Borderlands 4: Game Features

Vault Hunters & Character Progression

At launch you get four new Vault Hunters, each with three Action Skills, branching Augments, and Capstones that can completely remap how an ability behaves. The new system invites tinkering with swapping Augments can feel like slotting in a brand new skill.

Pro tip: Amon’s Forgeskill grants a secondary Action Skill based on your core pick—plan your Augments around that synergy. Vex’s Phase Covenant rewards elemental weapon swapping; build an “element wheel” and lean into melee finishers.

Movement & Exploration on Kairos

Kairos is split into four connected regions—Fadefields, Terminus Range, Carcadia Burn, and the Dominion, a fortress city under the Timekeeper. New mobility options (double jump, gliding, dodging, point-grapple) make gunfights more vertical and shortcuts more discoverable.

• Digirunner: summon a personalized ride anywhere; unlock Hover Drives & cosmetics as you progress.
• ECHO-4 drone: on-the-go ammo upgrades and cosmetic swaps, plus guidance to objectives.
• Claim POIs: flip safe houses and hijack Order balloons to expand Fast Travel and mark targets.
• Vault Key Fragments: collect enough to open hidden Vaults which are high level dungeons with big combat tasks and bigger payouts.

Weapons & Loot — Billions, But Better

Eight manufacturers define the sandbox. New arrivals include: Order (precision bursts), Ripper (charge → full-auto), and Daedalus (multi-ammo simplicity). Tediore, Maliwan, Jakobs, Vladof, and Torgue return with their signature chaos.

The Licensed Parts system lets a gun borrow behaviors from other manufacturers, leading to combinations like “Jakobs core with a Ripper trigger.” Legendaries drop less often (on purpose) so finding one lands like a moment. Mission replays and Moxxi’s Big Encore Machine make target farming sane.

New Gear Slots

• Ordnance: shared slot for Grenades & Heavy Weapons (rocket launchers, etc.); recharges on a cooldown.
• Enhancements: replaces Artifacts; augments weapons based on their manufacturer to reward synergized loadouts.
• Repkits: pop a heal or temporary buff mid fight without breaking flow.

Co-op & Multiplayer — Built In, Not Bolted On

• Up to 4-player online across all platforms with full cross-play via a free SHiFT account.
• 2-player splitscreen on PS5 and Series X|S; link two splitscreen duos online for a full party of four.
• Improved drop-in/drop-out, dynamic level scaling, and individual difficulty settings.
• Fast Travel directly to a party member anywhere on the seamless map.
• Nintendo Switch 2: local play between consoles, GameChat, Joy-Con™ 2 mouse-style aiming, and virtual game cards that let you load across devices on the same Nintendo Account (with family lending support). Note: Splitscreen co-op is not supported, but the game includes full cross-play with other platforms and local wireless multiplayer between multiple Switch 2 consoles.
• Offline supported for all single-player activities.

Customization & Post-Launch

Style it your way: Vault Hunter Skins/Heads/Bodies, Weapon Skins, ECHO-4 skins, and Digirunner cosmetics. Looks don’t change function, Licensed Parts do, and those come from the loot grind, not a menu.

Post-launch brings free balance updates and sizable content drops, plus paid packs: the Bounty Pack Bundle (four DLCs with new areas, missions, bosses, gear, weapons, and cosmetics) and the Vault Hunter Pack (two story DLCs, each adding a new playable Vault Hunter, regions, and gear). Vault Cards return as part of Bounty Packs for challenge driven loot and XP.

Post-Launch Roadmap (At a Glance)

Timing and contents can shift based on feedback, expect tuning in between major drops.