I’m 80 Hours Into Borderlands 4 and Here’s Everything You Need To Know

Last updated on November 18th, 2025 at 11:29 am

When I first threw in borderlands 4, i thought i would just blow through the story and be done with it. Three weeks later, I’m at 340 collectible finds, all the challenges completed, and that sweet, cherished 100% completion badge on my profile.

Was it worth it? Let me take you through what I found out.

What You’re Really Hunting in Borderlands 4

So here’s the thing: Borderlands 4 hefts 340 collectibles in front of your face across four sprawling regions. At first, I was overwhelmed. Vault Fragments, ECHO Logs, Evocariums, Propaganda Speakers they made the game seem like it was just hiding things all over the place out of sheer annoyance.

Here’s how it breaks down:

• The Fadefields: 92 collectibles
• Carcadia Burn: 97 collectibles
• Terminus Range: 84 collectibles
• Dominion City: 67 collectibles

You also have 25 main missions, 98 side missions and 53 activities to plow through. Oh, and then there are the 197 map locations to unfog. Yeah, it’s a lot.

The Tools I Used (And Will Use Again)

IGN’s Interactive Map Changed Everything

I spent my first 10 hours stumbling around with no clue until I discovered IGN’s interactive map. Seriously, this thing’s a lifesaver. It has clickable overlays for every collectible icon and boss spawn.

What I liked best: You can filter by the type of collectible. Hunting Vault Symbols? Toggle everything else off. Need to track down those irritating Propaganda Speakers? Done. It even lists missable items, though spoiler alert nothing’s actually missable once story mode concludes.

PowerPyx Saved My Sanity

With the interactive map becoming a bit too cluttered for me I switched up to PowerPyx’s text walkthrough. These are all 340 of the spots, in literal list form broken down by region and type. No fluff, just “go here, grab this.”

Their recommendation? Simply complete all missions and activities, then mop up collectibles in free-roam. I did not heed this advice initially and came to regret it. Trust me, follow their method.

My Biggest Mistake (Don’t Make This)

I initially attempted to collect every little thing. Bad move. You’ll open new areas, mission-specific sections will be gated for a time and you’ll drive yourself mad by backtracking.

Here’s what was better: I played through the campaign once and only once, did all of the side missions as they appeared then took a focused weekend in free-roam to clean up all remaining collectibles. Way less stressful.

The 100% Completion Checklist (From Someone Who Did It)

For everything you need, check out IGN’s 100% completion guide, but also let me share my experiences: Enjoy the view.

Story Stuff (The Easy Part)

• 25 Main Missions : just play the game
• 98 Side Missions : but some remain hidden until your progression
• 53 things to do : world events, contracts, normal crazy.

The Grindy Bits

• 197 map locations to unfog. I threw on a podcast and drove aimlessly for two hours. Boring but necessary.
• 9 Vault Fragments in the world (3 per area)
• 3 Primordial Vaults to open : they actually drop some sick shit
• 80 Contracts : some are bound to certain NPCs you don’t even meet yet
• 10 Personal Vehicles :not as difficult as it sounds

The Trophy That Nearly Broke Me

Ultimate Vault Hunter Level 5.

For the last achievement you want this. I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s a lot of effort to get from UVHM 1-5. But if you’re already farming collectibles and challenges, you’ll get there eventually.

Struggles: Better Than They Sound

Here’s where Borderlands 4 caught me off guard. Competition Homeworld 3 gives you XP, cash, Eridium and cosmetics the challenge system is a big boost. I was expecting it to be a slog, but stacking challenges and scavenging for items made things way more interesting.

MentalMars has a full challenges chart and I had it open on my second monitor. It displays each tier and reward, along with how to knock out tier 1 and tier 2 challenges using starter weapons.

Challenge Tips I Wish I Knew Earlier

Stack your challenges. If you’re also in an elemental zone, progress on “Shocking Presence” and “Elemental Feast” simultaneously. Why have one when you can have three?

Vendor resets are when manufacturer challenges are the easiest. Camp, buy weapons from designated stations, complete objectives, repeat.

