Borderlands 4's latest patch triggers a flurry of performance complaints, but Gearbox says new stuttering problems 'should resolve over time as the shaders continue to compile'

A new Borderlands 4 patch has gone live with an array of fixes, gameplay tweaks, and the big one, promises of improved performance and stability—sorely needed for a game that, despite its popularity, holds a "mixed" rating on Steam, largely because of sub-par performance. (For the record, our reviewer liked it quite a bit.) The update has sparked a new round of performance complaints, though, as quite a few players are reporting that instead of being improved, their in-game performance is worse than ever.

One of the less-great things about PC gaming is that the nigh-infinite number of potential hardware configurations means that somebody, somewhere, is always going to have problems with a new game launch or update. In this case, though, the problems seem fairly widespread, with reports of diminished frame rates and increased stuttering coming in on Steam, Reddit, and X alike.

Some users do say they've seen an improvement in frame rates, or at least that things are more or less the same. But, at least at this point, they seem easily outnumbered by players who say they've encountered the opposite effect. A few players have said clearing the shader cache might help clear up the problems, but it's not clear whether that's related to this new patch or just a catch-up to a known issue we talked about last week.

Gearbox acknowledged the complaints a couple hours after the patch went live but indicated that there might not actually be any problems. "Stuttering issues should resolve over time as the shaders continue to compile in the background while playing," the studio wrote on X. Compiling shaders is, you'll recall, the bane of gamers everywhere. "If you're still experiencing issues after 15 minutes of continuous play, you can also clear your shader cache via your video card manufacturer's approved method."

Fingers crossed, then, but we'll keep you posted if the problems turn out to be more serious than that. For now, you can check out the full patch notes below.

Change List:

Weekly Activities: 

• Weekly Big Encore Boss has switched to a tougher variant of a different existing boss with an even more rewarding loot pool for those that take it on. 
• The Weekly Wildcard Mission has changed. These Missions feature a guaranteed Legendary drop that you can repeatedly earn to get your ideal roll.
• Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine has moved to another location and changed its offerings. Remember, while the location is the same, your vending machine items are different from other players, so ask around to see if someone has the item you’re looking for!

Stability & Performance

• Improvements to stability and performance.
  • Addressed various instances of hitching, low FPS, and crashes. 
  • We are continuing to investigate and will make further improvements to stability and performance.
• Updated character animations for performance improvements.
• Graphics Preset could be set to High or Very High when using Run Auto-Detect in Visual Menu.
• Addressed rare issues of infinite loading screens during crossplay.
• Improved loading of characters in menus to reduce visible delays when entering character select.

Rewards & Progression

• Addressed a reported issue where players could lose or be rewarded unintended extra Skill Points in multiplayer.
• Addressed an issue that could prevent Contract target enemies from consistently spawning.
• Updated Repkit lifesteal challenge to track lifesteal from any source.
• Prevented region discovery achievements from unlocking before discovering all areas.
• Prevented instances of unowned DLC content appearing in chests or in menus.
• Improved clarity of DLC-related warnings and reward availability. 
• Addressed a reported issue where the Reward Center could stop working after claiming the Gilded Glory Pack rewards. 
• Rewards Center popup now correctly excludes already-claimed cosmetics.
• Reduced sell prices on Gilded Glory Pack gear in Vending Machines.
• Updated the Break Free Pack reward bundle to redeem properly in all instances.
• Challenge timing has been updated so players can properly progress from Ultimate Vault Hunter (UVH) 4 to UVH 5 after completing the required Wildcard Mission.
  • When ranking up in multiplayer, players that are not the host will not see the change to their UVH level, but will be able to switch to the higher level. This will be addressed in an upcoming update.  
• Updated Class Mods to prevent them from dropping with incorrect skill points.
• Removed the ECHO log "Maurice's Log" as a requirement for the challenge ”Kairos Speaks“.
  • Note: For those not seeing the reward after this change, we will be addressing that in a future patch.

Vault Hunter Changes

Harlowe the Gravitar

• Gravitar Ground State Capstone has been corrected to remove inaccurate verbiage about enemies taking reduced damage when they do not.
• Gravitar Flux Generator no longer heals enemies with Potential Transference Capstone. 
• Updated Gravitar Accretion passive to consistently grant Lifesteal to allies. 
• Addressed various reported issues with Gravitar Unstable Energy Pocket created from CHROMA Accelerator Action Skill.
  •  Includes instances where it would not disappear properly, convert to Cryo Damage, or split as intended with certain skill tree combinations. Skills that saw updates: Special Purpose Magnets Augment, The Shattering Light Capstone, QED passive, Break the Ice passive, Containment Breach Augment, and Eureka! Passive.

Amon the Forgeknight

• Forgeknight Primal Surge passive now properly restores Shield and Ammo.
• Forgeknight Firewall Action Skill has been adjusted so Vengeance cannot be stored by Firewall before Scourge is active, as intended.
• Forgeknight Onslaughter Rocket Punch now connects more reliably with shielded enemies.
• Addressed a reported issue with Forgeknight Forgeaxe not consistently seeking nearby enemies.

