Borderlands 3 Achievements Guide - Avid Achievers (2024)

Borderlands 3 is an epic looter shooter that takes the series away from the harsh deserts of Pandora and into the stars. Handsome Jack left gigantic shoes to fill in Borderlands 2 as a fantastic villain, and although Borderlands 3’s Calypso Twins never quite reach his heights, the gameplay makes up for it.

The Achievement selection in Borderlands 3 is great because you can’t accidentally miss any of them, and once you’ve reached the end of your first playthrough, you can go for them at your leisure. If Legendary Weapons aren’t exciting anymore, let’s grab you some Gamerscore. Welcome to a Borderlands 3 Achievements Guide.

Key Info Up Front

• Genre: First-Person Shooter / Looter Shooter
• Difficulty: Medium
• Average time for 100%: 50-60 hours. There are a few exploration-based Achievements that increase the average completion time exponentially.
• Total number of Achievements: 44

Roadmap to Success

If the completion time hasn’t put you off, the good news is Borderlands 3 throws plenty of Achievements at you during your first playthrough. Just by completing the Campaign, you’ll earn the following:

• You Got Skills
• Welcome to the Crimson Raiders
• So Long, Pandora
• Star Bound
• NOG It Off
• I Mustache You A Question
• Gone From My Sight
• Vaulting Your Way To The Top
• That Was Cold
• Heir To An Empty Castle
• Cross The Streamers
• Apocalypso
• I Am A Goddess, A Glorious Female Warrior
• Damn, Gina
• Bye, Felicia!

You can easily incorporate the following Achievements into your first playthrough as well. These aren’t difficult but may require a little setup.

• Barrelled Right Over Them
• Feelin’ A Little Stabby
• Florida Man
• Bolt-Ons
• Droppin Loads
• Tips Appreciated
• Mechani-Cool
• Stick It To Em
• Stay Golden (You’ll get the most value from your Golden Keys if you save them until you’re max level)

Multiplayer Achievements

One little bonus with Borderlands 3 Multiplayer Achievements is you don’t technically need to play with anyone to get them. I’ve explained each method in the following section, but these Achievements can be earned whenever you want.

• Stay Away From The Light
• I Hope You Didn’t Tea Bag
• Gun Pals!

2nd Playthrough Achievements

You’ll earn the following Achievements during your 2nd playthrough, even if you’re not going for them.

• A La Carte
• On Fleek
• The Biggest Badass In The Borderlands

Endgame Achievements

Some of these can be earned during your 2nd playthrough but will be more comfortable when you’re leveled up, properly geared, and swimming in Eridian.

• My Name Is Earl
• Zer0ed In
• Exoarchaeolo-You Get The Gist
• Got Big Game
• Rewards Card
• 100 Proof
• Slaughterhouse 3
• Master Of All You Survey
• Swamped
• City Slicker
• 100 Names For Sand
• Tales From The Eridian Slab
• Good Against Remotes Is One Thing
• A Little Something On The Side

A Quick Word on Exploration Achievements

Most of the rarest Achievements in Borderlands 3 are locked behind discovering named locations in each area. Screenshots aren’t beneficial as you can’t manipulate them, so the best resources for these Achievements are ‘Interactive Maps.’ Fortunately, Mapgenie.io specializes in these and does so for many other games, including Escape From Tarkov. I’ll link to the appropriate maps in the following section. For exploring, the best way to use these maps is to press the ‘HIDE ALL’ button and turn on Locations.

Borderlands 3 Achievements

These Achievements are in order of rarity, with the most common up top and the rarest at the bottom.

You Got Skills

• Description: Reach Level 2.
• Completion Rating: 95.5%

You’ll earn this Achievement within the first few minutes of playing. ‘You Got Skills’ is the first of four level-based Achievements in Borderlands 3, all obtainable in a standard campaign playthrough.

Welcome to the Crimson Raiders

• Description: Complete mission ‘Children of the Vault.’
• Completion Rating: 94.2%

The Children of the Vault mission is right at the start of the game. You’re still being taught the ropes before you meet the Firehawk, so proceed as usual and defeat Shiv. The Achievement will pop shortly afterward.

