Borderlands 4 (BL4) Update 1.020 Patch Notes (Patch 1.20)

Borderlands 4 update 1.020 is now available to download on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S. According to the official Borderlands 4 1.20 patch notes, Bloomreaper the Invincible added with a new arena, nine new Legendaries, and UVHM timed-tier loot. True Mode introduced for 4-player-scaled difficulty. UVHM 6 added with new Skillcraft Firmware. Additionally, Borderlands 4 patch 1.020 also fixes gameplay, gear, and adds companion improvements.

BL4 update 1.020 Patch Notes – December 11, 2025

BL4 Patch 1.20 Summary

Bloomreaper the Invincible & The Bloom

New Content

• Added new arena: The Bloom

• Added Bloomreaper the Invincible raid boss

• Introduced timed-tier reward system (Bronze → Platinum) in UVHM

New Legendary Gear (Dedicated Drops)

• Rainmaker – Ripper Sniper Rifle (Platinum in UVHM)

• Mantra – Maliwan Shotgun

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• Undershield – Vladof Shield

• Urchin – Tediore Ordnance

• Jett-Setter – Ripper Heavy Ordnance

• Misericorde – Siren Class Mod (UVHM Silver+)

• Overdriver – Exo-Soldier Class Mod (UVHM Silver+)

• Trooper – Gravitar Class Mod (UVHM Silver+)

• Lamplighter – Forgeknight Class Mod (UVHM Silver+)

True Mode

Additions

• Added True Mode, scaling all enemies to 4-player difficulty

• Available after completing the campaign

• Functions independently from UVHM

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode 6

Additions

• Added UVHM 6

• Added new UVHM 6 challenge

• Added Firmware: Skillcraft (UVHM 6 only)

Skillcraft Tiers

• Tier 1: +10% Skill Damage

• Tier 2: +10% Skill Critical Chance

• Tier 3: Skill Damage dealt grants +2% Skill Damage for 10s (max 25 stacks)

Gameplay Improvements

Mission & Progression Fixes

• Boneface regeneration removed

• Abduction Injunction progression corrected

• Bandit bounties now appear in Fade District

• Lost Loot retains SDU upgrades

• Backpack Upgrade SDUs no longer reset

• Mimicron no longer runs after players leave arena

• Axemaul attack behavior fixed

• Kratchman now resumes pursuit normally

• Generator debris no longer affects aim assist

• Maliwan and Vladof challenge tracking corrected

• Sniper challenges correctly track long-range kills

• Daily/Weekly Vault Card refresh now consistent

• Removed incorrect Phosphene challenges

• Search for Hints objective now completes properly

• Digistruct tunnel transitions improved

• ECHO guidance paths corrected

Gear Adjustments

Fixes & Balancing

• Repulsor Augment enemy launch distance reduced

• Vehicle rockets no longer launch enemies excessively

• Midnight Defiance ricochet behavior improved

• Bullets to Spare Firmware Level 3 fixed for COV mags

• Maliwan Sniper GL underbarrels now impact enemies

• Budget Deity no longer shows unintended homing

• Inscriber projectile behavior corrected

• Anarchy Shotgun stickies now explode after auto-reload

• Rooker airborne SFX restored

• Bullet decals now fade normally

• Daedalus Missilaser VFX appear instantly

• Firewerks missile spawning improved

• Resolve Nova scaling fixed

• Super Soldier no longer regenerates Heavy Ordnance charges improperly

• Elemental attribute comparison display fixed

• Hellfire SMG damage increase now applies

• Rooker needles now spawn in proper quantity

• Vault Card Ordnance and Legendary challenges now track correctly

Vault Hunters

System & Progression Fixes

• Early unlock skill exploit removed

• New characters no longer inherit SDU points

• Amon and Rafa elemental stat display corrected

• Shield Boi now allows proper skill firing through its barrier

Trouble, Reapers & Forge Weapon Changes

Companion Improvements

• Trouble gains Blink Melee Attack every 12s when distant

• Increased Damage Radius for Trouble, Reapers, and Forge Weapons

Amon

• Tempered Pyre: ~20% damage increase

• Tempered Ice: ~23% damage increase

• Tempered Lightning: ~13% damage increase

Harlowe

• Potential Transference now triggers Adrenaline Pump Repkit correctly in multiplayer

Rafa

• Per My Last no longer behaves as Overdrive

• Madlad SMG now interacts correctly with APOPHIS Lance

Vex

• Trouble’s ranged attacks now benefit from Melee Damage

• Blink Strike: ~14% damage increase

• Violent Outburst: ~11% damage increase

• Hexus Nexus: ~14% damage increase

Splitscreen Improvements

• Improved several splitscreen UI elements, including ECHO Log readability and news article sizing
• Enhanced Vault Card usability in splitscreen
• Splitscreen settings now persist after closing the game
• Improved instructions for reconnecting to online play
• Travel countdown notifications now show consistently for all splitscreen players

