How to Unlock the Legendary Hot Slugger Shotgun

The Hot Slugger is a legendary Jakobs Shotgun that stands out as one of the most powerful weapons available early and mid-game.

It excels in both campaign and early Endgame content, thanks to high raw damage, strong synergy with crit-based builds, and its unique Blazing Barrel modifier.

Thanks to Nicktew for providing the information in this guide

• Weapon Type: Jakobs Shotgun
• Unique Perk (Blazing Barrel):
• • On kill: +30% damage for 10 seconds
  • Stacks up to 3 times (total +90% damage)
• Ricochet Effect: Critical hits cause bullets to ricochet, increasing crowd control and overall damage output.
• Projectile Behaviour: Uses slug rounds with relatively slow travel speed.
• Mag size: Has one shot per mag, giving it great synergy with effects such as Vitriol

• Rafa:
• • The skills Vitriol and First Impression have amazing synergy due to the Hot Sluggers' one-bullet mag.
  • Multiple ricochet-related nodes further amplify shotgun output.

• Vex:
• • Works especially well with Vex due to high crit potential and bleed effects such as Bloodletter.
  • Throwing Knife Penetrator Augment auto-crits pair perfectly with shotgun follow-ups.
  • First shot effects like Blood Shot synergise with its high damage.
  • Bleed stacking plus Hot Slugger damage scaling can melt even bosses.

• Harlowe:
• • Gamma Ray Burst is a powerful first-shot effect.
  • Using Excited State gives huge burst and ricochet.

• Amon:
• • Skilling into Dragon's Breath follows up the high burst and AoE from ordnance with the Jakobs Shotgun ricochet.

General Rule: Any build that amplifies first-shot damage, crit multipliers, or ricochet effects will maximize the Hot Slugger’s potential.

Unlock Location:

1. • Complete the campaign to gain access to the Bones of Sanctuary area.
   • This area also houses the target dummy.
   • Head north to the Order Bunker named Craven's Nook

Farm Method:

1. • Head to the bunker in Bones of Sanctuary.
   • Open the bunker using the vent mechanism nearby.
   • Clear enemies or skip past them using grapples as needed.
   • Follow the steps this video if you get lost.
   • Defeat the boss inside the bunker.

The Hot Slugger is an incredibly strong legendary shotgun in Borderlands 4 and relatively easy to obtain. Despite slower projectile speed, its scaling damage, ricochet synergy, and wide build compatibility make it one of the strongest and most versatile weapons in the game, particularly effective for Vex and Rafa players.

 Highly recommended for both campaign progression and early Endgame farming.