Borderlands 4 is doing what I wish every other PvE game would do, and that’s buffing underwhelming components of your game before nerfing the fun stuff.
Thanks to an X post from Creative Director Graeme Timmins, with whom I had the pleasure of doing a cooperative session in Borderlands 4, he has announced buffs are coming to the game before nerfs, what?!
Graeme said, “We’ve seen the discourse about builds that use unintended interactions and/or the knife. We’re not going to act on those immediately; instead, we’re looking at our first round of buffs. Those will get addressed, but we’re going to start with underperforming gear/skills first.”
If you’re as familiar with the genre as I am, it seems nerfs always come before the buffs do. Games like Remnant 2, Elden Ring, and even Borderlands 3 of the past went with the nerf hammer on broken items before we got to see underwhelming bits brought up to par.
I recall playing Zane as my first character in Borderlands 3 years ago. I was the one character that, for lack of a better term, sucked.
We’ve seen the discourse about builds that use unintended interactions and/or the knife. We’re not going to act on those immediately, instead, we’re looking at our first round of buffs. Those will get addressed but we’re going to start with underperforming gear/skills first.September 23, 2025
Watching endless build guides, it was clear that Zane had fallen behind every other Vault Hunter in the game. Amara the Siren, FL4K the Beastmaster, and Moze the Gunner were all better than my soldier/operative was. So I did what any normal, disappointed Borderlands player did: I rolled another main.
I decided to give FL4K a try, since he had this crazy one-shot shotgun build going on. A mixture of his abilities granted infinite ammo and a massive critical hit increase. Pairing this with a one-shot legendary shotgun showcased that FL4K was capable of melting bosses, or at least, he was.
You see, by the time I reached max level with him and was about to start farming the endgame for a nice set of gear, they gave him a hefty set of nerfs. Nerfs that essentially sucked a lot of fun out of the build.
I felt awful. I had spent all this time pushing a second character through the story of Borderlands 3 for said character to be only marginally better than my original one, suddenly.
The worst part was that they didn’t even buff Zane. He was still terrible by comparison. So, I did the next thing that many Borderlands players would do: I quit.
I stopped playing Borderlands 3 altogether and never looked back. I never had any urge to buy the DLC or touch a Borderlands game after that. It wasn’t until I was presented with the opportunity to review Borderlands 4 that I had any itch to play.
To this day, I’m incredibly thankful for having that opportunity, as I’ve sunk another 30 hours into Borderlands 4 since the release of my review, and I’d continue playing if I didn’t have 10 different assignments lining up on my writing desk.
I’ve fallen completely in love with the latest entry, and the news that they’re buffing items and abilities before they hand out nerfs is absolutely one of the best things I’ve ever heard when it comes to these types of games.
Seriously, try to think back to a game you played that saw buffs before nerfs. Even if you can think of one, how many did you think of first that were the other way around? It’s a lot, isn’t it?
I’m sure it typically has something to do with players being able to blast their way through the endgame too quickly or something. There’s a number cruncher in the office who’s anxious about player retention if they permit players to breeze through content with min-maxed builds. Kairos forbid we actually have fun.
Someone at Gearbox, either Graeme or Randy, decided, “Enough with that, let’s let players go wild instead.” At least, in between the performance rants.
Whoever it was, I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to continue ripping enemies apart. Heck, I’m not even using a meta build!
My current setup is Peacemaker cannons that grant infinite ammo with a level 43 legendary gun. It has an alternate SMG mode that allows me to pelt bosses within activities that are seven levels higher in a matter of seconds.
Okay, maybe there is a build guide out there that uses a similar setup, but I haven’t even looked into a guide build because that’s how much fun I’m having bringing my own, somewhat unconventional ideas to life.
Thank you, Borderlands, for not punishing player creativity and instead celebrating what makes this game so unique.
Signed, your biggest fan. Now, fix the damn performance!
What do you think about the news that Borderlands 4 will be getting buffs before nerfs? Please let us know in the comments below or on social media. Heck, I challenge someone to tell me why this is bad news!
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