Visual/Audio Changes

• Reduced cases where the screen distorts before cinematics begin
• Character animations now switch correctly between ladder climbing and swimming in Belton’s Bore
• Oddman’s body no longer appears after replaying Exit Through the Rift Shop with a different choice
• Adjusted animations for enemies holding various weapons
• Updated various incorrect, missing, or low-resolution models and textures
• Corrected background display when using the Black Market Vending Machine in Carcadia Burn
• Updated areas where loot could get stuck, including Bramblesong and the final ramp in How Rush Saved Mercenary Day
• Updated multiple locations where collision, clipping, or out-of-bounds paths could occur
• Two non-functional ECHO Logs no longer appear after completing The Weird Way Home
• Enemies no longer disappear behind the metal door during Genone’s fight in The Yawning Yard
• Ensured doors in How Rush Saved Mercenary Day display with correct green lights when unlocked
• Improved visuals for Amon’s VH-2015 body customization so there are no visible gaps when viewed by other players in multiplayer
• Vault Card ticket amounts now refresh properly after the first purchase
• Updated various audio behaviors
• Updated how combat music reevaluates critical threats properly when entering fresh combat

UI/Text

• “Buy” and “Buyback” tabs in Vending IO now display the correct, different items
• Item Cards in vending machines no longer compare to unknown items
• Item level and value information now always show when comparing items in vending screens
• Improved stability and display consistency across all Vending Machine menus
• Added tooltips to the skills on Class Mods in Item Inspect to show what each skill does
• Improved weapon wheel speed and hold sensitivity
• Locked SHiFT rewards are now hidden in customization menus
• Improvements to ECHO Logs include functional sort buttons, dropdowns that close naturally, clear selection highlighting, and sort/filter preferences that persist between when leaving and re-entering the menu
• Key prompts now function correctly when switching widgets inside the News section of the pause menu
• The “Flip Card” prompt now appears consistently across item comparison menu
• Corrected some cases preventing the prompt to send loot to the bank to now appear and be functional in the Inventory menu
• Improved Vault Card visual consistency
• Updated various UI visuals and icons for alignment, consistency, and clarity
• Updated localization, various text descriptions, subtitle timings, and text alignment across the game
• Updated Credits

Player Experience Improvements

• Reduced a reported rare black-screen situation on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 after the vault loading screen
• Improved framerate when using a Torgue Shotgun with the Flameblast underbarrel
• Minor Update download now stops correctly when signing out during the download
• Titles with Windows usernames containing special characters now restart correctly after installing a Minor Update

A note from the dev team:

Over the past few months, the team has been investigating how to deliver the best runtime performance possible with Borderlands 4. Since launching, we’ve discovered a number of fixes that deliver noticeable framerate boosts and reduce stuttering without making sacrifices in visual quality. Some of the fixes are improvements to our code or content; other fixes come from later versions of Epic’s Unreal Engine. See below for more details.

However, we still have much more to do here. We’re in this for the long haul, and over the coming months we’ll roll out even more performance improvements. We appreciate the community’s feedback, and your patience!

• Improved the performance cost of many UI elements (menus, HUD, and overlays) without lowering visual quality
• The game now uses Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO), which allows the executable to run more efficiently and brings large CPU performance gains
• Encouraged smoother gameplay by reducing gameplay hitches caused by shader and PSO (Pipeline State Object) compilation
• Optimized grass, shrubs, and other foliage by updating their meshes and materials, reducing the cost of drawing them on screen
• Added several GPU optimizations pulled in from newer versions of Unreal Engine
• Improved the performance of the Lumen lighting system
• Improved the performance of foliage reflections and water
• Additional performance improvements for minimum-spec PCs in areas with grass, dynamic shadows, and wind effects
• In-engine cinematics now run at higher framerates, instead of being capped at 30 FPS
• Adjusted AI/NPC spawn counts in certain areas so enemies and NPCs no longer spawn in higher numbers than intended, improving both performance and gameplay flow
• Removal of unnecessary extra lights, especially lights used for supporting volumetric clouds.
• Improvements to Physics and Niagara to reduce memory leaks and Out-of-Memory crashes
• Improvements to Cloth initialization to reduce load and spawn cost time.
• Added new graphics options that lets players turn off shadows, volumetric clouds, and fog, offering better performance flexibility
• Improved how VRAM is used by reorganizing texture and mesh memory pools, allowing the game to keep better visual quality at lower graphics settings without hurting performance
• General stability improvements

Previously, a BL4 update 1 added quality of life changes. Unfortunately, many players are still facing issues while playing the game. Today’s BL4 patch 1.020 will fix a few of these issues. More fixes are coming with Borderlands 4 update 1.021.

Download free BL4 update 1.020.000 on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.