Running low on Eridium and tired of watching Moxxi's slot machines eat your hard-earned cash? You're not alone. The slot machines in Sanctuary are notorious for being massive cash sinks—entertaining, sure, but rarely profitable. For PC players, the good news is that Gearbox didn't exactly Fort Knox these one-armed bandits. Whether you're looking to farm legendary weapons or just want enough Eridium to respec your character five times in a row, there are legitimate methods to tip the odds heavily in your favor without resorting to malicious third-party hacks.
Understanding How Slot Machines Actually Work
Before you start manipulating the game, it helps to understand what's happening under the hood. The slot machines in Borderlands 2 aren't purely random—they're governed by predictable seed tables and weight algorithms. There are three main machines you'll encounter: the standard cash slots in Moxxi's bar, the Eridium slots in Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, and the Torgue slot machines in the Campaign of Carnage DLC.
The standard machines have a flat 0.02% chance to drop a legendary weapon on any given pull. That's roughly 1 in 5,000. For Eridium, you're looking at approximately a 13% chance to roll the double Eridium symbol combination. The machines use a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) that pulls from your current game session's seed—meaning if you save-scum correctly, you can lock in favorable outcomes.
The Save Scum Method: A Legitimate Farming Technique
This is the most widely used method among PC players, and for good reason—it works, it's safe, and it doesn't require any external software beyond what's already on your system. The concept is simple: force the game to reload a state right before a winning pull, allowing you to repeat that pull infinitely.
Here's the step-by-step process. First, navigate to your Borderlands 2 save folder, typically located at Documents/My Games/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/SaveData. Make a backup copy of your profile.bin and your character save file (the numbered .sav file). Boot up the game and approach a slot machine. Before you pull the lever, alt-tab out and set your save files to read-only by right-clicking them, selecting Properties, and checking the Read-only box.
Now return to the game and pull the lever. If you win something good—great, alt-tab out, uncheck read-only, and your save will update with the winnings. If you lose, simply close the game via Alt+F4. Because the files were read-only, the game couldn't save your loss. Reload, and you're back at the machine with your money intact. Repeat until satisfied.
Using Cheat Engine for Direct Memory Manipulation
For players comfortable with more technical approaches, Cheat Engine provides granular control over your in-game currency. This isn't a hack in the malicious sense—you're simply editing values stored in your own computer's memory. Borderlands 2 stores your cash and Eridium as standard 4-byte integer values, making them trivial to locate and modify.
Open Cheat Engine and attach it to Borderlands 2's process. Enter your current cash amount in the value field, hit First Scan, then go back to the game and spend or earn some money. Enter the new value and hit Next Scan. You'll narrow down to one or two memory addresses. Double-click to add them to your list, then change the value to whatever you want—one million Eridium, a hundred million cash. The slot machines will still function normally, but now you can afford to pull the lever ten thousand times without breaking a sweat.
Is Cheat Engine Safe to Use?
In offline mode, absolutely. Borderlands 2 doesn't have aggressive anti-cheat protection for single-player content. However, if you plan to play co-op or join other players' games, revert your changes or start a clean character. Some hosts run mods that detect modified stats, and you risk getting kicked or reported. Keep your cheating to your own session and you'll never have issues.
Third-Party Editors: WillowTree and BLCMM
If memory editing sounds too hands-on, dedicated save editors offer a user-friendly alternative. WillowTree# is the gold standard for Borderlands 2 save modification on PC. It allows you to edit your inventory, character stats, quest progress, and yes, your Eridium and cash reserves directly from the save file.
Download WillowTree#, open your save file, and navigate to the Raw tab. Look for the entries labeled ResourcePool:Currency:Eridium and ResourcePool:Currency:Credits. Set these to your desired amounts—there's technically a cap of 500 Eridium in a single stack, but the game tracks total Eridium separately, so you can set the total to 99,999 or higher. Save the file, load your game, and hit the slots with a bottomless bankroll.
