Borderlands 4 has released a minor patch that introduces several adjustments to gear. However, players should brace themselves, as the game’s creative director has issued a “seven days notice” regarding drastic changes to broken builds.
Last month, Graeme Timmins, the creative director, acknowledged that Gearbox was aware of the conversations surrounding unintended interactions and the infamous knife builds. At that point, the team’s focus was not on these issues, with plans for more buffs taking precedence. Yet, with the rollout of the game’s first significant patch, Gearbox expressed its intention to address these exploits. Timmins stated that “exploits prevent us from creating meaningful build diversity as they trivialize content that is otherwise meant to challenge players.” It appears these adjustments are nearly ready for implementation.
Upcoming Changes Announced
In a recent Twitter update, Timmins confirmed that next week’s patch will be “a larger one,” specifically targeting “certain gear and those unintended interactions.” He cheekily added, “This is your seven-day notice,” indicating the urgency behind these changes. As of last night, players have just six days left until these adjustments take effect.
This week’s patch notes indicate it will also address “unintended interactions in certain Vault Hunter skills,” alongside numerous nerfs aimed at some overperforming gear. However, players can look forward to some positive adjustments, focusing on enhancing Class Mods, Repkits, Shields, and Firmware. These changes aim to improve the viability of melee builds while tackling shortcomings in specific Vault Hunter builds.
Moreover, players can expect a series of improvements to game stability and performance, along with several highly requested quality-of-life enhancements. As for the current updates, Ruby’s Grasp will benefit from a 50% increase in damage and a 25% boost in fire rate. Likewise, Queen’s Rest will see a 50% fire rate increase and an improved spawn chance—now at 50% rather than 30%. Additionally, all Pets should now “properly gain Critical Hit Chance from Passives and Gear,” and Vex’s Bleed will count as damage from status effects.
Timmins has also commented that the situation regarding a popular dialog skip mod—requested by fans to become an official feature—is “way more involved and riskier than it appears.” He cautioned that implementing this mod might “lead to broken mission states that might not be recoverable.”