Borderlands 3: How To Get The Rough Rider Shield (2024)

There are loads of awesome shields to augment yourself within Borderlands 3. There are also some particularly odd ones that are just amusing to experiment with. The Rough Rider falls a little bit into both categories. You might think a shield that doesn't actually provide any shields is next to worthless, but you'd be wrong.

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For builds that focus on health regeneration for their tankiness, the Rough Rider shield is the linchpin that turns a slightly defensive vault hunter into an unkillable monster. Here's what you need to know about the Rough Rider and how to get it.

Updated June 1, 2023, by Sean Murray: Having the right shield for the job is essential to be a successful vault hunter. That's why we've updated this guide to make it easier to find this particularly unique shield in Borderlands 3.

What Is The Rough Rider?

Making its return from Borderlands 2, the Rough Rider is a shield that's been given an upgrade in status from unique to legendary. Fittingly, the shield has also been bumped up in terms of its effectiveness.

Still, the item remains pretty divisive with its unique and bizarre features, which come with their pros and cons. It won't be for everyone, but those who know how to properly take advantage of it can extract a lot of value from it.

What's With The Name?

One fun bit of trivia first: the shield's name and flavor text quote are a cheeky reference to President Theodore Roosevelt, who founded the military group the "Rough Riders." He also happened to establish the Bull Moose party, explaining the seemingly random flavor text. But onto the practical details...

The Rough Rider's Features And Benefits

First and foremost, the shield holds the distinct feature of having a capacity of zero. Yes, this would seem to make the item useless, but this can actually be exploited under the right circ*mstances.

Because it has zero capacity, the Rough Rider counts as having both full shields and broken shields at all times. Any skills that require either state to be true, such as Amara's Enlightened Force tier 1 passive Trust in Yourself or Zane's Calm, Cool, and Collected skill, will always be active while wearing the Rough Rider.

More significantly though is the shield's other perks that act as a sort of substitute or compromise for the vacant capacity. Instead of focusing on shields, this item juices up your health and damage resistance. It takes away in one area, but it gives in another — on a pretty significant level.

Rough Rider Stats

Other Notes To Keep In Mind

• The Deathless artifact doesn't increase the Rough Rider's shield capacity. It stays put at zero despite the artifact's boosts in shield capacity and recharge.
• It won't work with the Topped Off guardian rank perk.
• Has a chance to spawn in the "Adrenaline" variant. This grants 23 percent increased reload speed.
• Has a chance to spawn in the "Sprint" variant. This grants 10 percent movement speed.
• Has a chance to spawn in the "Roid" variant. This grants 80 percent additional melee damage.
• Its stats aren't affected by the shield's level, so a level 30 Rough Rider is the same (except in price) as a level 72 Rough Rider.

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Where To Find The Rough Rider

As a world drop, the Rough Rider can be found basically anywhere. However, there are a few ways of increasing your odds of finding one.

• Unlock Mayhem mode to increase the drop rates of rarer equipment.
• The golden chest in Sanctuary can also yield the Rough Rider. Load up on Golden Keys to increase the odds of landing one.
• Try to farm the Chupacabratch on Athenas for quick, optimal farming. He is a Hammerlock Legendary hunt creature, who lurks across the bridge leading to Captain Traunt.
• The Rampager — a monster protecting the Vault on Promethea — is also a good boss to farm for the Rough Rider. You can use the forgotten Basilica fast travel point as a means of returning quickly to farm the boss
• A rare spawn enemy in the underground Lectra City known as Urist McEnforcer also has an increased chance of dropping the Rough Rider. Though his chance of spawning is low, he does offer a pretty decent chance to score this shield.

But easily the best thing you can do to find a Rough Rider is farm Red Jabber.

Where To Find Red Jabber

Red Jabber has a 15-percent chance to drop the Rough Rider, which is higher than every other potential source. If you want a Rough Rider, head to the Ambermire on Eden 6.

Next: Borderlands 3: How To Solve The Lectra City Puzzle