What to know

  • Vile Bounties offer the highest XP rewards, often around 21,000 per completion for each target.
  • These appear as purple quests on bounty boards at Safehouses; Carcadia’s Makeshift Chalet is a top spot.
  • Enemies with Vile Bounties have crystals on their bodies, making them easy to identify in combat.
  • To farm, refresh the bounty board by quitting and reloading the game, maximizing how many Vile Bounties you tackle in succession.

Once you reach level 30 in Borderlands 4, Vile Bounties become an essential tool for fast leveling and legendary loot. These special contracts mark crystal-infested enemies on your map, and when completed, they offer XP that far surpasses regular bounties, helping you close the gap to the level cap efficiently.

Why Vile Bounties matter for leveling

When you reach level 30, Vile Bounties become one of the best XP sources available.
Because they are more challenging than standard bounties, they yield significantly higher XP and better loot per minute spent, especially under UVH.

Compared to side quests or exploration, Vile Bounties offer:

  • High XP density (lots of XP in a short time)
  • Frequent loot rewards—including a good chance at rare or legendary drops
  • Easy looping via resets (minimizing downtime)

That said, they’re not the only farm. Drill Sites are another strong option, particularly in co-op, where teams can farm multiple sites in parallel.

How to farm Vile Bounties efficiently (step-by-step)

Here’s a recommended loop you can follow to maximize XP per hour.

How to run an efficient Vile Bounty loop

Step 1

Finish the campaign and unlock Ultimate Vault Hunter mode. Without UVH, your XP and loot gains from Vile Bounties will be less optimal.

Step 2

Fast travel to the Makeshift Chalet safehouse in Carcadia Burn. This should be your base for the loop, since the bounty board is very nearby.

Step 3

Open the bounty board. Look for Vile (purple) bounties first. If none are available, default to “kill” contracts (blue) until a Vile bounty appears.

Step 4

Go to the target. When fighting the elite, first break the Vile crystals that shield the enemy. After that, kill the target as you would a regular boss. Then open the reward chest.

Step 5

Return to Makeshift Chalet (fast travel). Immediately save → quit to main menu → reload the session. This resets the bounty board to allow new contracts.

Step 6

Repeat the loop. With a strong build and familiarity, this can yield extremely high XP rates.

Optional step

If the board doesn’t show Vile bounties, try toggling your difficulty or UVH level in settings. That sometimes forces a refresh faster than quitting.

Tips & best practices for Vile Bounties

  • Use AoE or crystal-breaking weapons to deal with Vile crystals quickly. Splash damage weapons work best.
  • Play in co-op for faster clears. With more players, you can coordinate crystal-breaking and boss focus.
  • Save your best gear for UVH runs since loot rewards scale better there.
  • Mix in lower-tier bounties if no Vile is available, to keep XP flowing.

Wrapping up Vile Bounties in Borderlands 4

Vile Bounties are one of the most efficient late-game farming tools in Borderlands 4. Once you know how to reset the board and loop them, you’ll gain fast XP, valuable loot, and a steady path toward endgame builds.