At least one DLC from each of the Borderlands games stands out as top-tier content in the franchise. Many of the DLCs have had a lasting impression on future Borderlands games and the latest game’s DLC even featured reminiscent throwbacks to the entire series’ highlights. Borderlands franchise DLCs have covered a wide variety of content, from new playable characters and tiers of rare gear to story-driven adventures.
While some of the expansions provided additional, original experiences, others added must-have adjustments and tune-ups to the flow of the base games in the franchise. Each of the DLCs in the franchise can be ranked by how they either improved or reshaped the franchise entirely or within their own games respectively. For example, one of the franchise’s expansions eventually became its own standalone experience and inspired a Borderlands spinoff game soon after.
S-Tier
The expansions from the original Borderlands were way ahead of their time in establishing the endgame content of the future games and the in-joke of hating on the Claptrap units. The Secret Armory of General Knoxx was effectively the first “raid” experience in the franchise, and it also introduced the first Borderlands Raid boss, Crawmerax. Borderlands 2’s best expansions were ultimately the content that set up Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, but that’s not to say that Borderlands 2’s original content is at all bad.
Borderlands The Pre-Sequel’s one redeeming DLC is the Doppelganger Pack, which introduced a body double of the infamous Handsome Jack Borderlands antagonist as an immensely powerful playable character. The best of Borderlands 3’s DLCs are the Arms Race (from the Designer’s cut) that played out like a PVE battle royale and the journey through Kreig’s mind that was an ode to the past games in the series.
The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (Borderlands)
Claptrap's New Robot Revolution (Borderlands)
Tiny Tina’s Assault On Dragon Keep (Borderlands 2)
Commander Lilith & The Fight For Sanctuary (Borderlands 2)
Doppelganger Pack (Borderlands The Pre-Sequel)
Psycho Kreig and the Fantastic Fustercluck (Borderlands 3)
Designer’s Cut (Borderlands 3)
A-Tier
Other DLCs in the Borderlands series are still some of the most fun and unique stories that the franchise has, as well as the additional player characters from Borderlands 2. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is a great expansion with some crazy enemies, but it doesn’t quite conclude the original Borderlands experience the way that the game’s final, Claptrap Revolution DLC does.The Mechromancer and Psycho packs for Borderlands 2 notably introduced some of the best Vault Hunters in Borderlands.
The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (Borderlands)
Mechromancer Pack (Borderlands 2)
Psycho Pack (Borderlands 2)
Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt (Borderlands 2)
Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot (Borderlands 3)
B-Tier
A majority of the mid-tier content consists of Borderlands 3’s DLCs, mainly two of the story expansions, and both of the Takedown gauntlets. The earlier Borderlands games eventually streamlined the endgame experience into wave-based survival arenas and raid bosses, until Borderlands 3 mixed up the formula. One of the ways Borderlands 3 renewed the endgame experience was by combining wave-survival modes with raid bosses in the Takedown activities, which were a big hit. The rest of these DLCs are story-driven expansions that were somewhat above-average compared to others, and the one Borderlands 2 Headhunter DLC that paid respects to a landmark DLC from the original game.
Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage (Borderlands 2)
Headhunter 5: Sir Hammerlock Vs. The Son of Crawmerax (Borderlands 2)
Guns, Love, and Tentacles (Borderlands 3)
Bounty of Blood (Borderlands 3)
Takedown at the Maliwan Backsite (Borderlands 3)
Takedown at the Guardian Breach (Borderlands 3)
C-Tier
The many Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Packs in Borderlands land in the C-tier of the franchise's DLCs. These packs notably grant stacking increases to the Vault Hunters max level in Borderlands games, on top of some extra incentives. A couple of the different UVH Upgrade packs added survival arenas to Borderlands 2 and Borderlands The Pre-Sequel, which mainly came across as bonus treats for veteran players, or an overwhelming experience for casual players.
The Underdome survival activity was a revolutionary expansion for the original Borderlands at the time, but it doesn’t stack up to the wave-based survivals of the meanwhile games. The original Borderlands had a few survival gauntlets before the Underdome, but they were finite experiences. While the Underdome provided a longer experience than the preexisting survival activities, it didn’t have any exclusive Borderlands loot pools for legendary gear like the survival activities of later games in the Borderlands franchise. It mostly served as an arduous triumph to complete and consequently had little replay value.
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot (Borderlands)
Headhunter 3: How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day (Borerlands 2)
Borderlands 2 Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack (Borerlands 2)
Borderlands 2 Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 (Borerlands 2)
Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught (Borderlands the Pre-Sequel)
Director’s Cut (Borderlands 3)
D-Tier
These DLCs from the Borderlands franchise are mostly the Headhunter expansions from Borderlands 2. The Borderlands The Pre-Sequel expansions also fell far shorter than any of the other Borderlands franchise’s DLCs. Similarly, the pirate-themed DLC from Borderlands 2 lands here simply because of how it compares to the other phenomenal story-driven DLCs from the same game. Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty is a somewhat independent experience that doesn’t share too much with the rest of the game besides the stylized humor.
The expansions from Borderlands The Pre-Sequel are all outclassed by other content from the game. The Baroness pack introduced Aurelia, who is commonly known in the community as one of the worst characters in Borderlands, at least as far as playable characters. The Shock Drop Slaughter pit was originally a pre-order bonus for the game that was eventually released behind a general paywall. With so many survival arenas already in the game, a lack of additional content makes this one easy to pass on.
Lastly, the UVH upgrade pack had a drawn-out story that doesn’t stack up to the other story expansions in the franchise. The raised max level in Borderlands the Pre-Sequel has universal benefits, but the story content of this expansion is a fever dream.
Creature Slaughterdome (Borderlands 2)
Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty (Borderlands 3)
Headhunter 1: TK Baha’s Bloody Harvest (Borderlands 3)
Headhunter 2: The Horrible Hunger of the Ravenous Wattle Gobbler (Borderlands 3)
Headhunter 4: Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre (Borderlands 3)
Shock Drop Slaughter Pit (Borderlands the Pre-Sequel)
Baroness Pack (Borderlands the Pre-Sequel)
Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: Claptastic Voyage (Borderlands the Pre-Sequel)