Gearbox has stated that in the first Borderlands game in the series, there are over 17,750,000 unique weapon variations. The developers at Gearbox Software used a certain process called “procedural generation” to generate different weapon outcomes, such as their firing rate, elemental damage, attachments, damage modifiers, damage-per-second (DPS), etc. Each weapon has a different style and could introduce unique mechanics, allowing players that aren’t used to using, for example, pistols, in other games still utilize that type of weapon in Borderlands.
Although there are over 15 million possibilities of weapon variations in the first Borderlands game in the series, Borderlands 3 has way more than that. Borderlands 3 has over one billion unique weapon variations that can be discovered if you have the time.
Let’s discuss what type of weapons you can discover in Borderlands 3:
Weapon types and their proficiency
Throughout the whole Borderlands series, there are eight types of weapons you can discover:
- Repeater Pistols – One-handed; fast fire rate; average magazine size; fast reload times; usually single-fire/slower fire rate during aiming down sights (ADS).
- Revolver – One-handed; low fire rate; high damage; high accuracy; high recoil; high chance of elemental damage.
- Submachine Guns – High fire rate; fully automatic; low damage; low-average magazine size; quick reloads.
- Combat Rifles – Medium-high fire rate; either burst or automatic firing modes.
- Shotguns – Low accuracy; small magazine size; normal fire-rate; either automatic or revolver-style reload; very high damage (close range).
- Sniper Rifle – Very accurate (ADS Scope); long-range; high damage per bullet; low accuracy (hip fire) weapons.
- Rocket Launchers – Very high damage on impact; slow reload speed; explosive splash damage.
- Eridian – No reload; reload replaced with recharge (stop firing); can recharge on weapon swap.
Manufacturers
Well, a unique backstory in the Borderlands’ universe is the weapon manufacturers. There are 12 manufacturers. Each of the manufacturers has its aspects and trademarks. Here is the list of manufacturers in Borderlands 3:
- Atlas – Creates weapons with common and average balanced weapon stats.
- Children of the Vault (COV) – Replaced the Bandit manufacturer from the previous series; infinite ammo; overheating.
- Dahl – Creates the highest accuracy and low recoil weapons; usually, weapon mode is set to burst-fire when ADS.
- Eridians – Alien Weapons; no reload; usually infinite ammo with recharge time.
- Hyperion – Very high accuracy and damage; good recoil; normal to high stats; expensive in stores.
- Jakobs – Very high damage and accuracy; critical-hit bonus; high recoil; semi-auto fire rate; sometimes elemental weapons.
- Maliwan – Elemental-only; high chance of elemental hits; expensive weapons.
- Tediore – Cheapest; low stats; fastest reload weapons.
- Torgue – Explosive rounds; high damage; low accuracy and high recoil weapons.
- Vladof – Highest rate of fire; low recoil; only manufactures automatic weapons.
Elemental damage
The Borderlands’ universe includes weapons with different elemental traits that certainly is unique compared to other FPS games. In Borderlands 3, four different elements have their pros and cons. Here is the list of elemental effects:
- Shock – It is very effective against shields; not as effective towards flesh and natural armor; it has a chance to stun an enemy for a short time.
- Corrosive – It is very effective against natural armor; it causes a “poison effect’ and can weaken enemies during its ongoing damage; has a chance to escalate to surrounding enemies.
- Explosive – Adds more damage to the base weapon damage; deal damage to enemies in its blast radius; explodes on hit.
- Fire – It is highly effective on unshielded/unarmored enemies; it causes a burning effect for a while; there is a chance for the fire/burning effect to spread to other enemies.
- Cryo – Enemies inflicted with cryo damage is slowed down and also has a chance to freeze a foe in place.
- Radiation – A new element introduced in Borderlands 3. It inflicts a degenerative effect that causes damage to nearby foes in the affected area.
