TOP 20 Weapons in Borderlands 3 [March 2021]

We will take a look at twenty very powerful weapons, give you a brief description of what makes them unique and how they look. The list is not in a particular order. The first spot is not necessarily better than the sixth, for example. Let's take a look at the Top 20 Weapons in Borderlands 3.

I wanted to look into all available weapons before the release of the 6^th DLC on March 18^th, called “Director’s Cut”.

Important! The list includes titles from all the DLC released until March 11^th, 2021. That includes all content from Season Pass 1 and the Arms Race [Designer’s Cut] DLC, which is the first part of Season Pass 2.

TOP 20 Weapons in Borderlands 3 List

TIZZY

This COV pistol is the real ammo destroyer. It shoots faster when you hold the trigger, increasing its fire rate but at the cost of consuming A LOT of ammo.

However, the weapon’s firepower is so ridiculous that it just melts the enemies' health bars as well as bosses. It can also come in three of the elements, but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Cryo.

• Drops from: Red chests, badass enemies, and Heavyweight Harker in Stormblind Compound [Arms Race DLC].

PSYCHO STABBER

This is a very interesting piece of equipment. You basically just hold it, and there is no point in shooting it. The pistol’s special attribute is that it boosts your overall melee damage by 340%. It is a must-have for any melee build for any Vault Hunter. The COV gun is only available in the non-elemental form.

• Drops from: Borman Nates in Meridian Outskirts [Base Game - Promethea]

BLOOD-STARVED BEAST

The first SMG on the top 20 weapons in Borderlands 3 list, manufactured by DAHL. The company is known for military designs, and that is also the case when it comes to Blood-Starved Beast.

The special ability of the gun is that the projectiles it shoots can penetrate a target and explode, dealing with splash damage. The weapon can come in either burst fire or full auto modes. The variants of the weapon include times two and times three in the damage section, which increases the DPS but also the ammunition used. It can also come in any of the elements, but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo.

• Drops from: Evil Lilith in Castle Crimson [Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck DLC]

SAND HAWK

This Sniper Rifle is a reference to the weapon named the same in Borderlands 2.

Its special ability is that instead of normal firing mode, it shoots 7 projectiles that fly and move like the wings of a bird. It deals with huge splash damage and is not very ammo efficient. It can either be a Semi-Automatic weapon or a three-round burst. It can also come in any of the elements, but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo.

• Drops from: Katagawa Jr. in Atlas HQ [Base Game - Promethea]

Important! This weapon can only drop on Mayhem Level 6 or above. You will need to finish the story to unlock Mayhem Levels.

FACE-PUNCHER

This is the first Hyperion weapon on the top 20 weapons in Borderlands 3 list and also one of the most original ones.

It does not look like something special, but the fun lies in the details. The weapon’s damage scales with melee.

Basically, Face-Puncher’s bullets deal melee damage that can be boosted by other melee damage increases. It fits perfectly into melee builds. Paired with the White Elephant artifact, the shots from the gun can also leave exploding bombs stuck to the target.

The shotgun comes in either time seven or times fourteen variant. The latter increases the cost of the shot to two ammo per shot. It can not come in any of the elements, only in non-elemental form.

• Drops from: Mudlock in Floodmoor Basin [Base Game – Eden 6]

REFLUX

The second shotgun on the top 20 weapons in Borderlands 3 list was also manufactured by Hyperion.

This one is a hell of a weapon. It shoots a special laser that chains between enemies dealing huge amounts of damage. The chains do corrosive damage as well as the weapon. It can not come in any other element, it is locked to corrosive, which makes it great against armored enemies. It has a biohazard projectile pattern.

Similar to the Face-Puncher, it can come in either time seven or times fourteen variant. The second one increases the cost to two ammo per shot.

• Drops from: GenIVIV in Voracious Canopy [Base Game – Eden 6]

Important! This weapon can only drop on Mayhem Level 6 or above. You will need to finish the story to unlock Mayhem Levels.

PROPRIETARY LICENSE

The only Hyperion SMG on the top 20 weapons in Borderlands 3 list to deal splash damage.

