Borderlands 3 Commandline Savegame/Profile Editor

This project is a commandline Python-based Borderlands 3 Savegame and Profile Editor. It's a companion to the very similar CLI editor for BL2/TPS, and provides some very similar functionality. It can be used to level up your characters, unlock Mayhem modes early in the game, unlock TVHM, add SDUs, unlock equipment slots, and more.

This editor has only been tested on PC Savegames -- other platforms' savegames are not supported at the moment.

Please keep the following in mind:

• This app does not have any graphical interface. You must be on a commandline in order to use it. (A rudimentary web interface is available, though -- see below.)
• The app has only very limited item-editing capability at the moment, which is restricted to:
  • Item Levels can be changed
  • Mayhem Level can be set on items
• It does not offer any direct ability to alter Guardian Rank status.
• While I have not experienced any data loss with the app, take backups of your savegames before using this, and keep in mind that it could end up corrupting your saves. If you do encounter any data loss problems, please contact me and I'll try to at least fix whatever bug caused it.

Table of Contents

• Web UI
• Installation
  • Upgrading
  • Notes for People Using Windows
  • Running from Github
  • Finding Savegames
• Editor Usage
• TODO
• Credits
• License
• Other Utilities
• Changelog

Web UI

Abram Hindle is providing a simple web-based version of this utility, so feel free to give that a try:

https://abramhindle.github.io/bl3-cli-saveedit/

Yes, this will install python and bl3-cli-saveedit in your browser and give you a tiny UI to dupe your savefiles or import items.

Installation

This editor requires Python 3, and has been tested on 3.9 through 3.12. It also requires the protobuf package.

The easiest way to install this app is via pip/pip3. Once Python 3 is installed, you should be able to run this to install the app:

pip3 install bl3-cli-saveedit

Once installed, there should be a few new commandline utilities available to you. The main editor is bl3-save-edit, and you can see its possible arguments with -h/--help:

bl3-save-edit -h

There's also a bl3-save-info utility which just shows some information about a specified savefile. You can see its possible arguments with -h/--help as well:

bl3-save-info -h

If you've got a raw savegame protobuf file that you've hand-edited (or otherwise processed) that you'd like to import into an existing savegame, you can do that with bl3-save-import-protobuf:

bl3-save-import-protobuf -h

Alternatively, if you've got a savegame exported as JSON that you'd like to import into an existing savegame, you can do that with bl3-save-import-json:

bl3-save-import-json -h

Finally, there's a utility which I'd used to generate my BL3 Savegame Archive Page. This one won't be useful to anyone but me, but you can view its arguments as well, if you like:

bl3-process-archive-saves -h

There are also profile-specific versions of most of those commands, which can be used to edit the main BL3 profile.sav:

bl3-profile-edit -h
bl3-profile-info -h
bl3-profile-import-protobuf -h
bl3-profile-import-json -h

Upgrading

When a new version is available, you can update using pip3 like so:

pip3 install --upgrade bl3-cli-saveedit

You can check your current version by running any of the apps with the -V/--version argument:

bl3-save-info --version

Notes for People Using Windows

This is a command-line utility, which means there's no graphical interface, and you'll have to run it from either a Windows cmd.exe prompt, or presumably running through PowerShell should work, too. The first step is to install Python:

• The recommended way is to install Python from python.org. Grab what's available in the 3.x series (at time of writing, that's 3.9.4), and when it's installing, make sure to check the checkbox which says something like "add to PATH", so that you can run Python from the commandline directly.
• If you're on Windows 10, you can apparently just type python3 into a command prompt to be taken to the Windows store, where you can install Python with just one click. I've heard reports that this method does not provide the ability to add Python to your system PATH, though, so it's possible that running it would be more complicated.

When it's installed, test that you can run it from the commandline. Open up either cmd.exe or PowerShell, and make sure that you see something like this when you run python -V:

C:\> python -V
Python 3.9.4

If that works, you can then run the pip3 install bl3-cli-saveedit command as mentioned above, and use the commandline scripts to edit to your heart's content.

Running from Github

Alternatively, if you want to download or run the Github version of the app: clone the repository and then install protobuf (you can use pip3 install -r requirements.txt to do so, though a pip3 install protobuf will also work just fine).

You can then run the scripts directly from the Github checkout, though you'll have to use a slightly different syntax. For instance, rather than running bl3-save-edit -h to get help for the main savegame editor, you would run:

python -m bl3save.cli_edit -h

The equivalents for each of the commands are listed in their individual README files, linked below.

