Summary
Yesterday was a huge day forBorderlands 4fans, as the game finally got a gameplay deep dive ahead of its September release, which was recently moved from September 23 to the 12 of the same month, spurring hype among fans. The game will have a rather different approach to its loot and general destinations compared to its predecessors, such as making Legendary loot less common and more meaningful overall, and having open-world areas that can be explored with multiple new traversal tools.Borderlands 4’s new Vault Huntersremain one of the highlights of the game, even if the reveal trailer ruffled some feathers among players, and the deep dive commentary may have gone overboard in one key area.
So far, there is not a lot that fans know aboutBorderlands 4’s set of Vault Hunters, even after the gameplay trailer and the addition of character-specific sections on the official website. These characters are Vex as the Siren, Rafa as the Exo-Soldier, Harlowe as the Gravitar, and Amon as the Forgeknight. Fans have been theorizing what each character will bring to the table in terms of gameplay, especially since Vex was the only Vault Hunter to be shown in terms of skill trees - and not even all of them. Still, many eagle-eyed players will likely not have missed one detail in the presentation about DLC Vault Hunters.
Borderlands 4’s Gameplay Trailer May Have Revealed a Huge Secret
Borderlands 3didn’t have DLC Vault Huntersand only featured its main four, which broke the trend introduced withBorderlands 2and repeated inThe Pre-Sequel. This didn’t sit well with many series fans, and the general consensus was thatBL3should have had DLC Vault Hunters, or at least make sureBorderlands 4didn’t miss the mark in this regard. So it seems that Gearbox heard the feedback, as the deep dive trailer mentions that Vex and Rafa are two of the “Vault Hunters available on launch.”
This begs the question of whether the wording is misleading or Gearbox is indeed confirming thatBorderlands 4will have DLC Vault Huntersafter launch, which seems the most likely outcome. Having additional Vault Hunters come out after the game’s release could help give it a longer shelf life, which many of its improvements can already achieve on their own, effectively turningBorderlands 4into a highly replayable looter-shooter. This may be exactly what the franchise needs, and it seems plausible that players would be happy to see more playable characters further down the line.
Borderlands 4’s Siren Vexalready seems much cooler than one may have assumed from just the reveal trailer months ago, and that’s thanks to her focus on minions like the big cat Trouble or a currently unnamed spirit-like creature wielding a scythe. More details will presumably emerge sometime between now and the playable demo in June, and the other three Vault Hunters will have their abilities revealed, at least in part.
Why It Makes Sense For Gearbox to Confirm Post-Launch Vault Hunters in BL4
Considering the confidence Gearbox seems to have inBorderlands 4, calling it its biggest and best so far, and moving the release date to eleven days earlier, adding DLC Vault Hunters would cement this feeling even further and possibly help fans and newcomers share it. Given thatDLC Vault Hunterswere very popular for bothBL2andBorderlands: The Pre-Sequel, with the former giving fans the beloved Krieg and Gaige, it seems a no-brainer forBorderlands 4to eventually add more Vault Hunters post-launch.
As such, essentially confirming this during theState of Playseems very on brand for the series, withBorderlands 4being revealed at the end of 2024 and being released less than 10 months later. It remains to be seen whether this will indeed be the case, but more playable Vault Hunters would be a blessing for the game.
