Borderlands is, and will always be, all about loot, and Borderlands 4 has doubled down on making farming more rewarding than ever before. Fans of the series know that boss runs and dedicated loot pools can make or break a build, but this time, Gearbox has taken a hard look at how players actually spend their time farming. Nowhere is that more apparent than with Splashzone, one of the best and earliest boss farms in Borderlands 4.
The most significant change to the series staple farming comes with Borderlands 4’s introduction of Moxxi’s Encore Machine, a new vending machine placed near boss arenas that allows players to reset encounters without any lengthy menu navigation. This means farming is no longer bogged down by constant save-quitting, making even short runs worth the effort. Combined with smarter drop rates and a streamlined system, Borderlands 4’s loot grind is more accessible than ever. Splashzone is both the best example of that and the game’s best farm.
Splashzone: Borderlands 4’s Best and Fastest Legendary Farm
Splashzone is Borderlands 4’s earliest and easiest boss farm. Encountered during the early Recruitment Drive story mission, the bandit is an extremely straightforward fight with a rather large loot pool. Splashzone comes with three dedicated legendary drops: the Lead Balloon shotgun, the Firewerks shield, and the Jelly grenade.
Beyond his base loot pool, however, Splashzone is such an effective farm because world drops — legendaries that can spawn from any enemy — actually appear quite often. Given how weak the boss is and how close Moxxi’s Encore Machine is to the boss’s arena, Splashzone can also be farmed in seconds, allowing players to stack up a ton of Borderlands 4’s unique legendaries quickly. That said, Splashzone’s specific loot is absolutely worth farming.
The Lead Balloon Shotgun
The Lead Balloon shotgun packs quite a punch, but it isn’t as overtly useful as Splashzone’s other drops, thanks to a unique bullet trajectory that makes the shotgun’s pellets float upward. That pellet effect can be mitigated, however, as it does come with an alternate firing mode that turns the weapon’s rounds into Torgue sticky pellets, which explode upon reloading or cycling firing modes. Additionally, if players can build around the Lead Balloon’s quirks sufficiently, it can become one of Borderlands 4’s best shotguns, especially for a high rate-of-fire build.
Firewerks Shield
The Firewerks shield is one of Borderlands 4’s best shields, and a much more universally useful tool than the Lead Balloon. The Firewerks shield gives players a flashy and incredibly defensive option, discharging explosive rockets every time the shield is broken. As an armor shield, it grants resistances that make surviving hectic firefights easier, but it can also deal serious area-of-effect damage to general mobs and bosses alike.
Jelly Grenade
The Jelly grenade, meanwhile, is a chaotic option that splits into multiple smaller explosives on detonation and has a perfectly straight throwing arc. It may lack the comedic flair of Borderlands 4’s fish grenade, but it’s perfect for clearing clustered enemies and synergizes well with elemental builds. It’s tricky, however, as it can also take down the player. Regardless, each of these three drops cement Splashzone as one of the most rewarding early bosses in the game.
Splashzone Exemplifies Borderlands 4’s Farming Changes
No matter what players end up getting from the legendary grind, the level-scaling system means that whatever players get will at least be relevant well beyond their first attempts at any of Borderlands 4' s bosses. In previous entries, bosses were gated in normal mode to drop gear at the level the player was when they first encountered them. That system changed in both the True and Ultimate Vault Hunter modes, but in Borderlands 4’s enemies (and their drops) will always be on level.
Splashzone is not only the fastest legendary farm in the game, but also the perfect showcase of the improvements made to farming in Borderlands 4. Farming isn’t tied to save-quitting and tedious menu navigation anymore, and the updated level scaling means that a boss run or two will always be valuable, no matter where players are in their playthrough. So, for any Borderlands 4 players currently looking for an easy upgrade, be sure to take a run (or several) at Splashzone.
Borderlands 4
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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
