Borderlands 4 players have been yelling about one thing for weeks: the crit knife. It hits so hard that it basically turns every other build into a why-bother, and Gearbox has finally stepped in to say: yeah, we see it, and changes are coming.
Why the crit knife has everyone heated
The short version: the crit knife gives a flat 100% critical hit chance. Not situational, not occasionally proccing — just always on, as long as you can aim and click. That kind of floor-breaking power means there’s little reason to experiment with anything else, which is exactly what players have been complaining about.
One recent thread on October 13 spelled it out with a comparison: a well-known player, @Lazy_Data, can push 90% crit on Rafa with a very specific skill setup... and the knife still beats it. When your most optimized, high-effort build can’t outpace a single weapon that asks almost nothing of you, the meta gets stale fast.
Another player put it more bluntly: the condition for 100% crit probably shouldn’t just be 'point and press.'
Gearbox responds: adjustments are on the way
Associate creative director Grant Kao and creative director Graeme Timmins were tagged into the conversation and answered on October 13. Kao confirmed they’re tuning the knife and made it clear the goal is to get people off one-track builds and back into experimenting.
'We will be adjusting it. The crit knife's potential output diminishes playstyle variety. The gun builds that use the crit knife have other options and will have more options coming soon.'
Timmins backed that up with a broader design note:
'Our intent is always to expand the number of builds, so any adjustment we make is in service of that goal.'
What that actually means
Reading between the lines: expect an update (or updates) that dials back the knife and opens up alternative paths for gun-focused builds. No specifics yet on what those new options are, but it sounds like more tools are coming to diversify loadouts rather than just nerf and walk away.
Players seem mostly on board with that direction. One response summed up the vibe pretty well: 'This is a great answer. I love using the knife because it’s a fun gameplay loop, but more options are awesome.'
Bottom line: Gearbox knows the crit knife is warping the meta, they’ve said they’re fixing it, and the plan is to broaden viable builds rather than just smack one toy with a hammer. If they stick the landing, we might finally get back to the part of Borderlands that’s actually fun — figuring out weird builds that don’t all start with 'equip the knife.'