Borderlands 3's Maurice-focused Revenge of the Cartels sends players to Villa Ultraviolet to do battle with the Eridium Cartel gang. This content brings a slew of new baddies, as well as awesome new Legendary weapons and gear into the fold. Once a seasonal event, this extra content has since been added to the game permanently as of April 2020.

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There are a number of Revenge of the Cartels Challenges for fans to complete while they are there—one of which tasks them with solving a rather cryptic hidden puzzle in the Ultraviolet mansion. For those players looking to finish the "Every Mansion Needs a Puzzle" Challenge in Borderlands 3, this guide provides the puzzle's location and its solution.

Updated September 28, 2021 by Stephen LaGioia: Gearbox's thrilling RPG shooter remains a draw for newcomers and seasoned vets alike, with its bounties of satisfying loot and exciting gameplay. This momentum is further spurred by a steady flow of post-release content in the form of DLC packs and seasonal events such as the Designer's Cut and the Halloween-themed Bloody Harvest challenges.

Given Borderlands 3's continuing legacy—and Revenge of the Cartels' status as a permanent addition to the game—it seemed fitting to revisit this guide. The information has been updated and details have been added to help players get through the puzzle.

Where To Find The Mansion Puzzle

  • To begin, the Revenge of the Cartels puzzle is found in the mansion known as Villa Ultraviolet on Joey's Planet. The mansion is marked by massive blue banners on either side of the entrance. Players can fast travel to the Cartel Hideout to get there.
  • Upon entering the mansion, go up the staircase. Upon reaching the tall brown armchairs, head to the hall just beyond the split staircase on the left side.
  • Hang a right and pass through a circular room punctuated with a tree in the center.
  • There will be an area with a pool and some statues, along with a wall holding a neon sign tagged "Ultraviolet." Go through the doorways along this wall.
  • This gives way to the large "Grand-Baller Room." Enter the double doors on the right side and there will be a study with Eridium piles and a keyboard on the desk.
  • This is the room where players will be solving the puzzle and collecting the golden mask.

Players looking for a visual reference can find one in the images and map locations below:

Borderlands 3 Ultraviolet Mansion Cartels puzzle split image of route
Borderlands 3 Ultraviolet Mansion cartels puzzle map central location

Once the player has located Borderlands 3's mansion puzzle, they can then proceed to solve it. This begins by interacting with the aforementioned keyboard on the desk. This will cause a series of shapes to appear on the four monitors that are positioned directly across from the keyboard. Make a note of the order of these shapes from left to right, as this will be the key information needed to solve the puzzle.

Borderlands 3 desk with Eridium and Ultraviolet Mansion cartels puzzle shapes

Now, head to the west end of the room, and players will find two bookshelves against the wall there. The bookshelf on the right is the key to solving BL3's Cartels event puzzle, and players should specifically direct their attention to the bottom three shelves. At the lower region of these shelves, players will find a pyramid, cube, and orb. Each of the objects represents one of the shapes shown on the monitors.

Borderlands 3 Villa Mansion puzzle bookshelf shapes up close

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At this point, look to the shelves above the pyramid, cube, and orb, noting the positions of the gold leaf-like objects that sit in the bookshelf. These represent the three columns and numbered positions corresponding to each shape. Clearer visual representations of these corresponding shapes are laid out courtesy of Youtuber DPJ.

Borderlands 3 Ultraviolet Mansion cartels puzzle bookshelf corresponding shape mapping

Once these positions are confirmed, players can then use this graphic (from Reddit user SnipingPandaz) to translate those positions into numbers. While not perfectly aligned, the numbers—marked by the empty shelf spaces—are ordered from left to right and top to bottom (fittingly like reading a book):

borderlands 3 revenge of the cartels puzzle

The positions of the gold leaves will always be random, so there's no single definitive solution to this puzzle. But as an example, here's how to read the solution in the above image:

  • The leaf associated with triangle is in the four position.
  • The leaf associated with square is in the two position.
  • The leaf associated with circle is in the nine position.

These numbers should then be put into the order of the shapes that appeared on the monitors previously, and this will give the code needed to complete the Villa Ultraviolet puzzle. For example, if the monitors in the instance above showed square, triangle, triangle, circle, the solution would be 2449.

With this code in hand, go to the bookshelf directly behind the desk with the keyboard, and there will be illuminated numbers on the spines of several of the books in that case. All that is left at this point is to interact with these numbers in the order that was just determined.

Borderlands 3 Villa mansion cartels puzzle bookshelf with numbered spine books

Doing so will complete Borderlands 3's Every Mansions Needs a Puzzle Challenge. Players will then gain access to a secret room with some great loot to have fun with.

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