As Borderlands 4 continues to evolve post-launch, players are constantly unearthing powerful—and sometimes unintended—interactions. From devastating endgame builds like the infamous Crit Knife, the community has seen its share of game-breaking discoveries. While Gearbox has indicated a focus on buffs over nerfs, the latest revelation shared by TechTalesLeo on Digital Tech Explorer might just warrant a closer look from the developers.
The Game-Breaking Sticky-Taser Bug Uncovered
Following a fascinating discovery by YouTuber NickTew, it’s now possible to completely obliterate most bosses in Borderlands 4 with a surprisingly minimal investment: just 25 out of 49 available skill points dedicated to gun damage. In a striking demonstration video, NickTew showcased this exploit against Primordial Guardian Inceptus on Ultimate Vault Hunter 5 difficulty, achieving such immense damage that the game itself registered a “Total Existence Failure.”
This incredible power stems from a bugged interaction involving weapons equipped with both the “Torgue – Licensed Sticky Magazine” attachment and a taser alt-fire mode. Typically, these weapons allow you to embed multiple sticky rounds into an enemy, which then detonate upon reloading or switching firing modes. However, a peculiar bug emerges if you swap to the underbarrel taser and fire it. The explosion damage for each sticky round doesn’t just increase; it skyrockets from an average of 5,000-10,000 damage to a staggering 300,000 damage per explosion.
This devastating effect scales directly with magazine size, as more stickies mean a greater number of amplified explosions. A larger magazine is also crucial, providing sufficient time to swap to the taser and deploy it before the sticky rounds naturally detonate.
Deep Dive into the Damage Calculation
TechTalesLeo’s dive into the mechanics suggests the leading theory for this bug’s occurrence: the moment the firing mode is swapped to the taser, the sticky explosions begin utilizing the taser’s damage modifier instead of the SMG’s base damage. A closer look at the numbers appears to support this theory:
- Standard sticky explosions typically deal around 5,000-9,777 damage, roughly 100% of the gun’s base bullet damage.
- With the taser fired, the sticky explosions jump dramatically into the 300,000 damage range.
- The taser itself deals 2,575 damage per second.
- Over the taser’s 10-second duration, this totals 25,750 base damage.
- Applying a damage modifier to that cumulative base damage, combined with the Sticky magazine’s escalating damage and other skills, propels the final output into that 300,000+ ballpark per explosion.
While these are assumptions based on observable data, the figures are sufficiently close to indicate that the explosives are adopting the taser’s total base damage over its entire duration the moment it’s activated. This interaction surprisingly functions even if the taser is fired into the air and misses its intended target.
Anticipated Patch and Overkill Potential
It’s highly probable that Gearbox will address and patch this specific interaction. There’s a significant distinction between a clever, powerful player build and an entire weapon type that can effortlessly dismantle endgame bosses with minimal skill point investment. Still, one can only imagine Mr. Torgue’s booming approval of such explosive power!
The sheer potential for overkill boggles the mind, especially if this bug were combined with an infinite ammo Peacebreaker Rafa build—a setup already notorious for shredding health bars using standard Torgue stickies.
Further reading on Borderlands 4 from around the web:
Borderlands 4: Everything you need to know.Borderlands 4 Shift codes: The new key connection.
Borderlands 4 Black Market location: New legendaries, no grind.
Borderlands 4 characters: Meet your new Vault Hunters and find out who’s strongest.
Borderlands 4 Harlowe builds: The amped-up Gravitar.
Borderlands 4 Rafa builds: The speed-demon Exo-Soldier.
Borderlands 4 Vex builds: The spooky Siren.
Borderlands 4 Amon builds: The fierce Forgeknight.