Barreled Right over Them

• Description: Kill an enemy with an exploding barrel.
• Completion Rating: 77%

You’ll quickly unlock ‘Barreled Right Over Them’ if you prioritize shooting barrels near your enemies. You should be doing this anyway, as it’s free damage. You can unlock this in the first small arena before you complete the ‘Children of the Vault’ mission

Feelin’ a Little Stabby

• Description: Kill an enemy, knifing them with a gun blade.
• Completion Rating: 69.4%

You’ll specifically need a weapon with a blade attached to it for this Achievement, and they are plentiful throughout the game. You’ll quickly kill early-game enemies with one, as they have less health. If you’re having problems, you can do most of the work with a regular gun and finish with a melee attack.

So Long, Pandora

• Description: Complete mission ‘Taking Flight.’
• Completion Rating: 65.9%

You’ll unlock ‘So Long, Pandora’ early in the story after you’ve gathered enough fuel to leave Pandora.

Star Bound

• Description: Reach Level 10.
• Completion Rating: 65.6%

You’ll earn Star Bound as part of your natural progression through Borderlands 3. With regular play, you should unlock Star Bound before you leave Pandora.

NOG It Off

• Description: Complete mission ‘Hostile Takeover.’
• Completion Rating: 58.8%

You’ll earn ‘NOG It Off’ on Promethea after finishing the campaign quest line with Lorelei and Rhys.

Florida Man

• Description: Down yourself by grenade or explosion
• Completion Rating: 58.7%

Florida Man is as easy as it sounds. Down yourself with a grenade, and the Achievement is yours. If you’re struggling to break your shield with grenades, you can unequip it first.

I Mustache You a Question

• Description: Complete mission ‘Atlas, At Last.’
• Completion Rating: 48.6%

You’ll earn this Achievement during the Campaign when the storyline with Zer0 and Katagawa concludes.

Stay Away from the Light

• Description: Revive another player.
• Completion Rating: 47.2%

I can only guess this Achievement has a low completion rating, as many players prefer to play Solo. In any case, you’ll need a co-op partner to get themselves killed and wait for you to revive them. This can be done online, and you can even do it yourself split screen with a 2nd controller.

Gone from My Sight

• Description: Complete mission ‘Beneath The Meridian.’
• Completion Rating: 46.9%

You’ll earn this Achievement after defeating the Ravager in the first Vault.

Vaulting Your Way to the Top

• Description: Reach level 25.
• Completion Rating: 44.4%

Keep progressing through the Campaign as normal, and you’ll reach level 25 before the end. Even if you’re rushing, you’ll likely be level 30+ before the end of your first playthrough.

That Was Cold

• Description: Complete mission ‘Lair of the Harpy.’
• Completion Rating: 43.4%
• You’ll unlock ‘That Was Cold’ upon completing your first campaign mission on Eden-6.

Bolt-Ons

• Description: Unlock 10 Character Heads or Skins.
• Completion Rating: 41.6%

Character Skins can be found naturally as loot drops or purchased with Eridian at Crazy Earl’s shop aboard Sanctuary. You should find enough to unlock the Bolt-Ons before the end of your first playthrough.

Some users have reported this Achievement being bugged, although this seems to have been fixed in a patch. If the Achievement doesn’t trigger when you unlock your 10th Head/Skin, reload the previous save and unlock the final cosmetic again or keep collecting beyond ten and it should eventually appear.

Dropping Loads

• Description: Win a live grenade at a Slot Machine
• Completion Rating: 40.9%

How could you walk into Moxxi’s bar and not gamble?! Live grenades are a common prize in Moxxi’s slot machines, so spend some of your hard-earned cash in the bar to quickly unlock ‘Dropping Loads.’

Heir to an Empty Castle

• Description: Complete mission ‘Cold as the Grave.’
• Completion Rating: 38.9%

This long campaign mission has you battling Aurelia and, later on, Graveward. You can use the Graveward location for EXP farming later if you need it.

Cross the Streamers

• Description: Complete mission ‘Blood Drive.’
• Completion Rating: 37.4%

When the campaign story aboard Carnivora on Pandora concludes, you’ll earn ‘Cross The Streamers.’ The Agonizer 9000 is an easy boss once you figure out its attack patterns. You should be fine if you keep an eye on where you’re standing and jump over the obstacles as they swing toward you.

Apocalypso

• Description: Complete mission ‘The Great Vault.’
• Completion Rating: 35.8%

You’ll unlock Apocalypso when you dispatch Troy on Pandora during the Campaign. Troy is a tough customer as he has an absurd amount of health. Most of Troy’s attacks can be avoided by constantly backing away and strafing around the arena. You can dodge the giant meteor attacks by standing in the arch’s shadow to either side.

