Borderlands 2 Toothpick Farming: how to farm this powerful new rifle
All-new to Borderlands 2 this month is the Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary DLC, which serves as a bridge towards the storyline of the upcoming Borderlands 3. The DLC adds a whole new quest line to the game but also introduces Effervescent Gear - new weapons and other gear items with a special effervescent, rainbow coloring that is incredibly powerful. One of those items that players are now particularly keen to get their hands on is the Toothpick - and luckily, there's a handy in-game exploit for farming this item.
The Toothpick is a powerful assault rifle manufactured by Dahl that always comes with the Incendiary effect, so it's perfect for enemies weak against fire. Together with the Retainer and Mouthwash they make up a sort of 'set' of items that's best used for taking down the super-boss Haderax the Invincible.
While we already detailed how to get the Toothpick on our Borderlands 2 Effervescent Guide page, that was a simple explanation of how to nab one. On this page we'll discuss how to grab several Toothpick Assault Rifles, if you're so inclined
Borderlands 2 Toothpick Farm: how to get lots of toothpick weapons
As we detailed on another page, the Toothpick drops from Sand Worms and Sand Worm Queens; these enemies are found in The Burrows, an area used in some of the quests of this new DLC.
The Toothpick drop rate from Sand Worms is far lower than from Queens, but the Queens are much rarer - however, Queens appear more reliably thanks tos cripting in a specific quest titled "The Hunt is Vaughn". This is a one-time quest, mind - so you basically only have one opportunity to reliably get a toothpick drop this way. Once the quest has been turned in, that chance is over.
As part of the quest "The Hunt is Vaughn", you have to pick up trophies. Here's the simple way to get to kill lots of Sand Worm Queens without turning the quest in through completion: just kill the Sand Worms and Sand Worm Queens, but don't pick up the trophies. Simply clear out the Burrows of worms without picking up the trophies, perform a sweep for drops keeping an eye out for the Toothpick (and keep in mind the Retainer also drops from them), and then if unsatisfied, save and quit.
When you reload back up, the Sand Worms and Queens will begin to spawn again, allowing you to do another run killing them in search of Toothpick weapon drops. Again, don't pick up the trophies.
If you've already turned in this quest, that's unlucky - but you still have a much more reduced chance of the drop from regular Sand Worms in The Burrows - so just get down there and get to farming!