The critical hits from the weapon cause bullets to ricochet. Hitting body shots applies sticky explosives that deal above mentioned splash damage. It shoots only in five-round burst fire mode. Aiming the weapon down sights increases the fire rate. It can also come in any of the elements, but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo.

• Drops from: Hydragoian in Obsidian Forest [Bounty of Blood DLC]

SMOG

The second and last Hyperion SMG on the list.

It is a very high damage weapon if used properly. The special ability of the weapon is that it projects a shield in front of the weapon if you aim down sight. It is not revolutionary because almost all Hyperion SMGs do that. The twist is that it increases the damage of the weapon by insane amounts. The damage of the bullets is amplified when the weapon’s shield is active and at max capacity.

It can also come in any of the elements: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo, or Kinetic.

• Drops from: Scourge in Minos Prime [Base Game – Guardian Takedown]

MAGGIE

It is easily my favorite pistol in the entire game.

It makes its comeback to the Borderlands 3 from previous installments.

It is manufactured by Jakobs with that western revolver feeling. Maggie shoots as fast as you can pull the trigger and has dope reload animation, which takes little to no time.

Maggie is also a multi-pallet weapon, which means it shoots multiple projectiles at the cost of one ammo. It can drop only in non-elemental form like most Jakobs weapons, but you can make it even stronger with the right elemental anointment.

• Drops from: Turnkey Tim in Floodmoor Basin [Base Game – Eden 6]

HELLWALKER

This powerful shotgun hits like a truck.

It was one of the most underwhelming weapons at the launch of the game, but a couple of months later, it got a huge damage buff, and now it hits harder than any other weapon in the game.

Manufactured by Jakobs, its special attribute is just being a reference to Doom. It plays guitar riffs when shot, like a soundtrack from Doom.

It also has a Pentagram/Sigil of Lucifer spread pattern. It has a very fast reload speed, always comes in the times ten variant. The Hellwalker is also locked to the fire element, but it does not care. It shreds everything even without matching elements.

• Drops from: Road Dog in The Splinterlands [Base Game – Pandora]

BEACON

That one pistol does not do much but is really fun to use.

It is made by Maliwan and deals a lot of splash damage.

Its only special ability is only that it creates a nova explosion while reloading. The nova damage matches the current weapon element.

Like with every Maliwan weapon, you can change between two elements. The weapon always drops with two elements. It can drop in any element but not in non-elemental damage. This pistol deals an insane amount of damage, especially paired with decent splash damage bonuses.

• Drops from: Jerrick Logan in Bloodsun Canyon [Bounty of Blood DLC]

TREVONATOR

Trevonator is a Maliwan shotgun that shoots three-round shots.

It is not very fast, shoots pretty slow, and also has a low charge time.

For the longest time, this weapon was just an easter egg.

The weapon’s name is a tribute to Trevor Eastman, who was a huge fan of the Borderlands series that was diagnosed with cancer. He was invited to play the game before release back in 2018 by Gearbox. He sadly passed a year later.

The weapon got massive buffs in late 2020, which made it one of the most powerful weapons in the game and was no longer just an easter egg. It applies splash damage on contact. The shotgun can come in any of the elements, but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo.

• Drops from: Private Beans on Athenas [Base Game – Athenas]

FLIPPER

This Maliwan SMG is one of the best additions to the game from any of the DLCs.

It deals insane splash damage. Its ability is that It starts as one projectile, but when you shoot it, the number of projectiles increases to nine when the trigger is held. The ammo consumption stays at one bullet per shot - which makes the damage of the weapon gets multiplied by nine.

It can come in any two elements at once: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo. It can not come in a non-elemental variant.

• Drops from: Minosaur in Bloodsun Canyon [Bounty of Blood DLC]

PLASMA COIL

One of the most recent additions to the game, introduced with the last DLC.

It is like a Flipper but even more broken. Its damage output is insane. It deals with splash damage that penetrates through everything. The SMG shoots long and fast bursts of elemental orbs. It is however, locked to two elements: Shock and Radiation. It always drops with these two interchangeable elements.

• Drops from: Red chests, badass enemies, and Heavyweight Harker in Stormblind Compound [Arms Race DLC]

ANARCHY

This is an interesting one.

