Meat is Murder is one of the side quests players can encounter early on in Borderlands 4. Unlike most other side quests, this one's themes aren't as silly — it positions itself as a murder-mystery involving a skilled serial killer who is very good at getting away with things.
This side quest is an interesting diversion from the more pressing concerns of the Borderlands 4 campaign, and it is a worthwhile adventure for players who want to do something that doesn't entirely affect the fate of Kairos. This guide covers everything you need to know about Meat is Murder and how to complete it.
Borderlands 4 - Interactive Map (Kairos)
Our interactive map for Kairos in Borderlands 4. All the vending machines, Echo Logs, Vaults, and more found in the game.
Borderlands 4: Meat is Murder Walkthrough
Meat is Murder begins after players free Byron in the big barn inside Harper's Hideaway in Borderlands 4. This area is close to the first Safe House players reach, and you can reach it just before getting to the Launchpad. We do recommend meeting with the Outbounders first so you can get your first vehicle.
Byron is in a barricaded room in one of the corners of the barn. You need to destroy the barricade in order to get him out and continue with the mission.
All Clues in Borderlands 4 Meat is Murder Quest
After setting Byron free, he'll tell you what happened at the farmstead. According to him, a bunch of Rippers attacked him and his brother Harper, and the latter has been missing ever since. Your first job is to search the barn for clues about what happened during the attack. The clues you need to examine are:
- The severed limbs on a table in front of the giant crusher.
- The Ripper corpses near the drill next to the previous clue's table.
- A dead Wildhorn near the barn entrance.
- A piece of sheet metal leaning on the wall at the opposite side of the dead Wildhorn.
ECHO-4 will highlight all interactable objects near you when you call him out. This includes ladders, containers, grapple points, throwables, and objectives. Do this whenever you're unsure what to do next during a quest!
Finding Harper
After interacting with all of those, head back to the table near the crusher and interact with the radio. Shortly after doing so, Harper's strung-up body will fall from the ceiling. Byron will ask you to help get his brother down, but the nearby killswitch for the crusher isn't working. For this, you'll need to head outside and shoot the coolant regulators.
The regulators are inside foundations holding the big pipes leading back to the barn. Use your grappling hook to open the hatches, then shoot the regulators with your gun. Rippers will appear outside when you're doing this, so hit them with everything you've got.
The coolant regulator hatches are on opposite sides of each other. Check the machinery behind the barn for big, circular doors with grapple points on them.
Once you deal with the regulators, head back into the barn and speak with Byron. Shoot down Harper's body, then interact with the axe on his corpse and the radio on the table. More Rippers will attack the barn shortly after. Blast them all, then speak with Byron again. He'll tell you to check out a nearby tool shop. Head outside the barn, then summon your Digirunner for a quick ride east.
Finding the Murderer
Follow your quest marker to the tool shop Byron mentioned, and you'll find an NPC named Otis. Speak with him to get a clue about the killer's whereabouts: a cave near a waterfall. The closest waterfall is in the town of Plungeford, which is just past the lake north of the tool shop.
Naturally, Plungeford is full of Rippers. Beat them for loot and XP, then look for the cave entrance near the waterfall as shown in the image above. There will be a boarded entrance there — shoot or smack the boards off, and you'll find a man named Zeke in front of a table with a radio on it. Speaking with Zeke causes him to go crazy and attack you. He's not much of a threat, so just shoot him in the face and be done with it.
After you deal with Zeke, interact with the radio on the table. You'll hear the same voice from the one in the barn. It's from a man named the Grin Reaper, and he'll leave you with some cryptic exposition right before the quest ends.
Meat is Murder Quest Rewards
For completing this side quest, you'll be rewarded with some XP, Cash, Eridium, and a random pistol that can go up to purple rarity. If you're a new player, all of these rewards will do your character good. However, Eridium is reserved for BL4's endgame, so don't worry about that until you beat the campaign.
The Cash, XP, and Eridium will automatically get added to your character's inventory. As for the pistol, you need to manually claim it from the Rewards tab that appears in your Inventory screen every time you complete a challenge or a quest that grants rewards. You'll need inventory space in order to claim it.
You may also get the Tropic of Cairn Vault Hunter style after completing the Meat is Murder side quest for Borderlands 4. If you didn't get this the first time around, then you may need to replay the mission. You can do this by checking the Missions tab from the character menu and finding Meat is Murder from the list of quests there. Vault Hunter styles (and other cosmetics) are available account-wide, which means you can use them for other characters without having to unlock them all over again.
You can expand your inventory size via the SDU tab in the character menu. To upgrade your inventory, upgrade the Backpack option. You'll need SDU Tokens if you want to upgrade anything in this menu.
Borderlands 4
- Released
- September 12, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - all platforms
- Prequel(s)
- Borderlands 3, Borderlands 2, Borderlands
- Franchise
- Borderlands
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unsupported
- PC Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- October 3, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- Local Co-Op Support
- Yes
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
