Everything You Need To Know Before Playing Borderlands 4

I’ve played every Borderlands game since the first time Marcus dumped us off that rickety bus in Fyrestone. I’ve farmed the same boss for hours for a gun I didn’t even need, laughed at Claptrap’s terrible dance moves, and sat through cutscenes that hit harder than expected. And yes, I’ve also seen the movie… which, let’s just say, didn’t do most of these characters justice. (Krieg, Tannis, and Lilith were the exceptions. Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis? Chef’s kiss. The rest? Let’s move on.) Borderlands 4 is on the horizon, and before you set foot on Pandora (not the one from the Avatar franchise!), or wherever Gearbox sends us next, you need the full picture. This isn’t just a looter-shooter. It’s a decade-plus of intertwined character arcs, corporate greed, alien mysteries, and weapon systems that feel like their own playable characters.

Table of Contents

• Borderlands Backstory: Aliens, Megacorps, And A Planet That Wants You Dead
• The Characters Who Matter (And Who Should’ve Been Better On Screen)
• Wildlife On Pandora: The Things You’ll Be Shooting (Or Running From)
• The Story So Far: A Quick (But Not Too Quick) Recap
• Tiny Tina’s Rise: From NPC To Headliner
• Playable Classes: How They Actually Feel To Play
• Weapons In Borderlands: Why Color Matters
• FAQ: Quick Borderlands 4 Prep

Borderlands Backstory: Aliens, Megacorps, And A Planet That Wants You Dead

Long before the Vault Hunters, there were the Eridians, an alien civilization with a habit of locking cosmic horrors in massive Vaults. They weren’t doing it for fun—their tech is still centuries ahead of anything the corporations can make. In Borderlands 3, we find out Pandora itself is the Great Vault, and the moon Elpis is basically the key.

The corporations are the real human monsters in this story:

• Atlas found alien Vault tech first, became an arms giant overnight.
• Dahl exploited Pandora with convict labor, then ran when the local wildlife got too real.
• Hyperion, under Handsome Jack, turned a space station into a planet-wide dictatorship.
• Maliwan showed up later with sleek elemental guns and some very bad alliances.

Pandora? Think Australian outback meets Mad Max wasteland – plus monsters. Harsh climate, scattered settlements, and every cave, canyon, and crater crawling with something that wants to turn you into lunch.

The Characters Who Matter (And Who Should’ve Been Better On Screen)

Borderlands is about loot, sure, but it’s the characters that make it stick in your brain. Here’s the shortlist of NPCs you’ll see again and again, along with the voices behind them:

• Handsome Jack – The charming tyrant of BL2, voiced by Dameon Clarke. Smug, funny, and terrifying when the mask slips.
• Mad Moxxi – Bar owner, quest-giver, and queen of innuendo. Brina Palencia’s delivery is half the fun.
• Marcus Kincaid – Narrator, arms dealer, and part-time relationship disaster. Bruce DuBose gives him that perfect “I’ll sell you a gun and take your lunch money” tone.
• Patricia Tannis – Brilliant, paranoid, and somehow still alive. Colleen Clinkenbeard nails the balance between awkward and cutting.
• Claptrap – The over-caffeinated mascot. David Eddings (BL1, BL2) and Jim Foronda (BL3) keep him equally lovable and punchable.
• Scooter – Catch-a-Ride enthusiast, voiced by Mikey Neumann, who somehow made “Get you one!” a catchphrase.
• Ellie – Scooter’s sister, a mechanic who could bench-press you. Jamie Marchi’s voice work gives her warmth without losing edge.
• Roland – Soldier, leader, and the guy you want in your corner. Oliver Vaquer plays him steady.
• Mordecai – Sniper with a soft spot for his bird, Bloodwing. Jason Liebrecht adds a layer of weariness.
• Lilith – Siren, Firehawk, occasional savior of the planet. Clinkenbeard again, but in a more commanding register.
• Tiny Tina – Thirteen-year-old explosives genius turned fantasy campaign GM. Ashly Burch makes her chaos believable.

Special note: Deathtrap is Gaige’s floating combat robot in BL2, not a Claptrap variant. Different models, different programming, same “you do not want to be in front of it” vibe.

Wildlife On Pandora: The Things You’ll Be Shooting (Or Running From)

You’ve got your classic Skags – dog-like, except they breathe acid and multiply fast. Rakks swarm from the skies, Spiderants clatter at you with armored shells, and then there are the rare “Chubby” versions of enemies that are basically loot piñatas with teeth. The further you get from towns, the more the environment itself becomes a weapon. Lava pits, ice fields, corrosive swamps – it’s all part of Pandora’s charm. All that, and more, in amazing detail – no pixels in sight anywhere.