Finding Savegames

This app doesn't actually know where your savegames or profiles are located. When you give it a filename, it'll expect that the file lives in your "current" directory, unless the filename includes all its path information. When launching a cmd.exe on Windows, for instance, you'll probably start out in your home directory (C:\Users\username), but your savegames will actually live in a directory more like C:\Users\username\My Documents\My Games\Borderlands 3\Saved\SaveGames\<numbers>\. The easiest way to run the utilities is to just use cd to go into the dir where your saves are (or otherwise launch your commandline in the directory you want). Otherwise, you could copy the save into your main user dir (and then copy back after editing), or even specify the full paths with the filenames.

Editor Usage

For instructions on using the Savegame portions of the editor, see README-saves.md.

FOr instructions on using the Profile portions of the editor, see README-profile.md.

TODO

• Would anyone appreciate an option to delete Fabricators? Hm.
• Would be nice to have some anointment-setting functions in here.
• Did we want a function to clear Vault Card progress?
• PS4 Support (for already-unlocked saves, anyway)
• If we fail to read a savefile or profile, might be nice to actually check if it's the other of profile-or-savefile, and give a more helpful message in those cases.
• Something a bit more Enum-like for various things in __init__.py; I know that's not very Pythonic, but when dealing with extra-Python data formats, one must sometimes make exceptions.
• Unit tests?
• Convert setup.py to pyproject.toml
• Check for minimum Python version on startup, rather than allowing older versions to fail with a probably-confusing error

Credits

The encryption/decryption stanzas in BL3Save.__init__ and BL3Save.save_to were helpfully provided by Gibbed (rick 'at' gibbed 'dot' us), so many thanks for that! The protobuf definitions are also provided by Gibbed, from his Borderlands3Protos repo, and used with permission. Gibbed also kindly provided the exact hashing mechanism used to work with weapon skins and trinkets.

The rest of the savegame format was gleaned from 13xforever/Ilya's gvas-converter project: https://github.com/13xforever/gvas-converter

Abram Hindle is responsible for getting a web version of this utility online (based on his ttwl-cli-saveedit fork for Wonderlands). Thanks!

Many thanks also to Baysix, who endured an awful lot of basic questions about pulling apart item serial numbers. Without their help, we wouldn't have item level editing (or nice item names in the output)!

Basically what I'm saying is that anything remotely "hard" in here is all thanks to lots of other folks. I'm just pasting together all their stuff. Thanks, all!

License

All code in this project is licensed under the zlib/libpng license. A copy is provided in COPYING.txt.

Other Utilities

Various BL3 Savegame/Profile editors have been popping up, ever since Gibbed released the encryption details. Here's a few which could be more to your liking, if you didn't want to use this one for whatever reason:

• FromDarkHell's BL3 Save/Profile Editor - Written in C#, has EXE downloads for ease of use on Windows.
• Zak's Borderlands 3 Save Editor - Written in Rust, and is cross-platform. Edits both saves and profiles.
• Raptor's Editor - This is a web-fronted editor, though it uses a local executable to do all the work. Sourcecode is available, and it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Coded in Go.

A couple others exist but as of September 2022, are out of date and not really great for use on newer saves. Here they are, though, in case they get updated without me noticing:

• HackerSmaker's CSave Editor - Cross-platform commandline editor written in C. Has a terminal (ncurses) UI on UNIX-like OSes.
• sandsmark's borderlands3-save-editor - Written in C++ with Qt for GUI. Is still in development. Native downloads for Windows, but should compile fine on other platforms.

In Memoriam: Baysix, the author of the original web-based editor at bl3editor.com, passed away in early 2021, and that editor is now permanently offline. RIP!

Changelog

v1.19.0 - (unreleased)

• Updated protobuf minimum version to 5.27.3 - NOTE: This needs some more regression testing!
• Updated profile protobuf with settings addition from 2024-08-08 patch (this doesn't actually really affect the application at all)

v1.18.0 - July 19, 2024

• Added new movie-related cosmetics introduced in the July 18, 2024 patch
• Python 3.12 Compatibility: Replaced pkg_resources usage with importlib.resources equivalents.
• Minimum Python version increased to 3.9

v1.17.0 - September 1, 2023

• Added --copy-tvhm option to copy TVHM state to NVHM.
• Ported --inventory-wipe inventory wipe option from ttwl-cli-saveedit
• Added new cosmetics introduced in the Aug 31, 2023 patch

v1.16.0 - November 18, 2021

• Updated name of "Seventh Sense (unknown version)" to "Seventh Sense (purple version)", since realizing that it's now a valid drop from the Diamond Armory (presumably since DLC5's release).
• Updated for Vault Card 3 patch:
  • Data Updates (to understand new gear)
  • Vault Card 3 Keys/Chests

v1.15.1 - August 11, 2021

• Updated with some Character Heads which were shipped with the Vault Card 2 update but overlooked for 1.15.0.