Vex the Siren

• Addressed a reported issue with Siren Grave Harvest Augment being triggered while Incarnate is not active. 
• Addressed a reported issue where Siren Blight Attunement passive could occasionally fail to damage the Timekeeper.
• Damage caused by Siren Spirit Bomb passive now counts properly as Companion Damage and changes its color to match attuned element.

Rafa the Exo-Soldier

• Addressed a reported issue preventing Exo-Soldier Blowout passive from stacking properly when repeating Action Skills. 

Gameplay

• Addressed a reported issue in the “Overwriting a Wrong” Side Mission where nodes would not spawn consistently.
• Addressed a reported issue in the “Talk to Zadra” Mission where the objective could fail if players exited and relaunched mid-dialogue.
• Updated beam hit detection, as it was causing beams to not be blocked properly. Eg: Forgeknight Forgeshield.
• Repkits now consistently consume the correct amount of charges after activating Forgeknight Scourge action skill.
• Prevented Forgeknight from sliding at the end of Molten Slam.
• Addressed various reported instances of enemies getting stuck.
  • Impacted Missions: during “Kill Order Forces” in the Fadefields, “His Vile Sanctum” Mission, and “A Lot to Process” Mission.
• Addressed reported desync issues observed with Lightweight Armature enemy movement in multiplayer.
• Updated Zadra’s Lab Fast Travel unlock to after discovery.

Gear

• Vladof Atling Gun Heavy Weapon Ordnance now properly targets Primordial Guardian Inceptus.
• Queen’s Rest Pistols with Daedalus Ammoswitcher licensed underbarrel now shoot the correct projectiles.
• Gear with the Short Circuit Augment now traces properly toward enemies instead of random directions.
• Addressed reported edge cases where interrupting reload could cause ammo desyncs that would prevent ammo from firing.
• Hellwalker: now always spawns with Fire element.
• Tediore weapons: +10% Damage and +10% magazine size.
• Order Pistol Lucky Clover (Rocket Reload): increased fire rate.
• Order Sniper Rifle Fisheye: increased Damage.

UI & UX

• Updated gear thumbnails in cases where they did not display properly, and ensured stand-in thumbnails load properly.
• Updated various UI visuals for alignment, consistency, and clarity.
• Adjusted inventory dropdown menus to prevent unintended selected changes. 
• Added D-pad navigation support to the Reward Center and improved handling of the Inventory Overflow message.
• Prevented Matchmaking Menu hint bar from displaying incorrect prompts when joining another player’s game.
• Addressed compass occasionally displaying incorrect location name after teleporting.
• Updated localization and various text descriptions across the game.
• Added various improvements to compass, custom waypoint placement, and ECHO location.

Visuals

• Addressed carryable objects disappearing or appearing in the wrong location after being picked up; includes cases in Ready to Blow, Lost Capsules, and Hangover Helper Missions.
• Improved triggering of Armor Segment breaks VFX when Shield Capacity effects expire. 
• Updated NPC and enemy pathing.
• Addressed VFX concerns with various weapons, vehicles, and elemental states.
• Various animation updates.
• Various visual updates and improvements.
• Adjusted rift portal effect to corrected visuals.
• Updated ECHO-4 to have correct positioning when viewing various menus, and to prevent clipping. 
• Ambient critters have a more natural spawn behavior.

Audio

• DJs in Carcadia Burn and Fadefields now play their VO when starting or completing Contracts. 
• Adjusted radio music mix for improved audibility. 
• Added missing audio for multiple weapon types, customization, and menu navigation.
• Reduced instances of voiceover cutting out during Missions.
• Updated startup movies to have correct audio.

Misc

• Addressed reported instances of incorrect or deleted characters appearing in Menu or Lobbies.
• Enabled Tab key in SHiFT UI.
• Added haptic feedback for controllers to Exo-Soldier Unmissable Missiles Augment.
• Updated Credits listing.

NOTE: We've received reports that some players are experiencing reduced stability after downloading this update.

SOLUTION: Stuttering issues should resolve over time as the shaders continue to compile in the background while playing. If you're still experiencing issues after 15 minutes of continuous play, you can also clear your shader cache via your video card manufacturer's approved method.

Borderlands 4: Everything you need to know.
Borderlands 4 Shift codes: The new key connection.
Borderlands 4 Black Market location: New legendaries, no grind.
Borderlands 4 characters: Meet your new Vault Hunters and find out who's strongest.
Borderlands 4 Harlowe builds: The amped-up Gravitar.
Borderlands 4 Rafa builds: The speed-demon Exo-Soldier.
Borderlands 4 Vex builds: The spooky Siren.
Borderlands 4 Amon builds: The fierce Forgeknight.