How To Solve The Load Reactor Puzzle In BL3

Oct 20, 2023

Stuck on that pesky load reactor puzzle in Borderlands 3? Here's how to get around it.

Being the off-the-wall and often zany experience it is, Gearbox's frenzied RPG shooter Borderlands 3 has more than its share of unique features and oddities. Though the game's distinct brand of humor also sometimes creeps into some of the quests; including the particularly amusing 'puzzle' within the campaign segment that commences after rescuing Tannis, Angels and Speed Demons.

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Being one of the later quests in the game, the difficulty tends to ramp up quite a bit at this point — though the same can't really be said for the puzzle that resides in Tannis' hidden lab. Anyway, this deceptively tricky puzzle takes the form of a console with four light panels; or so you're led to believe... But first, let's touch on the steps needed to reach this area.

Updated April 17, 2023: We've gone over this guide to make sure it's as clear as possible and has all the information you'll need to complete this fiendish quest.

First thing first — you'll need to complete the first portion of the Angels and Speed Demons quest, which begins with heading to Devil's Razor after reporting to Lilith at the Bridge. Vaughn will request your assistance in rallying support and providing firepower in Roland's Rest.

Once this is done (technically it's a 'failed' endeavor, though this is supposed to occur), teleport to The Arrogant Approach Fast-Travel station in Konrad's Hold.

You'll notice a waypoint on a lower-level region to the northeast. Make your way north. After trekking across the railyard and reaching the three waypoints, you'll need to find a way into Tannis' lab.

These waypoints take the form of three broken levers. Just behind these, you'll find a minecart with a gas canister attached to the back. Shoot the tank and the cart will blast through the wall of the warehouse.

Keep following the waypoints and fighting through the Tinks, Varkids, and other pesky foes in your path. You'll eventually come upon an inaccessible elevator within Bleedout Smithy. Disregard that, and instead, look above you and fire at a red portion of piping that appears to be loose.

This will cause a segment of pipe to break off and break through the ground. Head through the pipe. This will lead you to the Crawling Dungeons. Fall down the empty elevator shaft, and you can make your way to Tannis' underground lab from there.

You'll need to guide a minecart by meleeing it down a track while staving off some more Varkids.

The lab will then be open to you. You'll enter Angel's Light, which is the location of this puzzle.

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Once in Angel's Light, you'll need to fire at each of the four couplings on the nearby reactor, which will cause it to spark.

Now the fun begins. You may notice a large computer console with four red and green light panels. It appears that hitting these lights to turn them red in the correct sequence will trigger the loading of the reactor. But as it happens — there is no way to successfully complete this 'puzzle.' You can try every combination imaginable, but the lights will keep resetting back to green after one or two presses, indicating an incorrect sequence.

Once you've realized you've been wasting time fumbling around with a machine that's naught but a decoy, you may notice another much smaller console across the bridge that passes under the reactor, towards the southern end of the room. Head down this small path and simply flip the switch.

It's a large lever with two yellow arrows indicating this is indeed your real point of interest.

And Voilà! The load reactor 'puzzle' is solved! Wait for the reactor to transport across the room. Head to the garage in Sandblast Scar and proceed onward to victory!

NEXT: Borderlands 3's Floating Cube Puzzle Guide

Stephen is an avid Nintendo, Indie, and retro gamer who dabbles in Xbox, mainly in the form of binge sessions of Overwatch. He's a history buff, an aspiring writer of short fiction, and a devout metalhead who enjoys poorly drumming along to Black Sabbath on his cheap drum set. When his beloved Chicago Cubs or Bulls are not playing, he typically likes to watch obscure documentaries or campy horror films.