Borderlands 4: How to Reach the Elevator Shaft in Digi-Gauntlet R&D

The elevator shaft inside the Chamber Pavilion is sealed behind a blue forcefield during Digi-Gauntlet: R&D, and no amount of shooting the barrier itself will move it. The shaft is powered locally rather than by the main Ordonite grid, which is why the objective points you back into the pavilion instead of forward into the elevator.

Quick answer: Destroy the two shielded Ordonite reactors in the side wings of the Chamber Pavilion. For each one, shoot the wall vent grate to expose the fuse behind it, shoot the fuse to drop the reactor’s shield, then shoot the exposed reactor core. The forcefield lowers once both cores are gone.

Where the elevator shaft objective starts

Digi-Gauntlet: R&D is picked up from a Dying Electi inside the Chamber Pavilion, a structure on Providence Island reached by running and grappling through the Bagheera Range. Loader mechs and a MortarMech spawn in the pavilion plaza as soon as you move into the interior hall, so clear the plaza before you start looking for reactors.

Chamber Pavilion area waypoint prompt appears as the player pushes toward the sealed elevator — Entering the Chamber Pavilion, with the forcefield objective already active. Image: Gearbox Software

Once the area is quiet, the tracker updates to “Lower elevator shaft forcefield” and marks the door at the back of the hall. Walking up to it shows the conduits feeding the barrier, which is the cue to turn around and hunt the power source.

Objective tracker reading Lower elevator shaft forcefield inside the Chamber Pavilion — The objective tracker pointing toward the blocked elevator shaft. Image: Gearbox Software

How the shielded Ordonite reactors work

Each reactor sits behind its own energy shield, so bullets aimed straight at the glowing core do nothing while that shield is up. The shield is wired to a fuse hidden behind a grate or cracked panel on the nearby wall. Breaking that cover exposes a small glowing fuse, and shooting the fuse cuts the shield.

Element	What to do
Wall vent grate / cracked panel	Shoot it to reveal the fuse behind it
Exposed Ordonite fuse	Shoot it to drop the reactor’s shield
Ordonite reactor core	Shoot the now-unshielded core to destroy the reactor

The order is fixed. Cover, fuse, core. It is the same three-beat sequence for both reactors, and both have to be destroyed before the forcefield reacts at all.

Destroy both reactors to lower the forcefield

From the blocked elevator door, head into the side room off the main pavilion hall. The first reactor is inside, sitting behind its shield with its core clearly visible.

Player approaching the elevator structure in the Chamber Pavilion with the forcefield objective tracked — The elevator structure itself stays sealed until both reactors are down. Image: Gearbox Software

Scan the wall near the reactor for a vent grate or a cracked panel and shoot it. A glowing Ordonite fuse appears in the gap.

Shoot the fuse. The shield around the first reactor drops, leaving the core open.

Put rounds into the exposed core until it blows. That is one of the two power sources handled.

Cross to the opposite wing of the Chamber Pavilion. Robotic drones and infantry, including Energized Demolitionist types, push in on the way, so clear them before you start hunting the second panel.

Firing on an Energized Demolitionist in the Chamber Pavilion while the forcefield objective is active — Enemies keep spawning between the two reactor rooms. Image: Gearbox Software

Repeat the sequence on the second reactor. Break the wall vent, shoot the fuse to strip the shield, then destroy the core.

Shooting a target in the Chamber Pavilion with the Digi-Gauntlet forcefield objective on screen — The second reactor follows the same cover, fuse, core order. Image: Gearbox Software

How to confirm the forcefield is down

The blue barrier over the elevator door disappears the moment the second core is destroyed, and the objective updates away from lowering the forcefield. Walking through opens the maintenance shaft, and you drop straight down into the lower levels of The Upper Crust. Elena starts talking over the intercom as you move through the dark industrial corridors below, which is a reliable sign the objective registered.

Note: The drop into the shaft is one-way. Finish any looting in the pavilion plaza before you step through.

Why the forcefield stays up

Only one reactor was destroyed. Both wings of the Chamber Pavilion hold a reactor, and the barrier stays powered until both cores are gone.
You are shooting a shielded core. Damage will not land until the matching fuse is destroyed first.
The fuse is still covered. The grate or cracked panel on the wall has to be broken before the fuse is a valid target.
You are shooting the forcefield or the conduits at the door. Neither can be damaged.

Past the shaft, the mission continues through the maintenance tunnels, a locked path you bypass by grappling into an overhead vent, and eventually the server room, where four Chamber Pavilion Terminal Access Cards are needed before the fight with Dr. Elena Smith. Clearing the reactors cleanly is what sets that run up.