Weapon rarities
Weapons found in the wild, bought, or awarded have different rarities. Rarities are color-coded like Blizzard’s Diablo. Rarities starting from the lowest to highest are:
- White – Common – Average weapons with basic stats.
- Green – Uncommon – Slightly higher basic weapon stats.
- Blue – Rare – Higher stats; unique effects; extra mechanics.
- Purple – Very Rare – Very Strong; Hard to find; unique weapon descriptions.
- Orange – Legendary – Rarest weapons; very strong; multiple unique descriptions.
Now we got the main points of weapon types and their classifications. We are going to explain everything about Legendary weapons scattered around the Borderlands 3 world.
What are Legendary weapons?
Legendary weapons are rare weapons with orange color-coded text. What’s unique about Legendary weapons is that they can be found anywhere and at any time, but you can always resort to using a save editor. Each manufacturer has one legendary weapon for each weapon type. What makes these weapons so strong is because they can add the elemental effects without suffering any damage ratings (it could rather be an increase instead), unlike other rarities’ elemental effects that could reduce damage up to 40%.
List of Legendary weapons in Borderlands 3
Here is a list of all of the Legendary weapons that can be discovered in Borderlands 3:
Pistols
- AAA – Shock elemental only; high elemental chance and damage; manufactured by Dahl.
- Amazing Grace – Critical hit adds one ammo to the magazine; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Baby Maker – Has either a Leg or Homing attachment; consumes one to three additional magazines each reload; manufactured by Tediore.
- Bangarang – High fire rate and reload speed; each reload causes the weapon to spin horizontally and spray rounds in a random path; explodes when reloading; manufactured by Tediore.
- Breeder – Shots stick to target; spawns another two projectiles in an arc that explode on impact; manufactured by Torgue.
- Craps – Can shoot four extra projectiles for the price of one ammo; manufactured by Torgue.
- Devils Foursum – Fires three projectiles per ammo; the extra projectiles spread to the left, right, and top before connecting, explodes; large splash radius; manufactured by Torgue.
- Echo – Sticky round the blows up upon impact three times; manufactured by Torgue.
- Girth Blaster Elite – Reduces damage; shoots darts that stick on enemies; manufactured by Torgue.
- Gunerang – High damage and magazine size; reload causes weapon to become a boomerang, on contact with a foe, it explodes; manufactured by Tediore.
- King’s Call – Critical hits refill magazine; critical hits cause three projectiles to spawn and ricochet off hit target; consumes three ammo; max six rounds in the magazine; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Hail – Low projectile speed; high magazine; large blast radius; fires in a two-round burst fire; no alternative fire mode; manufactured by Torgue.
- Hellshock – Either incendiary or shock elementals; projectiles bounce then switch to another element upon impact; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Hornet – Corrosive elemental only; very high damage; six-round burst and splash damage; manufactured by Dahl.
- Hyper-Hydrator – Always the Shock elemental; alternative fire mode sprays water on enemies, allowing the shock element to deal more damage; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Linc – Increased fire rate; increased bullet speed; manufactured by Atlas.
- Linoge – Fires two rounds per ammo; slow projectile speed; projectiles can bounce off surfaces (once); bayonet attachment; manufactured by COV.
- Lucky 7 – Grants various mechanics after a reload; high magazine capacity; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Maggie – Six projectiles = one ammo; high ammo capacity; high critical hit chance; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Multi-tap – Automatic; high reload speed; very high overall base stats; fires two bullets = one ammo; extreme alternative firing mode; manufactured by Atlas.
- Nemesis – Either fire/corrosive elements; large magazine (drum-style magazine); can also deal shock damage; manufactured by Dahl.
- Night Flyer – Very high damage; very high fire rate; damage enemies until 1HP; burst-fire; automatic firing mode in the air; manufactured by Dahl.
- Occultist – Incendiary elemental only; extra projectiles swirl around the main bullet; every projectile explodes on impact; manufactured by Torgue.
