The long-awaited Borderlands 4 is finally out, and it has been very well received by fans. Some players have already completed the story, reached max level, and are pushing their gameplay to the limits with broken character builds. However, many players are still getting to this point, and this post is for those players.

Unlike past Borderlands games, Borderlands 4 is a massive open world game that can be played solo or with up to three other people. Within this open world, completing the main story changes the game from a pathed-out RPG to a sandbox where players can do anything they want without being pushed in a specific direction. There is ton of stuff to do for all types of players in the end game, but with no direction, it can be tough to figure out what to prioritize. Most players are trying to get ready for the next installation of new content, of which there will be three major content releases within six months. But what exactly are the steps to getting there – Here they are:

  1. Complete the main story and do the post-main story missions from key NPCs from the main story. Doing this allows players to unlock Ultimate Vault Hunter (UVH) Level One (out of five), a new difficulty in the game. These difficulty levels make the enemies tougher but also slightly increases the quality of loot drops – more of this later.
  2. Reach Max Level (level 50). There are many ways to reach level 50, but doing Contracts on UVH level one from safehouses around the world is the most efficient. At level 50, all loot drops will drop at level with the maximum level rolls in stats. That loot will help players survive the max level gameplay.
  3. Decide on character build. Each of the four characters have multiple builds for three different playstyles. Many players figure how they like to play through the main story, so they already have a good idea of what to do when they reach max level.
  4. Farm gear for chosen build. Once decided, switch off UVH level one back to the regular normal or hard difficulties and farm gear needed for the chosen build. While playing on UVH levels does slightly increase loot quality, it is currently very insignificant. Farming on normal and hard difficulty is by far the most efficient. This is mainly done by farming bosses that are known to drop the items needed for specific builds. Players can also visit Maurice’s Hidden vending machine and do wildcard missions in the bottom left corner of the map menu for guaranteed level 50 legendary loot. Farming all the gear needed for a specific build will be by farm the most time-consuming part of this process.
  5. Push to UVH level 5. Players will know they are ready to push UVH levels when they are literally one-shotting bosses on normal/hard difficulties. Once ready, switch back to UVH level one and navigate to the Missions tab of the menu, then the Challenges tab, and finally Ultimate Vault Hunter tab. In there, players can find all the things they need to do reach UVH level five. Each new UVH level will require players to first defeat multiple specific bosses on that UVH level, then replay a specific story mission that is given to players by the NPC from Step 1. Upon reaching UVH level five, players should be able still be able to easily defeat all enemies and bosses. If not, more farming is required. This will allow players to be ready for the new content, which will include “Invincible” bosses and higher than legendary tier of loot, Pearlescent, that can only drop on the highest difficulty.
  6. Explore the world/complete side content on UVH level 5 -OR- Repeat the steps above on another character. There is a ton of world to explore and side quests to do for players that want to do that. There are also four different characters to play, each with unique abilities and builds.

The post-game of Borderlands 4 has a ton of stuff to do, and supposably there is much more coming in the future. Enjoy your time on Kairos!