A Border 4 A player with three level 50 Vault Hunters recently received their first phosphene weapon in the game. Phosphene (or “glowing,” as most players call them) weapons are ultra-rare versions of legendary guns that permanently unlock a unique skin for said weapon. While they don't offer any gameplay advantages, they still have one Border 4of the most coveted items, no doubt due to their extreme rarity.
The player's news on the recently discovered question comes from a post on the official from their own Reddit account Border 4 subreddit. In the post, user v1rg1nm4ry posted a photo of a phosphene weapon, expressing his excitement at finally finding one after spending nearly 100 hours in the game.
3 Borderlands 4 players with a level 50 character finally get the Phosphen weapon
What makes v1rg1nm4ry's quest so different is the fact that the player spent 80 hours maxing out three Volt hunters. Border 4 – even two of them in Ultimate Vault Hunter 5 – and yet they've just discovered a phosphene weapon. If nothing else, it shows how rare these gun versions are in the game.
Interestingly, the news of v1rg1nm4ry comes amid some ongoing controversy surrounding it Border 4Legendary drop rate. In another Reddit post a few weeks ago, user ForeignLettuce977 shared a table of data that was revealing. Border 4After killing 3,000 bosses the legendary drop rate landed at around 5%. Since then, players have questioned whether significantly reducing the drop rate from past entries was the right move, though Gearbox did so to make Legendary more rewarding.
However, what this means for phosphenes, which are even rarer than normal legendary guns, is that players like v1rg1nm4ry, who spend dozens of hours in-game on multiple Vault Hunters, have a shot at getting one of them. There is also a challenge to consider Border 4 Called “Shining the Brightest,” which is awarded to players once they've collected all 69 phosphene variants, the reality of their extreme rarity hits even harder.
Needless to say, while such news is great for players like v1rg1nm4ry, those who don't have a lot of time to play the game or don't have a lot of patience to deal with its punishing drop rates may never see a single phosphene weapon. Border 4. Perhaps Gearbox will increase the drop rate for the phosphenes at some point, but for now, getting one seems bleak for casuals.
- issued
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September 12, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
