One of the biggest features in Borderlands has always been the crazy amount of loot. With Borderlands 3 it looks like Gearbox is pushing themselves even further than ever before as they promise to include over a million weapons in the game. With the first Borderlands game, Gearbox Software set the world record and was registered in the Guinness Book of Records. With Borderlands 2 the team didn’t break their own record by numbers, however, they revolutionized the loot itself. By giving each of the weapons manufacturer their own special gimmick, look, and feel, they made each weapon unique. Therefore the search for new and exciting weaponry was a threat. For the first time, you could recognize the brand before even picking up the gun and it was no longer just about the stats.
Next level of weaponry
With Borderlands 3 it looks like gearbox is once again going to revolutionize their loot. In the announcement trailer, we already get a gimps of a wide variety of weapons. We see a lot of weapons pass by in the trailer. Yes, you got your pistols, machine guns, and other classic stuff you would expect to return to the franchise. However, I all seems to 1UP itself. It looks like the variety of the various weapon types has increased. On top of that, we see new types of weapons like; Cannons, Flamethrowers, and wrist-mounted weapons. Also, I have to point out there will be rifles that spawn fire-spewing volcanoes, or guns that grow legs and then chase down enemies while verbally abusing them. GUNS WITH LEGS !!!
“In the past, the guns all shared pieces between all the guns, and this time, we built entire suites of gun randomization inside of each manufacturer so that there’s a little bit more cohesiveness to them,” Scott Kester
Weapon Manufacturers Return
Most of your favorite weapon manufacturers return. The only one that has been replaced are the Bandits weapons. This brand has been replaced by the new COV weapons like they were replaced by Scav in Borderlands the Pre-Sequel. To make things exciting again some of the weapon manufacturers now have other unique trades or things that compliment them even more.
- Tediore
- Toss your gun like a grenade to reload, then watch it pursue a nearby enemy as a fully loaded version digi-structs in your hand.
- Hyperion
- Aim down the sights to take cover behind your weapon-mounted shield and keep your finger on the trigger for increased accuracy.
- Maliwan
- Toggle between two elements, charge your weapon, and deal guaranteed elemental damage with your finger glued to the trigger.
- Dahl
- Toggle between alternate fire modes depending on your play style, your predicament, and your predilection for bonus damage.
- Jakobs
- Deliver devastating critical hits to enemies’ soft-and-sensitives, then joy-puke as your bullets ricochet towards other targets.
- Vladof
- Augment these rapid-firing, ammo-hungry guns with under-barrel attachments including tasers, rocket tubes, and additional gun barrels.
- Atlas
- Step 1: Hit your enemies with tracker tags. Step 2: Unleash a hail of Smart Bullets that track towards your targets. Step 3: Loot!
- Torgue
- Switch between regular and sticky-projectile fire modes. Stickies do more damage if a bunch of them detonate on the same target.
- COV
- Enjoy uninterrupted damage-dealing courtesy of “infinite” ammo magazines, occasionally interrupted by unpredictable overheating.
Weapons Renders
Melee Weapons?
While there is no official confirmation about this yet. You can see in the trailers that the Vault Hunters have different gloves equipped. In some shots, you can spot them having different blade attachments on their arm. Will we get melee weapons for the off-hand melee to increase the damage output. These melee weapons could even have various abilities. I can see there one being a shield breaker, having a shock element so you can easily smash through shields. Another one could have a wound ability that stops enemies from regenerating health.
UPDATE (04/21/2019)
Randy Pitchford confirmed 1 Million Weapons but only 1 offhand melee weapon.
Loot Ninja Be Gone!
If you play Borderlands 3 in co-op you don’t have to worry about loot ninjas anymore. Each player will have its own loot stream so your loot is your loot. If you actually like the old Borderlands 2 rules, with shared loot, then that’s also possible.
Another neat little detail that you can pick up from the trailer is that Legendary weapons now have a bigger light beam than the other loot rarities. This way it’s easier to spot a legendary item. In previous games, it wasn’t always clear if such an item had dropped. This problem seems to be fixed now.
Elemental Weapon Damage
The weapons in Borderlands 3 can also output elemental damage again. Maliwan weapons can even switch between various elements. While there isn’t an official list yet we can spot a few elemental types in the trailers.
Elemental Types
- Fire
- Cryo
- Corrosive
- Shock
- Radiation