I Am a Goddess, a Glorious Female Warrior

• Description: Complete mission ‘In The Shadow Of Starlight.’
• Completion Rating: 34.4%

You’ll unlock this Achievement as part of your campaign progression when the story on Nekrotafeyo concludes.

Damn, Gina

• Description: Obtain all Vault Rewards
• Completion Rating: 34.3%

The description for ‘Damn, Gina’ is a little misleading as you’d think ‘Vault Rewards’ means loot. In fact, these rewards are story-related Eridian Artifacts, like the Decoder. These are impossible to miss, and you’ll unlock the last one after completing the mission ‘Footsteps of Giants.’

Bye, Felicia!

• Description: Complete mission ‘Divine Retribution.’
• Completion Rating: 33.9%

‘Bye, Felicia!’ signifies the end of the final campaign mission. The Tyreen boss fight is a little tricky, as there’s a lot to think about. Keep the smaller enemies at bay and be ready to jump onto Tyreen’s back when she goes down. If you take too long, she will get up, and you’ll miss out on your damage phase. You’ll complete the Campaign when you return to Sanctuary.

A La Carte

• Description: Complete 20 Side Missions
• Completion Rating: 33.4%

There are dozens of side activities in Borderlands 3. Any mission not part of the Campaign counts as a side mission. If you’re being thorough and completing side missions whenever you find them, you’ll quickly unlock A La Carte during your first playthrough.

If you’re a confident player and know you’ll be invested in Borderlands for a while, it’s more efficient to tackle Side Missions when you’ve reached the level cap. This will take multiple playthroughs, but your rewards will also be max level.

Tips Appreciated

• Description: Tip Moxxi
• Completion Rating: 30.6%

Wow, there’s no love for Moxxi, huh? Go to the ‘Tip Jar’ at the bar and donate some cash, and the Achievement is yours. Tipping Moxxi is worth your while as she’ll eventually reward you with weapons like this ‘Terminal Crit,’ for example (pictured above).

I’ve read conflicting reports on how much you need to give her, but if you feel like a high roller and don’t trust your luck on the slot machines, why not give it to Moxxi instead?

Mechani-Cool

• Description: Unlock 10 Vehicle Parts via hijacking
• Completion Rating: 31.1%

This Achievement likely has a low completion rating, as hijacking is a rather underused feature in Borderlands 3. If you drive a hijacked vehicle to a ‘Catch a Ride’ station, any parts you didn’t have already will be added to the list. You can digistruct your own vehicle with those parts in the future. You’ll easily have enough pieces to unlock Mechani-Cool if you prioritize hijacking in your first playthrough.

On Fleek

• Description: Equip purple-rarity gear or better in every slot
• Completion Rating: 30.0%

As you’ll constantly be replacing your gear as you level up so fast, you may not find a situation where you have decent bits of purple equipment to fill every inventory slot. If you play to the end of your 2nd playthrough, you’ll reach a point where you’ll turn your nose up at any loot that isn’t at least purple-rarity, so this will happen naturally.

I Hope You Didn’t Tea-Bag

• Description: Win a duel
• Completion Rating: 28.3%

You can complete this online or solo with two controllers like the ‘Stay Away From The Light’ Achievement. You can request a duel by hitting a teammate with a melee attack. They need to accept the fight by doing the same back to you. Once you’ve won a battle, you’ll get the Achievement.

Stick It to Em

• Description: Kill two or more enemies with a single sticky grenade.
• Completion Rating: 25.9%

Stick It To Em is an easy Achievement. As long as your grenade mod specifies that it’s a sticky grenade, the Achievement will unlock when you kill multiple enemies simultaneously. You don’t need to ‘stick’ your targets for this will work. If you’re struggling, you can weaken your opponents with regular gunfire before throwing a grenade.

Stay Golden

• Description: Use a Golden Key.
• Completion Rating: 24.7%

Gold keys are rare items that open the Golden Chest aboard Sanctuary. Each time the chest is opened, you’ll be given a generous selection of high-rarity loot. As keys are so rare, it’s recommended that you use Golden Keys when you’re max level so the rewards will always be viable.

