Borderlands 4 Is Buffing Dozens of Guns Before Raid Boss 2, and One Build Is Getting Nuked

Gearbox just kicked off a multi-week gear tuning campaign, and this week’s May 7 patch hits hard. Dozens of weapons and shields were rebalanced, one dominant build got the nerf it arguably deserved, and the clock is officially ticking on your current loadout. Raid Boss 2 arrives on May 28 as a free update, and Gearbox wants your gear choices to feel meaningful before that fight begins.

Major Weapon Buffs (May 7)

Focusing on the standout performers from the base game and DLCs.

Energy Shield Rebalance

Significant capacity and utility buffs to compete with Armor builds.

Upcoming Version 1.7 (May 28)

What to expect when the Raid Boss update drops.

This is not a one-and-done patch. The studio confirmed that numerical tuning will keep rolling through Weekly Updates, while bigger code-level changes come in the Version 1.7 update on May 28 itself. If your build relies on Torgue Stickies, read the section below before you keep farming.

Why Gearbox Started Tuning Gear Right Now

The explanation straight from the developers is direct: rapid-fire weapons have been pulling too far ahead because they interact too well with Vault Hunter passives. The team wants hard-hitting, mid-fire-rate weapons to compete again.

The result is a pass that starts with DLC Legendaries, pistols, SMGs, and the Order manufacturer, then plans to move into damage-over-time and splash damage archetypes in future weekly updates before Version 1.7 hits.

Every Weapon That Got Buffed (May 7, 2026)

DLC Weapons From “Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned”

These four weapons were underperforming against the base game meta and received some of the largest buffs in this patch:

• Unstable Kor (Torgue Shotgun): Damage +45%, Fire Rate +50%

• Falke (Ripper SMG): Damage +12.5%

• Reminisce (Maliwan Shotgun): Damage +40%

• Laser Cutter (Vladof AR): Damage +15%

DLC Weapons From “Legend of the Stone Demon”

• Mercredi (Daedalus AR): Damage +50%, Fire Rate +5%

Base Game Legendary Buffs

A long list of weapons that most players had benched got meaningful damage upgrades:

• Hellwalker (Jakobs Shotgun): Damage +22%

• Bonnie and Clyde (Jakobs AR): Shotgun underbarrel alt-fire damage +22%

• Bloody Lumberjack (Daedalus AR): Damage +24%

• King’s Gambit (Jakobs Pistol): Base damage +14%

• Vamoose (Ripper Sniper): Damage +20%

• Budget Deity (Tediore Pistol): Fire Rate +66%

• Bully (Order Pistol): Defense Protocol drone cooldown cut from 14 to 7 seconds, drone damage +66%

• Goremaster (Ripper Shotgun): CEO damage bonus increased to 66% against enemies below 40% health

Whole Category Buffs

These changes benefit any weapon in these groups, not just specific Legendaries:

• Order Weapons: Base charge times cut by 33% (faster recharge across the board)

• Daedalus SMGs: Damage +17%

• Maliwan SMGs: Damage +15%

• Tediore Pistols: Damage +20%

The Roulette Got Hit, and Here’s Exactly Why

The one nerf in this patch is the Roulette, the Order Pistol from the “Legend of the Stone Demon” DLC:

• Damage reduced by 15%

• Base Fire Rate reduced by 37.5%

• Fire Rate buff bonuses from the Lord Luck roll reduced by 75%

The dev note explains the root cause: when Gearbox removed the random probability from the Lord Luck roll bonus system, they forgot to reduce the corresponding weighted stat bonus, which let fire rate stack far beyond intended levels. The fix brings the Roulette back to a gun that still feels good to use on reload, just without breaking your damage numbers.

Shields Are Now Worth Running Again

Legendary Energy Shields got a significant tune-up, with the explicit goal of giving players strong defensive options without forcing them to sacrifice damage. Capacity increases also bring Energy Shields closer to Legendary Armor Shields in terms of raw numbers:

• Firebreak (Ripper): Elemental Nova damage +266%, capacity +33%

• Sparky Shield (Ripper): Shock damage +400%, capacity +20%

• Extra Medium (Maliwan): Nova Elemental Splash Damage +100%, capacity +30%

• Pandoran Memento (Maliwan): Elemental Resistance to +25%, capacity +30%

• Angel (Daedalus): Shield capacity +86%

• Cindershelly (Order): Damage per stack of Resolve +25%

• Protean Cell (Order): Capacity +33%, regeneration scaling +33%

• Watts 4 Dinner (Ripper): Overshield drop chance lowered to 8%, capacity +22%

If you have been ignoring Energy Shields in favor of Armor builds, this week is a good time to retest.

The Big Warning Before Version 1.7: Torgue Stickies Are Getting Capped

This is the single most important thing to know heading into the next two weeks. Gearbox confirmed in the May 7 patch notes that Version 1.7 will cap the damage bonus on Torgue Stickies at 200%.

Right now, builds that infinitely regenerate ammo can stack the Torgue Sticky bonus well beyond what was ever intended. That stops on May 28. If your endgame build centers on that interaction, you need a backup ready before Raid Boss 2 goes live, because walking into the Subjugator and Thol the Invincible encounter with a nerfed setup on day one is not a great situation.

What Is Actually in Version 1.7 on May 28

Raid Boss 2 is a free update for every player who has completed the main campaign. It is a dual boss fight against Subjugator and Thol the Invincible, described by 2K as two of the Timekeeper’s lackeys. The confirmed loot drops tied to this encounter include:

• 1 new Pearlescent weapon

• 4 new Legendary items

• 5 new Class Mods (one per Vault Hunter)

• 1 new Firmware

Version 1.7 also raises the endgame ceiling with UVHM Level 7, plus additional Vault Hunter and gear balance changes that require code updates (not just number tweaks). Those changes are separate from the weekly tuning passes happening now.

What’s Happening in the Game Right Now (Week of May 7)

For players logging in this week, the active content is:

• Weekly Big Encore Boss: Rippa Roadbirds

• Weekly Wildcard Mission: A Lot to Process (Fortified, Shielded, Experienced)

• Legendary Gear Reward: Onslaught Vladof SMG

• Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine is live at a new location this week

What’s Coming After May 28

Gearbox has already confirmed the content roadmap past Raid Boss 2. Version 1.8 in late June brings the endgame Takedown raid as a free update for all players, alongside Bounty Pack 3 for Deluxe and Super Deluxe owners. Q3 2026 is set for Bounty Packs 4 and 5, plus Story Pack 2, which will include a new Vault Hunter and a new map zone on Kairos.

For now, the two-week window before May 28 is your prep time. Test the newly buffed Hellwalker, explore the shield changes, and build a loadout that does not depend on stacked Torgue Stickies. The Subjugator and Thol the Invincible encounter will hit different on day one if you walk in with a build that got nerfed out from under you.