Borderlands 4 is doing what every PvE game should do — buffs before nerfs

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Borderlands 4 is taking a smart approach to game balance – it’s strengthening weaker parts of the game *before* adjusting anything that players are already enjoying. It’s a strategy I’d love to see more games use.

Graeme Timmins, the Creative Director-I recently played Borderlands 4 with him-shared on X that the game will receive improvements before any adjustments are made to balance gameplay. That’s surprising news!

As an analyst, I’ve been following the community discussion around powerful builds exploiting unintended game mechanics, particularly those involving the knife. While we’re aware of these, the team has decided to prioritize addressing underperforming gear and skills in the initial round of buffs. We haven’t forgotten about the problematic builds, and we’ll tackle those issues after we’ve improved the weaker parts of the game.

It often feels like game developers address overpowered items before they focus on improving weaker ones. We’ve seen this pattern in games like Remnant 2, Elden Ring, and Borderlands 3, where problematic items were adjusted downwards before underperforming ones received boosts.

I remember when I first started playing Borderlands 3, I chose Zane as my character, and he was definitely not very good – to put it mildly!

We’ve noticed discussions about powerful character builds that rely on unexpected combinations or the knife weapon. While we’ll address those issues eventually, our first priority is to improve weaker gear and skills. We’ll tackle the more complex build problems after these initial improvements. (September 23, 2025)

After watching a lot of guides, it became obvious that Zane wasn’t as strong as the other characters in the game. Amara, FL4K, and Moze all outperformed my character, so I decided to start playing with a different one, just like many frustrated Borderlands players would.

I started playing with FL4K because I heard about a powerful build that let him use a shotgun with infinite ammo and deal huge critical damage. This combination made him incredibly effective against bosses, or at least, it used to.

I finally leveled up my character and was ready to get some good gear, but then they significantly weakened him with updates. It really took the enjoyment out of playing him.

I was really disappointed. I invested a lot of time developing a second character in Borderlands 3, only to find out they weren’t much of an improvement over my first one, which felt anticlimactic.

The biggest disappointment was that Zane still wasn’t improved. He remained significantly weaker than other characters. Frustrated, I did what a lot of Borderlands players would do in that situation: I stopped playing.

I completely stopped playing Borderlands 3 and haven’t been interested in the series since. I didn’t even consider buying any of the extra content. It wasn’t until I was asked to review Borderlands 4 that I started to feel any desire to play again.

I’m still really grateful for the chance to play that game. I’ve already put in another 30 hours on Borderlands 4 since I finished my review, and I’d be playing even more if I didn’t have so much other writing to do.

I’m really enjoying the newest version of the game, and I’m thrilled to hear they’re planning to improve things before making them weaker. That’s a fantastic approach, and something I’ve always wanted to see in games like this.

Think about games you’ve played where something was made stronger, then later weakened. It’s probably much easier to recall examples of things being *nerfed* first, before being *buffed*, right? That happens a lot.

From what I’ve gathered, the concern usually revolves around players finishing the game too fast. There’s a data analyst on the team who’s worried about keeping players engaged long-term if they can easily overcome challenges with optimized characters. It seems like the priority is avoiding anything that might be *too* enjoyable for players.

At Gearbox, either Graeme or Randy decided to give players more freedom, despite occasionally complaining about game performance.

I’m incredibly grateful to whoever made this possible – it’s fantastic to keep defeating opponents, especially since I’m not even using the most popular strategy!

I’m currently using Peacemaker cannons with a level 43 legendary gun that gives me unlimited ammo. It also has a secondary SMG setting, letting me quickly defeat bosses in activities that are much harder than I am – up to seven levels higher.

I might be able to find a guide online that does something similar, but I haven’t bothered looking. I’m really enjoying experimenting and coming up with my own unique approach.

Thanks to Borderlands for encouraging players to be creative and truly embracing what makes the game special.

Signed, your biggest fan. Now, fix the damn performance!

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2025-09-24 17:40