Mayhem Mode unlocks after you complete Borderlands 3’s main story and gives you the option to dial up the difficulty, increasing experience points as well as the quality of loot dropped from enemies. Thursday’s Mayhem 2.0 update gives Mayhem Mode an overhaul with a number of quality of life improvements including:
Mayhem Mode activation and adjustment via ECHO Device – You’ll no longer need to visit Sanctuary III every time you need to adjust or activate Mayhem Mode. It will be available via a new tab in your ECHO Device, so you can access it at any time. In Multiplayer, the Mayhem level is determined by the host, and matchmaking will group you with players who are at similar Mayhem levels as you when possible.
All-New Modifiers – There will be over 25 all-new modifiers that can be applied to your game, ranging from Easy to Very Hard. Easy modifiers are mostly helpful–for example, the Big Kick Energy modifier gives you increased damage at the cost of having to deal with increased recoil. Medium modifiers and above will give you more to overcome. “The Floor is Lava” encourages movement by forming a damaging pool of lava under your feet once you stand still. Hard modifier Drone Ranger spawns Healing Drones to assist enemies. You get the picture.
Modifiers are selected as random, but the number of modifiers and those modifiers’ difficulty ratings are always the same for each Mayhem level. The table below gives you an idea of what you’ll get into at each level:
| Mayhem Level | Modifier 1 | Modifier 2 | Modifier 3 | Modifier 4 |
| 1 | EASY | |||
| 2 | EASY | MEDIUM | ||
| 3 | EASY | MEDIUM | MEDIUM | |
| 4 | EASY | HARD | ||
| 5 | EASY | MEDIUM | HARD | |
| 6 | EASY | MEDIUM | MEDIUM | HARD |
| 7 | EASY | HARD | HARD | |
| 8 | EASY | VERY HARD | ||
| 9 | EASY | MEDIUM | VERY HARD | |
| 10 | EASY | MEDIUM | HARD | VERY HARD |
So, What Does This Mean for Loot?
While the difficulty scales up with each level, the quality of weapons dropped by enemies increases as well, so a Conference Call that drops at Mayhem level 2 will be more powerful than one that drops at Mayhem level 1. There are also eight new Legendary weapons that you can get from certain bosses that are exclusive to Mayhem level 6 or higher, so get to climbing up that ladder, Vault Hunters!
