Borderlands 4's "most insane glitch" yet lets you break every character's skill tree and changes "the build meta for every build," swiftly catching the attention of Gearbox: "We're on it"

Borderlands 4 trailer Vex covered in blood — (Image credit: Gearbox)

A brand new Borderlands 4 glitch has been discovered that allows players to completely break any character's skill tree – but it's clear that it won't be sticking around, as the looter shooter's creative director says, "we're on it."

Yesterday, Borderlands content creator JoltzDude139 took to Twitter with a rather ominous message. "Uh oh… someone just found the most insane glitch in Borderlands 4," he wrote. "This will change the build meta for every build." Not long after, he posted a video (below) showing the glitch in action, which, in simple terms, means we can "grab any skill we want in our builds lol."

In Borderlands 4, players only have a limited number of skill points to play with in their skill trees. However, as demonstrated by JoltzDude139, there's currently a bug that allows you to refund skill points without removing access to skills unlocked later down the tree. For example, in the video, we see the content creator invest enough points to unlock Amon's Electrical Fire skill – one found right at the bottom of the Vault Hunter's skill tree, and one that would usually require 26 skill points to access.

After unlocking the skill normally, JoltzDude139 then begins a rather slow process of investing just one more point into the skills behind it in the skill tree, specifically using the button to invest all points. Then, after pressing the undo button, for some reason, two skill points are returned. Following this, the process is repeated – JoltzDude139 invests "all" into a skill he doesn't want, and then presses the undo button.

Eventually, all skill points are removed from the unwanted skill, but this doesn't cut off access to the "target" skill at the bottom of the skill tree – despite the fact that in normal play, you'd need the skills before it to unlock it.

A NEW Glitch Was Just Discovered In Borderlands 4 (Meta Builds Are Stronger Now!) - YouTube

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It's slightly complicated, and well worth watching JoltzDude139's video if you want to try and replicate the glitch yourself, but basically all you need to know is that it can be used on any character to unlock all of the skills you want on their respective trees – even those right at the very bottom – without having to worry about investing in any prior skills you're not interested in. This allows for combinations that weren't previously possible – as JoltzDude139 said, breaking the build meta.

As you'd imagine, it's so broken that Gearbox has wasted absolutely no time setting its sights on it. Responding directly to JoltzDude139's video on Twitter, Borderlands 4 creative director Graeme Timmins has a short message – a warning, perhaps, to tell folks not to get too attached to the bug. "We're on it," he writes.

While it's not clear how long this could take to fix, it's clear it won't be sticking around. So, if you want to give it a go, be sure to do so sooner rather than later.

If you've not picked up Gearbox's latest game yet, be sure to take a look at our Borderlands 4 review, or our Borderlands 4 tips to get you started.

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I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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