Some challenges have weird requirements. I didn’t understand what I was supposed to do with the airborne kill challenge “Flight Response,” until I stumbled upon a Reddit thread that explained the trick. I didn’t have to endure hours of frustration that community resources saved me from.

Are Any Collectibles Actually Missable?

Nope. This was my number one concern, and it’s totally not a problem. Once you’ve completed the main story, it’s free roam to your heart’s content and replay missions. Nothing’s locked forever.

How Many Times Did I Have to Play?

One complete run, then free-roam cleanup. You only need Ultimate Vault Hunter mode for certain of the challenge trophies, not collectibles. That being said, I’ve done a second playthrough just because the game’s that fun to play, but it doesn’t feel necessary.

What Are Primordial Vaults? (And Why You Want Them)

So, Primordial Vaults are endgame loot piñatas, essentially. Collect 3 vault fragments in each zone (9 in total) find the vault and open it. It’s got an endgame so complicated, 2K employees literally had to build it themselves to show us, and does a better job explaining the loot system than I ever could, but believe me: The gear you get at the end is worth that grind.

The Game Keeps Getting Better

One point I did like: the devs continue to patch stuff. Recent updates sorted out menu navigation, sharpened map marking and squelched bugs that were interfering with the registration of collectibles.

They also made loot-farming sources more specific so you’re not grinding the same boss 50 times hoping for a drop. Outfit those items with specific loot pools? Yes please.

How I actually looked at it (You can copy this too.)

This is how I went about 100%:

Week 1: Campaign, interesting side missions, completely ignored collectibles.

Week 2: Started using PowerPyx guides to farm one area at a time per day. Fadefields on Monday, Carcadia Burn on Tuesday, you know the drill.

Week 3: Cleared out remaining challenges and contracts. Went to watch YouTube videos for the harder ones while I was farming.

Weekend Cleanup: Glanced at my completion percentage on the 3 things I’m missing (always ECHO Logs), cleaned them up.

Can You Solo Everything?

Yes, I did shoot the whole thing by myself. Most scenarios are built for solo play, but co-op sure makes increasing enemy counts have fewer silence-skimming opportunities. If you’re playing with some friends, world events and contracts will go faster than if you go alone, but you don’t have to do that.

The Right Build Made It Easier

I won’t go into builds, but the correct legendary enhancements was what made challenge farming way smoother. Gam3s. gg has a rather great showcasing of synergies to speed through completion.

I cleared challenges probably 30% faster once I started using a build that was macro-optimized for clears. Worth investigating before you begin grinding.

I saved hours on the Community Routes

Some players have already plotted efficient “run routes” that hit multiple collectibles and challenges in one circuit. If you prefer, (and why wouldn’t you?) the Steam Workshop has a downloadable lists of waypoints that synch up perfectly and made co-op runs seamless.

Even alone, taking these routes instead of wandering aimlessly shortened my time considerably. The Borderlands community is weirdly welcoming look to r/Borderlands4 for region-specific tips.

Was It Worth the 80+ Hours?

Here’s my honest assessment: If you love Borderlands and will do anything to wring the most possible content out of it, then yes. The feeling of satisfying completion felt great, and I found builds, weapons and areas that I definitely would’ve missed if I’d rushed through.

But if you’re just here for the story? Don’t stress about 100%. Play through at your own pace, pick up collectables as you find them and just enjoy the chaos.

Final thoughts

Achieving 100% completion in Borderlands 4 isn’t as intimidating as it seems. Thanks to interactive maps, a post-release community guide, and patches that focus on quality of life, any Vault Hunter can do it.

Play the campaign, roam for easy points, stack challenges and don’t be afraid to play like it’s your last day. The game pays off for all your hard work exploring it.And, you know what? Cause hunting for that last ECHO Log at 3am is fun.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I have a replay to begin. Because clearly, I don’t like having free time.

Read:

Borderlands 4 Complete Guide and Walkthrough: Everything You Need to Dominate