The Story So Far: A Quick (But Not Too Quick) Recap

• Borderlands: Four Vault Hunters arrive on Pandora chasing rumors. They find the Vault, fight an alien horror, and light the fuse for everything after.
• The Pre-Sequel: Follows Jack’s origin story on Elpis. We watch him go from ambitious nobody to megalomaniac with a space laser.
• Borderlands 2: Jack runs the show. You and your team spend most of the game blowing up his plans until it all ends with a very personal boss fight.
• Tales from the Borderlands: Narrative-driven, with Jack as an AI ghost in Rhys’s head. Corporate politics meets treasure hunting.
• Borderlands 3: The Calypso Twins weaponize a livestream cult, vault-hop across planets, and trigger the Great Vault on Pandora.
• [Unverified] Borderlands 4: Leaks hint at a new world called Kairos and a villain named the Timekeeper. File that under “maybe.”

Tiny Tina’s Rise: From NPC To Headliner

When she burst onto the scene in Borderlands 2, Tina was comic relief: loud, unpredictable, very insane, and even more into things that go boom. Then Assault on Dragon Keep happened. The DLC framed her as gamemaster of a Bunkers & Badasses session, using fantasy to cope with Roland’s death. It was funny, tragic, and one of the series’ best-written arcs.

That DLC later became A Wonderlands One-Shot Adventure, paving the way for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands in 2022. If you love Borderlands but wish it had more skeletons, spellcasting, and rainbow-colored loot, that’s your jam.

Playable Classes: How They Actually Feel To Play

BL1

• Brick: big fists, big health, not great with a sniper.
• Lilith: hit-and-run Siren who can phase out of trouble.
• Mordecai: deadly at range, glassy up close.
• Roland: turret guy, team player, reliable damage.

Pre-Sequel

• Athena: shield combat, perfect for counter-attacks.
• Wilhelm: drones for healing and shooting.
• Nisha: sharpshooter who deletes bosses.
• Claptrap: random skill subroutines, hilarious and risky.

BL2

• Axton: flexible turret builds.
• Maya: crowd control queen.
• Salvador: dual-wielding tank, ammo hungry.
• Zer0: crits and melee bursts.
• Gaige: Deathtrap synergy. My personal favourite.
• Krieg: high risk, high melee reward.

BL3

• Amara: melee brawler Siren.
• Moze: Iron Bear mech pilot.
• Zane: gadget-heavy speedster.
• FL4K: pet-master sniper. My personal favourite.

Weapons In Borderlands: Why Color Matters

Borderlands guns are procedurally generated, but their quality is tied to color:

• White – basic, keep it if you’re desperate.
• Green – better stats, still common.
• Blue – rare, often with nice perks.
• Purple – epic, worth hanging onto.
• Orange/Gold – legendary, unique abilities.

Special rarities pop up too:

• Pearlescent (cyan) – ultra-rare.
• E-Tech (magenta card) – alien-inspired gear.
• Seraph (pink) – raid boss rewards.
• Effervescent (rainbow) – DLC exclusives.
• Glitch – Pre-Sequel only, with unpredictable boosts.

Manufacturers add personality to the guns. Jakobs hits hard but kicks like a mule, while Maliwan specializes in elements. Hyperion weapons gets more accurate as you shoot. Dahl swaps fire modes, and Tediore reloads turn into grenades. Atlas’s high-tech weapons track targets – and they look great.

Picking the right gun for your playstyle matters as much as its rarity.

Every player has their favorites, but some names echo across the series. You can find Infinity pistols (never reload) or Conference Call guns (the pellets split mid-flight), too. And these are just a few of the over-the-top monstrosities you can pull from a late-game boss after three hours of farming.

For some players, the guns are the most exciting feature of the Borderlands franchise. Unlike war-themed games, where all you can use is what’s available in real life, here there’s no limit on what the guns can do. I once stumbled upon a gun shooting flaming axes – yes, it’s as cool as you imagine.

FAQ: Quick Borderlands 4 Prep

• Do I need to play every game before Borderlands 4?
  • It’ll help, especially BL2 and BL3, but you can catch up with summaries and still enjoy the ride.
• Will Borderlands 4 bring back old characters?
  • Almost certainly. Gearbox knows its fan-favorites, but we don’t know the full roster yet.
• Is the humor going to change?
  • Rumors say “more grounded,” but Borderlands without absurdity wouldn’t be Borderlands. Expect both.

If you want to jump into Borderlands 4 ready to hit the ground looting, this is your toolkit. Know the history, pick your class with intent, and for the love of Eridians, don’t sell that weird-looking green pistol too fast—it might just be your new favorite.