Borderlands 4 has finally begun rolling out footage of Harlowe in action, after devoting plenty of screen time to its other Vault Hunters, Vex, Rafa, and Amon. On paper, Harlowe was already looking powerful, with crowd-control and team-oriented abilities that set her apart from the rest. Now, she has leaped off of that paper and onto a couple of different visual showcases that further prove just how powerful she is. Her first trailer, in fact, went over her Action Skills — one of which looks like it could be one of the most devastating abilities in Borderlands 4…with a catch.
Of Harlowe’s Action Skills, Chroma Accelerator looks like it could be one of those abilities that could easily be the meta among anything Borderlands 4‘s Vault Hunters are capable of. When it is used, Harlowe unleashes an Unstable Energy Pocket that drifts forward, applying Cryo damage to enemies it passes through, after which it can be manually detonated for a massive area-of-effect Radiation blast. Even ahead of her big reveal, Harlowe was positioned as one of the game’s biggest damage dealers, but Chroma Acclererator just seems to put that in cement. However, any time a skill has that kind of damage potential, it must be balanced, and Chroma Accelerator most certainly is.
Understandably, Harlowe’s Chroma Accelerator skill has quickly become one of her most popular abilities because of its promise as a massive, player-controlled explosion. Once it’s fully upgraded, it can deal Cryo damage as it drifts across the battlefield before detonating into a wide-radius burst of Radiation, making it one of the flashiest boss-killing options Borderlands has ever seen. Coupling it with augments like Q-Ball or Special Purpose Magnets can make it even more destructive, letting it bounce between enemies or pull entire mobs into the blast zone.
Before even putting it to the test, Chroma Accelerator sounds like Borderlands 4‘s boss fights will be no match for it. For all intents and purposes, it is a nuclear bomb that players can detonate at any moment, and while it can deal AoE damage to mobs as it travels across the battlefield, its final detonation is certainly its main event. Unfortunately, while that detonation is sure to deal significant damage, the road to get there might not fit in well with Borderlands 4‘s pacing.
Borderlands has always been about fast-paced combat. And now, with its new traversal mechanics that emphasize high-speed movement and agility, Borderlands 4 looks like it will see players moving even faster. This is ultimately where Chroma Accelerator might be at a disadvantage, because even though its final explosion can deal considerable damage, the skill has extremely slow movement speed. The sphere Harlowe fires does fire at enemies while it travels, but with it only moving in a straight line and so slowly, enemies may have plenty of time to get away or at least scatter. Add to that a bit of a charge time once the skill is activated, and Chroma Accelerator may prove to be rather ineffective in more chaotic scene — which will likely comprise the bulk of the Borderlands 4 combat experience.
Even with an apparent disadvantage in fast-paced environments, however, Chroma Accelerator will still have a one-up on the Action Skills of Borderlands 4‘s other Vault Hunters. In fact, Harlowe is the only one with an Action Skill of this kind, as other characters’ abilities focus on summons, defensive constructs, melee bursts, or direct firepower. If nothing else, Chroma Accelerator may put her ahead of the game when it comes to boss fights in Borderlands 4.
September 12, 2025
Rating Pending
Unreal Engine 5
Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
Yes – all
