The relentless pursuit of powerful loot is the heart and soul of the Borderlands franchise, and
Borderlands 4 is no different. While the most absurdly powerful gear is often reserved for the endgame, players need a solid arsenal to survive the campaign's escalating chaos. Finding a reliable source of high-tier weapons and gear early on can be the difference between a smooth playthrough and a frustrating struggle.Fortunately,
Borderlands 4 introduces a fantastic new farming method perfect for early-game progression:
Ripper Drill Sites. These dynamic encounters provide a consistent flow of loot and experience, making them the ideal way to get a head start on your journey through the planet of
Kairos. This guide will show you how to find and farm these sites, highlighting the most lucrative ones to ensure you're always one step ahead of the opposition.
Master the Early Game: The Best Weapon Farms in Borderlands 4
What are Ripper Drill Sites?
Ripper Drill Sites are special horde-style encounters scattered across the world map of
Kairos. Marked by a distinct
drill icon, they represent a fantastic opportunity for players to test their skills against waves of increasingly challenging enemies. Each site is a contained arena filled with Rippers, including several powerful Badass variants. The encounter always culminates in a showdown with a unique
boss that drops a significant amount of loot, often including higher-rarity gear.One of the most valuable features of these sites is the presence of a
Moxxi's Encore Machine nearby. These machines allow you to instantly reset the encounter without having to quit to the main menu. For a small fee of in-game cash, you can fight the boss and the hordes all over again, creating an efficient and repeatable loot-farming loop. The higher the difficulty you play on, the better your chances of scoring rare, epic, or even legendary items.You don't need to complete any specific quests or prerequisites to access a
Ripper Drill Site. Simply find one on your map, approach the area, and the combat will begin. Just be sure to check the enemy levels before engaging to ensure you're ready for the challenge.
The Most Profitable Ripper Drill Sites
While all Ripper Drill Sites follow a similar format, each one features a different boss with itsown unique attacks and loot table. Some bosses are easier to farm thanothers, making certain sites more appealing for repeated runs.
- The Prospects (Hungering Plain/Fadefields): This site pits you against Sidney Pointylegs.
- Saw's Clench (Ruined Sumplands/Carcadia Burn): Here, you'll face the Rippa Roadbirds.
- The Lowering March (Stoneblood Forest/Terminus Range): The boss of this site is the imposing Battle Wagon.
Of these, The Prospects is widely considered the best early-game farm, and it remains a solid choice even in the endgame. The boss, Sidney Pointylegs, is relatively easy to manage. He constantly spawns small robots thatare perfect for getting a Second Wind if you enter Fight For Your Life(FFYL), and his main attacks are simple to dodge. Most importantly, hehas a massive, easily targetable weak spot that makes quick work of hishealth bars, especially if you're using a Jakobs weapon. The ricocheting bullets from a Jakobs gun can hit his weak spot and then bounce off to clear the smaller mobs around you, dealing hugedamage to both the boss and his minions.
The main reason to farm Sidney, however, is for his unique legendary drop: The Swarm. This grenade ordnance, once thrown, homes in on enemies and on impact,releases a multitude of tracking darts. These darts relentlessly "swarm" enemies, dealing consistent damage over time. Acquiring The Swarm can dramatically increase your damage output and make farming every other boss in the game significantly easier.
Beyond the Drill Site
While Ripper Drill Sites are the most reliable early-game loot source, keep an eye out for other high-value encounters while exploring Kairos. Occasionally, you'll stumble upon translucent bubbles covering an area. These are similar to Ripper Drill Sites in that they are horde encounters with a boss at the end, but they areoften tied to specific side quests and offer their own unique lootpools.
The chase for big guns in Borderlands 4 starts long before you reach the endgame. By focusing on farming Ripper Drill Sites and prioritizing bosses like Sidney Pointylegs, you can build an unstoppable arsenal that will carry you through thecampaign and prepare you for the true legendary grind that awaits. Happy hunting, Vault Hunter!
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 PS5, Microsoft Windows PC, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S
Genre(s): First-person shooter, action role-playing
Developer(s): Gearbox Software
Release date: September 12, 2025
Mode: Single-player, multiplayer
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