Borderlands 4 gets its first major DLC, Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damnedin March, which will further expand the bombastic looter-shooter. Many players feel that this expansion couldn't come sooner, given how content-poor it is Borderlands 4the playoffs turned out to be.
Heading Crazy Ellie is a brand new Vault Hunter named C4SH, bringing the game's total number of playable characters to five. Of course, given that this expansion is called a Story Pack, players can also expect an injection of new narrative content. This differentiates Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned from Borderlands 4's Bounty Pack, which are expansions that focus primarily on short game challenges and new items. About like Borderlands 4s endgame, audiences have been underwhelmed by Bounty Pack 1's lack of content, especially compared to the cost of admission. Here's hope Crazy Elliewith its more extensive changes, will land to a better overall reception.
C4SH is coming to Borderlands 4 Via the Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned Expansion
Borderlands 4like its predecessors, features four playable Vault Hunters, each with their own unique strengths, weaknesses, and progression paths. This is to say that Vault Hunters, and the variety they bring, are at their core Borderlands 4 experience, which is why the arrival of C4SH is so promising.
C4SH used to work as a dealer robot in a Kairos casino before choosing a life of high adventure as a Vault Hunter. But it seems he hasn't completely put his gambling past behind him. In fact, his programming, once designed to facilitate the risky and cavalier habits of the casino's patrons, has seemingly turned into an obsession with chance. This fascination with the laws of probability informs the foundations of C4SH's gameplay, which Gearbox describes as “distinctly unpredictable”, his Action Skills always involving chance in some way.
At this point, we still have a lot to learn about C4SH and how he will perform on the battlefield, but his apparent wildcard archetype looks really promising. C4SH's chance-based nature also makes him great as a post-launch DLC character, as you can imagine he'll support more unusual playstyles, best suited to those already familiar with Borderlands 4s mechanics and looking for something experimental and refreshing. Aside from this unique game premise, C4SH has a compelling, cybergoth aesthetic and an interesting backstory, so he has every opportunity to enrich meaningfully Borderlands 4s story and combat sandbox.
Games of chance like Balatro and The clover pit has made significant waves in the gaming industry in recent years, so perhaps C4SH will take some inspiration from this burgeoning subgenre.
Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned seem to be getting Mancubus Bloodtooth back
The owner and operator of Borderlands 3's The Lodge, Mancubus Bloodtooth, recounts Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned trailer and appears on the screen for a short time. Bloodtooth himself is creepy but well-intentioned, his Lodge serving as a haven for players in BL3pp Guns, love and tentacles expansion, although another DLC revealed that The Lodge is not fixed to a point in space. In other words, it can travel between places and across galaxies, which explains its appearance in Crazy Ellie.
As Borderlands 3 the players are well aware of Guns, love and tentacles doesn't shy away from cosmic horror themes: the expansion's setting, Xylourgos, is home to a fanatical cult that worships the Goliath monster Gythian. But like most Borderlands 3the cosmic horror of Guns, love and tentacles is embedded in self-referential and irreverent humor. Crazy Ellie and the vault of the damned appears to be noticeably more serious, and with Bloodtooth and The Lodge associated with cosmic horrors, the expansion can provide some effective scares and unsettling moments. It will be interesting to see Bloodtooth and The Lodge potentially portrayed in this new light.
Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned bring a bunch of new gear to Borderlands 4
The most obvious and pedestrian aspect of Crazy Ellie DLC is the collection of new loot for players to collect. The meat and potatoes of the expansion are C4SH, the new main quests, and the new exploratory region of Kairos, but the arrival of new legendary gear, Vault Hunter outfits, and various other cosmetics are arguably just as important. Sure, that one Borderlands the series lives and dies on the back of its prey, and Crazy Ellie aims to strengthen the already significant amount of equipment offered by BL4s bass game.
Complete list of new content coming to Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned, according to Gearbox
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New Vault Hunter, C4SH
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New main story missions
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New map zone
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New side quests
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New legendary gear
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New cosmetics
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4 Vault Hunter Heads & Styles
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4 weapon skins
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2 vehicle skins
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3 ECHO-4 Drone Skins & Attachments
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1 ECHO-4 frame
- Released
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September 12, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
