Borderlands 4 has made plenty of ambitious changes to its endgame, but none are as intricate as the changes made to Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. Unlocked after completing the main story with a first character, UVHM raises the stakes of a playthrough with harder enemies and loot that feels powerful enough to match the increased challenge. It’s the centerpiece of Borderlands 4’s long-term grind, and while its foundation is strong, the way Gearbox has re-implemented the staple system might not land for everyone.
The structure of Borderlands 4’s Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode is easy enough to understand: players climb through five Ultimate Vault Hunter Ranks, each of which requires completing unique, rank-specific challenges before completing a modified Wildcard Mission. Beating the mission advances the rank, and thus the cycle continues. The framework is interesting, and with Gearbox promising even more tiers in the future, it’s clear UVHM is meant to be the definitive aspect of Borderlands 4’s endgame progression. That said, some major kinks might need ironing out.
A Brief History of Borderlands’ Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode
In terms of Borderlands' endgame experiences, no two titles are exactly alike. Borderlands 2’s UVHM is infamous for its steep difficulty spike, particularly because it relied so heavily on Slag to make enemies manageable. This slashed the number of viable builds, making some of the game’s most creative loot feel pointless in the endgame. It also required players to beat the main campaign missions three separate times to actually reach the mode and max level, respectively.
Before reaching Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, Borderlands 2 players had to complete True Vault Hunter Mode, a second difficulty level that typically took characters from around level 30 to 50.
Borderlands 3 shifted gears with Mayhem Mode, a ten-tiered system that allowed players to scale enemy levels and loot rarity without having to rerun the campaign. True Vault Hunter mode was complementary to Mayhem, but not required, and while it was a clever solution to UVHM’s rigidity, it wasn’t without flaws. Each Mayhem rank introduced randomized modifiers that could drastically alter encounters.
Admittedly, some modifiers were creative, but others made combat incredibly tedious. Players were often forced to re-roll modifiers until they found tolerable ones, turning what should have been an engaging challenge into menu management. Given this history, it’s clear why Gearbox felt pressure to re-imagine Borderlands 4's endgame.
What Borderlands 4’s UVHM Gets Right
Borderlands 4 corrects some of the series’ mistakes, though, as the new challenge system attached to UVHM is far more interesting than just toggling difficulty and rerunning the story. Every Ultimate Vault Hunter Rank brings a fresh set of goals to complete before advancing, adding an element of player choice to the grind. They are usually bosses from side content, but the fact that they can be tackled in any order and vary at each level keeps players from feeling like they’re endlessly repeating the same fights.
The inclusion of the game’s Vaults as the Rank 5 objectives is easily the highlight of these challenges. Vaults are core to the series’ identity and some of Borderlands 4’s best encounters, and tying them to UVHM progression makes reaching the highest ranks feel like a true accomplishment. They’re satisfying, large-scale challenges that align with what made Borderlands fun in the first place: boss fights, creative builds, and of course, loot.
What Borderlands 4’s UVHM Gets Wrong
The problem with this new rendition of UVHM comes when Borderlands 4 brings back the one thing many fans hoped was gone for good: modifiers. Borderlands 4’s UVHM modifiers can affect any enemy at any time, but it’s never a guarantee. It’s much less frustrating than Borderlands 3’s version of the system, which affected every enemy in the game once a level was applied, but it's still not ideal.
The remaining problem is that enemy modifiers are now baked into Borderlands 4’s Wildcard Missions, which bookend each UVHM rank. While it’s not nearly as bad as its predecessor, the new system doesn’t actually do anything to shift modifiers from a simple annoyance to a meaningful challenge. While some of these mechanics are clever in isolation, stacking them onto missions players have already completed feels like padding length instead of creating new encounters.
The traits in Borderlands 4’s first Weekly Wildcard mission were a perfect example, as one was Centripetal, which triggered black holes on enemy death—for every single enemy.
Borderlands and the UVHM Design Dilemma
It’s not hard to see why Gearbox made this call, as endgame content in looter-shooters is notoriously tricky to balance, and the developers have to experiment to keep players engaged with Borderlands 4 post-launch. This execution, however, could use refinement. If modifiers consistently frustrate rather than encourage strategy, players are more likely to burn out than push forward through UVHM’s ranks.
In a perfect world, UVHM’s evolving modifier pool would be Gearbox’s way of testing what sticks and trimming the fat so that a chosen few rotating effects could enhance new Wildcard Missions. There’s room for modifiers to be more than annoyances, but right now, they mostly feel imposed, whereas the challenges tied to each UVHM rank are some of the most exciting parts of the system. Completing those objectives before earning a Wildcard Mission is rewarding in itself, as progressing through each rank actually feels like a journey. It's just that the end of that journey feels less satisfying than it should because of the modifier-heavy missions.
The Future of Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode
Ultimately, the challenge structure shows Gearbox is on the right track, and the vault-based requirements for UVHM 5 are reason enough to be optimistic. They set a precedent that future expansions could lean into, with DLC that potentially adds new vaults, or even raids in Borderlands 4, each making the new UVHM tiers feel fresh. With more encounter variety and a refined modifier system, Borderlands 4’s changes to UVHM could end up taking the cake as the best endgame system in the franchise.
At the same time, UVHM’s design shows the delicate balance Gearbox has to maintain. It has to feel unique and difficult—not alienatingly difficult, annoying, or boring, though. Finding that middle ground is never easy, but if UVHM is going to succeed long-term as the backbone of Borderlands 4’s endgame, it might be necessary.
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
