In the Borderlands franchise, legendary gear can come from just about any source of loot, but unique bosses typically have their own dedicated legendaries. Not only is it a challenge to get bosses to drop their dedicated legendary loot instead of common loot, but getting it to drop with the perfect stats is a whole other layer of random chance, hence why farming Borderlands’ iconic bosses is considered the true endgame loop throughout the franchise, at least for hardcore players who are dedicated to achieving the perfect build.
However, as much as farming bosses in the Borderlands games is a core part of the endgame experience, it’s not exactly an intuitive process, considering that most of the time, players need to quit out to the main menu and reload their save in order for a boss to respawn. Consequently, it’s time that the franchise offered a much more straightforward way of farming legendaries with an in-game respawn mechanic for bosses starting in Borderlands 4 and then ideally sticking around for future games in the franchise.
The Borderlands Franchise Needs a Proper Boss Respawn Mechanic
It’s sort of an unwritten rule in the Borderlands franchise that players can farm nearly every boss by quitting the game to the main menu after killing the boss, and then reloading back into the game so that they respawn. In just about any other game outside the Borderlands franchise, this kind of trick would typically be considered an exploit, yet in the Borderlands franchise, this is the standard operating procedure for farming specific legendaries, and it’s been this way since the original Borderlands game.
Borderlands 2 experimented with a new way of farming and respawning bosses, but this was only available for Raid bosses, and it didn’t end up carrying on into the mainline Borderlands games that came after Borderlands 2. In hindsight though, Borderlands 4 should revive this discontinued feature for the sake of making farming bosses a more convenient process.
Borderlands 4 Should Bring Back Borderlands 2’s Raid Boss Respawn Mechanics
In Borderlands 2, players can respawn Raid bosses by spending endgame currency. So, especially if it means Borderlands 4 could bring back Raid bosses from Borderlands 2’s endgame, which is often considered the fan-favorite in the franchise, Borderlands 4 should also bring back this respawn mechanic and extend this feature to every boss enemy that has its own dedicated loot. This was arguably a great endgame currency sink, in addition to being a convenient and straightforward way to farm bosses, so this feature not carrying on in the franchise after Borderlands 2 was a shame.
Technically, players only have to pay to enter the arena of the Raid bosses in Borderlands 2, where the reliable quit-and-reload method would often still work, bypassing the cost of entry in the process.
Borderlands 4 Should Make Farming Bosses More Convenient
For those uninitiated with the Borderlands franchise, or maybe new to gaming in general, farming bosses by quitting out to the main menu isn’t exactly a beginner-friendly feature. Regardless, it’s become a normalized trick that is second nature for longtime fans of the franchise. However, Borderlands 4 should change this for the sake of both newcomers and franchise veterans, making the process much more convenient than the current method is.
While there’s natural pressure for Borderlands 4 to build upon the franchise in major ways, there’s still plenty of room to improve the familiar formula with some smaller QOL changes for the sake of making the franchise more accessible to newcomers, and all-around more convenient for returning fans. By adding an in-game method for respawning bosses, this kind of feature could be a game-changer for the sake of streamlining Borderlands 4’s endgame loop, without taking away any of the inherent sense of challenge and reward from each boss fight.
Borderlands 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
WHERE TO PLAY
Borderlands 4 brings intense action, badass Vault Hunters, and billions of wild and deadly weapons to an all-new planet ruled by a ruthless tyrant.
Crash into Kairos as one of four new Vault Hunters seeking wealth and glory. Wield powerful Action Skills, customize your build with deep skill trees, and dominate enemies with dynamic movement abilities.
Break free from the oppressive Timekeeper, a ruthless dictator who dominates the masses from on high. Now a world-altering catastrophe threatens his perfect Order, unleashing Mayhem across the planet.
- Franchise
- Borderlands
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