v1.15.0 - August 5, 2021

• Updated for Vault Card 2 patch:
  • Data Updates (to understand new gear)
  • Vault Card 2 Keys/Chests
  • Updated Bank SDU count

v1.14.0 - July 7, 2021

• Added --mission-paths to bl3-save-info
• Added --delete-pt1-mission and --delete-pt2-mission to bl3-save-edit
• Added options to clear seasonal event challenge progress (Bloody Harvest, Broken Hearts, Revenge of the Cartels)

v1.13.0 - June 24, 2021

• Updated for today's patch
  • Updated level cap to 72
  • Updated protobufs
• Added --reverse option for my Savegame Archive processing script, for some more flexibility on the CSS when outputting HTML

v1.12.0 - April 11, 2021

• Updated with DLC6 (Director's Cut) compatibility.
  • Support for updated item serial number format
  • Added --guardian-keys, --vaultcard1-keys, and --vaultcard1-chests arguments for profile editor
• Fixed a few item names which weren't being mapped properly

v1.11.1 - February 12, 2021

• Fixed name of the Broken Hearts 2021 weapon trinket "Cosmic Romance" to be "Tentacle Ventricles" like in game -- it was updated with an OakTMS update on Feb 11 by GBX.

v1.11.0 - February 1, 2021

• Added Citizen Science editing functionality to profile editor, thanks to @apple1417

v1.10.4 - January 21, 2021

• Updated with the new cosmetics data from today's patch. (Totally forgot to do that in v1.10.3.)

v1.10.3 - January 21, 2021

• Updated internal inventory DB with data from today's patch. (No real functionality changes with this.)

v1.10.2 - November 10, 2020

• Updated internal inventory DB with a minor change which was in the previous GBX patch. (Probably no actual functionality changes with this.)

v1.10.1 - November 10, 2020

• A second patch was released, about 12 hours after the Designer's Cut release, which updated the protobufs and was causing us to not read saves properly. This has been fixed up now.
• Also require at least protobuf v3.12, which appears to be required as of my latest protobuf generation.

v1.10.0 - November 9, 2020

• Updated with DLC5 (Designer's Cut) support

v1.9.2 - October 8, 2020

• Added in the missed weapon skin "Porphyrophobia," from Bloody Harvest 2020.

v1.9.1 - September 30, 2020

• Fixed unlocking FL4K's "Antisoci4l" head (though you should still get that one all legit-like)

v1.9.0 - September 10, 2020

• Updated with DLC4 (Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck) support

v1.8.2 - July 27, 2020

• Updated to allow unlocking the Battle Driver and Devil Tooth weapon trinkets, since the July 23 patch fixed those so that they properly stay in your profile.

v1.8.1 - July 14, 2020

• --item-mayhem-max and --item-mayhem-levels will now apply Mayhem parts to grenades as well as weapons.

v1.8.0 - July 11, 2020

• Added --mayhem-seed option to bl3-save-edit, to set the random seed used to determine active Mayhem modifiers. The seed is now shown in the bl3-save-info output, as well.

v1.7.2 - July 6, 2020

• Allow characters to use skill trees properly if levelled higher directly from level 1.

v1.7.1 - June 29, 2020

• Added three more DLC3 room decorations that I'd missed orginally, for the profile editor's cosmetic-unlock ability
• Added Jetbeast unlocks (both parts and skins)

v1.7.0 - June 26, 2020

• Updated for DLC3 (Bounty of Blood) content
  • Jetbeast vehicle unlocks are forthcoming, until I can actually test them out.
• Added various Guardian Rank processing
  • For savegames and profiles, added --zero-guardian-rank
  • For only profiles, added --min-guardian-rank, --guardian-rank-rewards, and --guardian-rank-tokens
• Added --unlock cubepuzzle to reset the Eridian Cube puzzle in Desolation's Edge
• Added --clear-takedowns to get rid of the Takedown mission-pickup notifications for chars you never intend to do Takedowns with.
• Item name processing will now recognize the specific legendary artifact balances added by the Maliwan Takedown update (they're functionally identical to the world- drop versions)
• Updated bl3-process-archive-saves to wipe out Guardian Rank entirely

v1.6.2 - June 18, 2020

• Allow setting character/item levels higher than the currently-known max, in case users want to pre-level their saves ahead of level cap increases (and in case they don't want to wait for an official update of this app)

v1.6.1 - June 13, 2020

• Updated room decoration/trinket/weaponskin alphabetization to ignore case (so "Casino Banner" sorts before "COV Bat," for instance).
• Counts of unlocked cosmetic items in bl3-profile-info will now include the "default" cosmetics which are always unlocked, so those counts match the numbers in-game.

