no way Borderlands 4 A player with three level 50 Vault Hunters has received the first phosphene weapon in the game. Phosphene (or “shiny” weapons, as most players call them) weapons are extremely rare versions of legendary guns that permanently unlock a unique skin for that weapon. Although it doesn't offer any gameplay advantages, it still becomes one of the following. Borderlands 4's most coveted items are undoubtedly due to their extreme rarity.
News of the player in question's recent discovery came from a post posted by his Reddit account on the official site. Borderlands 4 subreddit. In the post, user v1rg1nm4ry posted a photo of the phosphene weapon, expressing his excitement at finally finding it after spending nearly 100 hours in the game.
Borderlands 4 players with three level 50 characters finally get the Phosphene weapon.
What makes v1rg1nm4ry's discovery so notable is the fact that the player spent 80 hours getting three Vault Hunters to max level. Borderlands 4 — two of them are also in Ultimate Vault Hunter 5 — but I just discovered the phosphene weapon. If nothing else, this shows how rare these gun variants are in the game.
Interestingly, v1rg1nm4ry's news comes amid ongoing controversy over: Borderlands 4Legendary drop rate. In another Reddit post a few weeks ago, user ForeignLettuce977 shared the following data table: Borderlands 4The legendary drop rate reached around 5% after killing 3,000 bosses. Since then, players have questioned whether drastically lowering the drop rate compared to past entries was the right move. Although Gearbox did that to make finding legendary items more rewarding.
But what this means for phosphenes, which are much rarer than regular legendary guns, is that only players like v1rg1nm4ry who spend dozens of hours in the game taking on multiple Vault Hunters have any chance of getting one of them. Given that there are challenges Borderlands 4 Referred to as the “Brightest Shining One”, awarded to players once they collect all 69 phosphene variants, their extreme scarcity makes the reality even more dire.
Needless to say, news like this is great for players like v1rg1nm4ry, but those who don't have time to play the game or aren't patient enough to endure the harsh drop rates may not see a single phosphene weapon. Borderlands 4. Perhaps Gearbox will increase the drop rate of phosphene at some point, but for now it looks bleak for the average user to obtain it.
- released
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September 12, 2025
- ESRB
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Ages 17+ / Blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language, in-game purchases, user interaction
