Borderlands 4’s release is just weeks away, and players will soon be able to dive into the latest entry of the looter shooter franchise and explore all it has to offer. Its open-world format should reward exploration more than any other entry in the series, farming bosses for weaponry should feel smoother and faster than it has in older games, and the story seems poised to be genuinely interesting thanks to the new villain The Timekeeper. However, as is usually the case with this franchise, Gearbox already has plans in place for long-term support, with Borderlands 4’s roadmap recently revealing a bombshell for 2026.
Borderlands 4’s roadmap pulls back the curtain on both its free content and paid additions. On the free side of things, players will get access to seasonal events like Borderlands 3, as well as Invincible raid bosses every few months. A weekly Wild Card mission, Big Encore Boss, and a Black Market machine operated by Maurice will rotate to keep fans invested. Those who pay for extra content will be getting Bounty Packs, which offer Vault Cards alongside a new boss and numerous cosmetics, as well as larger story packs with fresh questlines, maps, and so on. Two of each will be released, which should result in hours of fun, and with a second Season Pass surely being possible based on Borderlands 3, the future is bright. Funnily enough, what is perhaps the most exciting content of all takes up a small segment of the roadmap, as Pearlescent weapons will be obtainable by all players in Q1 2026.
Pearlescent weapons are not to be confused with the pink Seraph guns from Borderlands 2, intentionally “glitched” guns that had massive drawbacks to offset their powerful stats.
Borderlands 4’s Pearlescent Comeback is a Long Time Coming
Fans of the Borderlands franchise have been hoping for the return of Pearlescent guns for several years, as they were last featured in Borderlands 2 (where they were arguably too weak, as only The Butcher was really sought after). These weapons were actually inspired by a glitch in the original Borderlands game where white text overlapped with the orange text of Legendaries, creating cyan-colored versions of Legendary weapons. Though these guns looked like fancier variants of Legendary guns because of the text color, they weren’t actually any stronger. However, come the game-changing Secret Armory of General Knoxx expansion, real cyan weapons - AKA Pearlescents - were introduced.
Players would spend hours upon hours farming the giant grab known as Crawmerax the Invincible, Borderlands’ original raid boss, in hopes of one of these weapons dropping. For most gamers, it would take several clears to be met with just one of the incredibly rare Pearlescents, as players have estimated that the drop rate is between 1/500 and 1/1000. This incredible rarity is exactly what made them so special, though, as any players who had them were extremely lucky, dedicated, or both. A showpiece as much as it was a strong killing tool for Vault Hunters, Pearls are a beloved form of content that many will undoubtedly be thrilled to see again.
Currently, details on Borderlands 4’s handling of Pearlescents are limited, though many are likely just happy that Randy Pitchford teasing the rarity’s comeback months ago actually led to this announcement. What fans do know is that Pearls will be a free addition and “incredibly difficult to find”. It’s unclear if they will be quite as rare as they were in their debut appearance, though with Gearbox already hyping up how much less common Legendaries are in BL4, it can be assumed that they will still be a once in a blue (or, more accurately, cyan) moon drop. Players won’t have to worry about these weapons being more flashy than strong, either. Though it’s unclear if they’ll have a unique effect like each cyan gun did in Borderlands 2, they are described as “a new loot tier above Legendary,” with Gearbox promising their power will match their rarity.
Borderlands 4 Players Shouldn’t Expect Too Many Pearlescent Weapons to Collect
Borderlands 4 players shouldn’t be expecting dozens of Pearls like they’re going to see with the Legendary loot tier, as just like other games with this rarity, it can be safely assumed that there will be a dozen or less cyan guns added throughout BL4’s life cycle. With a few exceptions, there was essentially one Pearlescent to chase per manufacturer, meaning that Borderlands 4 could have at least 8 Pearls to chase. Borderlands 4's confirmed manufacturers are as follows:
- Jakobs
- Maliwan
- Tediore
- Torgue
- Vladof
- Daedeulus
- Order
- Ripper
There will likely be a few dedicated shield companies that could have a Pearlescent, bringing the potential total to at least 10.
Ultimately, having this few Pearls on top of them being so hard to obtain would make this rarity feel even more special, and it could truly reinvigorate the game in 2026 once players have acquired all the best base game loot. Adding Pearlescents post-launch is a brilliant way to shake up the loot pool before it gets a chance to grow stale, assuming that they live up to the hype, and they’re as strong as they should be. While Borderlands 4’s other season pass content is very exciting, Pearlescents and the potential they bring could make them a proper game-changer.
Borderlands 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
