Borstel Ballista

Borstel Ballista is a legendary sniper rifle in Borderlands 4 manufactured by Jakobs. It is obtained randomly from any suitable loot source, but has an increased chance to drop from The Timekeeper located in Upper Dominion in Dominion City on Kairos.

Special Weapon Effects[]

Go now and speed well!

After firing, one bullet will spawn up to 30 additional pellets in a spiraling pattern around its trajectory as it travels forward.

A single bullet will spawn 3-30 pellets from its center point that form a triangular conical shape, spiraling anti-clockwise.
These pellets:
1. Deal 35% damage of the main bullet's damage — up to 1050% additional damage if all pellets hit.
2. Can critically strike if all of them land on a weakspot — up to 2100% additional damage if all pellets critically hit.
3. Have their critical hit chance accounted independently if they hit non-weakspot – particularly when the user has "+X% Gun Critical Hit Chance" enhancement or certain player skills that grant critical hit chance against any body part.
4. Take roughly 0.5-0.7 seconds to reach its maximum pellet count.

Fixed weapon parts: CoV Heat Magazine and Jakobs Shotgun Attachment.
No fixed visual parts — notably only the scope is different.
No fixed prefixes – except "Cooking" that denotes the gun's CoV Heat Magazine.

Prefixes	Effects	Frequency
Ambushing	TBA	Very Frequent
Unseen	TBA	Less Frequent

The flavor text quotes the character Bard in the 1937 novel The Hobbit, praying that his final arrow will find its mark and kill the dragon Smaug.
- Because its Propagation effect multiplies a single shot into a spiraling spread, the Jakobs' weapon becomes a symbolic embodiment of Bard’s final arrow — turning precision into devastating force.
The name Borstel Ballista combines ballista - an ancient siege weapon, with the Germanic term Borstel - which denotes sharpness and craftsmanship.
This weapon shares the same "spawns extra projectiles from a single travelling bullet" mechanic with Complex Root.