns with various weapons, vehicles, and elemental states.
- Various animation updates.
- Various visual updates and improvements.
- Adjusted rift portal effect to corrected visuals.
- Updated ECHO-4 to have correct positioning when viewing various menus, and to prevent clipping.
- Ambient critters have a more natural spawn behavior.
Audio
- DJs in Carcadia Burn and Fadefields now play their VO when starting or completing Contracts.
- Adjusted radio music mix for improved audibility.
- Added missing audio for multiple weapon types, customization, and menu navigation.
- Reduced instances of voiceover cutting out during Missions.
- Updated startup movies to have correct audio.
Settings & Accessibility
- [Xbox/PlayStation] Enabled Field of View (FOV) slider on console.
- Note: Increasing the FOV past the default could cause some dips in performance.
- Vehicle Field of View settings will now be changed for both users when playing in splitscreen.
Misc
- Addressed reported instances of incorrect or deleted characters appearing in Menu or Lobbies.
- Enabled Tab key in SHiFT UI.
- Added haptic feedback for controllers to Exo-Soldier Unmissable Missiles Augment.
- Updated Credits listing.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
