After 16 years since the release of the first Borderlands game, the series is still going strong, with Borderlands 4 set to release on September 12, 2025. With plenty of games, spin-offs, and DLC stories, it’s unsurprising that the Borderlands series is home to plenty of secrets and Easter eggs, and Borderlands 4 will likely be no different.
Because there’s so much content to experience and loot to discover, it’s no wonder that some players can dedicate hundreds of hours to each entry, replaying the campaigns with a different Vault Hunter each time. Throughout these playthroughs, players will undoubtedly encounter some of the great Easter eggs Borderland s has to offer, but there are some secrets that even the most experienced players may have missed.
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The Borderlands franchise has no shortage of long-running jokes and secrets, and there's a big one that Borderlands 4 shouldn't shed more light on.
Borderlands 2 Has Small Details for Keen-Eyed Hunters
The Warrior’s Vault Symbol
Anyone with even peripheral knowledge of the Borderlands franchise will have seen the Vault symbol, but fans who have logged hundreds of hours into the series will be all too familiar with it. The Vault symbols are an integral part of Borderlands’ iconography, and throughout Borderlands 2, players are tasked with finding them scattered around Pandora as part of the Cult of the Vault challenge. Players are very well acquainted with this symbol and will have spotted it in the most unlikely of places.
There is one Vault symbol that many players are likely to have missed over multiple playthroughs, despite being very close to it each time. The Warrior is Borderlands 2’s last boss, and unlike other Vault Monsters, it was not sealed away within a Vault to prevent destruction. Instead, The Warrior was a bioweapon created by the Eridians to prevent hunters from freeing The Destroyer and causing untold chaos. In reference to The Warrior’s Eridian origins, a Vault symbol can be seen at the back of its head, but the sheer size of the monster can make this difficult to see in regular gameplay.
An Obvious Weakness
Each Borderlands game offers DLC expansions that allow players to explore the world of Borderlands in different ways. Borderlands 2 is no different, receiving extra mission add-ons alongside five full DLC campaigns with hours' worth of content to enjoy. Some of these DLC storylines helped to make Borderlands 2 one of the best games in the series, full of memorable characters and missions.
The first DLC campaign released for Borderlands 2 was Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty. In the first mission of the DLC, players are tasked with killing No-Beard, a pirate captain with a fully covered face. His name is obviously in reference to famous pirates like Blackbeard, but it actually serves a gameplay purpose. Zer0’s B0re skill can reveal enemy crit locations while his Decepti0n Action Skill is active. During the fight with No-Beard, players may be able to spot that he has two areas that deal critical damage. As well as the standard headshot, No-Beard’s lack of a beard makes his chin susceptible to critical hits, too.
Intoxicating Power
The guns in the Borderlands series have a lot of variety. Some are notorious for their hard-hitting firepower, whereas others have more unique properties that make them very memorable. One of these is the Grog Nozzle, a pistol given to players temporarily during one of the Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep missions. It has become a staple for many Ultimate Vault Hunter runs, with many players never completing the mission to keep the pistol in their inventory.
One of the main reasons for players to keep the Grog Nozzle with them throughout the campaign is because of its lifesteal abilities, making it much easier to defeat raid bosses solo. However, some players may not know that the weapon has other effects. When under the intoxicating effects of this Borderlands pistol, accuracy and fire rate are diminished by half, but players are granted five additional projectiles per shot. The secret lies in that this applies to all projectiles while under the effect, not just rounds fired from the Grog Nozzle. This means that barrels launched from the Bandit Technical vehicle or buzz axes thrown by Krieg’s action skill all gain five bonus projectiles.
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Some Borderlands 3 Secrets Have Major Lore Implications
The Timekeeper’s Origins
Villains are an important factor in any game, and Borderlands has had some of the best. Handsome Jack still remains one of gaming’s most interesting antagonists, and after a slight misstep with Borderlands 3’s Troy and Tyreen, what has been shown of The Timekeeper makes it seem like the series is back on course to deliver another iconic villain. Who The Timekeeper is in Borderlands 4 is still shrouded in mystery, and his true nature may not be known until the game releases, but players may have skipped over some information from Borderlands 3.
