The next big post-launch “expansive paid DLC” for Borderlands 4 has locked a release date. Borderlands 4’s Story Pack 1: Mad Ellie And The Vault Of The Damned will bring in a new playable Vault Hunter, C4SH The Rogue, a new zone, new missions, new boss fights and of course, more loot to shoot for.
The lovable daughter of Moxxi, Ellie, makes her presence in Borderlands 4 through this DLC as players join up with her to enter the titular Vault Of The Damned. And she’s not the only familiar face that longtime Borderlands fans will recognise. Mancubus Bloodtooth, Pickle and Crazy Earl will also make appearance in this standalone story.
The new zone, The Whispering Glacier, gives a chilling breeze that Kairos in the base game lacked, and these are where all the new story missions, side missions, activities and collectibles added with the paid DLC can be found. On top of that, there’s a new World Boss mechanic which involves some eldritch horror shenanigans.
Access to the new content coming with Mad Ellie And The Vault Of The Damned will unlock after completing the “A Lot To Process” mission in the Fadefields, about Level 13, so that’s relatively early on in the base game’s progression. If you starting fresh and want to jump straight to the DLC, you can do that too by creating a new Level 13 character that loads straight into The Whispering Glacier to play through the new DLC.
For loot, Mad Ellie And The Vault Of The Damned will be adding:
- Three Pearlescent weapons
- 11 Legendary gear
- Two grenades
- Two heavy weapons
- Two shields
- Five Class Mods
Mad Ellie And The Vault Of The Damned includes 28 new cosmetics which includes:
- Two Vault Hunter Heads usable by all Vault Hunters
- Four Vault Hunter Skins usable by all Vault Hunters
- Eight Vault Hunter Heads usable by C4SH
- One alternate Vault Hunter body usable by C4SH
- Four Weapon Skins
- Four Vehicle Skins
- Three ECHO-4 Drone Skins & Attachments
- One ECHO-4 Frame
Borderlands 4 will have one more Story Pack coming later this year, which also comes with a new Vault Hunter. To use old gamer’s nomenclature, these are effectively expansions. Meanwhile, Bounty Packs 3, 4 and 5 (smaller DLCs that don’t come with new zones or new Vault Hunters) are expected to release within this year, the last to drop in Q3 2026.
But those not looking to spend extra money on Borderlands 4 will also be getting new free content as well. Raid bosses are coming this summer (Q3 2026), and a Takedown (tough, endgame dungeons) is coming in May. Plus, a new update coming alongside Mad Ellie will be adding the ability to share map progression, SDU tokens, Hover Drives, cosmetic rewards, and activity progression across characters. No need to do clean the map by checking all those collectible boxes multiple times now that these are tied to the account rather than the character.
Borderlands 4 is out now on PS5, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and Xbox Series X|S. Check out our review of the game here.