The release of Borderlands 3's first story DLC, Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, is just one week away, and Gearbox Software is setting the stage with the launch of a brand new patch. This Borderlands 3 patch is set to go live today, December 12, before 3pm PST, and it will bring a host of fixes and improvements to Gearbox's highly-popular looter shooter. While there is certainly a great deal to be excited about in BL3 Patch 5, there is one new feature in particular that many fans will be especially happy to see.

Specifically, today's Borderlands 3 update will finally make it possible for players to bypass the game's intro cinematic. This option will be available "once the video has fully loaded," and having the ability to skip the BL3 intro cutscene is something that fans have been asking for since the game's launch. Without question, this feature will make subsequent playthroughs of Borderlands 3 much more appealing, as players will be able to get into the action without significant delay.

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Some of the other notable changes in today's patch include the addition of vending machines to Skywell-27 and a fix for Borderlands 3's Guardian Rank perks, which were broken in an update that occurred at the end of November. Additionally, the patch notes point to improved performance in the Inventory and Guardian Rank menus, which will hopefully minimize the lag that players experience when navigating through BL3's UI, and an assortment of other stability and interface improvements.

There are also numerous gameplay changes in Borderlands 3 Patch 5, including an update to the guns wielded by CoV Badass enemies, which should make Slaughter Shaft a less painful experience moving forward. Furthermore, three of the four BL3 Vault Hunters received fixes, and players should see some slight improvements to Zane and Moze. On the other hand, a change to Amara will negatively impact those fans that have been using her Indiscriminate skill in combination with the Projectile Recursion legendary shotgun.

borderlands 3 patch 5

While several of the previous Borderlands 3 updates have left fans unhappy, due to numerous weapon and Vault Hunter nerfs, today's should have the exact opposite effect. Indeed, a patch focused on an assortment of small fixes and QoL improvements is exactly what many players have been requesting, and BL3 Patch 5 may succeed in raising spirits leading into next week's DLC release.

NOTES FOR PATCH 5

NEW CONTENT

  • Added support for Borderlands 3 DLC: Moxxi's Heist of The Handsome Jackpot. Live on December 19.

STABILITY

  • Addressed a reported concern related to the Grenade Indicator widget
  • Addressed a reported concern related to the Minimap widget
  • Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when exiting the ECHO menu
  • Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when a user attempted to load in the game after experiencing a network error
  • [Console] Fixed a rare crash that sometimes occurred in split screen when players leave the party
  • Fixed a rare crash that sometimes occurred after idling for ten minutes
  • [Xbox] Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred in split screen on Xbox One
  • [PC] Improved network performance on PC to prevent hitching related to friends or networked games

UI

  • Improved Inventory Menu performance
  • Improved performance when opening Guardian Rank Menu
  • [PC] Added support to immediately swap between glyph types when using Auto-Detect
  • Added numbered icons to the Mayhem Mode icon on the HUD
  • Added missing Japanese characters
  • Addressed an issue where all functionality could sometimes be lost when pressing the Options button within the Mode menu before starting a game
  • Addressed an issue where Mayhem Mode icons on the HUD would sometimes become inconsistent when adjusting difficulty
  • Addressed an issue where thumbnails and locked state could sometimes become incorrect when viewed in the inventory menu
  • Addressed an issue where vending machine thumbnails could sometimes be incorrect
  • Addressed an issue where the Photo Mode settings could sometimes scroll off the screen
  • [PC] Addressed an issue where the PC text chat UI would sometimes disappear after being opened for the second time during a cinematic
  • Addressed an issue where Friend Profile icons were sometimes not showing up correctly on the ECHO menu
  • Addressed an issue where the character icon sometimes failed to be present when viewing the Friends Mail prompt in the Mail Menu
  • Addressed an issue where clients could sometimes lose functionality when opening the ECHO menu after exiting a vehicle
  • [Console] Addressed an issue where item cards would sometimes appear cut off when viewing items in chests in split screen
  • [Console] Addressed issue where small item cards would sometimes be displayed on the wrong player's screen in split screen
  • Addressed an issue where clients who late joined the Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite would sometimes not have Spectator Mode button prompts
  • Addressed an issue where performance could sometimes be negatively impacted by pressing inputs from two different sources while spectating during the Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite
  • Addressed an issue where primary and secondary stats could sometimes overlap on Legendary Artifact item cards
  • Addressed an issue where multiple notifications were sometimes being triggered after having completed a Challenge