BLCMM (Borderlands Community Mod Manager) takes this further by enabling console commands and hotfixes. You can enable developer mode and use commands like set ResourcePool:Currency:Eridium Value 99999 in real-time without reloading your save.
The Console Command Method
Speaking of console commands, Borderlands 2 on PC has a built-in developer console that Gearbox left functional. To access it, you'll need to edit your WillowInput.ini file in Documents/My Games/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/Config. Search for the line under [Engine.PlayerInput] and add bindings for the console key—most players use the Tilde (~) key or F1.
Once enabled, press your bound key and type god for invincibility or PlayersOnly to freeze all NPCs while you manipulate the game state. For slot farming, the command Set GD_Itempools.GeneralItemPools.Pool_SlotMachine CostMultiplier 0 removes the cost entirely from slot machines, letting you pull for free.
Why You Might Not Want Unlimited Eridium
Here's the thing about cheating in Borderlands 2: it can genuinely diminish the experience. Part of the game's loop is the grind—working toward that Eridium upgrade, finally rolling that legendary from the slots, the genuine excitement of an unexpected win. When you remove all friction from the economy, the game can start to feel hollow. Many players who go all-in on cheats eventually restart with a clean character because the rewards stopped meaning anything.
A balanced approach is to use these methods to get past early-game walls—maybe give yourself 500 Eridium to unlock a few ammo upgrades—but let the mid and late game progress naturally. Your future self will thank you when you actually care about the loot that drops.
Modded Slot Machine Drop Rates
For players who want the slot machines to feel rewarding without completely breaking progression, mods offer a middle ground. The Borderlands 2 modding community has created patch files that adjust slot machine weight tables to increase legendary drop rates from 0.02% to something more reasonable like 1% or 5%. You'll still need to earn your pulls, but the machines won't feel like complete scams.
To use these mods, you'll need BLCMM or a similar patcher. Popular options include the Unofficial Community Patch (UCP) which includes various balance fixes including slot adjustments, and standalone mods like "Better Slot Machines" on Nexus Mods. These integrate cleanly with existing saves and don't prevent co-op play on modded servers.
Comparison of Farming Methods
| Method | Difficulty | Risk Level | Time Investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Save Scumming | Easy | None | High per win |
| Cheat Engine | Medium | Low (offline) | Minimal |
| WillowTree Editor | Easy | None | Minimal |
| Console Commands | Medium | None | Minimal |
| Drop Rate Mods | Easy | None | Moderate |
Farming Eridium Without Cheats: A Quick Note
If you'd prefer to keep your game clean but still want to hit the slots effectively, there are legitimate farming strategies. The Warrior and Terra drop significant Eridium on each kill. Running the Natural Selection Annex in the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve is one of the fastest Eridium farms in the game—you can net 50-80 Eridium in a 10-minute run. Once you have a stockpile, play the slots strategically: always bet when you have full money, stop after three consecutive losses, and never chase losses by selling gear. The machines do pay out eventually, but you need the bankroll to survive the dry spells.
FAQ
Can using these cheats get me VAC banned?
No. Borderlands 2 does not use Valve Anti-Cheat or any similar protection for single-player content. Gearbox has never banned players for modifying their own saves. The only risk is in co-op where other players may kick you or report you to private server admins.
Will cheating affect my ability to unlock achievements?
Using console commands can disable achievement tracking for that session, but save editing tools like WillowTree do not interfere with achievements. If you care about your Steam achievement completion, stick to save editing and avoid console commands.
Do these methods work on the Epic Games Store version?
Yes. The Epic and Steam versions use identical save structures and game code. The save file location may differ slightly—check your Epic Games folder under Saved Games—but all the same tools work. Cheat Engine and WillowTree don't care which launcher you used.
What's the maximum Eridium I can have in Borderlands 2?
The game displays up to 500 Eridium per stack in your inventory, but the internal counter goes much higher—well into the millions. Practically, there's no reason to exceed about 2,000 Eridium since that's enough to purchase every available SDU upgrade in the game. Anything beyond that is just for bragging rights.