For those of you who bought Borderlands 3 on Epic, we’re about halfway into the lifecycle of the game. But for those who just got theirs last week “Welcome to the party pal!”. By now the majority of players should be at the endgame or heading towards there. So you might be thinking now what? Well, any Borderlands aficionado knows that after the main story is when things start to get really interesting. Endless waves of enemies, DLCs, True Vault Hunter and Mayhem Mode.
This is the time when Borderlands 3 really takes it up a notch. And no matter how overpowered I was in the previous game I’m definitely not up to scratch in TVHM So what we have here is a list of specialised weapons that are worth getting. Note that this can vary based on your luck and level scaling.
Pistols
Queen’s Call – “Life is ours, we live it our way”
| Brand | Jakobs |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 516 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 971 |
One of the best pistols in the game, The Queen’s Call has a high base and elemental damage. Additionally, when you do a critical with this pistol it will return 3 bullets back to your magazine, while spawning 3 additional bullets to hit an enemy. Continuous damage baby! The Queen’s Call comes in 5 different elements spawned at random. So like any Borderlands gun, you might need to farm it more than once to get the element you’re looking for. To acquire this Pistol you’ll need to almost complete the main story and defeat Tyreen the Destroyer to get it.
- 25% Weapon Damage
- Consumes 3 ammo per shot
- 5.0x Weapon Zoom
- Irradiated enemies damage enemies around them
- Critical hits return 3 bullets to your magazine and ricochet 3 bullets at the nearest enemy
- Spawns between 5 Random Elements
The Flood – “Take us”
| Brand | Jakobs |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 521 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 1197 |
Another win for Team Jakobs here in Borderlands 3. The Flood has the highest base damage per pullet coupled with an extremely fast fire rate. You can find this pistol as a Legendary random world drop.
- +15% Reload Speed
- Anointed
- No Element
Occultist – “The only way you can control people is to lie to them”
| Brand | Torgue |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 474 |
| Level Required | 42 |
| Damage | 467 |
A Torgue explosion pistol, The Occultist has one of the highest damage potentials of any pistol in the game. High base, coupled with splash damage and its special ability to unleash rockets with every shot, makes it a great DPS gun at all levels. You can get The Occultist by defeating Troy Calypso in the Great Vault in Pandora. Just make your way along the main storyline to get to him.
- +101 splash damage radius
- Consumes 2 ammo per shot
- 1.5x weapon zoom
- Fire Element
Assault Rifles
Lucian’s Call – “What happened?”
| Brand | Vladof |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 596 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 368 |
One of the best Assault Rifles in the game right now it has high damage followed by an extremely fast fire rate that activates the longer you hold the trigger. But why it’s on the list is because of its special trait. Similar to the Queen’s Call when you do a critical, 2 bullets will return to your magazine & 2 additional bullets will spawn to hit an enemy. Unfortunately, this is a random world drop so you’re going to have to farm for it.
- +33% weapon fire rate
- 1.5x weapon zoom
- Critical hits return 2 bullets to your magazine and ricochet 2 bullets at the nearby enemy
- Can spawn with a random element
Rowan’s Call – “Uh-Oh!”
| Brand | Jakobs |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 551 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 577 |
As you can guess from the name the Rowan’s Call has a similar ability to the Queen’s Call and Lucian’s Call. When you do a critical with Rowan’s Call, 2 bullets will return to your magazine and 2 additional bullets will spawn to hit an enemy. Super useful. It’s also a random world drop so whether you find this gun or Rowan’s Call you’ll be set.
- +27% weapon damage
- +15% reload speed
- 6.5x weapon zoom
- After using Attack Command, gain 30% life steal for a short time.
- Critical hits return 2 bullets to your magazine, and ricochet 2 bullets at the nearest enemy
- Can spawn with a random element
SMG
Bitch – “If you can’t handle me at my worst…”
| Brand | Hyperion |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 546 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 186 |
Of course, Borderlands has a gun called the Bitch, it just makes sense. The Bitch is one of the most accurate SMGs you’re going to find. With barely any recoil and a good fire rate, you’re better off aiming for criticals as there’s a pretty solid damage amplifier for headshots and crits. The Bitch like all bitches is a random world drop.