The hardest bit about this Achievement is obtaining the Keys, as you’ll need a valid SHIFT Code. Gearbox rarely hands out codes for Borderlands 3 anymore, but fortunately, there are a handful of permanent ones that should still work:

• 9XCBT-WBXFR-5TRWJ-JJJ33-TX53Z – 3 Golden Keys
• ZRWBJ-ST6XR-CBFKT-JT3J3-FRXJ5 – 3 Golden Keys
• 5H533-9XT3T-FXWFZ-RJTTB-6FXKJ – 10 Golden Keys
• Z65B3-JCXX6-5JXW3-3B33J-9SWT6 – 3 Golden Keys

Biggest Badass in the Borderlands

• Description: Reach Level 50
• Completion Rating: 24.2%

Level 50 is the original level cap in Borderlands 3, and most players will reach it near the end of their 2nd playthrough in True Vault Hunter Mode (TVHM).

If you’ve got a friend who’s already max level, you can get them to boost you to level 50. If you join them at the highest difficulty they can handle and they take you to The Floating Tomb, they can kill the Grave Ward boss for you, earning you a ton of EXP. You’ll have to leave the session each time, but this fight can be repeated.

Exoarchaeolo-You Get the Gist

• Description: Discover all named locations on Nekrotafeyo
• Completion Rating: 12.2%

Once you’ve visited all 27 named locations on Nekrotafeyo, the Achievement will unlock. You can explore on your own or use this Interactive Map for guidance

Gun Pals!

• Description: Send an item to a friend.
• Completion Rating: 11.0%

You can earn ‘Gun Pals!’ by sending a friend a gun using the Mail System. The Mail System is in the Social tab of the Options Menu. Don’t worry if you don’t know any other Borderlands 3 players. If you have a friend on your PlayStation friends list, you can send them a gun even if they never redeem it.

My Name Is Earl

• Description: Buy 20 cosmetic items from Crazy Earl
• Completion Rating: 10.9%

Sadly, ‘My Name Is Earl’ is notoriously buggy, and many users have reported needing to buy far more than 20 cosmetics to earn the Achievement. Earl’s currency of choice is Eridium, and you’ll find mountains of it as you progress through the game. If you’ve not used any, you’ll amass a decent amount during your 2nd playthrough in True Vault Hunter Mode. Items that count as ‘cosmetic’ items in Earl’s shop are as follows:

• Trinkets
• Skins
• Decorations
• Echo Device Themes
• Character Heads/Skins

If you visit Earl whenever you’re in Sanctuary, you should unlock this Achievement naturally, even if you need more than 20 items.

Zer0ed In

• Description: Defeat all of Zer0’s Targets Of Opportunity
• Completion Rating: 9.3%

Zer0’s Targets Of Opportunity are labeled on the map with an icon depicting 2 crossed swords. There are 10 in total, and each offers a unique enemy encounter. These battles aren’t difficult but are a step up from the standard enemies. These are the targets, along with the maps you’ll find them on:

• Crushjaw– Pandora – Cathedral of the Gods
• Hot Karl– Pandora – Devil’s Razor
• DJ DeadSk4g– Pandora – Splinterlands
• Judge Hightower– Promethea – Lectra City
• Baron Noggin– Promethea – Meridian Metroplex
• Handsome Jackie– Promethea – Skywell 27
• Psychobillies– Eden-6 – Ambermire
• Heckle and Hyde– Eden-6 – Jakobs Estate
• Sky Bullies– Eden-6 – The Anvil
• Atomic and Sylestro– Nekrotafeyo – Tazendeer Ruins

Even if you’re not Achievement Hunting, these fights are worth seeking out, as some drop rare rewards. The Psychobillies, in particular, can drop the Legendary Electric Banjo Artifact, which is completely broken on specific builds.

Got Big Game

• Description: Defeat all of Hammerlock’s Legendary Hunts.
• Completion Rating: 8.8%

There are 10 Legendary Hunts to complete for Hammerlock. Once you’ve defeated every enemy, the Achievement is yours. You’ll be contacted by Hammerlock whenever you’re close to the targets, and you can find them in the following locations:

• Antalope – Pandora – Devil’s Razor
• Lavender Crawley– Pandora – The Droughts
• Manvark – Pandora – Konrad’s Hold
• Phoenix – Pandora – The Splinterlands
• Skrakk– Pandora – Ascension Bluff
• Chonk Stomp – Eden-6 – Floodmoor Basin
• Jabbermogwai – Eden-6 – Voracious Canopy
• Chupacabratch – Athenas (single location)
• Blinding Banshee – Nekrotafeyo – Desolation’s Edge
• Brood Mother– Nekrotafeyo – The Pyre of the Stars

After completing all 10 hunts and earning the Achievement, you’ll also get the Legendary Bekah Assault Rifle for your troubles. Another cool feature of this Quest Line is it changes Hammerlock’s quarters aboard Sanctuary.

