Borderlands 4 Halloween Update: All Nerfs & Buffs
▼ Summary
– Borderlands 4’s major patch launched today alongside the “Horrors of Kairos” limited-time Halloween event, the first such event for the game.
– The patch includes significant nerfs to certain skills and unintended interactions that previously enabled overpowered boss-killing builds.
– Numerous buffs were applied to skills, class mods, and weapons, including increased damage, duration, and corrected scaling for various abilities.
– Quality of life improvements were implemented, such as reduced respec costs, better loot prioritization, and menu setting persistence.
– Weapon-specific adjustments include buffs to assault rifles and heavy ordnance, while nerfs target specific weapon interactions and critical chance reductions.
The highly anticipated Borderlands 4 Halloween update has finally arrived, bringing the limited-time “Horrors of Kairos” event alongside a massive balance patch. This comprehensive update introduces significant character adjustments, weapon tuning, and crucial quality-of-life improvements that players have been requesting. Gearbox Software delivered numerous buffs before implementing any nerfs, though several powerful ability interactions have been addressed to maintain game balance.
Several previously dominant builds have been adjusted, particularly those involving unintended damage loops that allowed for trivial boss encounters. The development team targeted these “unintended interactions” while ensuring players can still create powerful character setups through dedicated farming. These changes are balanced by substantial buffs to underperforming weapons, skills, and class mods, creating fresh opportunities for creative buildcrafting.
Quality of life improvements represent some of the most welcome changes in this patch. The Specialization Respec Machine cost has been dramatically reduced from 5000 to 1500 Eridium, making it much more accessible for players experimenting with different builds. The Lost Loot Machine received important updates to better prioritize higher-quality items when inventory slots are full, and its storage upgrades now function correctly in multiplayer sessions. Various Fast Travel stations have been fixed to unlock at their intended times, addressing progression issues reported in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
Additional interface improvements include enhanced Echo Location guidance across multiple missions, persistent menu sorting settings when switching between tabs, corrected “Toggle Junk” behavior in Bank and Backpack menus, and a new Combat Radar feature with a dedicated Legendary Loot Indicator to help spot valuable drops during intense firefights.
Character ability adjustments include several notable nerfs targeting overpowered combinations. Harlowe’s Neutron Capture now converts only Gun Shots into radiation damage rather than all gun damage instances. Amon received multiple adjustments: Seeing Red duration no longer scales with skill points and remains fixed at 4 seconds, while Blackout’s percentage per point decreased from 21% to 15%. Vex’s Bloodletter bleed effect no longer recursively triggers itself, eliminating unintended damage loops. The Groundbreaker skill now properly stores only Gun, Action Skill, and Ordnance damage.
Substantial buffs have been applied across multiple character classes and their associated equipment. Amon received numerous improvements including adjusted shield visuals for better combat clarity, proper scaling for Blackout Shock Damage and Raging Inferno Incendiary Damage with invested points, and significant boosts to class mod performance. The Blacksmith’s Forgedrone Duration on level 50 class mods increased to 45%, while the legendary effect now additionally increases all Forgedrone Damage by 20% per active drone. Viking, Forge Master, and Elementalist class mods all received damage increases at level 50.
Vex abilities also saw meaningful improvements. Double Trouble’s Illusion Damage Multiplier increased from 50% to 75% with duration extended from 5 to 8 seconds. Apex Beast Damage Dealt per stack of Unsealed increased from 10% to 15%. Class mod enhancements included increased duration for Avatar’s Attunement Skill and improved cooldown rates for Kindread Spirits’ Command Skill at level 50.
Harlowe class mods received damage boosts to Bio-Robot’s Hazard Damage and Skeptic’s Stasis Damage, both increasing to 60% at level 50. Rafa adjustments include the Filantropo class mod’s free grenade now dealing appropriate damage even without a grenade equipped, while APOPHIS Lance now penalizes Gun Accuracy instead of Gun Handling, leaving projectile speed unaffected while allowing cooldown reduction benefits.
General gameplay buffs include increased Melee Damage and Skill Damage on level 50 class mods, along with multiple Firmware improvements. Hard Hitter now grants 50% Melee Damage Dealt (up from 40%), while Reel Big Fist and Action Fist received melee and action skill damage increases at various ranks. Shield modifications include Boxer Armor and Berserker Energy Shields now providing higher melee damage bonuses depending on component rolls.
Weapon category improvements ensure skills that boost Gun Handling now properly increase Projectile Speed, while grenades with Spring Augment and Divider Payload now feature the intended three additional bounces when paired together.
Assault rifles received significant attention with multiple models receiving damage and fire rate increases. The Star Helix fire rate increased by 33%, while Bonnie and Clyde base damage rose by 40% with its Pair of Thieves bonus damage jumping from 100% to 150%. The Bugbear’s base damage increased by 40% with its Rotary Gun maximum damage doubling from 100% to 200%. Rowan’s Charge received a 100% base fire rate increase with slightly reduced recoil, while Lucian’s Flank base damage increased by 50% with comparable recoil reduction. Aegon’s Dream base damage increased by 35%.
Heavy ordnance adjustments include Gamma Void receiving a massive 450% base damage increase, though its Singularity Duration decreased from 10 to 6 seconds. The radiation damage amplification increased to 50% from 40%, while cooldown duration increased by 100%. The Ravenfire base damage increased by 25%.
Weapon nerfs targeted specific overpowered combinations. The Jakobs Crit Knife critical chance reduced to 30%, while Jakobs weapon parts now correctly trigger ricochet effects only from intended damage sources. The combination of a Jakobs Shotgun with Torgue sticky projectiles and Knife Launcher underbarrel no longer deals knife damage after switching fire modes. The Vladof Flamethrower underbarrel no longer deals infinite damage or bypasses Bio Armor.
These extensive changes will undoubtedly shift the game’s meta as players discover new powerful combinations while adapting to nerfed favorites. The simultaneous release of the Halloween event provides fresh content to explore alongside these balance adjustments, offering new rewards to pursue during the limited-time celebration.
(Source: Forbes)
