Captain Willis is the final boss of Story Pack 1: Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned in Borderlands 4, and he sits at the end of a long march through the Maelstrom with two health bars, a handful of punishing AOE attacks, and a grapple-hook finisher that most players miss on their first attempt. The loot pool is a mixed bag, but the fight itself has some genuinely interesting mechanics worth understanding before you walk in unprepared.
Where to find Captain Willis
Captain Willis spawns inside the Maelstrom, a location exclusive to the Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned DLC. You cannot reach him until you finish the DLC's main story, which concludes with the mission "Damnation Encroaches." After that, he becomes farmable.
To get there after the story:
- Use the Level Travel Station on the bottom-right of the map to reach The Whispering Glacier region.
- Travel to the DNC Feuermann Bridge Fast Travel Station, as confirmed by Mobalytics' boss guide.
- From there, head to the southeastern corner of The Whispering Glacier and find the Dahl ship.
- Walk to the end of the ship to transition from The Whispering Glacier into the Maelstrom.
- Inside the Maelstrom, push north to the far end of the area. A massive portal marks the entrance to the boss arena. Jump through it.
After defeating Willis, the return portal spawns near the door leading to the Speakeasy. Head back through it to access the Vault of the Damned, where the Moxxi Replay machine for Captain Willis sits near the arena entrance. Use it to farm without repeating the whole approach.
Captain Willis arena portal
How to beat Captain Willis
Captain Willis has two separate health bars, and the weapons you bring should match both. His first bar is Armor (yellow), making Corrosive and Cryo elemental damage the right tools for that phase. Once armor is gone, his second bar is standard Health (red), where Incendiary damage performs best.
What attacks does Captain Willis use?
Willis leans heavily on AOE, so constant movement is the priority. The two main attacks to watch for:
- Energy waves on the ground: Watch the floor and jump over them as they roll toward you.
- Blood shard lines: Strafe left or right to avoid these. They travel in straight lines, so lateral movement clears them cleanly.
Once you burn through his armor bar, Willis gains additional attacks. The two that matter most:
- The yell: Willis leans back and begins screaming. Get in close and use your grappling hook to pull his exposed head. This interrupts the attack and stuns him briefly, opening a damage window before he recovers.
- Energy charge: Willis collects energy before releasing it across the arena. Move to the edge of the arena to stay outside the blast radius.
All Captain Willis loot drops
Captain Willis drops 3 dedicated items: 2 Legendaries and 1 Pearlescent. Here is the full breakdown:
Are the drops worth farming?
Reminisce is the most interesting of the three mechanically. A shotgun that never reloads as long as you let the projectiles return is a genuinely useful trait for builds that struggle with reload downtime. The Maliwan manufacturer means projectile behavior can be finicky, so it fits specific builds better than general use.
Heimdahl fires Dahl soldier heads that seek out and attack nearby enemies. The Heavy Ordnance Legendary pool is already deep, and Heimdahl does not stand out enough to make it a priority farm target.
Crow-Sourced is the Pearlescent of the group. The Cryo Override perk converts damage to Cryo depending on the enemy's health type, which has situational value. The second perk, Left of the Murder, fires random objects.
info
Pearlescent rarity sits above Legendary in Borderlands 4, but rarity alone does not guarantee usefulness. The Crow-Sourced is worth picking up for the novelty, but do not expect it to replace your primary Cryo weapon.Farming Captain Willis efficiently
Once you have completed "Damnation Encroaches," the Moxxi Replay machine inside the Vault of the Damned makes repeated runs straightforward. The machine sits near the arena entrance, so each attempt starts immediately without navigating back through The Whispering Glacier.
For the fastest runs, bring a Corrosive or Cryo weapon for the armor phase and swap to Incendiary for health. Keep movement constant throughout, practice the grapple-hook timing on the yell animation, and stay near the arena edge when Willis charges his energy release.
If you want more boss guides, weapon breakdowns, and DLC coverage, browse more guides on GAMES.GG for the latest on Borderlands 4 and beyond. For more background on recurring characters in the Borderlands universe and how they connect to the DLC, the Steve character page on NamuWiki covers the series' cast history in depth.