How to get the Kaoson in Borderlands 4

Borderlands 4 Kaoson location: A close-up shot of the Kaoson legendary SMG against a dark blue background.
(Image credit: Gearbox)

The Kaoson was a very powerful and popular weapon back in Borderlands 3, and it's returned in Borderlands 4, arguably even better than the last time we saw it. While it retains its unique bullet-hose, explosive personality, the Kaoson looks a little different than you might remember. Since Dahl weapons no longer exist, the Kaosin is now a Vladof SMG with a completely different design.

The Hot Slugger or the Hellwalker might be more practical for mobbing, but it's hard to beat the raw stacking damage potential of the Kaoson against bosses. If you want to add it to your collection (and you should), here's what you need to do.

How to get the Kaoson in Borderlands 4

You can farm the Kaoson from Primordial Guardian Origo, the final boss of the Terminus Range vault. To access the Arch of Origo vault, you need to find all three vault key fragments in Terminus Range. Once inside, fight through three waves of enemies until you reach Origo. Like all bosses, you can use the nearby Moxxi's Big Encore machine to repeatedly farm Origo in hopes of getting a lucky Kaoson drop.

Primordial Guardian Origo's health is entirely shield, meaning it's weak to shock and radiation damage, and resistant to incendiary, corrosive, and cryo for the entire fight. Keep in mind that Origo is also predominantly a flying boss, so forget trying to use melee builds or slow-moving projectiles. Ironically, the Kaoson is really good against Origo…

It's worth noting that the Kaoson is also included in the world loot pool, so you have a chance of getting it from virtually anything, including vending machines, which have legendaries oddly frequently.

While the Kaoson is a Vladof weapon, its unique perk, Granted, and an innate Torgue licensed part, make it so it fires two sticky bombs per shot that explode when you reload or switch firing modes. What makes this so strong is that the damage increases for each explosion, so it's perfect for stacking massive damage on bosses. It works wonders in basically any build, but it's particularly fun in a Peacebreaker Cannons Rafa build where you can have infinite ammo for a duration, exploiting the stacking damage of Torgue stickies to an absurd degree.

You can get the Kaoson in kinetic, incendiary, cryo, and shock, so it's a good idea to get multiple versions of this SMG so you've got one for every situation. If you're playing on hard mode (on your first run or Ultimate Vault Hunter), you'll immediately notice how much more resistant enemies are to non-matching elements.

Borderlands 4 Shift codesBorderlands 4 Black Market locationBorderlands 4 vault key fragment locationsBorderlands 4 charactersBorderlands 4 Harlowe buildsBorderlands 4 Rafa buildsBorderlands 4 Vex buildsBorderlands 4 Amon builds

Borderlands 4 Shift codes: The new key connection.
Borderlands 4 Black Market location: New legendaries, no grind.
Borderlands 4 vault key fragment locations: Crack open Kairos.
Borderlands 4 characters: Meet your new Vault Hunters and find out who's strongest.
Borderlands 4 Harlowe builds: The amped-up Gravitar.
Borderlands 4 Rafa builds: The speed-demon Exo-Soldier.
Borderlands 4 Vex builds: The spooky Siren.
Borderlands 4 Amon builds: The fierce Forgeknight.

Rory Norris
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.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.