Borderlands 4 review

Betterlands

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/2K

With improved movement, devastating Action Skills that can be adjusted to suit your playstyle, and very limited Claptrap appearances, Borderlands 4 is easily the best Borderlands game yet.

• Developer: Gearbox Software
• Publisher: 2K
• Release: September 12th 2025
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , Epic Games Store
• Price: $69.99/€79.99/£59.99
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i5-13600K, 32GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, Windows 10

While everyone complains about the technical state that Borderlands 4 released in, whether it’s choppy performance or the lack of an FOV slider on consoles, I found myself on the much happier end of the spectrum. Aside from the gruellingly slow start, where I was drowning in weak pistols and absolutely no other weapon types, playing this game had me smiling like an idiot about how it’s the best Borderlands yet.

Admittedly, it’s a series I’ve never really clicked with, all previous attempts having ended in boredom. Borderlands 4, though, is different. Almost everything about it, from the world design to the power variety of the playable Vault Hunters, has been improved or refined, to the point where I’m actually annoyed that I have to stop playing so that I can write up this review. This game is consuming me .

Once again, it all begins with the choice of one of four Vault Hunters. While everyone fights for the witchy goth girl Vex – because of course gamers love their goth girls – I went with gravity-manipulating scientist Harlowe, and while that was because I’m also a sucker for a bit of hair dye, I don’t actually recommend basing your choice on appearance. Even more so than previous games, the mercs of Borderlands offer impressively distinct playstyles.

If, for example, you prefer getting up in enemies’ faces, then Amon the Forgeknight – with his variety of melee abilities – is likely a better pick for you. For those who want an easier solo run, poster girl Vex can provide you with high damage and the ability to spawn in minions to fight on your behalf. Rafa, who packs a holographic exosuit, is a great hybrid, allowing you to jump in and melee before quickly backing out to pelt survivors with ranged abilities. Still, in Harlowe, a runner-gunner with a giant bomb and a lot of crowd control was just what I needed.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/2K

I also appreciate Borderlands 4 finally ditching Pandora in favour of new hellplanet Kairos, a previously hidden world ruled with an iron fist by new big baddie the Timekeeper. Glorious leader to his overly loyal lackeys and public enemy number one to everyone else, the Timekeeper stars in a pretty good introductory sequence in which you bust out of one of this prisons, though it’s odd how he’s set up with the completely overpowered ability to possess anyone wearing one of his control bolts – which includes you – and yet declines the opportunity to just snap your neck as soon as you start causing trouble.

The opening hour also sees you reunited with the one, the only… Claptrap. Except in another case of Borderlands 4’s improved sensibleness, he’s only really there to introduce you to Kairos proper – an open world split into four regions, each with their own objectives and questlines – before promptly leaving. The game is much, much better for it, and don’t even mean this in an edgy ‘It’s cool to hate Claptrap’ way. I genuinely cannot stand that robot and how his voice grates on me. Thank you, Gearbox, for hearing my cries.

There was still something else on my mind during these early stages. Namely, “Where are all the guns?” It makes sense to have stronger weapons limited to later levels, but it takes a while for Borderlands 4 to actually find its feet simply because you’re largely limited to simple pistols for the better part of a couple of hours. After coming across my first good-spec SMG, however, I was hooked, and not just because of my new firepower. Where even to start with what Borderlands 4 does better – dare I say, everything?

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/2K

Take Kairos itself, which finally gives the series its first true open world, with zero loading screen interruptions. It’s more fun to traverse as well, with majorly improved movement mechanics that let you double-jump, grapple, or jet-pack across the alien landscape. You can utilise these in combat too, grappling to vantage points or hovering behind cover as you heal up – moves that, in particular, suit Harlowe’s aggressive style perfectly.

The ability to summon a personal vehicle on command also does away with the awkward moments in previous games where you’d need to run to the nearest spawn point for new wheels. These customisable hoverbikes get the job done even if they’re not that amazing to drive, and your robot buddy Echo having sat-nav makes getting from place to place literally as easy as following a straight line on the ground. So long as it works, anyway – sometimes Echo will just shrug at you or tell you it can’t find a path despite there clearly being one.

Of course, as with any Borderlands game, a lot of missions require you to traipse away to far-off locations just to have a single conversation with some sucker before going to the next waypoint, meaning you spend a lot of time simply travelling. However, one neat change is that you rarely have to rush all the way back to base to ‘complete’ a mission. You also get access to fast travel, though it’s limited to only a few key locations and then safehouses you have to take over. This can be a tad frustrating, particularly when some checkpoint locations are hundreds of metres away from where a fight is taking place.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/2K

There’s been a keener improvement to each Vault Hunter’s skills and build potential. Everyone gets three skill trees, stemming off three variations on their unique Action Skills, allowing for greater flexibility than in past Borderlands games and more opportunities to tailor your Vault Hunter to suit your playstyle.

The powers themselves are more satisfying too, as well as being more diverse. For instance, Harlowe’s CHROMA Accelerator, which throws out a huge, freezing cold energy orb, was my absolute cup of tea. A giant explosion which not only does impact damage, but also leaves behind radiation to deal damage over time? You can’t go wrong.

Thanks to the scale of options when it comes to selecting an Action Skill and placing action points, you can easily ensure you feel the same about your character. If you suck at aiming, you can still make this game fun by opting for explosive AOE damage, or – if you’re running Vex – picking up an ability that creates a massive saber-tooth tiger to fight on your behalf. If you want to buff out your already perfect aim (pfft, show-off) then you can do so by picking up skills which empower your guns.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/2K

There’s definitely something for everyone, far more so than in Borderlands 3 . Suboptimally levelling up your skill tree isn’t punishing, either. You can experiment, try out new abilities, and then easily go and reset them at a respec machine for a minimal cost. If something isn’t working, it’s not the end of the world.

Borderlands 4, mind you, can be difficult. You’ll progress through the game and absolutely obliterate the Timekeeper’s loyal companions, and by absolutely obliterate, I mean die over and over again trying to beat them; take a break from playing the game; go outside for a cigarette; come back; die over and over again, then finally by the skin of your teeth win the battle.

Even so, for me, this challenge played into how much more I enjoyed this over previous Borderlands games. No matter how overpowered your Action Skill becomes or how good your guns get, you’ll still struggle, which makes those narrow wins all the more much more satisfying. I cannot describe how good it felt when, after sixth attempts to fell a particularly high-ranking boss, I finally got to watch them keel over.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/2K

And, when the campaign gets too exhausting (or when you’ve run out of cigarettes), there are countless side missions to take on instead, many of them both silly and charming. Whether it’s a couple whose farm animals are seemingly being abducted by aliens or a sentient rock who wants to be able to fly, there are loads of quirky (but not Claptrap-annoying) characters who fill out the world of Kairos and remind you that, for all the surrounding political unrest, it doesn’t always need to be suit-and-tie serious business.

After the excessive wackiness of Borderlands 3, with its shoehorned-in jokes and memes, Gearbox have indeed kept the main story of part 4 more grounded. The laughs haven’t been abandoned to achieve this, though – they’ve just been shifted into those sweeter side missions. Another wise choice.

Borderlands 4 takes everything that worked about the previous games, removes the majority of the hindrances (cough Claptrap cough), and refines its RPG aspects, all of which make this easily the best Borderlands I’ve ever played. It has its share of issues: not just the tech stuff, but also what sometimes feels like endless travelling and the overabundance of terrible weapons. But what is Borderlands, even a much-improved one, without its billions of garbage guns?

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Borderlands 4

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Nintendo Switch 2

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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