Kairos Weekly #12 (September 27-October 3, 2026): Tough Love cleared nearly 5x over, Mint Chipset code is out

Issue #12 · Published: 10/3/2026 · Week of 9/27/2026 – 10/3/2026

This is an unofficial fan-made recap and is not affiliated with Gearbox Software, 2K, or Take-Two Interactive.

The Tough Love Community Challenge ended at 48,783,633 kills against a 10 million target, and the SHiFT code for Loveless’ Mint Chipset skin is now public. 2K’s This Week on Kairos newsletter is also going monthly. Sidney Pointylegs is this week’s Big Encore Boss, so our data section goes back through our older logged rolls on her three dedicated drops, with capture dates on every row.

Official announcements

Tough Love cleared: Mint Chipset SHiFT code

Loveless the Hacker players took down 48,783,633 enemies across Kairos (Providence included) during the Tough Love Community Challenge, nearly five times the 10,000,000 target.
SHiFT code for the Mint Chipset Vault Hunter Skin: 3SX3J-3XZ55-CR33C-JBBJT-XH395
Anyone can redeem it, but equipping the skin on Loveless requires the Loveless the Hacker DLC.
Redeem on the Gearbox SHiFT site or through the in-game SHiFT menu. One redemption per SHiFT account, deadline December 31, 2030, per the fine print.
Our measured action skill numbers for farming kills with Loveless are in this earlier article.

This Week on Kairos goes monthly

2K’s community manager announced that This Week on Kairos, published weekly since before launch, is becoming This Month on Kairos, with each month’s updates gathered in one place. The first monthly edition covers September.

Dead ECHOs Episode 10, Part 2

The second half of Episode 10 of Borderlands: Dead ECHOs is out. As we noted last week, Episode 10 is the second-to-last episode of the series. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Apple, iHeartRadio, or Pandora.

2K Autumn Sale (through October 8)

2K’s Autumn Sale is running on Steam until October 8, 2026, digital only. The announcement doesn’t list per-title discounts, so check the store page.

Weekly Activities (October 1-8)

Big Encore Boss: a tougher variant of Sidney Pointylegs, which 2K says comes with a better loot pool.
Wildcard Mission: Hangover Helper (Robin Colinson, Quickened, Irritable). The guaranteed Legendary is the Stray, a Ripper sniper rifle, and you can rerun the mission for a better roll.
Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine has moved and restocked. Everyone gets the same location, but the stock differs per player.

From our logs: Sidney Pointylegs’ dedicated drops (older captures)

These numbers are not from this week. We logged no new play between September 27 and October 3. Since Sidney Pointylegs is the Big Encore Boss, here are our captures of her three dedicated drops, recorded between July and September 2026. The date column is when each screenshot was taken. We didn’t track where each copy dropped, so we’re not claiming they all came from her.

Noisy Cricket (Order pistol): 5 copies

Captured	Lv	Damage	Accuracy	Reload	Fire rate	Magazine	DPS
2026-07-24	46	3,630	60%	1.5s	3.0/s	2	1,980
2026-08-13	48	4,870	60%	1.5s	3.0/s	2	2,657
2026-09-04	50	4,461	57%	1.2s	3.0/s	2	2,904
2026-09-05	49	4,093	60%	1.2s	3.0/s	2	2,664
2026-09-05	50	5,124	57%	1.4s	3.0/s	2	3,041

Every copy had a 2-round magazine and a 3.0/s fire rate, while damage and reload (1.2 to 1.5s) varied. Our two level 50 copies rolled 4,461 and 5,124 damage, about 15% apart, so those two numbers are what to compare when you farm.

Disc Jockey (Ripper heavy weapon): 1 copy

Captured	Lv	Damage	Accuracy	Fire rate	Magazine	DPS	Radius
2026-09-05	50	1,450	83%	3.0/s	8	4,350	120cm

The card shows no element and no licensed parts. One copy isn’t enough to say anything about the roll range yet.

Swarm (Order grenade): 2 copies

Captured	Lv	Damage	Radius	Charges	Extra effect
2026-09-05	50	3,867	459cm	2	+41% grenade damage radius
2026-09-11	31	907	325cm	2	+21% grenade damage

Both copies had the Order homing effect and the unique effect that spawns 3 grenades on explosion. Listed damage went up about 4.3x from level 31 to level 50. The level 31 copy’s number already includes its +21% damage bonus, so the gain from level alone is probably larger. The radius gap (325cm to 459cm) lines up with the level 50 copy’s +41% radius bonus.

Sources

Borderlands 4 players unlocked a new Vault Hunter Skin for Loveless! (Steam)
THIS MONTH ON KAIROS (Steam)
Borderlands 4 Weekly Activities: October 1-8 (Steam)
Borderlands 4: Weekly Update - October 1, 2026 (Official Support)
Borderlands: Dead ECHOs Episode 10 - Part 2 (Steam)
Cozy Up with 2K: The Autumn Sale is Live on Steam! (Steam)

Measured values come from our own in-game screenshots. This issue uses older captures, dated in each table. Official information is sourced above.

FAQ

Can anyone redeem the Mint Chipset code?

Anyone can enter the SHiFT code 3SX3J-3XZ55-CR33C-JBBJT-XH395, but you need the Loveless the Hacker DLC to equip the skin on Loveless. Redeem it on the Gearbox SHiFT site or in the in-game SHiFT menu, once per SHiFT account. The fine print says it must be redeemed by December 31, 2030.

What's happening to This Week on Kairos?

2K's community manager announced that the This Week on Kairos newsletter is switching to a monthly schedule as This Month on Kairos, collecting each month's updates in one post. The first edition covers September.

What are this week's (October 1-8) Weekly Activities?

The Big Encore Boss is a tougher variant of Sidney Pointylegs. The Wildcard Mission is Hangover Helper (Robin Colinson, Quickened, Irritable), with a guaranteed Legendary Stray, a Ripper sniper rifle. Maurice's Black Market Vending Machine has moved: same location for everyone, different stock per player.

What data is in this issue?

We didn't log any new play this week. Instead, we pulled our older captures of Sidney Pointylegs' three dedicated drops (Noisy Cricket, Disc Jockey, and Swarm), recorded between July and September 2026. Each row lists its capture date. None of it was recorded this week.