The day of adjustments has come for Borderlands 4, and it seems some changes hit a bit harder than intended! The highly anticipated patch notes from Gearbox have finally dropped, arriving just in time for the Horrors of Kairos Halloween festivities. While many updates aim to address “unintended interactions” that led to outrageously powerful damage and boss-shredding character builds, along with some welcome buffs and performance enhancements, one particular alteration sparked immediate concern. However, Gearbox has since confirmed that a frustrating change preventing players from quickly farming bosses for valuable loot was entirely accidental and will be promptly reversed.
A go-to strategy for acquiring coveted Borderlands 4 legendary weapons has long involved repeatedly confronting specific bosses, especially those known to drop the gear you’re hunting. Gearbox previously facilitated this in BL4 with Moxxi’s Big Encore machines, allowing for instant boss respawns. To further streamline this process, players could always reset their character’s skill cooldowns by simply interacting with a vendor. However, shortly after the latest Borderlands 4 update launched, players quickly realized this convenient trick was no longer working.
Following the recent patch for this exciting FPS game, the vendor trick for cooldown resets ceased to function. While seemingly minor, this change significantly impacted boss farming efficiency, forcing players to either wait for abilities to recharge or tackle encounters without them. Thankfully, Associate Creative Director Grant Kao has confirmed that this was an unforeseen consequence stemming from “a fix to another bug related to camera movements,” assuring players that the skill cooldown reset functionality will soon be reinstated.
However, not all changes were accidental. Several powerful abilities received intentional adjustments, including Vex’s Bloodletter passive, Amon’s Seeing Red, and Harlowe’s Neutron Capture. For instance, the Siren’s bleed effect can no longer self-trigger, thus eliminating previously outrageous damage cycles. The Forgeknight’s stacking buff retains its power increase from kills during Berserk, but the duration refresh is now a consistent four seconds across all ranks, making it more challenging to sustain indefinitely.
Furthermore, the Gravitar’s Neutro Capture passive, which previously amplified her gun damage based on her Chroma Accelerator ultimate, will now exclusively affect gunshots, no longer applying to all forms of damage output. Gearbox assures players that this ability will still rank “among the best (if not the best) damage scalars in the game,” but its overall power will be better aligned with developer intentions. As someone planning my next Harlowe build, I’m relieved to know it remains a highly viable option!
Other notable updates in the patch include a significant reduction in the cost of specialization respecs (now just 1,500 Eridium, down from 5,000), enhanced logic for the Lost Loot machine to ensure it prioritizes the highest quality gear, and buffs for several underperforming passive skills and weapons. Gearbox also hints at general stability improvements but emphasizes their ongoing efforts to further optimize performance as development progresses.
Don’t forget to check for the latest Borderlands 4 Shift codes to stock up on Golden Keys! If you and your squad are seeking new challenges, explore our recommendations for the best co-op games of 2025.
We’d love to hear your thoughts! Share your favorite builds, legendary loot stories, and opinions on the Halloween event with our community. While I personally find the event more of a fun novelty than a major draw, I’m still thoroughly enjoying the game overall.