v1.6.0 - June 11, 2020

• Updated for extra content introduced by Takedown at the Guardian Breach
• Added --golden-keys option to bl3-profile-edit, to set available Golden Keys
• Added --randomize-guid option to bl3-save-edit

v1.5.2 - May 23, 2020

• Updated item name mapping to include the COM Balances used by Trials bosses, for their dedicated COM drops.
• Add in the --csv option to allow importing/exporting items into CSV files, instead of just text files (which is the default without --csv). Has no effect except on item imports/exports.

v1.5.1 - May 5, 2020

• Fixed alphabetization of COV Buzzaxe room decoration. In the game data it looks like it's called "Psycho Buzzaxe," but the actual in-game label is COV Buzzaxe.
• Fixed name displays for "regular" (non-E-Tech, non-Legendary) Maliwan snipers and Tediore pistols.
• Updated item name mapping to distinguish between the blue-rarity mission reward version of Redistributor from the legendary version from Maliwan Takedown.
• Updated bl3-process-archive-saves to clear out some 3rd-playthrough data which earlier versions had accidentally introduced (only really of interest to myself)

v1.5.0 - April 28, 2020

• Added ability to alter Mayhem level for items, both in savegames and profile. --item-mayhem-max will set items to the max Mayhem level (10), or --item-mayhem-levels <num> will set a specific level (0 to remove Mayhem from items entirely).
• Item level reports when viewing contents or exporting items will include the Mayhem levels
• Info views will show the total number of available SDUs along with the purchased count
• Various internal code reorganization

v1.4.0 - April 23, 2020

• Updated for the Cartels + Mayhem 2.0 patch:
  • Update item/weapon handling to understand new serial number versions
  • Added in new cosmetic unlocks
  • Mayhem level can now be set as high as 10
  • Extra SDU levels added
  • Fixed a bug related to viewing vehicle unlocks, thanks to new game data
• Introduction of profile editing utilities, via bl3-profile-edit, bl3-profile-info, bl3-profile-import-json, and bl3-profile-import-protobuf. The following functionality is supported:
  • Importing/Exporting to both JSON and Protobuf
  • Importing/Exporting items to/from the bank
  • Altering the level of gear stored in the bank
  • Unlocking all global customizations/cosmetics
  • Alphabetizing the list of room decorations, trinkets, and weapon skins
• Display changes for bl3-save-info - introduced individual arguments to show more detailed information as-requested, instead of only having a global -v/--verbose option:
  • Added -i/--items argument, to show inventory information
  • Added --fast-travel argument, to show unlocked fast travel stations
  • Added --all-challenges argument, to list all challenges in the save file and their statuses (note: this will be over 1.5k items!)
  • Added --all-missions argument, to list all completed missions in addition to active ones
  • -v/--verbose now implies the four options above.
• bl3-save-info will now also report on whether the savegame has finished the main game or any of the DLCs.
• Added --unfinish-nvhm option to bl3-save-edit, to completely clear out any TVHM data and pretend that NVHM was never finished.

v1.3.1 - April 14, 2020

• Bah, forgot a few more README tweaks about the JSON export/import

v1.3.0 - April 14, 2020

• Added json output type, to export the protobuf as encoded into JSON
• Added bl3-save-import-json utility, to load JSON into a savegame

v1.2.2 - April 12, 2020

• Updated README with some more specific Windows 10 installation advice.

v1.2.1 - April 12, 2020

• Updated Credits section of the README with one more credit that I'd wanted to put in but forgot. :)

v1.2.0 - April 12, 2020

• Added ability to change item/weapon levels, using --items-to-char or --item-levels
• Item Imports will now not import Fabricators unless explicitly told to with the --allow-fabricator option.
• Item names and levels are now shown where appropriate:
  • In verbose bl3-save-info output
  • In item export files
  • While importing items
• Updated to Protobuf v3, which is what BL3 itself uses. Now when we re-save without any edits, the save should be identical to the original savegame.
• Item export will now be done without any encryption, so an item will have the exact same item code regardless of where it came from (previously, item codes would change every time the game was saved, so the same item could have very different-looking codes)
• Added -V/--version flag to show version number

v1.1.1 - April 7, 2020

• Added in Citizen Science mission name.

v1.1.0 - April 7, 2020

• Added bl3-save-import-protobuf command, to load a raw protobuf file into an existing savegame.

v1.0.1 - April 5, 2020

• Some saves include Eridium as an ammo type, presumably related to the Fabricator. Fixed a crash in bl3-save-info related to that.

v1.0.0 - April 5, 2020

• Initial version