By Rory Norris
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Borderlands 4
Essential Hardware
Battlefield 6
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Borderlands 4
How to get the Hot Slugger in Borderlands 4
Rory Norris
16 September 2025
Grab one of the best legendary shotguns.
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(Image credit: Gearbox)
Jakobs guns have long been a top pick, and that’s not changed in Borderlands 4, with this manufacturer’s shotguns being particularly lethal. So, why not take this inherent strength and pair it with a massive 90% damage boost? That’s exactly what you get with the Hot Slugger.
There are well over 100 legendary gear items in Borderlands 4, and the Hot Slugger should be near the top of your list, no matter which character you’re playing. It’s powerful, sure, but you also spin it around like a cowboy when you reload it, and that’s just cool.
How to get the Hot Slugger in Borderlands 4
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Gearbox)
(Image credit: Gearbox)
You can get the Hot Slugger from Callous Harbinger of Annihilating Death, the final boss of the Craven’s Nook Order bunker in the Bones of Sanctuary, to the east of Terminus Ridge. You’ll need to progress the campaign until you can leave the Fadefields region, as not only is this area far away, but you also need to remove the armour on the door—just look over the ledge to the left of the door, and you’ll find a bio canister that you can throw at it to unlock the bunker.
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Enter the bunker, fight your way to the end, and beat Callous Harbinger of Annihilating Death as many times as you need to until you get lucky.
What makes the Hot Slugger so unbelievably strong is its unique perk, Blazing Barrel, which blesses you with a 30% damage boost for ten seconds after you get a kill, stacking up to three times. I’ll do the maths for you: that’s up to a 90% bonus damage, on top of any other buffs you might have in your skill tree. Oh, and take note that it’s bonus damage, not specifically gun damage, so this perk effectively increases all of your outgoing damage.
While it only has one shot in the barrel, the Hot Slugger is a slug shotgun (giving it better range and accuracy) with a very fast 0.9-second default reload speed, so you can spam those Jakobs’ ricochetting critical hits to your heart’s content.
It’s a strong enough weapon on its own, but it’s obviously made all the better with the right build. Of course, top-tier builds like Vex’s Vexcalation, Rafa’s Remote Agent, and Harlowe’s Creative Bursts get a good run out of the Hot Slugger—these builds are so broken that you could use almost any weapon and get good results.
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However, I think it gives Amon in particular time to shine, largely because he can freeze enemies in place using Crucible’s ice axes so you can blast away with no distractions.
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Rory Norris
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Guides Writer
Rory has made the fatal error of playing way too many live service games at once, and somehow still finding time for everything in between. Sure, he’s an expert at Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and more, but at what cost? He’s even sunk 1,000 hours into The Elder Scrolls Online over the years. At least he put all those hours spent grinding challenges to good use over the years as a freelancer and guides editor. In his spare time, he’s also an avid video creator, often breaking down the environmental design of his favourite games. If you can’t track him down, he’s probably lost in a cave with a bunch of dwarves shouting “rock and stone” to no end.
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One of Borderlands 4’s best grenades is a dead fish, and you don’t even need to shoot your guns to get it
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