Ahead of Borderlands 4`s highly anticipated release on September 12, Gearbox has unveiled new difficulty settings that will be available to players from launch. Unlike previous installments, Borderlands 4 will offer enhanced difficulty options, including a unique feature allowing individual scaling for each player in cooperative mode.
In recent weeks, Gearbox has actively shared details about Borderlands 4, covering minimum PC specifications, graphics settings, and accessibility features. Difficulty settings were also mentioned as a way to make the game more accessible to a wider range of players.
New Difficulty Settings
Three main difficulty levels have been introduced, each described by the developers as follows:
- Easy: `For those looking to enjoy the story.` Players will take reduced damage, and elemental affinities will have less impact.
- Normal: `For a balanced gaming experience.`
- Hard: `For those seeking a challenge.` Players will take increased damage, but will be rewarded with more cash and improved loot quality, with elemental affinities having a greater impact.
Notably, difficulty is chosen during character creation and scales individually in co-op. This means you can play on `Hard` even if your friend prefers `Easy` mode, ensuring a personalized experience for everyone.
In practice, Borderlands 4`s difficulty modifiers primarily affect the player rather than the enemies. While enemy attacks and health will not change, players will take more damage per hit on higher difficulty levels. Unlike some games where resources might be scarce on higher difficulties, Borderlands 4 rewards players who choose the hardest mode with extra cash and more valuable loot.
Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode
Beyond these initial levels, Borderlands 4 also features an endgame difficulty mode called Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. This `New Game+`-style mode increases enemy damage and resistance but offers even better loot in return, encouraging a high-risk, high-reward playstyle. As a standalone game mode, Ultimate Vault Hunter will include five escalating difficulty levels that unlock as you progress through its various challenges.
Borderlands 4 is set to release on September 12 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The Nintendo Switch 2 version will launch on October 3.