If you’ve spent hours roaming Borderlands 4’s chaotic open worlds hunting for underrated perks that break meta builds, you’ve probably heard whispers of Null and Void Borderlands 4’s most slept-on offensive perk. I stumbled on it completely by accident last month while grinding a side quest in the Vortex Wastes, and it’s been a permanent part of my main Siren build ever since. Most players write it off as a niche utility buff at first, but when paired with the right gear and playstyle, it can turn even the tankiest endgame bosses into Swiss cheese in seconds. We’re breaking down exactly what it does, how to unlock it, and how to get the most out of it without wasting skill points on redundant upgrades.
What Null and Void Borderlands 4 Actually Does (And Why It’s Overlooked)
Most players misread Null and Void’s in-game description, which only mentions it creates a small void field on kill. What the tooltip doesn’t tell you is that every enemy killed inside that void field extends its duration by 3 seconds, and deals 15% increased void damage to all enemies trapped inside. The perk ignores 70% of enemy armor and shield resistance, which makes it far more useful for endgame content than most generic damage boosts.
A lot of players skip it because it requires 4 points in the void skill tree to unlock, which feels like a big investment early on when you’re still building out your core combat skills. But that initial investment pays off exponentially once you reach level 50 and start running Mayhem difficulty missions. I tested it side by side with the popular Void Rift perk last week, and Null and Void dealt 32% more total damage across a full Proving Grounds run, even when I didn’t build specifically around it. It also works in co-op, so all your teammates get the same resistance ignore bonus for enemies trapped inside the field, making it a great pick for group raid runs too.
How to Unlock Null and Void in 3 Simple Steps
Unlocking Null and Void isn’t complicated, but it does require you to complete a few easily missed objectives if you’re rushing through the main story. You don’t need to be a high level to start working toward it, either — you can knock out all the requirements as early as level 25, if you prioritize side content. Here’s exactly what you need to do:
- Complete the side quest “Void Runners” in the Vortex Wastes, which you pick up from the wandering NPC Zane Jr. near the crashed cargo ship fast travel point. The quest only takes 15 to 20 minutes to finish, and you’ll get a rare void mod as a bonus reward on completion.
- Invest 4 skill points in the bottom branch of your character’s void skill tree. You can respec your points at any fast travel station for a small fee of 1,000 Eridium, so don’t worry if you’ve already spent points on other upgrades.
- Turn in the follow-up quest “Void Tester” at the New Haven outpost, where you’ll have to kill 15 enemies using void damage to prove you can handle the perk. Once you turn this in, Null and Void will appear in your skill tree as an unlockable ultimate perk.
You don’t have to stick with the void tree after unlocking the perk, either. You can respec back to your original build as soon as you pick it up, as long as you leave 1 point invested in Null and Void to keep it active. I made the mistake of respeccing all my void points away the first time I unlocked it, and lost access to the perk until I put 1 point back, so save yourself the hassle of redoing the quest.
Best Gear Pairings to Maximize Null and Void Damage
Even on its own, Null and Void is a strong perk, but pairing it with the right gear turns it into a legitimate game-changer. You don’t need ultra-rare legendary gear to make it work, either — a few well-rolled rare items will get you 80% of the way there. The single best weapon to pair with Null and Void is the Void Repeater legendary SMG, which has a 25% chance to spawn an extra small void field every time you land a critical hit. I’ve had runs where I had 3 overlapping void fields active at once, clearing entire rooms of enemies before they even got a chance to shoot at me.
If you don’t have the Void Repeater yet, any void damage weapon with a high fire rate works almost as well, since you’ll be procing kills fast to extend the void field duration. You’ll also want to equip the Void Shield mod, which makes you take 50% less damage while standing inside your own Null and Void field. That lets you stand in the middle of combat without worrying about getting one-shot by heavy enemy fire, which is a huge plus for Mayhem difficulty runs where enemies deal absurd amounts of damage.
Avoid pairing Null and Void with elemental damage perks that deal fire or shock damage, since those will reduce the void damage bonus of the perk by 20% per overlapping elemental effect. I learned that the hard way when I accidentally paired it with my fire damage build and noticed my kill times almost doubled. Stick to pure void or cryo damage if you want to get the maximum benefit from the perk.
Common Null and Void Mistakes to Avoid
I’ve seen dozens of players try out Null and Void once, write it off as weak, and never touch it again, almost always because they’re making one of a few simple mistakes. The first mistake is only investing 1 point in the perk and not upgrading it. Each additional point you put into Null and Void increases the base void field size by 10% and the damage boost by 5%, so putting 5 points into it gives you a 25% increased damage buff and a 50% larger field, which makes it way easier to group enemies and extend the duration.
Another common mistake is using the perk with slow, high-damage weapons like sniper rifles or rocket launchers. You need fast kills to extend the void field duration, so slow weapons that only get one kill every few seconds won’t let you keep the field active long enough to be useful. Don’t waste the perk on small, scattered enemy groups — save it for dense clusters of enemies or boss fights where you have lots of small add enemies to kill to extend the field duration while you focus fire on the boss.
I use it almost exclusively for Proving Grounds runs and raid boss fights now, since those have constant adds to keep the void field active for the entire encounter. You also don’t need to stand in the void field the entire time to get the damage bonus, either. Any damage you deal to enemies inside the field gets the resistance ignore bonus, even if you’re standing outside taking cover from heavy fire. That flexibility makes it a great pick for both aggressive and more cautious playstyles.
At the end of the day, Null and Void Borderlands 4’s most underrated perk doesn’t get the love it deserves because most players don’t take the time to learn how it actually works. It doesn’t fit the standard “big damage number” meta that most players chase, but its ability to ignore enemy resistance and scale with group size makes it far more useful for endgame content than almost any other offensive perk. If you’ve been looking for a way to shake up your build and cut down your boss kill times, it’s absolutely worth taking the 20 minutes to unlock it and test it out for yourself. You might be surprised at how much of a difference it makes to your playstyle.