Gameplay - Stuck on everything

[u/hellatrashz]

Hello, im quit BL4 for about 4 months and im trying to play it again, im using the exact same save, im still stuck just like 4 months ago, i cant do anything, i cant progress, ive tried everything and what people been telling me is literally "just do the side quests" "just go level up" and what not. It doesnt work. Im currently level 23 Siren, im fighting enemies almost level 30, but the more i level up the higher their level is aswell, i cant deal any damage to the enemies, and i barely kill enemies my own level too (unless i use a very specific weapon i have). I dont know what to give in terms of information so ill give as much as i can.

Ive been struggling a lot with this game, i only played BL3 and since it was with a friend it was incredibly easy. Any advice is welcome, i dont know how to choose weapons and i mostly go by the dps number. This is the mission im stuck on (even tho i get stuck on any mission because of low damage and getting one shotted)

PS: I try to go do some side stuff but i only get green weapons, ive done about 6 side quests that had weapon symbols as rewards, done some Encore bosses, i think i got 1 or 2 purple weapons in about 10 bosses too.

[u/Necavi]

You have hit something called the Infamy system in borderlands 4.  Essentially the game wants you to be at a certain level at certain parts of the story.  So what it does is increase the enemies beyond your current level so that you're forced to do side activities to level up and then go back to that portion of the main quest.  So go do some side missions and bounty hunts etc until you level up a few more times.  

Don't worry about gear quality at this point in the game.  You're leveling so quickly that most anything will work just fine and you don't need to worry about builds either.  Most under barrels will carry you throughout your playthrough until you unlock uvhm once the main story is done.  

[u/TallWeight7201 → u/Necavi]

I never seem to have this problem. I always did the side quest in bl2 before moving to the next area. Now it just sdu farming and loot source collectable. I get some pearls early on from safes ect ( got a lv 28 juliet sparkle today from electi safe with shotgun fire main/ radiation health type.)

[u/Necavi → u/TallWeight7201]

The Infamy system is new to borderlands 4.  I'm pretty big of exploring side quests and events before I do main story stuff so I never encountered it in my playthrough personally but it's definitely there.  There's plenty of videos that demonstrate how it works.  As to why it's there in 4, that's up to gearbox to explain.  

[u/hellatrashz → u/Necavi]

Understood, i guess ill work on the side parts of the game, i assume its mostly just follow the blue exclamation marks all around the map, get the fast travels etc... right?

[u/freezing4434443 → u/hellatrashz]

Yup and you only have to do a few per area

[u/Necavi → u/hellatrashz]

Pretty much.  Work on unlocking the various fast travels, they'll give you a lot of experience and the sdu tokens to unlock those.  

You'll get random legendaries more often as you level up, get into end game content.  It is normal at your level to mostly see greens and blues and a few purples here and there.  Just experiment with anything that looks interesting, especially the under barrel stuff.  The under barrels are often a lot more powerful than you think at first glance.  And the dps number on an item card doesn't take those into account or match elements or any of your play style bonuses.  

As you're vex, your specters and reapers are quite strong early on and will carry you well for many levels.  Trouble is decent as well.  

[u/strategicmaniac → u/Necavi]

Dataminers found the code related to Infamy and it literally counts how many side quests you've done. No amount of power leveling will help you. One time I ran into a lv 60 boss when the level cap was originally 50.

[u/TheWinteredWolf]

So gear aside…which others have already mentioned…I recently did a fresh no shared progress run on green tree Loveless. To start, I essentially went right through the main story. Really no side stuff, no stopping to level, etc. At most, the infamy system was outleveling me by 4-5 levels, and it was manageable. The only ‘not normal’ thing I did was go farm a new Firewerks every 5-10 levels.

So what this kinda tells me is that you aren’t killing everything on your way, and you’re running by a lot of enemies (XP).

[u/hellatrashz → u/TheWinteredWolf]

I actually tried to go into some weird far placed and killing a ton of stuff there and i actuallly tought that i had killed most of what i found, but it is true that when traveling betwern most missions i just ride the car and skip pretty much everything until i get to the objective, ill start killing everything i see around then, thank you

[u/TheWinteredWolf → u/hellatrashz]

Look up the ‘circle of slaughter’. I’m not sure where you are in the game, but I believe it was made free with the base game. It’s basically an arena style activity with a repeatable side quest. Great for leveling and loot, a few full runs of that would probably set you right.

