Borderlands 3 Cartel mansion puzzle: How to solve the puzzle in the Villa Ultraviolet during Revenge of the Cartels explained

Publish date: 2023-05-20

The cartel mansion puzzle is an activity you can complete during the Borderlands 3 Revenge of the Cartel event, which is running until Thursday, 4th June.

You'll discover this puzzle during your assault on the Villa Ultraviolet in your quest to defeat Joey Ultraviolet for Maurice.

Completing this puzzle is a great way to earn some extra loot and cash during this limited time event.

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Where to find the cartel mansion puzzle in Borderlands 3

The cartel mansion puzzle in Borderlands 3 is located in the same room as the missing fountain piece in Villa Ultraviolet.

To reach this room, you first need to fight your way into Villa Ultraviolet.Once here, head upwards by taking either set of stairs. Follow either the east or westerly corridor, until you enter a large room and kill all the enemies that attack.

This will include defeating one of the cartel bosses that can be found throughout the Villa Ultraviolet.

Once you've defeated all your foes, you'll be able to enter the office containing both the fountain piece and cartel mansion puzzle.

How to solve the cartel mansion puzzle in Borderlands 3

If you want to solve the cartel mansion puzzle in Borderlands 3, you must first activate it. To do this use the keyboard that is located on the desk in the middle in the room.

Doing this will turn on the four monitors that will be directly opposite the desk. Each monitor will display one of three symbols - a square, a triangle or a circle.

You should read the order of the symbols going from left to right. It's also a good idea to note down the order of the symbols, because it will make the next part of this puzzle easier.

After turning on the monitors, head over to the left-hand side of the room, which has three bookcases lining the walls. The bookcase you need to look at is on the far-right and is closed to the first monitor screen.

Looking at this bookshelf, you'll notice that it holds three ornaments that are all the same shape as the symbols that appear on the screen.

The square ornament can be found on the bottom shelf, the circular ornament on the second and, finally the triangular on the third. These ornaments will always remain in the same place, even if you reset the puzzle.

Now, you need to look at the sections of shelves, which are directly above each ornament to find a different, gold, ornament. These ornaments will change every time you reset the puzzle.

The location of these golden ornaments reveals the number that is assigned to the shape located beneath it. If the golden ornament is located on the shelf directly above the triangle, for example, that means any triangle in the code is representative of a seven.

In the screenshot below you can see which numbers correspond to which ornament placing.

When we looked at the shelves - as shown in the above screenshots - we could see that this translated as 4333.

Once you've decoded all four numbers, one for each symbol on the monitors, visit the other side of the room and look at the bookcase next to the desk.

Here you'll discover that a selection of books have been assigned a number ranging from one to nine.

All you have to do now is pull the books that correspond to the code that you've decoded from the monitors.

If you do this successfully, then the bookcase to the left of you will reveal itself to be a secret door and, inside this hidden room, you'll find a variety of chests and loot.

If you're unsuccessful, then you'll need to reset the cartel mansion puzzle and try again.

Borderlands 3 has arrived! Check out our skill tree guides for Amara, Fl4k, Moze and Zane.

If you're looking for more challenges to complete, check out our guides on the Dead Claptraps, Broadcast Towers, Eridian Writing,Hijack Targets, Legendary Hunts and Typhon Logs and Typhon Dead Drops. If you want some easy rewards, consult our Borderlands 3 Shift Codes and VIP Codes page.

When you've finished Borderlands 3, visit our guides on Guardian Rank and Rewards, Mayhem Mode and True Vault Hunter mode to learn more about what you unlock in the post-game.

How to reset the cartel mansion puzzle in Borderlands 3

If you fail to correctly solve the cartel mansion puzzle in Borderlands 3, then you need to head back to the Sanctuary III.

Once there, return to Villa Ultraviolet using the portal next to Maurice.

Now you just need to return to the puzzle for your second attempt. This will be complicated by the fact that all the enemies will have also reset, but see it as a chance to earn some new legendary loot.

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