March 26 marks a significant update for Borderlands 4, bringing you a large patch alongside the game’s debut story expansion, Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned. Gearbox rolls out a range of fixes, balance adjustments, and quality-of-life improvements while also expanding the experience with new paid content.
You can explore a new area on Kairos called The Whispering Glacier, complete fresh activities, and follow a story that features both new and familiar characters. The update also introduces C4SH, a new Vault Hunter with a distinct skill setup, along with broader gameplay tweaks and system options that affect all players.
Borderlands 4 March 26 Major Update Patch Notes
Story Expansion 1: Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned*
You travel to a frozen region of Kairos where a hostile cosmic force spreads instability across the landscape. Ellie joins you as a central ally, bringing her mechanical skill and direct approach to a campaign focused on destroying an alien structure and breaching the Vault of the Damned.
This paid Story Pack adds a self-contained narrative arc with new missions, enemies, and environments. You can access it as part of select premium editions or purchase it separately with the base game required.
Expect new combat spaces built around icy terrain and high-intensity encounters. The update integrates the expansion directly into your existing progression, so you can tackle it alongside the main campaign.
C4SH the Rogue
You can now select C4SH, a sentient CasinoBot who embraces risk through a mystical deck that grants unpredictable powers. His design centers on probability, gambles, and volatile combat advantages.
C4SH is fully playable across the entire game, including the base campaign and post-launch content. The update adds:
- Support for C4SH across all modes
- Character Select availability
- 8 unlockable Heads
- 2 Bodies (standard and alternate)
His abilities emphasize chance-based effects and aggressive play. You benefit most when you lean into risk-heavy builds rather than defensive setups.
Bounty Pack 2: Legend of the Stone Demon**
The second paid Bounty Pack introduces additional missions and themed challenges tied to the Legend of the Stone Demon. This content expands endgame activities and rotates into challenge systems and Vault Card objectives.
You must own the related content to access its missions and rewards. Weekly and daily tasks now properly recognize this pack across all supported modes.
Vault Hunter Adjustments
Several Vault Hunters received targeted fixes and scaling improvements.
Harlowe (Gravitar)
- Neutral Capture now functions correctly with Break the Ice.
- You can slam stunned enemies without failure.
Rafa (Exo-Soldier)
- Peacebreaker Cannons fire faster when you invest in Deft Hands.
- Parting Gift now marks enemies only during the intended Action Skill window.
- Blowout correctly produces Corrosive projectiles on critical hits against test targets.
Vex (Siren)
- Commander Class Mod can grant more than three points to Infusion.
- Haruspex and Pincushion now scale with melee bonuses, including Groundbreaker and Vladof Shield Heavyweight effects.
Amon (Forgeknight)
- Forged weapons throw reliably.
- Repeated equip animations no longer interrupt usage.
These changes improve skill consistency and ensure damage scaling behaves as described.
Gear Adjustments
Weapon behavior, audio clarity, and visual feedback received multiple corrections.
| Item | Update |
|---|---|
| Tediore AR “Chuck” | Assault Rifle challenges now track kills properly. |
| Tediore Grenade “Urchin” | Adjusted light projectile audio. |
| Tediore Shooting Legs Part | Thrown guns no longer vanish during the Bloomreaper fight. |
| Jakobs Spinning Blade Grenade | Returns correctly after striking Corrupted enemies or Crystals. |
| Jakobs Penetrator Augment | Indicator visuals display consistently. |
| Maliwan Kickballer Shotgun | Primed Potency Enhancement now boosts damage correctly. |
| Daedalus Missilaser Shotgun | Firing audio cuts through combat noise more clearly. |
Additional fixes include:
- Pearlescent loot beams no longer clip beneath floors.
- Grenade and Tediore throw visuals render correctly on water in multiplayer.
These updates improve reliability in both boss fights and cooperative sessions.
Gameplay Updates
You experience a higher level cap, now raised to 60, allowing deeper skill investment and expanded builds.
The update also introduces Shared Character Progression, giving you more flexibility across supported modes. This system supports smoother advancement when playing cooperatively.
General stability and systemic tuning reduce edge-case combat interruptions and interaction errors.
Vault Cards and Challenges
You gain more control over notifications and improved tracking accuracy.
New Option
- Disable progress pop-ups for Vault Cards and challenges.
Additional fixes include:
- Vault Card menus refresh properly if you lose access to specific content.
- Console players retain previously claimed rewards.
- Weekly and daily challenges for certain DLC now appear correctly for all players, including splitscreen users.
- Ordonite enemies no longer count toward unrelated Vile enemy objectives.
- “A Friend in Needles” now tracks area-of-effect healing correctly.
These changes ensure challenge completion reflects actual gameplay performance.
Splitscreen Improvements
Local co-op stability has improved across consoles.
- Progress no longer disappears if one player exits while another remains in character select.
- Secondary players keep their characters when joining with a primary account on a new save.
- Only the host can modify True Mode settings.
- Item card flipping affects only the selecting player.
- Audio initializes correctly for second players on PS5.
- Menus no longer overlap unintentionally during world interactions.
These fixes reduce disruption during couch co-op sessions.
Audio and Visual Fixes
You notice clearer weapon audio during chaotic firefights. Several weapons now cut through layered sound effects more effectively.
Visual corrections improve environmental effects and item readability. Loot indicators, projectile effects, and water-based visuals now render consistently in both solo and multiplayer sessions.
Interface and Menu Updates
HUD elements perform more efficiently, with added optimization to status bars and overlays.
Menu systems now update dynamically when your content access changes. You avoid incorrect listings or locked entries that previously required restarting.
Skin selection no longer stalls while loading. This reduces interruption when customizing your Vault Hunter.
Photo Mode Enhancements
You gain expanded control over visibility and environmental effects.
Visibility Controls
- Enemy, boss, and summon toggles apply instantly, including newly spawned units.
- Other players’ vehicles hide properly when you disable player visibility.
Character Presentation
- NPC clothing and accessories remain stable when paused.
- Hidden characters remove related smoke, sparks, and visual effects.
Depth of Field
- Fire, smoke, water, and glass respond correctly to focus settings.
UI Control
- Player stats and interface elements fully disappear when disabled.
These improvements allow cleaner screenshots in both solo and multiplayer sessions.
Player Experience Improvements
Cloud save handling now reduces overwrite errors. You encounter fewer conflicts when syncing older files.
Matchmaking now pairs you only with players who own the same content. This prevents forced returns to the main menu due to DLC mismatches.
Additional updates include:
- Reduced hitching during skin selection.
- HUD bar optimizations.
- Stability and performance tuning across platforms.
Further refinements remain in progress to strengthen long-term performance consistency.
