Kairos Weekly #1 (July 12-18, 2026): Wildcard 'Old Lads', and Bounty Pack 4 dated for July 30
A quiet week on the activity front and a loud one on the roadmap: Bounty Pack 4 got a hard July 30 date, and the Wildcard reward is a Maliwan SMG. Below the news, the part you cannot get from an official post — 147 pieces of gear logged in-game this week, and what the duplicates say about roll variance.
Official announcements
- July 16 — Weekly update applied. Restart the game so it takes; skipping the restart can produce matchmaking connection errors.
- July 17 — The July 23 Gearbox DevCast (9 AM PT) will cover Bounty Pack 4: Murders & Acquisitions. Hosts Andrew Reiner and April Johnson with Senior Game Designer Kyle Smyers.
- The same post confirmed Bounty Pack 4 ships July 30 with Version 1.9.
- Looking further out: Story Pack 2, Bounty Pack 5, and the all-new Vault Hunter Loveless the Hacker were slated for early September as paid content.
Weekly Activities (July 16-23)
| Slot | Content |
|---|---|
| Big Encore Boss | Vile Ted & The Experiments (tougher variant, expanded loot pool) |
| Wildcard Mission | Old Lads (Vampiric / Tricky / Armored) |
| Guaranteed Legendary | Ohm I Got (Maliwan SMG) |
| Maurice’s Black Market | Relocated, stock rotated |
The vending machine location is the same for everyone, but the stock is not — if the roll you want is not on your machine, it may be on someone else’s.
▶ Full specs: Ohm I Got review
Verified in-game data: what duplicates tell you about roll variance
Everything below is from our own play session logs this week — 147 pieces recorded, levels 38 to 43.
The useful finding this week was not a single item. It was how far apart two copies of the same weapon can land.
Birt’s Bees (Vladof SMG)
Five copies logged in one week. It is a Hivemind SMG that scatters homing bee projectiles. On Lv38 copies, the zip rocket damage came out at:
- 857
- 986
That is roughly a 15% spread on the same weapon at the same level. One of the two also rolled an Atlas-licensed underbarrel plus a Hyperion-licensed shield. If you are farming this gun, the first copy is not the copy to keep.
Firewerks (Torgue shield)
A Lv42 copy logged at Bundle 1,732, Missile Swarm 746, plus a Power Booster.
Herald (Torgue pistol)
A Lv43 copy with Radiation Override (converts the element to radiation). The sticky gyrojet measured 3,828 DPS (923 x 3).
All figures are from the level they were recorded at (Lv38-43). Borderlands 4 gear scales with level, so these numbers are not comparable to post-level-cap copies of the same items.
What we learned later
- Bounty Pack 4 landed on schedule, July 30 with Version 1.9 (Issue #2).
- The “early September” window for Story Pack 2, Bounty Pack 5 and Loveless the Hacker was later locked to September 10 (Issue #6).
FAQ
What is the Weekly Wildcard Mission for July 16-23, 2026?
Old Lads, with the Vampiric, Tricky and Armored modifiers. Clearing it guarantees the Ohm I Got Maliwan SMG.
Who is the Big Encore Boss this week?
Vile Ted & The Experiments — a tougher variant of an existing boss, with a correspondingly better loot pool.
When did Bounty Pack 4 release?
July 30, 2026, alongside the Version 1.9 update. The date was confirmed publicly on July 17.