To the dismay of most fans, Gearbox Software has seemingly prioritized balancing Borderlands 3 following its release in September. Instead of focusing on some of the more pressing technical issues that the community has brought up, fans have seen a nearly weekly change to vault hunters, abilities, and weapons. This is easier than fixing the performance issues, granted, but it’s still a shame to see fan favorite character builds like Immortal Moze be gutted due to nerfs and important legendary items like the Crossroads SMG or Lucian’s Call shotgun getting the same treatment.
Many popular weapons were also adjusted in the most recent Borderlands 3 patch as well including the Flakker shotgun and Lyuda sniper rifle, two weapons in particular that perhaps made things a little too easy. While they’re no longer must have god tier weapons, they’re still viable and strong options in most situations. Thankfully, the nerfs appear to be coming to an end for now as Gearbox has confirmed that the studio is taking a break to focus on core issues.
However, the patch has also opened the door for new weapons that may have at one point been overlooked. Here are the best weapons to chase and use in Borderlands 3 after the most recent round of nerfs.
Laser-Sploder
Even though it doesn’t look like it, the legendary Laser-Sploder is an assault rifle class weapon that doesn’t use traditional bullets. Instead, players fire an elemental laser beam similar to a Trace Rifle like Wavesplitter or Prometheus Lens from Destiny 2. However, in addition to a beam, this weapon also shoots rockets.
This Torgue weapon hits very hard and is able to consistently apply damage to enemies. It’s a strong boss weapon due to the high damage output, even if the weapon was handed a very slight nerf in the recent hot fix. The Laser-Sploder is another weapon which has a chance to drop from any loot source in the world and isn’t specifically tied to a particular boss.
Shredifier
Making a return from Borderlands 2 is the Shredifier, an assault rifle that is centered around the idea of speed. The weapon greatly decreases spool time, offers extremely high firing speed, and a very large capacity. As a tradeoff, the gun has slightly reduced damage. For those who want a bit more stability when firing, it comes with a bipod as well.
Still, as fast as it hits, the damage tradeoff isn’t as severe as it sounds. This weapon is still capable of hitting hard and hitting fast.
Maggie
The revolver Maggie returns in Borderlands 3 and retains most of its characteristics from Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel. It’s a revolver that works better from close to medium range as it fires 6 projectiles instead of one. In fact, this gun could replace many shotguns as it has a high rate of fire, increased critical chance and magazine, and damage potential even though it also has reduced accuracy.
Like most of the weapons on here, Maggie received a big 35% boost to damage. Players can find this as a random drop from any loot source.
Faisor
Similar to the Laser-Sploder, the Faisor assault rifle in Borderlands 3 also ditches conventional bullets in favor of rapid fire elemental beams that come with increased damage. The reason why it has become a bit more popular is that inside of the controversial hot fix from October 17, this was one of the weapons that received a generous 15% damage increase. It also has a secondary fire mode that turns it into an elemental shotgun.
This Vladof manufactured rifle is a world drop, so players could potentially find it from any loot source in the game.
Infinity Pistol
Another Vladof manufactured weapon, the Infinity Pistol makes its return from past games. Its unique perk prevents the weapon from using any ammo at all, which makes it a very valuable fallback weapon when ammo is running low on other weapons. However, the pistol has proven itself to be more than a safety value as it is able to hold its own even as it fires in an infinity shaped pattern.
Its inclusion on this list is largely due to the 40% buff in damage the weapon received in the October 17 hot fix update. There’s no reloading animations to worry about and nearly no recoil as well making this pistol one of the easier weapons to use.
The Dictator
What makes the Dictator assault rifle interesting is that it comes with a fixed bipod attachment that can be enabled by the player. Under normal conditions, the gun fires three bullets in a horizontal line, but with the bipod enabled, the gun fires seven horizontal bullets. Not only that, the spread pattern gets larger if the player is firing from the hip and then a lot tighter when aiming down the sights.
This weapon hasn’t actually changed at all, which may be one of the reasons why players have begun to see its value in Borderlands 3’s current weapon meta following the nerfs. This is a random world drop.
Hex Grenades
Yes, after what many felt was a devastating nerf, it turns out the Hex Grenade is still very strong. The community was devastated to read that Gearbox reduced its damage by 70% and duration to 3 seconds. While, on paper, this seemed to essentially ruin the functionality of the grenade, players have found out that it still remains one of the best options available, perhaps second only to the recently-added Ghast Call Grenade. Part of the reason is that while the initial damage was reduced, the elemental damage of over time was fixed to actually do what the studio originally intended.
Ultimately, the elemental damage over time nearly made up for the lost initial damage. These won’t melt bosses in as quick of a time as before the October 17 hot fix, but these will still hold their own and destroy enemies incredibly fast. Naturally, the Recurring attribute remains the best option to look out for as it splits the grenade into 2 after being thrown and then another 3 after impact.
Westergun
A Maliwan Sub-machine gun that relies heavily on elemental damage and probably fixes the notion that Maliwan is the worst gun manufacturer. It also features zero charge up time, two elemental types to switch between, and a bigger than normal splash damage radius that helps to melt enemies very quickly.
What makes this gun appealing outside of its recent 25% damage increase is that it is one of the easier weapons to farm. Although it is also a world drop, players can farm Private Beans on Athenas for an increased drop chance. Some players have even been able to get the Westergun to drop consistently from this Beans, earning some better attributes like binary and anointed variations
Hive
Players looking for some big explosions should look no further than the Hive. As the name implies, this weapon essentially fires a rocket nest that also launches smaller rockets during the slow moving flight. After the process finishes, the original projectile will detonate.
While this weapon may not be as strong as its Borderlands 2 counterpart, it’s a launcher that makes it easy to carpet bomb large areas with explosives. This version spawns more rockets however, and can now come equipped with radiation or corrosive elements. While it can be acquired from any loot source in the game, it has a higher spawn rate when fighting Princess Tarantella II on Pandora.
Flakker Shotgun
Similar to Hex grenades, the Flakker Shotgun remains a top tier weapon even after what many considered to be a brutal nerf. While it’s no longer the easy button it once was, things have improved slightly for the gun following the Oct 24 hot fix as it no longer consumes 5 ammo per shot. While the patch corrected the infinite, never reload technique that Moze players came to enjoy and made it so the gun can’t melt bosses in 3 seconds like it used to, the Flakker still holds its own in most situations and is worth the grind.
Considering this is a Torgue weapon, the rounds fired from it deal one of three types of elemental damage: explosive, radiation, or incendiary. This is another weapon which can be found randomly in any loot source.
Borderlands 3 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.
