New Borderlands 4 DLC Legend of the Stone Demon is the springboard the looter shooter needs into its first expansion

New Borderlands 4 DLC Legend of the Stone Demon is coming in less than a week, and it's the springboard I've been wanting ahead of its upcoming story expansion. Gearbox has just unveiled the full details for Borderlands 4 Bounty Pack 2, which is set to arrive on Thursday February 26 alongside the long-awaited addition of Pearlescent loot drops. With Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned, which introduces fifth Vault Hunter C4SH, set for March, the next month is positioned to become a defining moment in how the looter-shooter is remembered.

It's been almost a month since Borderlands 4 developer Gearbox unveiled its 2026 roadmap, an inflection point that has left me a little worried for its long-term longevity. The proof will be in what we actually get, however. Gearbox previously admitted that its first Bounty Pack, How Rush Saved Mercenary Day, came in a bit undercooked due to the team prioritizing optimization and balance changes in the months following launch. It 'solved' this by giving it away to all players for free, and slapping a fifth paid offering on the end of the list of planned DLC to replace it.

That means the second pack, Legend of the Stone Demon, should be more reflective of what add-ons will look like for the FPS game. In practice, it sounds very familiar. A new mission chain, which will see us bringing in end to the Augers' practice of ritual human sacrifices to the eponymous Stone Demon by delving into an ancient cavern alongside our diminutive companion Defiant Calder. New enemies, legendary loot, and fashion. A Vault Card including 24 cosmetics and four re-rollable pieces of legendary gear.

Legend of the Stone Demon does promise three additional mini-bosses alongside its climactic main encounter, and there's also the inclusion of "Ordonite-encrusted enemy types", but otherwise it's tough to see at a glance how this Bounty Pack will feel more substantial than Gearbox's first offering. I'll remain hopeful for now and assume that the mission itself is bigger and more involved than the Mercenary Day one.

Perhaps the more important addition is the one that's free for all players. Pearlescent loot arrives in Borderlands 4 on February 26 in a "major update" landing alongside the new DLC. The new rarity will be available to everyone, although Gearbox notes that "some Pearlescent gear will require ownership of paid content like Bounty Pack 2". If you've played the first two games in the series, you'll be familiar with this ultra-rare tier of drops. Traditionally, they've been tremendously difficult to get your hands on, but worth the chase.

In Borderlands 4, Gearbox is introducing "a new, repeatable world event with set locations in the Fadefields, Carcadia Burn, and Terminus Range [that] will let all players farm for Pearlescent gear." I'm not yet convinced that's the right move; part of the draw of the Pearlescent was the one-in-a-million chance you might encounter it anywhere, and this will just encourage yet more specific event farming. B4 has seen a concerted push towards targeted drops, however, so I'm not too surprised to see it here.

The more important thing for me is that this new DLC is a reason to return ahead of the first story expansion. I did dip back into Borderlands 4 at the start of January, and quickly fell back into the loop, but for the time being I'm mostly repeating things I've already done, tidying up a handful of loose side quests, or farming for high-end gear.

For as much as I love it, I've been less inclined to replay Borderlands 4 over and over the way I did with past entries. Perhaps that's the open-world design, or maybe it's just the sheer number of other games I want to put time into right now. Having a more tangible reason to put some hours in, even just for a new mission and Vault Card, is what I wanted to get me in the flow ahead of Mad Ellie's arrival in March. I have high hopes for that one, given Gearbox's past track record of excellent expansions, but it needs to deliver.

Borderlands 4 Bounty Pack 2, Legend of the Stone Demon, releases on Thursday February 26. A major update including the release of Pearlescent gear will launch on the same day. The DLC will be included for players who bought either the deluxe or super deluxe editions of Borderlands 4.