Borderlands 4: How to get the Onion legendary shield

The Onion is one of the legendary shields available in Borderlands 4. It's crafted by Jakobs and is an extremely valuable and reliable piece of gear you can acquire in the game. The unique ability of the Onion, called Shallot Shell, allows you to get small bursts of invulnerability. This perk helps you gain control of a tough fight, where you face tremendous firepower.

In this guide, we will break down how you can acquire the Onion legendary shield in Borderlands 4 and how it works.

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Borderlands 4: Onion legendary shield overview

The unique perk of the Onion shield, Shallot Shell, grants you total immunity on shield break (Image via Gearbox Software)

• Item Type: Shield (Armor)
• Rarity: Legendary
• Manufacturer: Jakobs
• Elements: Non-Elemental, Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Cryo, Radiation
• Flavor Text: “You don’t have to cry about it.”
• Content: Base Game

This Jakobs shield is versatile enough to fit almost all playstyles in Borderlands 4, from close-quarters brawling types to high-damage glass cannon builds. The shield’s capability to provide safety in key moments in battle makes it highly valuable to players.

Unique perks

1) Shallot Shell

• On Armor Segment break, grants Immunity to Damage for 2s

The effect might sound simple, but it's extremely powerful in practice. Those two seconds of Immunity are extremely crucial, as they give you total immunity to all incoming damage, from melee to elemental. If you are fighting powerful enemies like vault bosses, this small window of immunity can help you avoid deathblows.

Since your shield tends to break often, this skill can trigger multiple times during a single fight, increasing your chances of survival.

2) Flanking

• Grants up to +10% Movement Speed, scaling with broken Armor Segments.

3) Heavy Plating

• Grants up to +355 Damage reduction, scaling with broken Armor Segments.

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How to acquire the Onion legendary shield in Borderlands 4

The Onion can drop from any source on Kairos, but the most reliable way to acquire this legendary shield is through farming Sludgemaw. You can locate this boss in the Watershed Gate in the Idolator’s Maw region in Borderlands 4.

How to unlock and farm from Sludgemaw in Borderlands 4

• Prerequisites: You will need to finish up an Outbounders faction quest before you can unlock the encounter with Sludgemaw: Null and Void, which unlocks All Charged Up. The first quest can be unlocked during the main story quest Siege and Destroy.
• Get the mission All Charged Up: Talk to Rush at The Launchpad and get the quest from him. It will send you to the Watershed Gate, where you will need to infiltrate an Order base.

Sludgemaw can be found at the end of a cave near the Watershed Gate point of interest located in the Idolator’s Noose region (Image via Gearbox Software)

• Reach the arena of Sludgemaw: You can find Sludgemaw at the end of a cave near the Watershed Gate point of interest located in the Idolator’s Noose region. Once you have beaten the boss, he can be fought again using Moxxi’s Big Encore Machine, located outside the boss arena.

Rinse and repeat the fight as many times as possible until you get the Onion legendary shield or any other legendaries he drops.

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Sludgemaw boss drop pool

These legendary items are part of Sluddgemaw’s drop pool:

• Onion (Legendary Shield)
• Birt’s Bees (Le
• gendary SMG)
• Kickballer (Legendary Shotgun)

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Borderlands 4: How to defeat Sludgemaw

Sludgemaw deals massive damage on impact, but its moveset is predictable (Image via Gearbox Software)

Sludgemaw is a gigantic Thresher-type boss located in the Watershed Gate of the Idolator’s Noose region of Borderlands 4. It might not be the most difficult boss in Borderlands 4, but its unpredictable behavior makes it a tedious encounter. Here’s how to tackle the boss:

• Stand on top of elevated areas to avoid getting caught off guard. Elevated positions also allow you to keep an eye on its movements.
• The Sludgemaw is a Thresher, so it will frequently dive underground and jump out to deal massive amounts of damage. The best way to deal with it is to bait it by standing still and dodge out of its way at the last moment.
• It's a fleshy-type enemy, which makes it extremely vulnerable to incendiary/fire damage. So, come prepared for maximum efficiency while farming.
• When your skills are under cooldown, stay mobile and keep firing.
• Use adds smartly to gain last wind if you are downed.

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Whether you are running a melee-based brawler, a high-sustain gunner, or a crowd-controlling siren, the Onion helps you stay alive long enough in battle. Its two-second invulnerability helps you stay alive in situations where you are surrounded by mobs of enemies that chip away at your health bar pretty quickly. This means you can be as aggressive as you want without the fear of getting downed quickly.

So if you are looking to acquire the ultimate shield in Borderlands 4 that offers the ultimate protection, the Onion legendary shield is your answer.

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Read more articles on Borderlands 4 here:

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• Borderlands 4: How to get Spirits Siren class mod
• Borderlands 4 No Place Like Home walkthrough
• Borderlands 4 co-op: How to play with your friends
• All Fadefield Vault Key fragment locations in Borderlands 4
• Borderlands 4 Working for Tips walkthrough
• How to send gear to Bank in Borderlands 4