There are countless legendary weapons in Borderlands 4, and the Kickballer shotgun is one of the craziest of them all. This Maliwan shotgun fires balls instead of bullets, and it can melt any Borderlands 4 boss with the right perks and parts.
Kickballer can be farmed by defeating a specific boss, just like most other legendaries in Borderlands 4, so it's pretty easy to get. You can start farming for Kickballer quite early in the game, too. Here's how to get the Kickballer legendary shotgun in Borderlands 4.
Borderlands 4: All Main Bosses & Legendary Loot
Find out what Legendary each of the main bosses of Borderlands 4 drops as their loot so that you can decide whether it's worth farming for!
How to Get Kickballer in Borderlands 4
The Kickballer shotgun is dropped by Sludgemaw, a boss encountered at the bottom of an Order facility in Idolator's Noose.
In order to unlock Sludgemaw, you have to complete the All Charged Up side quest first. This mission is unlocked after completing the Null and Void side mission, which is located south of The Launchpad in The Howl. All Charged Up will take you straight to Sludgemaw's arena. Once you've finished the quest, you can return and use Moxxi's Big Encore machine to buy a rematch.
Sludgemaw is a thresher that burrows underground to avoid damage. It spends a lot of the battle out of sight, which is pretty annoying. When it emerges, focus your fire on the glowing pods on its tentacles. Those are Sludgemaw's weak spots.
Sludgemaw is especially weak to fire damage, so bring an incendiary weapon to make this fight easier.
Once you've slain Sludgemaw, you'll have a chance to get the Kickballer shotgun. It's a very rare legendary weapon, so it'll likely take a few runs before you see one. Even then, most players are chasing after a specific roll that maximizes Kickballer's damage output.
If you want the best possible Kickballer roll, you need one with a Jakobs licensed part. This makes Kickballer's projectiles ricochet on critical hits, and if you have a crit-focused build, you can flood the arena with flaming balls in seconds. If you pair it with the infamous Penetrator Augment throwing knife (which makes all damage guaranteed critical hits), you'll have a blast with the Kickballer shotgun.
Getting a Kickballer to drop is already hard enough, so getting one to roll with the part you need is even harder. If you're patient enough, though, you'll end up with one of the best legendary shotguns in Borderlands 4.
Borderlands 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