- Pestilence – Radiation element only; when the weapon breaks, its fire rate increases; it creates a radiation bomb that inflicts damage to both an enemy or wielder nearby; manufactured by COV.
- Psycho Stabber – +120% melee damage; bayonet; fires knives in a parabolic trajectory; manufactured by COV.
- Roisen’s Thorns – Corrosive elemental; the impact firing mode produces another four incendiary projectiles; manufactured by Torgue.
- Scoville – Shoots hot sauce bottles in an arc; very high damage; very high rate of fire; consumes four rounds per ammo; no alternative fire mode; manufactured by Torgue.
- Sellout – Incendiary and corrosive elementals; no charging time; fires three shots, uses three ammo; splash damage in a small radius; When it is equipped, voice lines from Tyreen Calypso can he heard from time to time; manufactured by Maliwan.
- SkekSil – Burst fire rate; 1-3 explosive projectiles according to its elemental effect; manufactured by COV.
- Superball – Incendiary elemental; high damage; no charge time; fires fireballs in an arc that can bounce off surfaces; manufactured by Maliwan.
- The Companion – Parts are fixed; 10% reload speed; 15% critical chance; always fire elemental; only causes elemental upon a critical hit; manufactured by Jakobs.
- The Duc – Increased damage; Exploding rounds once stuck onto a foe; critical hits cause two bullets to ricochet off the enemy; manufactured by Jakobs.
- The Flood – Automatic; very high firing rate; low accuracy; low damage; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Thunderball Fists – Shock elemental; semi-auto firing rate; no charge up time; when hit/in impact, projectiles produce an orb that goes up and down before exploding in place; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Queen’s Call – Critical hits generate three bullets to the magazine; critical hits cause three bullets to ricochet of hit enemy; consume three rounds per shot; fixed magazine size (6 rounds); manufactured by Jakobs.
- Unforgiven – +300% critical damage; very high base damage; reduced fire rate; special reload animation; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Wagon Wheel – On hit, projectiles will spawn and rebound from the enemy’s location; manufactured by Jakobs.
Assault rifles
- Alchemist – Fire elemental only; No alternative firing mode; stick rounds; whenever a sticky round lands on an enemy or surface, the wielder takes 10% of the weapon’s base damage into shock damage; Shock damage upon a hit; fire elemental upon detonation; manufactured by Torgue.
- Barrage – Burst fire; no alternative firing mode; high accuracy; high fire rate; low recoil; very high damage; Dahl manufacturer.
- Bekah – Splits a bullet into three in a horizontal pattern; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Bearcat – Fires three grenades at once that bounce in a horizontal row; consumes four rounds per shot; no alternative fire; manufactured by Torgue.
- Breath of the Dying – Corrosive only; Very high damage; corrosive explosion upon a killed enemy; releases large spheres of corrosion in all directions; Dahl manufacturer.
- Carrier – Ammo is homing towards enemies; bullets can bounce off terrain; Atlas manufacturer.
- Damned – Increasing damage; Alternative fire mode is now a reflective shield; no speed penalty for ADS; manufactured by Vladof.
- Faisor – Elemental; increased damage; spawns with shotgun and bayonet attachment; manufactured by Vladof.
- Gatling Gun – Automatic fire mode only; very high fire rate; large magazine size; increased fire rate during firing; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Hand of Glory – Melee bayonet; burst fires two rounds; three bursts; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Kaos – Always random elemental effect; only has iron sights; upon enemy death, a large explosion of whatever the weapon’s element is; Dahl manufacturer.
- Laser-Sploder – Always an elemental; emits a laser beam and rockets at a slow rate; manufactured by Torgue.
- Lead Sprinkler – Explosive pellet spawn after a hit body shot; three explosive pellets spawn upon a headshot; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Lucian’s Call – Critical hits regenerate two rounds into the magazine; upon critical hit, two rounds spawn and ricochet near target; no alternative firing mode; manufactured by Vladof.
- Ogre – Fires missiles; increases magazine; manufactured by Vladof.
