If you just rolled credits on your first Borderlands 4 playthrough, you’re probably sitting on a stack of legendary weapons, a maxed-out skill tree, and a burning desire to cause more chaos across Pandora. You’ve likely heard the harder, loot-filled NG+ mode exists, but you might be stuck trying to figure out borderlands 4 how to start new game plus without losing all the progress you’ve grinded for. Don’t worry, I’ve tested this process three times across different character classes to cut through the confusion, so you can jump right into your second run without hiccups.
Borderlands 4 How to Start New Game Plus: Exact Step-by-Step Process
First off, you can’t access NG+ until you’ve completed every main story mission in Borderlands 4, including the final boss fight and post-credits cutscene. I missed this the first time I tried to unlock it, because I skipped a side story mission that was actually tied to the main quest line, so double check your mission log to make sure the “Main Story” section is 100% complete. Once that’s done, follow these exact steps:
- Return to the main menu and select the “Playthrough” option under your saved character file
- Choose the “New Game Plus” toggle from the dropdown menu that appears
- Confirm which items and progress you want to carry over to your new run
- Select your difficulty setting (we recommend Mayhem Mode 2 or higher for the best NG+ loot drops)
- Hit start, and you’ll spawn back at the opening of the first mission with all your selected progress intact
One common mistake players make here is trying to start NG+ from an in-game fast travel point, instead of the main menu. It won’t show up as an option while you’re still in a playthrough session, so make sure you fully back out to the main character select screen first. You’ll also get a warning if you haven’t collected all of your missed legendary drops from the final boss, so take 10 minutes to grab those before you start your new run if you want to add them to your carry-over pool.
What Carries Over to Borderlands 4 New Game Plus?
A lot of players hold off on starting NG+ because they’re scared they’ll lose all the hard-earned gear and levels they grinded for on their first run. I get that, I spent 12 hours farming for a perfect elemental shotgun before my first NG+ run, so I double checked every detail of the carry-over system before I confirmed my start. The good news is almost all of your progress transfers over, with a few small exceptions.
First, all of your character levels, skill points, and Guardian Rank progress carry over 100%. You won’t have to re-grind levels to unlock your favorite skill builds, which means you can jump right into blowing up low-level enemies with endgame skills for the first few missions if you want. All of your weapons, gear, cosmetics, and unlocked skins also transfer over, so you can keep using that legendary rocket launcher you spent 20 runs farming for. You’ll also keep all of your in-game currency, including Eridium, cash, and unlocked Golden Keys.
The only things that don’t carry over are main story mission progress, unfinished side quest progress, fast travel unlocks for non-safe zone locations, and currently active buffs from items or events. That means if you were in the middle of a long side quest to get a unique cosmetic, you should finish that first before you start NG+ to avoid having to redo the whole thing from scratch.
Key Prep Steps to Take Before You Start NG+
You can jump straight into NG+ as soon as you finish the main story if you want, but taking 30 minutes to prep first will make your run way more fun and rewarding, especially if you’re playing on a higher difficulty setting. I skipped prep on my first run and regretted it within the first hour, when I realized I’d left a stack of rare upgrade materials in my storage that I could have used to mod my weapons for harder enemies.
First, clean out your inventory and storage vault before you start. Get rid of any low-tier weapons or gear you don’t plan on using, so you have plenty of space for all the new, higher-tier legendaries that drop in NG+. You’ll also want to equip your strongest weapons and mod them for elemental damage, since enemies in NG+ have much higher health pools and resistances than they do in the base game.
Next, if you play co-op, make sure all of your party members have also completed the main story and unlocked NG+ before you start a co-op run. If one player hasn’t unlocked it, the game will default to a normal playthrough, and you won’t get the NG+ exclusive loot or difficulty buffs. You’ll also want to sync your Mayhem Mode settings with your party before you start, to make sure everyone is on the same page for difficulty.
Finally, take note of any legendaries you want to farm for early in your NG+ run. A lot of early-game bosses drop exclusive NG+ versions of their weapons that are way stronger than the base game variants, so you can plan your route to hit those bosses first if you want to add those weapons to your loadout early. Don’t waste your Eridium on cosmetic items before you start NG+ if you can avoid it. You’ll need it to unlock NG+ exclusive skill tree upgrades that you can’t get in the base game, so save at least 500 Eridium before you start your run to unlock those as soon as they become available.
Common NG+ Mistakes to Avoid for New Borderlands 4 Players
I’ve messed up enough NG+ runs across all the Borderlands games to know exactly what mistakes will ruin your run before you even get past the first mission, so I’ve rounded up the most common ones to watch out for.
First, don’t start NG+ on the same difficulty you played the base game on if you’re looking for a challenge. Enemies in NG+ scale to your current level, so if you’re max level, you’ll one-shot every enemy in the first 10 hours of the game if you play on Normal difficulty. Switch to Mayhem Mode 2 or higher to get better loot drops and actually have to use your skill builds to win fights.
Second, don’t skip side missions in NG+. A lot of players assume side missions are the same as the base game, but NG+ exclusive side missions unlock as you progress, which give you unique rewards like new skill points, exclusive cosmetics, and legendary weapons that don’t drop anywhere else in the game. I skipped all side missions on my first NG+ run and missed out on 3 extra skill points that would have made my endgame build way stronger.
Third, don’t sell or discard your old base game legendaries just because you find higher level ones early in NG+. A lot of base game legendaries have unique perks that don’t exist on NG+ variants, so you can mod them to match your current level later on if you want to use them for specific builds. Keep at least one copy of every unique legendary you find in the base game in your storage vault, just in case.
Finally, don’t forget that you can switch back to your original playthrough at any time. If you get stuck on a hard boss in NG+ or want to finish a side mission you left incomplete, you can swap back to your original playthrough from the main menu without losing any progress in your NG+ run. A lot of players don’t realize this, so they grind for hours to beat a boss they’re not ready for, when they could just go back to the base playthrough to farm better gear first.
At the end of the day, starting a NG+ run is one of the most fun parts of playing Borderlands 4, since it lets you use all the endgame builds and gear you worked so hard for to tear through the story again with better loot and harder fights. Now that you know borderlands 4 how to start new game plus the right way, you can avoid the common mistakes that ruin most players’ first runs and jump right into the chaos without worrying about losing your progress. If you’re still stuck on any part of the process, drop a comment below and I’ll help you work through it.