The Game Keeps Reverting My Edits

You set your level to 72, save, launch the game — and you're level 30 again. Maddening, and almost everyone blames Gibbed. But "my changes don't save" is really two completely separate problems that happen to look identical, and you can't fix it until you know which one you've got. So before anything else, one quick check tells you which half you're in.

First: did it even save?

This is the fork in the road, and it takes ten seconds. Make your edit in Gibbed, hit Save File, then look at the save file in its folder and check the "date modified" timestamp.

• Timestamp didn't change → your edit never reached the disk. That's section A.
• Timestamp updated, but the game still reverts you → the file saved fine and the game is undoing it on load. That's section B.

Now you know which list to work through.

A. The edit never actually wrote

If the timestamp didn't move, Gibbed never successfully changed the file. Four usual suspects:

• The game was open. Far and away the most common. Borderlands 2 holds your save in memory and writes it back on autosave or exit — stomping whatever Gibbed just did. Fully close the game before you edit, every time.
• The save file is read-only. If Gibbed throws an UnauthorizedAccessException, the file (or its folder) is marked read-only and the editor literally can't write to it. Right-click the .sav → Properties → untick Read-only → Apply, then save again.
• You edited the wrong save. Saves are numbered, not named — it's easy to open Save0002.sav when your character is Save0003.sav. Confirm the name/class in Gibbed matches the character you actually load.
• Steam Cloud put the old one back. Even a successful local edit gets overwritten if you pick the cloud copy at the launch conflict prompt. Choose local, or disable Cloud for BL2 while you work — full walkthrough in save location.

B. It saved — but the game undid it

This is the one people find genuinely spooky: the file changed, you can even reopen it in Gibbed and see your edit, but the game drags you back. That's not a bug — it's Borderlands 2's sanity check. On load, the game inspects your save and quietly rolls back anything that doesn't add up, because to it, impossible numbers look like a corrupted save it's protecting you from. It's the single most-reported "Gibbed doesn't work" complaint (issue #77 and its pile of follow-ups), and it's always the same cause: inconsistency.

The consistency rules

Keep these believable and the sanity check leaves you alone:

• Level and XP must agree. Setting level to 72 while the experience points still say level 1 is the classic mistake — the game recomputes your level from XP and snaps you back. Set the level and bring the XP up to match (or use the editor's sync).
• Don't slam money to the maximum. Pushing cash to the integer limit (2,147,483,647) can break the check outright. Pick a big, sane number instead of the absolute ceiling.
• Skill points should fit your level. Way more points than your level grants is another red flag the check reverts.
• No gear from DLC you don't own. Paste in an item from a DLC that isn't installed and the game deletes it on load — it's not in its catalog, so out it goes.

The full checklist

1. Close the game completely

   Not minimized — fully quit. Then check the save's date-modified after you save in Gibbed.

2. Clear read-only

   If you got an UnauthorizedAccessException, untick Read-only on the file and try again.

3. Confirm you're editing the right save

   Match the character name/class in Gibbed to the one you load in game.

4. Make the values consistent

   Level ↔ XP aligned, money sane, skills fitting, no un-owned DLC gear.

5. Win the Steam Cloud prompt

   Pick the local save at launch, or disable Cloud for BL2 while editing.

Quick answers