- O.P.Q. System – Very high stats; Alternate fire mode deploys a gun-like drone that follows the wielder and attacks nearby targets; Atlas manufacturer.
- Pain is Power – Always fire elemental; overheating causes fire damage to the wielder and does not break; manufactured by COV.
- Rebel Yell – Assault rifle; spawns tracking darts that deal shock damage; very high firing rate; high projectile speed; Atlas manufacturer.
- Rowan’s Call – Automatic only; Critical hits generate two bullets into the magazine, and two bullets ricochet near the heat target; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Sawbar – Fire elemental only; does not overheat easily; the longer the distance, the shots split into three projectiles; manufactured by COV.
- Shredifier – Very low spool time; very high rate of fire and magazine size; manufactured by Vladof.
- Sickle – Very high projectile damage, recoil, and ammo consumption; fires in shape resembling a sickle; no alternative firing mode; manufactured by Vladof.
- Star Helix – Fires two extra rounds. following the main bullet in a horizontal oscillating path; Dahl manufacturer.
- The Dictator – Bipod attachment; fires three rounds in a horizontal line; seven in bipod mode; manufactured by Vladof.
- The Monarch – Increased base damage; consumes one round to deploy 3-10 projectiles at once; randomized spread, resembling a filled square; bipod and bayonet attachment; manufactured by Vladof.
- Try-Bolt – Fires three sticky rockets, in burst fire, that explodes upon impact with an enemy or surface; manufactured by Torgue.
- Warlord – Very high ammo capacity; 30% chance ammo is not consumed when firing; automatic only; Dahl manufacturer.
Rocket launchers
- Creamer – Can heal the wielder for a percentage of damage (varies from the stats); manufactured by Atlas.
- Freeman – Projectiles follow the laser sight (crosshair); no other firing mode available; manufactured by Atlas.
- Hive – Slow firing rate; large projectile; projectile is spherical; shoots extra homing rockets with a limited flight time that will detonate automatically if they have not hit the surface; consumes four ammo; slow reload speed; manufactured by Torgue.
- ION CANNON – Has increased weapon damage; has a charge-up time; fires an accurate laser; consumes six ammo; manufactured by Vladof.
- Jericho – Rockets will fly in the air and detonate in place, releasing three projectiles that fall and explode on impact; alternate fire shoots four mortar shells in an arc, then they will dispatch three small rockets that will fall and explode on impact (creating 12 small explosions); manufactured by Vladof.
- Mongol – Fires a very slow projectile that spawns other smaller rockets during its flight; missiles are affected by gravity and will slowly descend; consumes two rounds per shot; manufactured by Vladof.
- Nukem – Rocket travels in an arc then explodes on impact; manufactured by Torgue.
- Quadomizer – shoots four projectiles in a horizontal line; each shot will cycle between radiation, corrosive, and incendiary elementals; manufactured by Torgue.
- R.Y.N.A.H. – Radiation only elemental; very high damage; uses eight rockets per shot; manufactured by Torgue
- Ruby’s Wrath – Lanches a vortex grenade that pulls in enemies for eight seconds; launches eight missiles at once; manufactured by Atlas.
- Scourge – Fires a massive rocket with a few additional missiles in front of it; the smaller rockets will go to the nearest enemies; manufactured by Torgue.
- Tunguska – Low damage; slow reload (individual rockets); when rockets hit, it creates another rocket that flies upwards then blows up the second time; manufactured by Torgue.
Shotguns
- Brainstormer – Shock elemental only; fires seven pellets; patter is like a lightning bolt; upon hit, creates a lightning chain from the target to close enemies; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Conference Call – Five pellets per shot; each impact causes extra projectiles to ricochet off surfaces; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Creeping Death – Corrosive elemental; fires small orbs; orbs attach to surfaces; manufactured by Tediore.
