Borderlands 4 Difficulty Levels, Settings, & Differences
Borderlands 4 gives you more control than ever over how challenging the game feels. Whether you want to breeze through the story, stick to a balanced experience, or dive into punishing fights for better loot, the game’s difficulty modes cover every playstyle. With the new scaling system in co-op, each player can even pick their own setting without forcing the entire squad to follow.
How to Change Difficulty in Borderlands 4
Difficulty is selected when creating a new character, but you can adjust it anytime from the pause menu under Sessions. The game will immediately shift your modifiers without resetting your progress. This means you can try different levels until you find what feels right.
All Campaign Difficulty Modes
Borderlands 4 has three base difficulty modes:
Easy – Designed for story focus. Enemies deal reduced damage, and elemental matchups matter less.
Normal – The balanced experience. Standard enemy health, damage, and loot.
Hard – The challenge mode. You take increased damage per hit, elemental affinities matter more, and you earn extra Cash plus higher loot quality.
Unlike some games where enemies get stat boosts on higher difficulties, Borderlands 4 keeps enemy HP and numbers the same. The main change is how much damage you take and how much loot you’re rewarded with.
Individual Scaling in Co-Op
One of the biggest upgrades is that difficulty scales per player in co-op. If you want Hard mode while your friend sticks to Easy, both settings will apply at once. Your enemies don’t become bullet sponges, but you personally take more or less damage depending on your choice. This makes co-op smoother, letting every Vault Hunter play how they want without dragging down the group.
Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode Explained
After finishing the main story around level 30, you unlock Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM). This is Borderlands 4’s true endgame difficulty, acting like a new game plus that adds scaling enemies, modifiers, and more loot.
Enemies hit harder and take less damage.
Loot quality and quantity are increased.
Additional endgame activities become available.
UVHM also has its own progression system. Completing challenges raises your UVHM Rank, up to UVHM 5 at launch. Each rank increases difficulty further but raises the rewards as well. This creates a high-risk, high-reward loop for players who want to keep farming and testing powerful builds.
Final Blurb
Borderlands 4’s difficulty system makes the game more flexible than ever. You can play through Easy just to see the story, stick to Normal for balance, or tackle Hard for loot and bragging rights. Once you reach endgame, Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode gives you escalating ranks that push your build to the limit.
And with co-op scaling, everyone in your squad can finally play on the level they prefer without compromise.
FAQ
How do I change difficulty in Borderlands 4?
You can change difficulty anytime from the pause menu under Sessions.
Does harder difficulty give better loot?
Yes. On Hard, you get extra Cash and improved loot quality. UVHM also raises loot rewards with each rank.
Can players pick different difficulties in co-op?
Yes. Each player sets their own difficulty level, and the scaling applies individually.
What is UVHM Rank?
UVHM Rank is the progression system for Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. It increases difficulty and rewards, up to UVHM 5 at launch.
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