Getting your first vehicle in Borderlands 4 is essential not just for seeing all that Kairos has to offer, but for completing campaign missions as well, most of which send you to far-flung locales that are extremely apart from each other. If you’re the kind of player who ignores the main quests of open-world games to explore, well, stop it. Digging into Borderlands 4‘s side quests and hidden areas is much easier and less tedious once you’ve got a bike.
Below, we explain how to get your first Borderlands 4 vehicle, how getting more of them works, and how to customize them once you’ve got them.
When do you get a vehicle in Borderlands 4?
You get your first vehicle at the end of “Down and Outbound,” the third main story mission and the second on Kairos itself. The quest sends you to the Crimson Resistance’s headquarters, where you’ll face a large contingent of the Timekeeper’s loyal fighters. Once you put the threat down and speak with Rush, the Resistance’s leader, he’ll send you to ace mechanic Conway, who gives you the MAV-880 Digirunner bike. This is a mandatory part of Borderlands 4‘s campaign, so it’s impossible to miss. We also recommend you don’t do too much traveling or side questing without your vehicle, as getting around on it saves a lot of travel time.
You’ll unlock other vehicles by progressing through the story, completing side quests, and clearing challenges. If you’re unsure what a mission’s rewards are, hover over the icons in the mission breakdown screen to see what you’re in for. Challenges aren’t quite so accommodating. You can hover over them in the “Challenges” tab of the menu, though you only see the reward icon, rather than the actual name of the reward.
The bike has a health meter, a speed boost meter, and two modes of fire — a standard, machine-gun like mode and a heavy-fire mode that launches a small volley of missiles. Both have unlimited ammo, though neither is well-suited for combat against groups of more than three or four enemies. Running over foes deals no damage, either. Still, vehicle combat is useful for softening up small groups before dismounting and finishing them off yourself. Your character takes no damage while on a vehicle, and even when your mount explodes, you can ride it again immediately afterward.
How to customize vehicles in Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4 lets you customize any vehicle you own in the Echo-4 menu. Navigate to the “Customization” tab, pick “vehicle” submenu, and choose which one you want to customize. You can change the following:
- Vehicle skin
- Hover drive
- Paint job
Like unlocking new vehicles, all of these cosmetics come from completing challenges, missions, and side quests in the open world, though Gearbox may release some as Shift code rewards as well.
