Mayhem Mode is Borderlands 4's post-campaign difficulty scaling system. Once you finish the main story, you can activate it from the Echo menu to increase enemy health, shield, and damage — in exchange for better loot drop rates, more Eridium, and access to Mayhem-exclusive legendary weapons. Here is how every level works and which one you should be farming.

How to Unlock Mayhem Mode

Mayhem Mode unlocks immediately after completing the final campaign mission "The Empyrean Fall." Open your Echo device, navigate to the Mayhem tab (it appears as a new icon next to your Guardian Rank), and select your desired level. You can change Mayhem levels at any time from the Echo menu — no need to return to Sanctuary IV. There is no cost to switch levels, and your progress within each level is preserved when you switch away and come back.

All 11 Mayhem Levels

Mayhem 1–3: The Warm-Up

Enemy scaling: +150% health, +75% shields, +50% damage at M1; scaling up to +400%/+200%/+125% at M3.

Loot bonus: +100% cash and Eridium drops starting at M1. Legendary drop rate increases by roughly 5% per level. Mayhem-exclusive legendaries do not drop at M1–3.

Modifiers: One Easy modifier at M1, one Easy + one Medium at M2, two Medium at M3. Easy modifiers are mostly cosmetic or avoidable (e.g., "enemies drop elemental pools on death — just don't stand in them").

Who this is for: Fresh level-cap characters with mostly purple gear. Use M1–3 to farm your first set of legendaries before pushing higher.

Mayhem 4–6: The Grind

Enemy scaling: +800% health, +400% shields, +250% damage at M4; up to +2,000%/+1,000%/+600% at M6.

Loot bonus: Mayhem-exclusive legendaries begin dropping at M4. Anointment rates increase significantly — roughly 60% of legendaries at M4 will have anointments, rising to near-100% by M6.

Modifiers: Two Medium + one Hard at M4, scaling to two Hard at M6. Hard modifiers change how you play: "Enemies reflect 30% of bullet damage back at you" or "Critical hits are 50% less effective." Reroll bad modifiers at the Mayhem console on Sanctuary IV for Eridium.

Who this is for: Players with a full legendary loadout and a coherent build. M4–6 is where most players settle for regular farming. The loot-to-difficulty ratio peaks at M6 for most builds.

Mayhem 7–9: The Test

Enemy scaling: +4,000% health, +2,000% shields, +1,200% damage at M7; up to +10,000%/+5,000%/+3,000% at M9.

Loot bonus: All Mayhem-exclusive legendaries are in the drop pool. Eridium drops are roughly 4x the base rate. Dedicated drop rates from named enemies increase noticeably at M8+.

Modifiers: Two Hard + one Very Hard from M7 upward. Very Hard modifiers can brick entire builds: "Enemies are immune to incendiary damage" kills a Moze splash build instantly. Always check modifiers before loading into a M7+ zone and reroll anything that counters your element type.

Who this is for: Optimized builds with specific anointments and class mod synergies. You should be able to clear a Proving Grounds trial in under 5 minutes at M6 before attempting M7.

Mayhem 10–11: The Apex

Enemy scaling (M10): +25,000% health, +12,500% shields, +7,500% damage.

M11 (new in BL4): Same enemy scaling as M10, but with ZERO modifiers. The tradeoff: loot quality drops by roughly 15% compared to M10. M11 exists for players who want the challenge of max-scaling enemies without modifier RNG ruining their runs.

Loot bonus (M10): Maximum legendary drop rates. All Mayhem-exclusive legendaries have their highest dedicated drop chances. Eridium drops are roughly 8x base rate. Anointments are guaranteed on every legendary.

Who this is for: M10 is for perfectly-optimized builds chasing god rolls. M11 is for players who want max difficulty without modifier headaches. The community consensus: farm at M6 for volume, push to M10 for quality, use M11 for relaxed max-difficulty play.

Best Mayhem Level for Farming

The short answer: Mayhem 6 for most players. Here is the math. Going from M6 to M10 roughly doubles your per-kill legendary chance — but enemies have 12.5x more health. If you kill 10 enemies per minute at M6 and 1 enemy per minute at M10, you get more legendaries at M6 even though the per-kill rate is lower. Clear speed matters more than drop rate.

Exceptions: if your build can one-shot M10 mobs (certain FL4K crit builds and Moze splash builds with god-roll class mods), farm M10. If you are targeting a specific Mayhem-exclusive legendary, check the dedicated drop table — some items only drop at M8+ from specific bosses, and in those cases you push to the minimum required level and no higher.

Mayhem-Exclusive Legendaries Worth Farming