Borderlands 4The long-awaited Pearlescent update has arrived, and unfortunately the reactions to it have been a bit mixed. While most players consider the Mad Ellie and Vault of the Damned expansions to be a potential turning point for the looter shooter, as it also brings the debut of C4SH's Vault Hunter, there was hope that the free Pearlescent update would inject some much-needed life into the game sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, with only three weapons to chase and a questionable way to get them, the update didn't do much to revive it Borderlands 4.
Still, while Pearlescents' debut isn't as exciting as many had hoped, the guns aren't worthless. Sure, they lack variety—they all offer two elements, meaning everything in that tier of loot shares the same “unique” property—but they're still fairly strong options to match their rarity. Borderlands 4 players can currently obtain the Eigenburst Shotgun, the Vestigial Conflux Sniper, and the Handcannon. It's the last weapon that stands out, as Eigenburst hits mobs hard and Conflux can be a good boss killer with the right setup, getting these weapons reliably isn't nearly as easy as getting Handcannon.
More Borderlands 4 Pearls are expected for the first proper one BL4 expansion that should arrive sometime in late March.
How to get pearl weapons in Borderlands 4
Here's a full list of all the Pearlescent weapons that have been added to Borderlands 4, along with how you can add them to your arsenal.
Why is a hand cannon a cut above the limits of other detonation weapons
Border” Torgue's detonation weapons are quite divisive, as not everyone is comfortable covering the enemy with projectiles that do almost no damage before hitting the detonation button once the target is taken. Fortunately, the hand cannon removes this pain point by making each projectile constantly pulse for damage, with the detonation simply being a big damage boost as opposed to being the only way to use the weapon. This constant damage helps with DPS while also making the weapon more satisfying when using, and this is especially useful for one Vault Hunter: Harlowe.
With Harlowe's Critical Funding ability, he regains ammo for every critical hit, essentially turning the Handcannon into an OP, endlessly refillable weapon. Players can stack as many projectiles as they want on their enemy before detonating them with the reload button, dealing massive damage with the hand cannon and making it an essential weapon. Borderlands 4 Harlowe builds. What's even better, though, is the fact that it's so easy to get copies of the weapon. While getting god rolls with ideal elements and parts for Vestigial Conflux and Eigenburst can be a brutal grind as players will have to wait for Ordonite Up! events that pop up (which also only pop up when Vault Hunters are around) and hope their coveted weapon drops, the replayability of the mission makes Handcannon farming a breeze.
Getting the Borderlands 4 Pearl Hand Cannon is extremely easy
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Complete Bounty Pack 2.
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Play the “Cursed Mine” quest again.
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Clear the Ordonite event without dying.
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Check the last Ordonite enemy for a hand cannon.
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Repeat the mission for another Handcannon throw.
Since players are guaranteed a Hand Cannon for completing the “Cursed Mine” quest from the Stone Demon pack reward without dying (specifically the Ordonite event section), it's pretty painless to get a copy of the Hand Cannon with ideal parts and an elemental override. Players can simply repeat this mission over and over, with the third and final Ordonite enemy dropping a Handcannon for them each time (the first two have a chance to drop other Pearlescents, making the farm even better, but the Handcannon is the only weapon the last enemy can drop, making it the focus of the farm). Obviously, there's a chance this will be fixed sooner rather than later; although it was intended for players to get the Pearlescent on the first run, Gearbox probably didn't consider repeating missions because it makes Pearlescents extremely easy.
Still, if players act quickly (and own Bounty Pack 2), they can get a hand cannon god roll before the farm is removed. The Handcannon can be really OP on Harlowe, while it's decent on other Vault Hunters, so while there's a sense of disappointment with Pearlescent's small build and the need to get weapons through an event instead of some heavy late-game content, this particular weapon shouldn't be slept on. Hopefully, future Pearlescents are better than the current ones and have different acquisition methods, but for now, being able to quickly get the perfect version of Handcannon automatically puts it above other Pearlescents that are much more tedious to farm.
- Released
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September 12, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Crude Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