- Face-puncher – Has a melee attachment; has an absorbing shield; damage is according to the wielder’s melee damage; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Fearmonger – Projectiles form a square; the projectiles’ movement is in a wavy pattern; projectiles explode on hit; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Flakker – Slow firing rate; projectile speed is slow; projectiles are invisible, causing explosions upon impact; max one ammo per magazine; manufactured by Torgue.
- Flamma Diddle – Incendiary elemental only; fire pattern is shaped like an O; one ammo launches nine rockets at once; projectiles bounce upon impact on surfaces; manufactured by Tediore.
- Heart Breaker – Heals the wielder for a certain percentage from the damage dealt with enemies; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Hellwalker – Incendiary elemental only; contains Speedlodn prefix; projectiles form an inverted pentagram pattern; creates guitar noises upon firing; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Insider – No recharge; each shot fires multiple elemental pellets in a randomized cluster; projectiles explode on impact; elemental splash damage; two ammo per shot; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Kill-o’-the-Wisp – Shock elemental only; fires a large ball that travels at a slow pace before exploding; uses four ammo per shot; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Mind-Killer – No charge to fire; fires shrapnel that penetrates; hip fire = nine pellets per shot; ADS, shots are in a “+” sign pattern; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Nimble Jack – Better accuracy when airborne; criticals hits do not use ammo; manufactured by Jakobs.
- One Pump Chump – Very high damage; one ammo magazine; 50% chance of not consuming ammo; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Polybius – Elemental; shots are in a 4×4 grid pattern; manufactured by Tediore.
- Phebert – Hitscan; low pellet count; significant damage; uses two ammo per shot; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Projectile Recursion – High elemental damage; fires a beam; beam bounce off multiple targets; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Redline – Weapon charge; increased fire rate when the weapon is charged; manufactured by Torgue.
- Sledge’s Shotgun – two-round burst fire; high magazine size; manufactured by Jakobs.
- T.K’s Wave – Fires eight projectiles; projectiles are slow-moving; the fire pattern is like a wave that bounces off the surface; manufactured by Jakobs.
- The Boring Gun – High splash damage; three sawblades drop to the ground and rolls to forward; if the sawblades hit an enemy, it will explode; manufactured by Torgue.
- The Butcher – Low pellet count; high rate of fire; has a chance for the magazine to refill by a random amount after firing; manufactured by Hyperion.
- The Garcia – High magazine size; Jakobs.
- The Lob – Elemental; high magazine size; very high base damage; fires an orb that goes through enemies; explodes after a certain distance; manufactured by Torgue.
- The Horizon – When the weapon is thrown, the discarded weapon can be shot to create an explosion; manufactured by Tediore.
- Trevonator – Shoots three elemental orbs that explode upon impact; manufactured by Maliwan.
Sniper rifles
- ASMD – Shock elemental only; no time for charge-up; hip fire, fires an energy orb; ADS shoots a fast energy bolt; hit causes an explosion; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Cocky Bastard – Upon critical hit, it deals shock damage; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Firestorm – Incendiary elemental only; firing causes a nova; novas have three fireballs that go up and down after a short delay, creating more novas; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Headsplosion – Explosive rounds; critical hit causes three rounds to ricochet; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Krakatoa – Incendiary elemental only; very high damage output; zero percent chance of elemental effect to happen; kills spawn a volcano; volcano inflicts status effects on enemies; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Lyuda – Two extra projectiles appear each shot; manufactured by Vladof.
- Malak’s Bane – Either Incendiary or Cryo elemental; fires a slow projectile; shots consume two ammo; shots bounce up to two times; shots penetrate enemies; alternate fire mode is a shotgun that shoots five pellets from the main magazine; manufactured by Dahl.
- Masterwork Crossbow – Increased damage output; the magazine is fixed to one round; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Monocle – Critical 3.5x damage when ADS; ADS zoom is increased; accuracy and handling are good; reload speed is fast; low base damage; manufactured by Jakobs.
