What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

Borderlands 4

Difficulty Setting Differences and How to Change

Add to Watchlist (1)

☆ How Rush Saved Mercenary Day (Bounty Pack 1)
★ 12 active SHiFT Codes as of December 4, 2025
☆ Black Market Location
★ Elemental Weakness Chart
☆ Legendary Weapons
★ Builds: Vex | Amon | Rafa | Harlowe

Borderlands 4 - Difficulty Settings
You can change the difficulty to Easy, Normal, or Hard in Borderlands 4. Check the differences between each difficulty setting and find out which one is the best choice for your playthrough here!

List of Contents

Borderlands 4 Difficulty Differences

All Difficulty Modes

Difficulty Description
Easy ・Damage taken is reduced.
・Enemies deal less damage.
・Elemental effects are less impactful.
・Best for first time players looking for a story.
Normal ・Enemies deal moderate damage.
・Loot drops at a steady rate.
・Elemental effects work as intended.
・Best choice for a standard Borderlands 4 playthrough.
Hard ・Enemies deal more damage.
Elemental effects have more impact against enemies.
・Rewards are higher and loot quality is better.
・Best for Experienced Vault Haunters.

How Difficulty Works in Co-op

Difficulty Settings Scale Individually in Co-op

Each player’s chosen difficulty setting only affects their own character. For example, a player on Easy will take less damage from enemies and deal damage more easily, without needing to rely heavily on elemental effects.

Meanwhile, a player on Hard difficulty will take more damage from enemies and will need to rely more heavily on elemental affinities to bring them down.

Increased Loot Drops for Higher Difficulties

In co-op, loot and rewards are separate for each player and it's based on the player’s chosen difficulty. Players on Hard will receive more loot, higher cash rewards, and better loot quality, giving them a better chance of finding rare and powerful gear compared to those playing on lower difficulties.

How to Change Difficulty

Change Through the Pause Menu or Main Menu

Borderlands 4 - Session Settings Tab
Change your difficulty by opening the pause menu or main menu and navigating to the Sessions Settings tab. Select the desired difficulty, then select apply. This can be done at any point in the game without the need to restart your character.

Borderlands 4 Related Guides

TIPS & TRICKS

Beginner's Guide to Borderlands 4: Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks Guides

Progression Guides
What to Do First Level Cap: What is the Max Level?
How to Farm Bosses How to Level Up Fast
How to Farm and Use Eridium How to Get More SDU Tokens
How to Crush Jamming Device When Do You Get a Vehicle?
How to Unlock More Weapon Slots How to Increase Inventory Capacity
How to Get Stronger Weapons Can You Upgrade Weapons?
Red Chest Farm Location Should You Do Side Quests?
What is Ultimate Vault Hunter? How to Increase UVH Level
Legendary Enhancements Farm How to Unlock UVH 2
How to Get Into Dominion -
General Guides
How to Sell Items How to Respec Skill Tree
Golden Keys Guide All Bank Locations
How to Store and Transfer Items How to Drop Items
How to Claim Deluxe Edition Items How to Fast Travel
Can You Duel? Pearlescent Rarity
Level Scaling Explained How to Summon Vehicle
How to Link 2K Account Weapon Rarity vs Level
Lost Loot Machine Explained Weapons Levels Explained
Weapon Rarity Explained Fishing Guide
What to Spend Money On Movement Guide
Moxxi's Tip Jar Guide: Location and Rewards Should You Save on Golden Keys?
Legendary Vending Machine Locations Should You Wait on Opening Vaults?
Throwing Knife Farm All Secrets, Easter Eggs, and References
How to Farm Firmware How to Transfer Firmware
Settings Guides
List of All Controls Matchmaking Guide
Difficulty Differences and How to Change Can You Change Character?
Best and Recommended Settings Can You Change FOV?
Can You Change POV? Compiling Shaders Fix
How to Save and Recover Lost Saves Is There a Minimap?
How to Clear Shader Cache -
Combat Guides
Death Penalty: What Happens When You Die? Elemental Weaknesses Guide
Incendiary Damage Guide Shock Damage Guide
Cryo Damage Guide Radiation Damage Guide
Corrosive Damage Guide One Shot Exploit

Comment

Post (0 Comments)

Author

Borderlands 4 Walkthrough Team
This article was created by Game8's elite team of writers and gamers.
    Leave feedback(Login required)
    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    12/2025
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey
    Not Now
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
    Amount of Ads
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Placement of Ads
    Timing of Ad Display
    Ad Loading Speed
    Safeness of Ads
    Content of Ads
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
    Amount of information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Frequency of updates
    Speed of new information
    Accuracy of articles
    Understandibility of articles
    Readability of sentences
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
    Ease of finding information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Loading Speed
    Use of Color
    Font Size
    Visibility of Images
    Easy to Understand Layout
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
    Ease of Writing
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Readability
    Ease in Finding Information
    Comment Quality
    Comment Quantity
    Admin Response
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
    Please rate our site's new design
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
    Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
    Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
    How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
    ×
    How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
    Very Unlikely
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    Very Likely
    If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
    Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
    Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
    ×
    Thank You
    ×
    Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
    We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
    Close
    For other opinions or comments, go here.

    Rankings

    Popular Articles
    Message Board
    • We could not find the message board you were looking for.

    Gaming News

    Pokémon Legends Z-A Exclusive Café Donuts Hint At Two Legendaries Returning For Mega Dimensions DLC

    Pokémon Legends Z-A Exclusive Café Donuts Hint At Two Leg...

    Popular Games

    Recommended Games

    All rights reserved

    ©2025 Gearbox Software. Published by 2K Games. Developed by Gearbox. Gearbox, Borderlands, and related logos are all trademarks of Gearbox Software, LLC. 2K and the 2K logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All other marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

    The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
    The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
    We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.

    Borderlands 4 Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

    Quick Access
    Guide Index

    Recommended Guides

    Main Missions

    Side Missions

    Builds

    Tips and Tricks

    Bosses

    Customizations

    Weapons

    Shields and Repkits

    Ordnances

    Skills

    Specializations

    Safehouses

    Auger Mines

    Vehicles

    Characters

    Maps

    Class Mods

    News and Game Info