A Borderlands 4 player with three Level 50 Vault Hunters just received their first phosphene weapon in the game. Phosphene (or "shiny," as most players call them) weapons are ultra-rare versions of legendary guns that permanently unlock a unique skin for said weapon. While they don't offer any gameplay benefits, they have still become one of Borderlands 4's most coveted items, no doubt due to their extreme rarity.
News of the player in question's recent find comes from a post made by their own Reddit account on the official Borderlands 4 subreddit. In the post, user v1rg1nm4ry posted a picture of the phosphene weapon, expressing their excitement for finally finding one after spending nearly 100 hours in the game.
Borderlands 4 Player With 3 Level 50 Characters Finally Obtains a Phosphene Weapon
What makes v1rg1nm4ry's find stand out so much is the fact that the player spent 80 hours getting three Vault Hunters to max level in Borderlands 4 — two of them even at Ultimate Vault Hunter 5 — and yet they have just now found a phosphene weapon. If nothing else, that goes to show just how rare these gun variants are in the game.
Interestingly enough, v1rg1nm4ry's news comes amid some ongoing controversy surrounding Borderlands 4's legendary drop rates. In another Reddit post from a few weeks ago, user ForeignLettuce977 shared a table of data that revealed Borderlands 4's legendary drop rates landed at around 5% after 3,000 boss kills. Since then, players have questioned whether lowering the drop rate that significantly from past entries was the right move, even though Gearbox did so in order to make finding a legendary more rewarding.
However, what this means for phosphenes, which are even rarer than normal legendary guns, is that only players like v1rg1nm4ry, who spend dozens of hours in the game across multiple Vault Hunters, have a shot at obtaining even one of them. Considering there is even a challenge in Borderlands 4 called "Shining the Brightest," which is awarded to players once they've collected all 69 phosphene variants, the reality of their extreme rarity hits even harder.
Needless to say, while news like this is great for players like v1rg1nm4ry, those who don't have as much time to play the game or as much patience to withstand its punishing drop rates may never see a single phosphene weapon in Borderlands 4. Perhaps Gearbox will increase the drop rate for phosphenes at some point, but for now, acquiring one looks bleak for casuals.
Borderlands 4
-
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
