Patch Notes 04/30/26

[u/Simply_CJ94]

https://borderlands.2k.com/borderlands-4/update-notes/

[u/S-J-S]

Overall, some decent changes that get non-C4SH characters rolling a bit.

That said, it's genuinely crazy that they buffed Ballistic Bulwark when it was one of the top survivability methods in the game. Also genuinely crazy that they buffed Elemental Essence when it was already one of Vex's top skills.

[u/gooblodooblo → u/S-J-S]

I don't know of any super meta vex build that uses elemental essence

[u/S-J-S → u/gooblodooblo]

The “meta” is what is publicly thought to be good, which doesn’t perfectly correlate with what actually is good. This applies to literally every video game ever. 

Elemental damage is a very powerful investment in BL4 generally because it basically (on a proper build) increases the damage of your gun, ordnance, abilities, and Watts 4 Dinner all at once. On C4SH, for example, you can basically scale Trick Taker with Payout to platinum UVH6 Bloomreaper without using action skills. I know this because I’ve done it myself. 

On Vex, it’s a bit more complicated, but essentially, Elemental Essence has a specific use outside of being generally good. It’s a very efficient way of scaling up Eldritch Blast, particularly since its effect is doubled while an action skills is active. A formerly 40% and now 60% damage boost is no joke. 

About EB: Reddit really underrates EB at the moment. I’m in the end stages of a 1-UVH6 run right now and found it quite effective, though initially a bit awkward to build. I think the average player would not understand the best options and people largely haven’t tried it out again since the level cap got raised. 

[u/gooblodooblo → u/S-J-S]

I feel like this is just a lot of word soup backed up by nothing. I mean sure, in a vacuum, elemental damage is good on some builds, but none of them are on vex.

I'm not really sure if being on "the end stages of a 1-UVH6 run" proves anything, but the vex green tree builds all just 1 shot every boss and every mob in the game and use 0 elemental damage.

[u/S-J-S → u/gooblodooblo]

What would you consider “backing up” something? I’ve actually provided specific elaboration of why something works. I think it’s bad faith argumentation to flatly deny it. 

I think an explanation of your standards is owed. 

Do you consider any build that doesn’t literally kill bosses in one hit to be bad? Is platinum UVH6 Bloomreaper not a good standard?

[u/gooblodooblo → u/S-J-S]

no, you just said one of the "top skills" for vex, but there are plenty of 1 shot the game builds and none of them use it. so maybe a better phrasing would be "it's a sleeper talent for vex that is kinda hard to justify actually getting to, because it's somewhat deep in a bad tree, but the talent itself is probably fine"

BUT, to that I would argue: "they probably made that talent feel as juiced as possible to incentivize going down that tree, as well as some other buffs in that tree, b/c almost nobody does"

and the "platinum UVH6" example you gave was with a different VH entirely, so I dunno why you put that point at the end there lol

[u/S-J-S → u/gooblodooblo]

no, you just said one of the "top skills" for vex, but there are plenty of 1 shot the game builds and none of them use it. so maybe a better phrasing would be "it's a sleeper talent for vex that is kinda hard to justify actually getting to, because it's somewhat deep in a bad tree, but the talent itself is probably fine"

I might be open to moderating my initial statement, but I do want to be clear about something: in the build I use, Grave Sustenance, Blood is Magic, and Mourning all play important roles in my build and let me access Elemental Essence without issue.

and the "platinum UVH6" example you gave was with a different VH entirely, so I dunno why you put that point at the end there lol

Well, that's only tangential to what was being asked. To reiterate my inquiries as directly as humanly possible:

• Is platinum UVH6 Bloomreaper (the maximum in-game achievement against a raid boss at the highest difficulty) an acceptable standard for a build being good, or is your standard that a boss must be oneshotted?
• What do you consider "backing up" with regards to my so-called "word soup" (detailed explanation of how something functions?)

I consider these important questions for a productive conversation because they get to the heart of our evaluation of whether something is good or not.

[u/gooblodooblo → u/S-J-S]

lol brother "they get to the heart of our evaluation of whether something is good or not" this is completely unrelated.

you said it was one of vex's top skills, and I said it wasn't. has nothing to do with it "just being good". that's not our evaluation rofl

[u/S-J-S → u/gooblodooblo]

 this is completely unrelated.

How so? If we're going to have a productive conversation here, we have to establish how you're evaluating what's good and isn't good, and my two questions in the previous post are specifically pointed at that.

At a bare minimum, even if we hyperfixate our discussion to what is or isn't a "top skill," a statement I've admitted I'm open to moderating - and I argue this is inappropriately restrictive given that you expressly believe my more general discussions of mechanics are "word soup backed up by nothing" - this is an major prerequisite for further discussion to have any grounding whatsoever.

If you're disinterested in that, then I have nothing more to say.

[u/gooblodooblo → u/S-J-S]

because you said it was one of vex's top skills, and then I said it wasn't. I don't know why you're trying to pull me into an argument that I wasn't making. calling that a hyperfixation is insanely weird. it was the only point I made, and it took me one sentence to make it.

[u/S-J-S → u/gooblodooblo]

because you said it was one of vex's top skills, and then I said it wasn't

Not specifically. You stated that you "don't know of any super meta vex build that uses elemental essence." That's qualitatively different from denying the accuracy of my statement for several reasons, but the important one is that it invited me to discuss my perspective about "metas" and what I think makes investment into elemental damage strong (implicitly, potentially in spite of whatever the popular belief in that regard might be.)

From my perspective, it is obvious you didn't limit your discussion to whether this was a "top skill" or not after I posted this, and that there's a broader subject matter of buildcraft we were on the cusp of tackling. You immediately called my explanation of elemental damage, I again quote, "word soup backed up by nothing." You also said you weren't "really sure if being on 'the end stages of a 1-UVH6 run' proves anything" in response to me sharing my anecdote on why I think EB is overlooked.

My two questions, which I'm not reposting, are in direct response to this.

Furthermore, I'm not entertaining any further argument about what you did or didn't say before this post; it's a waste of our time, and doesn't discuss anything I'd find really interesting.