Posted: Apr 21 2020

Check out Revenge of the Cartels, the new Borderlands 3 seasonal event bringing you limited-time loot and rewards.

Soak up some rays, rock those neon colors, and bust crime like it's the '80s in Revenge of the Cartels, the free seasonal event happening in Borderlands 3 from April 23 to June 4. Revenge of the Cartels features an all-new area, fresh enemy types, limited-time Challenges, and of course, tons of gear to collect including new Legendaries and Anointments.

In his continued studies of human customs, your Saurian crewmate Maurice has gotten himself mixed up with the wrong crowd, and now finds himself indebted to Joey Ultraviolet, the kingpin of the Eridium Cartel. To save Maurice's scaly hide, you'll need to take the fight to Joey and his gangs of underlings at Villa Ultraviolet, an opulent hideout overlooking a tropical paradise.

Traveling to Villa Ultraviolet

The first time you log in during Revenge of the Cartels, you'll get a repeatable quest from Maurice aboard Sanctuary III that must be completed in order to reach Villa Ultraviolet. During the event, neon-glowing Cartel Operative enemies can be found lurking around the galaxy, including areas from campaign add-ons. When you kill an Operative, a dead-man's switch signal is sent to their cohorts, and some Cartel Thugs will warp in to avenge their slain comrade.

Be on your guard, because Cartel Thugs might also be accompanied by one of the Eridium Cartel's Underbosses. These are unique, Badass-level enemies belonging to one of the Cartel's three gangs (more on those in a bit). Eliminating these reinforcements will net you Hideout Coordinates; once you've collected enough of these, Maurice can open up a portal that leads directly to Villa Ultraviolet.

Going up against Eridium Cartel gangs

Once you make it to Villa Ultraviolet, you'll have to battle your way through hordes of Eridium Cartel members belonging to one of three distinct gangs. You might encounter the tech-obsessed cyborgs of CryptoSec, the meat-charring debt collectors of The Burnt Ends, or the Eridium dust runners known as The Purpatrators.

Each gang has their own Underbosses, who you'll need to take down in addition to Joey Ultraviolet himself—and each gang has its own Legendary loot pool, so multiple visits to Villa Ultraviolet are highly encouraged. Every time you clear out Villa Ultraviolet, one of the other gangs will rise to fill the power vacuum, so you won't take on the same gang twice in a row. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find gear with new Anointments that trigger bonuses when you first activate your Action Skill, or new Legendary weapons like the O.P.Q. System assault rifle that can shoot an auto-firing copy of itself targeting whatever you're looking at.

Revenge of the Cartels seasonal rewards

In addition to each gang's new loot, Revenge of the Cartels introduces a new set of limited-time Challenges you can complete to earn themed cosmetic rewards. There are 18 Challenges in all that are only available while Revenge of the Cartels is live, and you can track your progress via the event tab in your ECHO Device menu. Here's a breakdown of the cosmetic items you'll collect depending on how many event Challenges you've completed:

3 Challenges: 'VECH-tor Graphics' ECHO Device Skin

'VECH-tor Graphics' ECHO Device Skin 6 Challenges: 'Retro Outrunner' Weapon Trinket

'Retro Outrunner' Weapon Trinket 10 Challenges: 'Framed Firewall' Room Decoration

'Framed Firewall' Room Decoration 14 Challenges: 'Hotline Pandora' Vault Hunter Head

'Hotline Pandora' Vault Hunter Head 18 Challenges: 'Death by Filigrees' Vault Hunter Skin

As with other seasonal events, you can turn the event on or off at any time between its start and end dates via an option in the Main Menu. In multiplayer, the host's choice will determine if the group sees Revenge of the Cartels content.

Revenge of the Cartels will kick off via a patch on Thursday, April 23 and is scheduled to run for six weeks ending on June 4. Good luck taking down the Eridium Cartel, Vault Hunter—Joey Ultraviolet and his gangs won't know what hit 'em!

Check out the other big update coming with the April 23 patch: Mayhem Mode 2.0!