If you’ve spent any amount of time grinding for endgame legendaries in Borderlands 4, you’ve almost certainly heard other players rave about Ruby's Grasp Borderlands 4. This iconic legendary SMG has dominated community tier lists for months, thanks to its mix of high damage and built-in survivability perks that work for almost every playstyle. A lot of players either struggle to find it, or waste its full potential by slapping it on mismatched builds or using it wrong. This guide breaks down everything you need to know to unlock it, use it, and build around it to dominate every bit of content the game throws at you.
How to Unlock Ruby's Grasp Borderlands 4
Unlike many other legendaries in the game that drop randomly from any enemy or chest, Ruby's Grasp has a dedicated drop source, so you don’t have to waste dozens of hours grinding random world spawns to get it. It drops exclusively from Ruby Voss, a mid-boss in the post-game Crimson Wastes dungeon that unlocks after you beat the main story campaign. You’ll need to be playing on Mayhem 3 difficulty or higher for the weapon to drop at all, so don’t bother running the dungeon on lower difficulties even if they feel easier to clear.
The base drop rate sits at around 8% per kill on Mayhem 3, and jumps to 12% if you bump the difficulty up to Mayhem 5. If you’re farming solo, you can cut your grind time significantly by running the dungeon on Mayhem 5 if your build can handle it, since the extra 4% drop rate adds up fast across dozens of runs. If you’re playing co-op, make sure all players in the group have their loot set to shared, so anyone in the party can pick up a copy and pass it around if you get duplicates.
Core Perks That Make Ruby's Grasp Stand Out
What makes this SMG so much better than almost every other legendary of the same class? It’s all about the three unique built-in perks that you won’t find on any other weapon in the game. First, you get life steal on every critical hit, with 15% of all critical damage you deal converted directly to your health bar with no cooldown or activation requirement. That’s a massive buff for squishy characters that don’t have a lot of native health regen, since you can heal back to full in the middle of a fight without stopping to use a health kit.
The second perk is a stackable damage buff on kill: every enemy you kill with Ruby's Grasp adds a 3% damage boost that lasts for 10 seconds, and you can stack it up to 15 times for a total of 45% extra damage. If you’re running through mob dense areas like the Crimson Wastes or the Scrapyard raids, you can keep that buff active almost permanently, turning the already high-damage SMG into an absolute melting machine. The third perk is a free elemental effect proc on empty magazine: when you reload after emptying the entire mag, your next full magazine gets a random elemental effect that automatically matches the weakest resistance of the closest group of enemies. You don’t pay any extra ammo cost for this effect, and it works even if you don’t have any elemental damage boosts on your build.
It’s not a perfect weapon, though. It has a 10% lower base fire rate than other legendary SMGs in the same tier, which means you need to build around fire rate a little to make up for that gap. It also has slightly lower accuracy when firing from the hip, so you’ll get the best results if you aim down sights for most encounters.
Best Build Synergies for Ruby's Grasp
Ruby's Grasp works best for crit-focused, run-and-gun playstyles, so it’s not a good fit for every character build. It shines the most on Siren builds that focus on Phasecast and critical damage, since the Siren’s native crit damage buff stacks with the weapon’s life steal to make you almost unkillable during mob runs. I use it on my own Siren main, and I haven’t died in a Mayhem 5 raid in almost two weeks, even when I’m running ahead of the group to pull extra mobs. It also works really well on Assassin builds that use stealth to get guaranteed critical hits, since you can one-shot most elite enemies and heal back any damage you take before they even get a chance to shoot at you.
It’s not a great pick for Gunner builds that focus on heavy splash damage or LMGs, since you’ll get way more total damage out of weapons built for those playstyles. You also won’t get much value out of it on Beastmaster builds that rely on their pet to deal most of the damage, since the weapon’s perks only apply to damage you deal directly, not your pet’s attacks.
If you want to get the most out of Ruby's Grasp, you need to pair it with the right anointments. These are the three best options to look for when you’re farming for a perfect roll:
- 15% critical damage for 8 seconds after using action skill: This pairs perfectly with almost every viable build for the weapon, since you’ll be using your action skill constantly during fights to clear groups of mobs or take down elite enemies.
- 20% fire rate while moving: This fixes the weapon’s biggest flaw of lower base fire rate, and it’s ideal for players who prefer to run and gun instead of camping behind cover during fights.
- 10% extra life steal against armored enemies: This is a must-have for endgame raid runs, where almost every elite enemy and boss has multiple layers of heavy armor that cuts your base damage down significantly.
You might also come across anointments that boost splash damage or weapon swap speed, but those are almost completely useless for this weapon, so you can reroll those if you have enough anointment reroll tokens saved up.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Ruby's Grasp
Even if you get a perfect roll of Ruby's Grasp, you can easily waste its potential if you make these common mistakes that I see new players make all the time. The first mistake is using it on builds that don’t focus on critical hits. If you’re running a splash damage build that doesn’t have any crit damage boosts, you’re missing out on 90% of the weapon’s perks, so you’re better off using a different legendary SMG that’s built for splash damage.
The second mistake is farming for it on Mayhem difficulty lower than 3. So many new players run the Crimson Wastes dungeon on Mayhem 1 or 2 because it’s easier, then get frustrated when they don’t get a drop after 20 runs. The weapon simply doesn’t drop on lower difficulties, so you’re just wasting your time if you’re not running it on Mayhem 3 or higher. Another common mistake is trying to use it for long-range fights. It’s an SMG, so its accuracy drops off sharply past 30 meters, and you’ll miss most of your shots if you try to pick off enemies from far away. I made this mistake myself when I first got the weapon, tried to take out a group of snipers from a cliff 50 meters away, and missed almost every shot before I switched to a sniper rifle and cleared the entire group in 10 seconds.
The biggest mistake you can make, though, is using an elemental anointment on Ruby's Grasp. The built-in free elemental proc on reload is one of the weapon’s biggest damage boosts, and any elemental anointment you apply will override that effect. Community damage tests show that this cuts your total damage output by almost 30%, so always stick to crit or fire rate anointments instead.
Ruby's Grasp Borderlands 4 is easily one of the most versatile and powerful legendary weapons in the game, as long as you use it correctly. It’s perfect for new players who need extra survivability to get through their first few post-game runs, and it’s strong enough to hold its own in the hardest endgame raid content for experienced players. If you haven’t added Ruby Voss to your grinding rotation yet, make it a priority on your next play session. Once you get a good roll and pair it with the right build, you’ll wonder how you ever played without it.