- Sand Hawk – High Accuracy; two ammo per shot; burst -fire nine projectiles in a bird’s shape; manufactured by Dahl.
- Stalker – Cryo elemental only; two ammo per shot; each shot, three projectiles in a fixed pattern; burst-fire; manufactured Dahl.
- Storm – Shock elemental only; fires four shock orbs at the impact point; consumes two ammo; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Woodblocker – Additional 100% critical hit damage; low recoil; elemental; burst-fire four shots; manufactured by Hyperion.
Submachine gun
- 9-Volt – Shock elemental; fires seven pellets in a V-shape pattern; burst fire only; alternate fire mode switches ADS zoom between 1.5x and 3x; magazine locked at nine ammo; manufactured by Dahl.
- B*tch – Melee attachment added; spawns with the largest ammo magazine; critical hit bonus; low base damage; high accuracy; high fire-rate; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Boomer – Projectiles explode on impact; manufactured by Dahl.
- Cloud Kill – Corrosive only; no alternate fire mode; firing creates a corrosive cloud; low recharge time; high fire rate; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Crader’s EM-P5 – Increased player movement speed; high accuracy; increased critical hit damage whilst in the air (airborne); manufactured Dahl.
- Crossroad – Fires burst fire (six rounds); consumes two ammo per shot; three projectiles per shot; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Cutsman – fires two explosive spheres that widen the further it goes; blade melee attachment; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Destructo Spinner – Primary fire alternates between all of the element; projectiles flow in a corkscrew pattern; alternative fire does splash damage; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Devoted – Reduce base damage; reduced accuracy; reduced reload speed; firing rate increases incrementally the more prolonged the trigger button is held; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Handsome Jackhammer – Handsome Jack voices; whenever the gun is reloaded, the weapon is thrown and bounces five times in a single spot; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Hellfire – Incendiary only; fully automatic; slow projectile speed; manufactured by Dahl.
- ION LASER – Fires extra rounds after the trigger is released; up to six projectiles after three seconds of firing; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Kaoson – Higher accuracy; projectiles stick to targets; sticky projectiles explode after a reload or in a few seconds after impact; explosions deal splash damage; manufactured by Dahl.
- Kyb’s Worth – Downed enemies create a healing area once every ten seconds; spawns a shield; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Long Musket – Fires fire at a short-range; discarded weapons activate walking flamethrowers turrets; turrets can stick to walls and chase enemies; manufactured by Tediore.
- Night Hawkin – Switches from cryo and incendiary depending on the time of day; night time causes cryo damage; morning causes incendiary damage; manufactured by Dahl.
- Oldridian – Switches elements after reload; energy shield reduces damage caused by elementals by 20%; increased base damage; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Predatory Lending – Consumes money as ammo; muzzle flash shows coins and notes upon firing; manufactured by Hyperion.
- Ripper – Melee attachment included; does 200% more gun damage towards enemies hit from the weapon’s melee; lowers base damage; manufactured by Dahl.
- Sleeping Giant – Reloading can choose between four different modifiers; modifier one increases base damage; modifier two increases reload speed; modifier three increases the fire rate; and modifier four reduces recoil and increases accuracy; manufactured by Dahl.
- Smart-Gun – Corrosive damage; alien barrel; leg module; increased elemental damage; high elemental splash effect; uses two ammo per shot; manufactured by Tediore.
- Ten Gallon – After a reload, the discarded guns become drones; drones follow the weapon wielder; drones attack enemies; manufactured by Tediore.
- Tsunami – Firing switches between shock and corrosive damage; regular shots ricochet once; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Vanquisher – Increased slide speed by 20%; increased fire rate whilst sliding by 100%; manufactured by Dahl.
- Vault Hero – Both shock and corrosive damage; manufactured by Maliwan.
- Westergun – Lowers splash damage; increased splash damage size; manufactured by Maliwan.
- XZ41 – Upon hitting an enemy; two extra projectiles spawn perpendicular to the target; manufactured by Hyperion.