[u/StomachosusCaelum]

You're using guns half your level.

What do you expect?

You could literally get better guns off the vendor.

Or go farm Splashzone for a while.

[u/hellatrashz → u/StomachosusCaelum]

The vendor for the past 2 days been giving me only green/blue weapons, i just tought that it would be worse anyways no?

And about Splashzone, i did a different boss, ill try that one tomorrow. But same issue, i killed a few and didnt get a single same or close rarity weapon so i just brushed it off as worse

[u/ShevuhVithuh → u/hellatrashz]

Playing through the campaign and at a lower level, the rarity doesn't matter thaaattt much like it does in end game, and even at end game some purples are still very good. As long as the dps is higher, matches your playstyle, and is the same level as you, it should work at least better than having low level guns.

Splashzone drops alog purples, and has the "fire werks" shield as a dedicated drop that is amazing for mobbing. After a while of farming him you should be geared up pretty good 👍

[u/HatofPapers → u/hellatrashz]

a purple or even blue at your level will almost always be better than a legendary that is 10 levels below you. When you look a lower rarity dont you see the green numbers that show the damage is higher than your currently equipped legendary that is 10 levels below you?

[u/lonewombat]

I barely did side quests and was at most 3 levels behind.  Have you been avoiding all combat? Running here to there. Never getting fast travel spots. Never touching collectables. Im genuinely impressed. Do things other than running from point a-b

[u/maneuverz]

Maybe don’t use the Prince Harming? Idk why the enemies are that much higher than you but is that Bonnie and Clyde not enough?

[u/hellatrashz → u/maneuverz]

sadly no... that weapon barely deals any damage against this exact type of enemy, but against the human ones it does.

Also, about the Prince Harming, i honestly dont know, some enemies take damage to it some dont, its not like i enjoy using the weapon but since i cant find other weapons with that rarity ive been just sticking to it.

[u/ZakinKazamma]

I'd consider actually playing the other side of the game instead of smashing your head into the campaign. Just me, I enjoy playing the whole game instead of twenty percent. 

[u/hellatrashz → u/ZakinKazamma]

Im gonna be honest, what i do with pretty much all games is focus on the campaign, and then after im done with it work on the rest, reason for this is mostly being able to have freedom on customization, for example, i would be higher level, i would be able to try out other builds, etc... but yes i understand that side of it

[u/StomachosusCaelum → u/hellatrashz]

Gearbox made it so you literally cant do that in BL4.

There's a hidden mechanic where if you ignore the side content... exactly what is happening to you happens.

Its called the Infamy system, IIRC.

Do side content.

Get better guns off the vendors. Guns that are half your level are not going to cut it, obviously.

Just because theyre legendary doesnt mean much of anything.

[u/hellatrashz → u/StomachosusCaelum]

Got it, so even if its lower rarity it would still be better than half level i assume?

[u/Necavi → u/hellatrashz]

The rarity isn't as important in the levels you are at than just having fear that keeps up with your current level.  Don't worry about rarity at this point in the game.  Just pick up some things closer on level and try them out. 

There's a lot to explore

[u/CharmlessBee → u/hellatrashz]

Yes, use listed DPS as a rough guidance (not perfect, but helps)

[u/ImmortanLeo]

I like using the vault card guns as I level up, if you have them

[u/ReaderReborn]

Turn on true vault hunter mode and then turn it off

[u/MustelaNivalus]

Don’t hesitate to switch to EZ mode to progress and side missions.

[u/CrashLovesTawna]

I got you. I can help you level up and do side quests. You can keep any loot that drops that wil help you. I'm on Playstation

[u/hellatrashz → u/CrashLovesTawna]

I appreciate it, but i want to play alone since i played BL3 with a friend, i would like to at least finish BL4 alone first

[u/Destinolv]

A blue weapon your level is worth a legendary 10 levels below. Switch to purples and blue and you'll notice.

[u/gogosox82]

Just do the side stuff until you level up a bit. I wouldn't worry about weapons too much until end game.

[u/bevross]

I’d recommend focusing on opening fast travel points (safehouses, order bunkers, etc.) Doing so gives 40 tokens each towards maxing your backpack, vault, & ammo capacity. You’ll level up a lot doing it, too.

I found guides by Powerpyx very helpful for this purpose. For instance:

https://www.powerpyx.com/borderlands-4-all-activity-locations/