The first wave of balance adjustments for Borderlands 4‘s playable characters has arrived. Gearbox Software took their time before implementing these changes, opting to address critical technical issues plaguing the first-person shooter and carefully observe character balance before deploying any nerfs or buffs.
This measured approach meant that some potentially overpowered early character builds persisted longer than expected. Developers aimed to avoid hasty decisions, especially concerning the playable Vault Hunters. Perhaps the presence of a DLC featuring a robo-cowboy helped to keep the enthusiastic Randy Pitchford occupied, preventing rash and potentially disruptive changes.
“For this update, our main goal was to improve build variety by tweaking underperforming skills,” the studio explained in the official patch notes. “Amon receives a significant number of adjustments to bring his overall power more in line with other Vault Hunters. Furthermore, adjustments were made to Vex’s summons and Rafa’s melee abilities, aiming to make these builds more viable in the late-game content. Finally, Harlowe received minor tweaks to ensure the Stasis mechanic is valuable for players.”
As you can infer from the notes, the word “increased” appears frequently, impacting all four Vault Hunters. Amon received the most extensive changes, with over 60 adjustments affecting his action skills, augmentations, and passive abilities. Vex received fewer tweaks across all three categories, while Rafa’s updates focused on action skills, capstones, and passive abilities. Harlowe only has two adjustments, both related to Stasis damage.
“Looking ahead, we are evaluating the stats and functionality of Class Mods, Rep Kits, Shields, and Firmware to ensure they promote a greater range of character builds,” Gearbox stated. “We are also planning to address several unintended interactions and exploits. These exploits hinder our ability to create meaningful build diversity, as they trivialize content intended to challenge players.” Based on that statement, the exceptionally powerful Vex build might soon be less dominant.
Lastly, the update includes a new feature that “auto-clears stale shaders in Borderlands 4 upon version updates.” The developers hope this will address “performance degradation on some PCs.”
If you haven’t already, be sure to read Jasmine Mannan’s Borderlands 4 review for an in-depth look at the game, offering a perspective that goes beyond Randy Pitchford’s social media updates.