It is a reference to Gaige, one of the vault hunters from Borderlands 2. She had an ability called Anarchy. The ability of the weapon is that it gets increased damage by 30% for every auto-reload and/or kill but loses accuracy.

The max stack amount is ten. In that way, you can increase the shotgun damage by a whopping 300%. Auto-reload means that you can not press reload button. The weapon must be emptied to zero magazine capacity.

It can come in many variants; the best one is times twenty, with the highest amount of pallets. It deals with splash damage, and like a very TEDIORE weapon, instead of reloading, the weapon is thrown at the enemies.

It can also come in any of the elements: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo, or Kinetic.

• Drops from: Kukuwajack in Negul Neshai [Guns, Love and Tentacles DLC]

PROMPT CRITICAL

EXPLOSIONS!!! - As Mr. Torgue says.

It is a pistol that just does A LOT of splash damage.

It shoots projectiles in two different modes. Impact mode allows the bullets to explode on impact. The second mode is much more interesting. It shoots sticky bombs that stay on target until you reload. Then all the stickies explode, dealing huge splash damage and increasing the splash radius depending on how many explosives are there.

It can come in times three and times four variants, the latter doing more damage. It can also come in any of the elements: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo, or Kinetic.

• Drops from: Evil Lilith in Castle Crimson [Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck DLC]

BACKBURNER

The one and only launcher on the top 20 weapons in Borderlands 3 list.

Overall, the launchers in the game are not the most powerful. Most of them have too low damage, some of them are good for getting a Second Chance, but when it comes to this VLADOF launcher, the situation looks quite different. It makes a lot of explosions, and I mean A LOT. It can also do ally damage, so be careful about it.

It shoots orbs with singularity with spawns non-singularity mirv orbs upon hitting the target or surface. It can come in all the elements but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, and Cryo.

• Drops from: Agonizer 9000 in Guts of Carnivora [Base Game – Pandora]

Important! This weapon can only drop on Mayhem Level 6 or above. You will need to finish the story to unlock Mayhem Levels.

THE MONARCH

One of the most powerful Assault Rifles in the entire game.

For some time, The Dictator held this title until The Monarch was introduced. They are very similar. Both are manufactured by VLADOF, with a high fire rate and pallet count. The Monarch is just better. It has huge dmg and even more pallets. It can come in times four and time eight variant, but the special ability makes it more ridiculous.

You can activate bipod mode, which disables your sprint and jump but increases the pallet count by 100%. You get twice as many pallets and can just spray down enemies like a machine gun.

It can also come in any of the elements: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo, or Kinetic.

• Drops from: Killavolt in Lectra City [Base Game – Promethea]

Important! This weapon can only drop on Mayhem Level 6 or above. You will need to finish the story to unlock Mayhem Levels.

LIGHT SHOW

It is just basically the pocket version of The Monarch.

It is also manufactured by VLADOF, but it is a pistol. It shoots very fast and has a pallet count of four. The bullets from a rotating circular pattern. It can also come in any of the elements: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, Cryo, or Kinetic.

• Drops from: Lasodactyl in Obsidian Forest [Bounty of Blood DLC]

BOOGEYMAN

The Boogeyman is a very original Sniper Rifle.

It is a high fire rate weapon like most of the VLADOF guns. However, it has a high chance not to consume ammo. In combination with Moze’s ammo regeneration abilities or FL4K’s Leave No Trace, it can be turned into an infinite ammo machine.

It also has a chance to spawn a Boogeyman on kill. It is a big skill that leaves the body of the killed enemy and seeks other targets, exploding on impact. It can chain to multiple targets, one-shotting one after another.

The Sniper can come in times one or times two variant. It can come in all the elements but not in a non-elemental form: Fire, Shock, Corrosive, Radiation, and Cryo.

• Drops from: Red chests, badass enemies, and Heavyweight Harker in Stormblind Compound [Arms Race DLC]

Summary of Top 20 Weapons in Borderlands 3

And that would be all of the Top 20 Weapons in Borderlands 3 for now. We can expect even more to come.

Borderlands 3 is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One X/S, and Xbox Series X/S.

For more Borderlands 3 news, check out our DLC Release article.