- +65% Critical Hit Damage
- -39% Weapon Damage
- +44% Weapon Shield Capacity
- +60% Melee Damage
- 1.5x Zoom
- Weapon Shield Capacity: 4105
- Can spawn with a random element
Crossroad – “Open the gate for me”
| Brand | Hyperion |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 546 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 186 |
An SMG that acts like a shotgun? I’m in. The Crossroad is a powerhouse of a weapon that shoots 3 pellets with every shot. I like to use it for elemental damage that is randomly spawned. Additionally, it comes with its own reflective shield, so when you’re aiming down the sights a shield is deployed. That’s genius-level thinking right there and all gun designers should take note. To find a Crossroad you’re going to have to kill a bunch of Loot Tinks for a random Legendary drop.
- +10% Critical Hit Damage
- Consumes 2 ammo per shot
- 2.6x Weapon Zoom
- Weapon shield capacity: 2855
- Can spawn with a random element
Shotguns
Hellwalker – “So my demons. Your time has come”
| Brand | Jakobs |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 521 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 533 x 10 |
A simple shotgun that does what a good shotgun should do, kicks ass. The Hellwalker has extremely high base damage but with only two bullets in the chamber, so you’ll need to reload every time you shoot. It’s a random world drop.
- +57% weapon damage
- +10% critical hit damage
- +35% reload speed
- Consumer 2 ammo per shot
- Fire Element
The Butcher – “Fresh Meat”
| Brand | Hyperion |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 571 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 486 x 3 |
A high fire rate for a shotgun, The Butcher is great for killing a crowd of enemies with one magazine. Not much else to say except that it’s a random world drop.
- +89% weapon damage
- +21% critical hit damage
- -107% weapon accuracy
- +25% weapon shield capacity
- +21% weapon fire rate
- 2.7x weapon zoom
- Can spawn with or without a random element
Flakker – “Flak the world”
| Brand | Torgue |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 432 |
| Level Required | 44 |
| Damage | 814 x 3 |
Great for clearing out a swarm of enemies, The Flakker is a Torgue Shotgun that deals splash damage over a huge area. It, however, does use 5 ammo per shot, but it’s worth it for the range. When shot, a large wall of explosions will appear close to the front of the player. Find it as a random world drop.
- +210 Splash Damage Radius
- Consumes 5 ammo per shot
- 1.5x Weapon Zoom
Sniper Rifles
Lyuda – “Man Killer”
| Brand | Vladof |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 536 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 985 x 2 |
The Lyuda is not just a mankiller, it’s a bullet killer. Given its special effect where a bullet will split into 3 projectiles horizontally in a line. Coupled with its fast fire rate, you’ll be running through your bullets faster than a skag through chow. Each projectile will deal the base damage of the gun however so that’s good. To get the Lyuda you’ll need to complete all of Zer0’s Crew Challenges. Once you’ve done them Zer0 will send you the Sniper Rifle in the mail.
- 59% weapon accuracy
- +15% weapon fire rate
- Consumes 2 ammo per shot
- Can spawn with or without a random element
Rocket Launcher
Ruby’s Wrath – “No one can escape”
| Brand | Atlas |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 536 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 2058 x 7 |
Ruby’s Wrath is able to fire a singularity grenade that sucks in enemies, then tags them. Once tagged, you can switch to the Smart-Rocket firing mode to shoot rockets that home in on tagged enemies. Find this gun as a random world drop.
- +57% weapon damage
- +27% weapon damage
- -35% reload speed
- +195 splash damage radius
- Tag an area with a Vortex Grenade, your projectiles will home in on tagged enemies for 12 seconds
Grenades
Hex – “Keeper of the stars, I hope to never find…”
| Brand | Atlas |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 471 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 598 |
With a high elemental effect and a chain damage effect, the Hex can deal serious damage against multiple enemies at a time. It’s not a strong compared to how it was before the hotfix, but it’s still viable for any elemental build character. The Hex will attach to enemies and continuously do damage to them during its duration. As long as they are in range, it will lock on. The Hex is a random world drop.
- Spawns 3 MIRV grenades
- Homes in on the closest target
- Can spawn with a random element
Storm Front – “Very, very frightening”
| Brand | Atlas |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Item Score | 466 |
| Level Required | 50 |
| Damage | 1661 |
The Storm Front doesn’t explode. Instead, it creates a chain of lightning that rotates and attaches to any enemies nearby. It’s incredibly powerful, especially to crowd control. The chain lightning summoned by the Storm Front will attach to enemies and continuously do damage to them. As long as they are in range, it will lock on. Find it as a random world drop
- Long bow grenades teleport to their destination
- Shock Element
