So you want to wield the Kickballer—one of the most explosive, bouncing-ricochet legendary shotguns in Borderlands 4. This guide walks you through every necessary step, from quest prerequisites to farming strategies, in clear, human-style English. By the end, you’ll know exactly how to unlock it and maximize your chances of snagging the ideal roll.
The Kickballer is a legendary Maliwan shotgun that fires a curved projectile. When it hits any surface, it creates a high-speed copy that can bounce again before vanishing. In other words, it thrives on ricochets, explosions, and splash damage. Many players seek versions with the Jakobs-licensed accessory, which can cause effectively infinite ricochets—though that is believed to be a bug.
It comes in almost every element except kinetic, so fire, corrosive, shock, cryo, or radiation variants are common in the loot pool.
Because it deals splash damage, it can hurt enemies and sometimes harm you, especially in tight quarters, so take care about spacing.
Quest Requirements: Unlocking Sludgemaw
You cannot get the Kickballer right from the start. You need to unlock and finish certain side missions first to gain access to the boss that drops it.
- Progress the Main Story: You must at least finish the main mission called “Rush the Gate” in the Fadefields region. After that, additional side missions become available.
- Complete “Null and Void”: Speak to Rush, located near The Launchpad, by the crashed ship of Idolator Sol. This mission begins the chain. Finishing Null and Void unlocks the next mission.
- Do “All Charged Up”: After Null and Void, Rhodes gives you the mission All Charged Up. This mission leads you through to eventually confront Sludgemaw at its end.
Once All Charged Up is active and completed at least once, you unlock the possibility to farm the boss repeatedly.
Where to Fight Sludgemaw
- Region: Fadefields
- Zone: Watershed Gate, in Idolator’s Noose
- Boss: Sludgemaw (a thresher-type enemy)
You will meet Sludgemaw at the end of the All Charged Up quest. Once defeated, that location becomes farmable via the Moxxi’s Big Encore machine, which lets you pay to respawn the boss for repeated attempts.
How to Farm the Kickballer
Here’s a farming checklist to maximize your chances:
- Use the Moxxi’s Big Encore machine after the first kill to replay Sludgemaw.
- Focus on fire-element weapons—Sludgemaw has defenses based on health rather than shields, and fire generally cuts through more reliably.
- Equip gear that boosts ricochet or explosion/splash damage to amplify Kickballer’s natural strengths.
- Be patient: legendary drops are not guaranteed on first kill.
- A Jakobs-licensed variant might produce infinite ricochets (likely a bug), which many players prize for sheer spectacle.
Because the Kickballer also drops in the general loot pool, it’s possible (though rarer) to find it from other bosses or enemies. But Sludgemaw remains the most consistent and reliable target for farming it.
Tips for Using Kickballer Effectively
- Mind your distance: Splash damage can backfire at close range.
- Use open areas whenever possible so projectile bounces don’t hit walls too quickly.
- Stack ricochet or explosion bonuses via gear, class mods, or enhancements.
- Aim to bounce into enemy clusters or corners so secondary projectiles can deal chained damage.
- If you get a Jakobs-roll version, test it carefully—the infinite bounce effect is spectacular but can be unpredictable.