Throughout Borderlands 3, it’s possible for players to find Eridian Slabs, giving them some additional lore about who the Eridians were, the Phaseleech Siren Nyriad, and the purpose of the Vaults. The Eridian Writing labeled “Secrets” chronicles The Destroyer being contained in Pandora’s Vault, and mentions three other beings the Eridians attempted to hide. Players have already had the opportunity to take down two of those who were listed – The Graveward and The Traveler. The last one mentioned is The Timekeeper, foreshadowing his villainous role in the next mainline game. For players who prioritize looting and shooting, it can be easy to miss this reveal, but its payoff in Borderlands 4 may be worth it.
Canon Loot Beacons
As the pioneer of the looter-shooter genre, Borderlands players can expect each game in the series to be full of guns to equip and take enemies down with. With each item having a rarity, part of the core game experience is to farm some of Borderlands’ bosses to grind for the best loot. Every defeated boss bursts into a multicolored explosion of weaponry and shields, making it very easy for players to pick out a legendary from the more common weapons.
From a gameplay standpoint, the brightly colored beacons emitted from the game’s loot help players to quickly scan for which items are most useful to them and if the boss dropped what they were grinding for. These beams are actually diegetic, though, and Borderlands 3 provides a canonical explanation for them. A commercial can be heard on an in-game radio by the company S&S Accessories, formerly S&S Munitions, the weapons manufacturer from the original Borderlands game. These weapons were dropped from the series as they shared too many similarities with existing brands, but the company lives on in the series, providing Gun Lights to illuminate any loot on the ground to make it easier to find.
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Borderlands 4 releases very soon, but players still have plenty of time to play through the rest of the series.
Borderlands 3 Includes Some Easy-To-Miss Jokes
A Recurring Joke
Patricia Tannis is a recurring character in the Borderlands series, and became much more important to the story in Borderlands 3. She is an eccentric scientist, spending the earlier games researching Pandora, its Vaults, and the Eridians. However, in Borderlands 3, it was revealed that she gained access to Siren powers during the events of Borderlands 2. In spite of her immense new abilities, she stayed dedicated to her research and retained her quirky personality.
Wanting to learn more about Pandora’s fauna, Tannis can be seen engaging with the planet’s wildlife throughout the games. The most notorious example is the recurring Easter egg of Tannis riding a fish, prompted when the player shoots nearby barrels in a specific order. This has been included in each title in the series, including Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, a game in which Tannis isn’t otherwise present. Borderlands 3 is not exempt from this tradition, and the Easter egg can be viewed by players on Ambermire, Eden-6. Tannis’ role in Borderlands 4 still isn’t certain, but fans can rest assured that this recurring joke will likely return.
An Unexpected Voice
Borderlands 3 includes some celebrity cameos that are impossible to miss, such as the fan-favorite character BALEX, voiced by Ice-T. An even more obvious addition is the duo Pain and Terror, a pair of enemies who are an homage to magicians Penn and Teller. Beyond capturing the likeness of the two, from Penn’s signature red-painted fingernail to Teller’s silence being represented by a stitched-up mouth, the game strengthens this connection by having Penn provide the voice for his Borderlands counterpart. Of course, with Teller being known to not speak during performances, he didn’t need to voice Terror, but some players may not know that his voice can be heard in-game.
In the On the Blood Path side mission, players meet Ramsden, First Knuckle of the Fingerbite gang, who claims that his former right-hand man betrayed him to join the Shanks. It’s one of Borderlands 3’s most unsettling side missions, having players single-handedly take on the Shanks in pursuit of Holder, while Ramsden offers some disturbing commentary throughout. What could be surprising to some players is that Teller breaks his silence to provide the voice of Ramsden. The mission itself is already quite twisted, but hearing the voice of a celebrity known to keep quiet is quite unnerving in and of itself, as if it’s something players should not be hearing. Regardless, he offers a great and unforgettable performance, and his inclusion in the game makes the connection to the magic duo that much stronger.
Borderlands 4
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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