MISSIONS

  • Addressed a perceived progression blocker that sometimes occurred if the player jumped before Chadd did during the mission "Swamp Bro"
  • Addressed a perceived progression blocker where the objective "Kill Ratch" sometimes wouldn't update during the mission "The Family Jewel"
  • Addressed a perceived progression blocker during the mission "In the Shadow of the Starlight"
  • Addressed perceived progression blockers related to traveling between environments on Promethea
  • Addressed a reported concern where waypoints would sometimes fail to appear when obtaining a mission for an environment that hadn't been unlocked yet
  • Addressed a reported concern where players were sometimes unable to complete Fast Travel Station Zone Progress when exploring Cathedral of the Twin Gods
  • Addressed multiple issues with ECHO dialog not playing

GAMEPLAY

  • Updated weapons wielded by CoV Badass enemies to use bullet-based variations to cut down on FX spam
  • Fixed a reported concern where Guardian Rank Perks would sometimes be disabled for users that had already unlocked them
  • Addressed a reported concern where enemies would sometimes deal excessive damage to vehicles in True Vault Hunter Mode
  • Addressed a reported concern where the Spiderant King enemy sometimes failed to launch the sticky projectile from his tail when performing a Web Pull attack
  • Addressed a reported concern that enemies might not spawn from Warp Anchors and Dropships
  • Addressed a reported concern that Zane's "Quick Breather" skill was sometimes not functioning
  • Addressed a reported concern that Zane's "Schadenfreude" skill would sometimes not award the player Shield restoration
  • Addressed a reported concern that Zane's "Praemunitus" skill would sometimes not award the proper size clip on the first clip of the weapon the Digiclone is spawned with
  • Addressed a reported concern that Moze's "Stainless Steel Bear" skill would sometimes not award the damage bonus to Iron Bear
  • Addressed a reported concern that Moze would occasionally be ejected from Iron Bear immediately after entering it
  • Addressed a reported concern where a client's camera would sometimes occasionally stutter and lose functionality after performing Amara's "Downfall" skill when jumping off a ledge and dying
  • Addressed a reported concern that Amara's "Indiscriminate" skill could sometimes create lots of ricochet bullets when firing the Legendary Maliwan Shotgun "Projectile Recursion"
  • Addressed a reported concern where "Invulnerable" shields would sometimes fail to block rounds fired from the Legendary Maliwan Shotgun "Projectile Recursion"

GENERAL

  • Added functionality to skip the intro movie once the video has fully loaded
  • Added vending machines to Skywell-27
  • Disabled access to Photo Mode during Fight for Your Life
  • Changed the default send mail error message to encompass additional issues
  • [PC] Adjusted volume and attenuation to bring music volume up while playing in HiFi mode on PC
  • Crew Quarter Room decorations now correctly use the rotation of the hook
  • Optimized Challenges to prevent hitching when saving
  • Optimized Challenge Completion percentage computation to occur over multiple frames to prevent hitching
  • Fixed a reported concern where save game could sometimes get bloated with duplicate Challenge data
  • Fixed a reported concern where save game data could sometimes have a minor leak
  • Fixed a reported concern where the game would not start up in correct resolution sometimes when using Fullscreen mode and display scaling
  • Fixed a reported concern where the player could sometimes remain invisible after respawning
  • Fixed a reported concern where clients would sometimes not see Sanctuary III Fast Travel Stations until they were already in the map
  • Fixed a reported concern where the D-Pad would sometimes not change selections in the Sanctuary III Fast Travel list
  • Fixed a reported concern where clients might not unlock Fast Travel Stations after using the Fast-Forward feature
  • Fixed a reported concern where environments could sometimes appear unnaturally bright due Time of Day errors
  • Fixed a reported concern where vehicle boost FX could sometimes appear black
  • Fixed a typo for the spelling of the "IMMUNE" text pop in German
  • Fixed a reported concern where some strings for the Key Binding Menu were not localized
  • Fixed a reported concern where the Badass Event icon could sometimes show up when the event had been deactivated when using the ECHOcast Twitch Extension
  • Fixed a reported concern where Cryo destructible pose sometimes did not match character when in ragdoll
  • [Console] Fixed a reported concern where the Custom Waypoint hint text would sometimes appear in the Zone Map in non-current environments on consoles
  • [Console] Fixed a reported concern where Photo Mode filters sometimes weren't working properly with HDR
  • [Console] Fixed a reported concern where Vault Hunter profile cards sometimes didn't pull from local data for split screen players, causing a mismatch in presentation
  • Fixed a reported concern where the client would sometimes see an unresponsive black screen after accepting an invite during the intro movie
  • [PC] Fixed a reported concern where the Vault Hunter profile cards on Epic Game Store were sometimes not showing correctly

Borderlands 3 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.

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Source: Gearbox Software