How to get Birt's Bees in Borderlands 4

Borderlands 4 Birt's Bees location: The Birt's Bees legendary SMG against a dark blue background.

(Image credit: Gearbox)

Birt's Bees might sound like a very cutesy, tame legendary in Borderlands 4, but it's actually absolutely terrifying. Firing a barrage of homing projectiles, Birt's Bees has quite the sting, but it's made even better with parts like Torgue sticky bombs and a taser underbarrel, which, when activated, breaks the damage multiplier of stickies.

However, Birt's Bees is one of the few legendaries locked behind side content, so if you haven't been thoroughly exploring Kairos, then you've likely glossed over the boss you need to farm. Thankfully, you can work towards it very early on. Plus, it's also where you get the Kickballer, so you could end up with not one, but two incredible legendaries for your effort.

How to get Birt's Bees in Borderlands 4

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Borderlands 4 Birt's Bees location: A map with a red circle highlighting where to find and farm the Sludgemaw boss to get Birt's Bees. — Here's where you can find Sludgemaw once you've unlocked this boss.(Image credit: Gearbox)

Birt's Bees is a dedicated drop from Sludgemaw in Watershed Gate, Idolator's Noose, in the Fadefields. You need to complete the Null and Void side mission and its follow-up quest, All Charged Up, to unlock this boss. This quest chain becomes available after beating the Rush the Gate main mission.

You can start Null and Void by speaking to Rush just a short walk south of The Launchpad faction town, near the fields by Idolator Sol's crashed ship from earlier in the main story. Speak to Rush and complete this quest, tracking down Conway and delivering food to Rippers. Once you've done that, it'll lead right into All Charged Up, which you can pick up from Rhodes.

At the end of All Charged Up, you'll find Sludgemaw at the bottom of Watershed Gate. Kill them to finish the quest and unlock the ability to farm Sludgemaw using Moxxi's Big Encore machine.

Borderlands 4 Birt's Bees location: The Birt's Bees legendary SMG item card, showing its traits and design. — (Image credit: Gearbox)

While it's a relatively quick walk back to Sludgemaw, farming this boss is a pain. Sludgemaw is a thresher, so they'll burrow underground often, and sometimes they'll even bug and stay stuck underground. Nevertheless, Sludgemaw's defences are entirely flesh, so a fire or radiation weapon makes short work of them.

I got one to drop after just five or so runs, but it was a bad roll. As mentioned, be on the lookout for a version of Birt's Bees with the Torgue sticky bombs and a taser underbarrel. Stacking Torgue stickies is already a lethal move (just look at the Kaoson), but, at least right now, attaching a taser shot after dumping all your stickies on a boss massively multiplies the damage each bomb does.

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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