Experience points (also exp or XP) are the primary reward for undertaking adventures in Borderlands. Every character starts with 0 experience points and at level 1. Completing missions and killing hostile creatures results in experience points awarded to all of the characters present in the group. Completing achievements or challenges will also increase exp.

Experience points can be gained during the course of the game, and can only be lost by exiting the game without saving. Should an unsaved exit occur, the experience total will be reverted back to the most recent game save.

LevelsEdit

*The amount of points needed for a specific level can be calculated using the formula: f(x)=60*(x^2.8-1), with x denoting the level and rounding to the next integer (e. g. 3788.1 becomes 3789). This formula is correct for all levels except level 45. For this level the deviation between the formula and the given experience points is 59.

Level	XP required	Skill points	HP
1	0	0	100
2	358	0	115
3	1,241	0	130
4	2,850	0	145
5	5,376	1	160
6	8,997	2	175
7	13,886	3	190
8	20,208	4	205
9	28,126	5	220
10	37,798	6	235
11	49,377	7	250
12	63,016	8	265
13	78,861	9	280
14	97,061	10	295
15	117,757	11	310
16	141,092	12	325
17	167,207	13	340
18	196,238	14	355
19	228,322	15	370
20	263,595	16	385
21	302,190	17	400
22	344,238	18	415
23	389,873	19	430
24	439,222	20	445
25	492,414	21	460
26	549,578	22	475
27	610,840	23	490
28	676,325	24	505
29	746,158	25	520
30	820,463	26	535
31	899,363	27	550
32	982,980	28	565
33	1,071,436	29	580
34	1,164,850	30	595
35	1,263,343	31	610
36	1,367,034	32	625
37	1,476,041	33	640
38	1,590,483	34	655
39	1,710,476	35	670
40	1,836,137	36	685
41	1,967,582	37	700
42	2,104,926	38	715
43	2,248,285	39	730
44	2,397,772	40	745
45	2,553,501	41	760
46	2,715,586	42	775
47	2,884,139	43	790
48	3,059,273	44	805
49	3,241,098	45	820
50	3,429,728	46	835
51	3,628,272	47	850
52	3,827,841	48	865
53	4,037,544	49	880
54	4,254,492	50	895
55	4,478,793	51	910
56	4,710,557	52	925
57	4,949,891	53	940
58	5,196,904	54	955
59	5,451,702	55	970
60	5,714,395	56	985
61	5,985,087	57	1000
62	6,263,884	58	1015
63	6,550,894	59	1030
64	6,846,227	60	1045
65	7,149,982	61	1060
66	7,462,266	62	1075
67	7,783,184	63	1090
68	8,112,840	64	1105
69	8,451,341	65	1120

Once the experience is gained, a character will increase his/her level upon reaching a certain threshold. The maximum level cap for all characters is currently 69 in any area of the game at the moment the The Secret Armory of General Knoxx and patch 1.4.1 have been installed. Players without the Knoxx DLC are limited to level 58. If no DLC or patches have been installed, the maximum level will be 50 for any non Game Of The Year edition of Borderlands.

As each level is gained, a graphic text pop up will overlay the screen with the words "Level Up". At this point health and shield capacity become fully charged at their new level and the character's action skill is also recharged.

For each level gained, a character will receive 15 extra health points added to the 100 base, which means the health calculation is: 100+((level-1)*15). Other characteristics like melee damage or resistance also increase at higher levels. Also, every level acquired rewards a character with 1 skill point starting from level 5, meaning a total of 46 skill points at level 50, 54 at level 58, and 65 at level 69. A character can also acquire one free skill point in each of the two playthroughs from Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot and Claptrap's New Robot Revolution, meaning a character can have a total of 69 Skill Points to spend.

The level cap for all characters was increased by 8 with the release of patch 1.4.1. The former level cap was 50, or 61 for those who installed The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. This makes a total of 69 skill points to earn, though the four gained from DLC's 2 and 4 will still require those add-ons (as they are mission rewards).

The equation relating XP to Level is

xp = 60*(level^2.8 - 1)

The inverse relationship to this is

level = (1 + (xp/60)) ^ (1/2.8)