If you’ve spent hours blasting bandits and chasing legendary guns across Pandora in past Borderlands entries, you’re probably itching to dive into the latest installment on your next-gen console. I picked up my copy of Borderlands 4 Xbox Series X the day it dropped, and spent the first three days messing with settings, testing co-op runs, and hunting for hidden loot before I landed on a setup that feels perfectly tuned for Microsoft’s flagship console. A lot of players skip the small tweaks that make the difference between a clunky, frame-dropping run and a seamless, loot-fueled binge, so I put together this guide to save you the hours of trial and error I went through.
Borderlands 4 Xbox Series X Performance Settings You Should Tweak First
The game ships with three default display modes, and most players just pick the first one without testing the others to see what fits their playstyle. Quality mode runs at native 4K 30fps with full ray tracing enabled, which looks stunning during cutscenes but feels sluggish during fast-paced gunfights with hordes of enemies. Performance mode upscales 1440p to 4K at a locked 60fps with ray tracing turned off, and that’s the setting I use 90% of the time for regular gameplay. Performance RT is the middle ground, running at 1080p upscaled to 4K 60fps with light ray tracing, which is great if you want the neon glow of Pandora’s cities and realistic weapon effects without sacrificing frame rate.
There are two extra settings you should change immediately, no matter what display mode you pick. Turn off motion blur first, because it makes fast-moving targets way harder to track during endgame boss fights. You should also disable gameplay depth of field, so you don’t miss small white and orange loot drops hidden in busy background areas. Stick to Performance mode for all endgame co-op runs, because 30fps will make it hard to keep up with fast-moving enemies and team abilities when you’re playing with three other people. I learned this the hard way during my first raid run, where I kept missing critical shots because the frame rate dropped every time the boss used a special ability.
Exclusive Xbox Series X Features for Borderlands 4 You Might Have Missed
One of the biggest perks of playing on Series X is the Velocity Architecture support, which cuts load times down to less than two seconds for fast travel and mission restarts. I used to spend 30+ seconds waiting for areas to load on my old Xbox One, so this change alone makes the next-gen version worth picking up for frequent farming runs. The controller integration is also surprisingly well thought out, with haptic feedback that changes depending on what weapon you’re using: a rocket launcher has a heavy, deep thud when you fire, while a high-speed SMG has a light, rapid rattle that feels surprisingly immersive.
Xbox players also get a handful of exclusive perks that aren’t available on other console platforms, including:
- Free monthly Vault Hunter cosmetic drops for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers
- Cross-save support across Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and Windows PC, so you never lose your build progress
- 10% discount on all in-game Borderlands 4 purchases for Game Pass members
- Exclusive early access to the first two DLC expansions, 72 hours before they launch on other platforms
You don’t have to do anything special to claim most of these perks, they’ll automatically pop up in your in-game mailbox when you log in with an eligible account. The haptic feedback settings can be adjusted per weapon type in the accessibility menu, so you can turn down the rumble for shotguns if it’s too jarring, or crank it up for rocket launchers for extra immersion. I also recommend enabling the trigger lock feature on your Xbox Series X controller if you use a lot of semi-auto weapons, it cuts the trigger travel in half so you can fire much faster.
Tips for Optimized Co-op Play on Xbox Series X
Borderlands is always more fun with friends, and the Series X version supports both 4-player local split screen and online co-op without major performance hits. If you’re playing local split screen, make sure you’re on Performance mode to keep a locked 60fps for both players. If you leave it on Quality mode, the frame rate drops to 30fps per player, which feels really sluggish during busy fights with lots of effects on screen.
I recommend using the Xbox party overlay for voice chat instead of the in-game chat system, because the in-game chat often gets laggy during peak play hours and cuts out mid-fight. You can also share loot directly with your party members via the Xbox inventory share feature, so you don’t have to drop rare guns on the ground and risk them disappearing or being picked up by the wrong person. Turn on cross-play if you want to match with players on PC or PlayStation, but disable it if you prefer to play only with other Xbox users for more consistent connection speeds. I’ve noticed way less lag when I play only with other Xbox players, especially during raid runs where even a small lag spike can lead to a full party wipe. If you’re hosting a co-op game, connect your Xbox to ethernet instead of wifi to avoid lag for all your party members, spotty wifi is the number one cause of co-op crashes I’ve run into so far.
How to Farm Legendary Weapons Faster on Borderlands 4 Xbox Series X
The ultra-fast load times on Series X make farming legendaries way faster than it ever was on last-gen consoles, and there are a few simple tricks to cut your farm time even more. First, find the boss that drops the specific legendary you want, beat them, fast travel to the nearest fast travel station, then fast travel right back to the boss arena. The boss will respawn immediately, and the whole process takes less than 10 seconds on Series X, so you can do 10+ runs in 5 minutes, compared to 20+ minutes on Xbox One.
Loot luck events for Xbox players stack with your Vault Hunter’s inherent loot luck stat, so make sure to log in during community events to maximize your chances of getting rare drops. Equip a loot luck relic before you start any farming run, even a common one can increase your chance of getting a legendary drop by 15% or more. There’s also a hidden loot cave near the Crimson Raiders base in the first open area of the game, which respawns elite enemies every two minutes, perfect for early-game farming when you’re still building your first endgame build. If you get a duplicate legendary, you can dismantle it for crafting materials that are exclusive to next-gen versions of the game, so you don’t have to waste time selling low-value legendaries for cash you’ll never use. You can use those exclusive materials to craft custom legendaries with perfect stats later in the game, so it’s worth saving every duplicate you find.
At the end of the day, half the fun of Borderlands is messing around with settings, trying weird builds, and laughing through chaotic co-op runs with your friends. The Borderlands 4 Xbox Series X version is easily the best console iteration of the game, with faster load times, better controller support, and exclusive perks that make it worth picking up even if you already plan to play it on another platform. Don’t be afraid to test different settings to find what works for you, and if you find a hidden trick I didn’t mention here, feel free to drop it in the comments for other players to try. I’m still finding new tiny features every time I boot up the game, and I can’t wait to see what Gearbox adds in future updates.