Rewards Card

• Description: Earn a Loyalty Package from each weapon manufacturer.
• Completion Rating: 8.6%

Each gun manufacturer will send you a Loyalty Package when you kill 100 enemies with their weapons. This is easier to do on True Vault Hunter Mode during your 2nd playthrough, where enemies are more plentiful. The manufacturers are as follows:

• Atlas
• COV
• Dahl
• Hyperion
• Jakobs
• Maliwan
• Torgue
• Tediore
• Vladof

100 Proof

• Description: Clear all the Eridian Proving Grounds
• Completion Rating: 5.6%

The Eridian Proving Grounds are tough mini-gauntlets with three arenas followed by a boss. You can’t attempt them until you’ve beaten the story. There are 6 in total, and you have to unlock them before entering. Once opened, you’ll have a quest for them and can fast-travel to the locations.

The locations for each quest are as follows:

Pandora – Devil’s Razor

Pandora – Splinterlands

Eden-6 – Floodmoor Basin

Eden-6 Jakobs Estate

Promethea – Meridian Outskirts

Nekrotafeyo – Desolation’s Edge

Each Proving Ground has timed objectives that are optional and can be ignored.

Slaughterhouse 3

• Description: Complete all Circles of Slaughter
• Completion Rating: 4.4%

Like the Proving Grounds, the Circles of Slaughter are challenging wave-based gauntlets. These are much easier with decent gear, so I recommend attempting them when you’ve reached the endgame. There are 3 Slaughterhouses, and their locations are as follows:

Pandora – Konrad’s Hold

Promethea – Meridian Metroplex

Necrotafeyo – Desolation’s Edge

Sadly, the Slaughterhouses are notoriously buggy, and they are so brutal you’ll probably need a few attempts to beat each one. I would usually recommend co-op for an Achievement like this, but it’s widely reported that playing with friends breaks it even more than solo play.

Swamped

• Description: Discover all named locations on Eden-6
• Completion Rating: 4.2%

Once you’ve visited all 63 named locations on Eden-6, the Achievement will unlock. You can explore on your own or use this Interactive Map for guidance

City Slicker

• Description: Discover all named locations on Promethea
• Completion Rating: 4.2%

Once you’ve visited all 43 named locations on Promethea, the Achievement will unlock. You can explore on your own or use this Interactive Map for guidance:

A Hundred Names for Sand

• Description: Discover all named locations on Pandora
• Completion Rating: 4.0%

Once you’ve visited all 99 named locations on Pandora, the Achievement will unlock. You can explore on your own or use this Interactive Map for guidance

Master of All You Survey

• Description: Discover all named locations
• Completion Rating: 4.3%

You’ll earn ‘Master Of All You Survey’ upon completing every planet-based location Achievement.

Good against Remotes Is One Thing

• Description: Get a perfect score at the Firing Range on any difficulty.
• Completion Rating: 3.8%

This is a surprisingly tough Achievement. You need to knock down 15 targets in Marcus’s firing range in 20 seconds. An accurate weapon with a big magazine or fast reload speed is perfect. If you have an Infinity Pistol, that’s even better! You’ll learn what to look for after a few tries, and this can be attempted with a co-op partner to make it easier.

Tales from the Eridian Slab

• Description: Decipher all of the Eridian Slabs
• Completion Rating: 3.3%

Tales From The Eridian Slab is one of the rarest Achievements in Borderlands 3 for one big reason. The Achievement is incredibly glitchy. I’ve read numerous reports of the Achievement not unlocking even when all the criteria have been met, and at the time of writing, there’s no fix for this. There are 30 Slabs to decipher, and I strongly recommend using Mapgenie Interactive Maps for these:

• There are four on Nekrotafeyo
• There are eight on Eden-6
• There are six on Promethea
• There are eleven on Pandora:
• There is one on Athenas in the room immediately after the Captain Traunt battle.

Getting a Little on the Side

• Description: Complete all Side Missions
• Completion Rating: 2.7%

Getting A Little On The Side is the rarest Achievement in Borderlands 3, not because it’s hard, but because it’s so easy to accidentally miss a Side Mission. The best resource I’ve found for this is the same website that provides the interactive maps I recommended for the named locations.

Using this website, you can view every Side Mission on a list that pinpoints their exact locations on the map. There are 75 Side Missions in the base game, and fortunately, there are no reports of this Achievement bugging out.

Frequently Asked Questions