What to know

  • Vile Lictor drops seven unique legendaries tied to weapons, shields, grenades, and class mods.
  • Each item supports different builds across classes like Siren, Exo Soldier, Forgeknight, and Gravitar.
  • The boss fight is heavily melee-focused, requiring good mobility and shield management.
  • You’ll need to reach its lair through a winding route filled with elite enemies before the fight.

Vile Lictor in Borderlands 4 is a formidable Vault predator, known for its brutal melee assaults and relentless swarm tactics. Beyond the challenge, it’s one of the most rewarding encounters thanks to its diverse legendary loot pool. If you’re chasing class-specific builds or powerful gear for survivability and DPS, farming this boss is worth the grind.

Vile Lictor: all legendary drops

Item Name Type Manufacturer Class/Character Primary Use
Ruby's Grasp Pistol Maliwan All High-speed elemental shots with homing projectiles; ideal for sustained fire and crowd control, healing on damage for survivability.
Super Soldier Shield Anshin All Grants overshield on full energy, plus 25% fire rate, movement speed, and ammo regen; perfect for aggressive builds needing constant uptime.
Blockbuster Grenade Tediore All Explosive area denial with high blast radius; excels in mobbing groups or flushing enemies from cover, synergizing with throw-heavy playstyles.
Undead Eye Class Mod Vex-specific Vex Triggers Blood Shot on sniper kills for health-to-damage conversion; boosts sniper crits and lifesteal for precision sniper builds.
Generator Class Mod Harlowe-specific Harlowe Enhances energy generation for skills; increases ability recharge and elemental output, suited for tech-heavy or summoner playstyles.
Instigator Class Mod Rafa-specific Rafa Stacks gun damage on focused fire with Peacebreaker Cannons; rewards single-target focus for ramping DPS in boss fights.
Blacksmith Class Mod Amon-specific Amon Restores Forgedrone duration on kills and boosts gun damage per active drone; ideal for drone-swarm builds emphasizing sustained engagements.

How to reach Vile Lictor’s lair (location guide)

Follow this step-by-step guide to get there and set up for farming:

Step 1: Complete prerequisite missions

Progress through the story until you reach the "His Vile Sanctum" quest, given by Defiant Calder in Belton's Bore (a safehouse in Windspear). This mission unlocks after "Dark Subject," around level 18. Fast travel to the Windspear station if available.

Step 2: Navigate to the Umbral Foundry

From the Windspear fast travel point, head north through the snowy cliffs and industrial zones. Use your vehicle to traverse the terrain, watching for Vile enemies with purple crystals—these are corrupted foes that drop extra loot. Grapple hooks and jump pads will guide you across chasms; follow quest markers to enter the Umbral Foundry via a large grapple portal.

Step 3: Defeat Vile Lictor in the story fight

Inside the Foundry, activate platforms and clear minor enemies until you reach the arena. Use the jump pad to confront the boss. After your first victory, pick up the quest item (his bolt) and return to Calder to complete the mission—this unlocks replayability.

Step 4: Set up farming with Moxxi's Encore Machine

Post-story, return to the arena. Locate Moxxi's Encore Machine near the boss entrance (it appears after the fight). Insert cash (scaling with level, up to 40,000 at level 50) or Eridium for weekly variants to respawn Vile Lictor.

This costs more for main bosses but boosts legendary drop rates. Repeat as needed, using the "Pick Up As Junk" feature to manage inventory quickly.

Fight tips for defeating Vile Lictor

Step 1: Watch the leap attacks

Vile Lictor lunges frequently. Always strafe and use movement abilities to dodge. Getting pinned can drain your shield and health quickly.

Step 2: Focus on weak spots

Target its glowing mandibles and abdomen for critical damage. Shock weapons are especially effective against its armor plating.

Step 3: Manage adds

The Lictor periodically summons broodlings. Take them out quickly with grenades or splash damage, or they’ll overwhelm you.

Step 4: Save burst damage for the enraged phase

At 25% health, the Lictor enters a frenzied state with faster attacks. Save heavy weapons or action skills for this phase to finish it before it snowballs.

Why farm Vile Lictor

The boss’s loot pool covers nearly every playstyle, from tanking with the Super Soldier shield to high DPS crit builds with Ruby’s Grasp. Each class mod can redefine a character’s performance, making repeated farming highly rewarding for anyone chasing optimized builds.

Final thoughts on Vile Lictor farming

Vile Lictor stands out not only as a tough melee-centric Vault predator but also as one of the most versatile loot sources in Borderlands 4. Whether you’re chasing class-defining mods or strong universal gear, this fight gives you plenty of reasons to return.