Borderlands 4 skill trees are so big they eclipse the size of BL2 and 3 combined

The Borderlands 4 skill trees are so big they eclipse even the past two mainline entries put together. That's just one of several fresh reasons to look forward to the upcoming co-op FPS, as we get a look at the official Borderlands 4 story trailer. At the Borderlands 4 Fanfest event, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford and chief creative officer Randy Varnell took to the stage to give us one more rundown of what we can expect for the long-awaited sequel in the approach to launch. The pair also give us some more details on the four classes, and yet another hint at what could be the game's rarest loot tier.

Pitchford begins with a little scene-setting flavor about Kairos, the setting for Borderlands 4, where the sudden arrival of the moon of Elpis has lifted the veil obscuring the planet and thrown the Timekeeper's perfect order into chaos. This ominous figure observes, and at times controls, the population of Kairos through bolts planted in their central nervous system. The most recent chain of events led a group of locals, now aware of the outside world, to tear these devices from their bodies; many died in the process, or were unable to truly recover from the damage, but those that survived formed the Rippers.

Borderlands 4 is looking set to earn a spot on our best FPS games list by building on its predecessors' gunplay with the most important shooter trend of all, high mobility. You'll have access to a double jump, climbing, gliding, and a grappling hook. You can even swim, so falling into water is no longer a death sentence. "Less borders, more lands," Varnell jokes. He and Pitchford give us a slightly closer look at the four playable Borderlands 4 characters - there's almost no question in my mind that dark Siren Vex will be my starting pick, but I'm feeling a little more excited to try the others after seeing them in action.

As now feels the standard, the Vault Hunters all come with three action skills that you can switch between at any time. What has me more eager to start buildcrafting, however, is Pitchford's reveal that there are now "more skills per character than you found in Borderlands 3 and 2 added together." Varnell goes so far as claiming that even a group of four Vex players using Trouble as their action skill could be so differently customized across their skill trees that they all feel unique from each other.

Varnell restates Gearbox's mantra that Borderlands 3 was "a little over-generous with legendaries," and that they'll feel more special in the new game. Of course, that begs the question of if we'll see the return of the ultra-rare Pearlescents. "I'm seeing hundreds of people here, there's thousands of people watching online," Pitchford teases, "A couple of you might get really, really lucky and see something else." It's not actual confirmation, but I'm taking it as yet another heavy hint that there's some especially elusive tier of gear to be found.

Borderlands 4 launches Friday September 12. It's also been confirmed that the standard edition will be priced at $70, allaying fears that it might have cost more following a pricing discussion from Pitchford on social media.

Be sure to check the Borderlands 4 system requirements now if you're planning to play when the Borderlands 4 release date arrives. They're a little higher than we might have expected, although they're not too demanding and seem to dodge the requirement for upscaling seen in some other recent launches.

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