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Borderlands 4 will add '4 brand-new Vault Hunters,' and the devs want classes to add depth to the RPG mechanics but not 'at the cost of complexity'
Gearbox has confirmed that Borderlands 4 will feature four new Vault Hunters, with a focus on balancing complexity and approachability for each character's action skills while delivering fresh twists on classic archetypes.
After our first taste of Borderlands 4 with the Gamescom announcement trailer, the devs took to the stage at PAX to talk a little bit more about the upcoming loot shooter. They didn't reveal a whole lot of concrete details, but they did confirm that the new game will stick to series tradition with four new Vault Hunters, and provided a bit of insight into their design philosophy on the new characters.
"We will have four brand new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4," chief creative officer Randy Varnell confirmed, to the mock surprise of the developers gathered on the PAX stage. Every Borderlands game up to this point - even the Pre-Sequel - has introduced four new playable characters that essentially serve as player class selections, so the new game won't be a dramatic departure in that regard.
"When we look at the Vault Hunters, the first thing that we always try to look at is 'what are some fundamental promises and fantasies that players might have that we want to explore?'" creative director Graeme Timmins explained. "Some examples might be - starting way back on BL1 - like a soldier fantasy. Straightforward, FPS-style character, carried on to Axton. Another premise might be our Sirens. Our Sirens speak to a mage or sorcerer fantasy in our very sci-fi world."
Between each game, Timmins said, Gearbox aims to keep the core identity of these class archetypes while providing fresh twists on that formula. "Our Sirens have been very ranged in some of their abilities, but then in BL3, we wanted to flip that concept from what Maya was, to Amara - she went more physical and melee based. So even though we have some similar promises, we think it's important that we switch it up and not do just rote designs, game to game."
Timmins believes that managing approachability and complexity are very important for designing each set of Vault Hunters. "I think our RPG side of the game is so important," he said. "Just like our first-person side, where we're always looking to expand and add depth, we're doing that on the RPG side, but we don't want to do that at the cost of complexity. I always look at our characters and [try to] understand, between their action skills, how much management might be happening when you press the action skill button. Is it just fire and forget? That's great - it's a simple return on your investment. Or to get the most value out of this character, do you have to manage your action skill?"
We'll find out how this all plays out in practice when Borderlands 4 launches sometime in 2025.