The Unkempt Harold is a Legendary Weapon in Borderlands 2. This Torgue pistol is one of the deadliest weapons in the game. It is most effective at close and medium-range encounters. When you fire the Unkempt Harold the projectiles will slowly split into multiple projectiles, going from 3 to 5 and eventually to 7 after traveling a certain distance. As long as the projectiles have begun splitting, regardless of their progression, a full hit will do damage as though a full spread of 7 had connected. The most popular prefix of the Unkempt Harold is the “Double Penetrating” prefix as it will fire two spreads of projectiles with every shot at the cost of 6 ammo instead of 3 doing twice the damage.
The Unkempt Harold is popular among players as the additional projectiles are not listed on the item card. This means that each projectile will receive the full AMP damage bonus from AMP shields. When an AMP Shield is fully charged it will give the next shot bonus damage at the cost of some shield capacity unless you run The Bee Shield which has a zero shield cost.
Elements:
Explosive
Special Weapon Effects:
Did I fire six shots, or only five? Three? Seven. Whatever.
- Fires 7 shots in an accelerating horizontal spread at the cost of 3 ammo per shot.
How to get the Unkempt Harold?:
The Unkempt Harold can be obtained from any obtainable loot source but has an increased chance of dropping from Savage Lee. He can be found living amongst the Bullymongs on the east side of Three Horns – Divide, in the Marrowfield. The Unkempt Harold can also be purchased from a Torgue vending machine as the Item of the Day.
Notes:
- The time the shots split is actually dependent on the accuracy of this gun. The more accurate it is, the later the shots will split.
- Unlike other guns with a double shot barrel that fire dual projectiles in a random pattern, the second volley of a Double Penetrating Unkempt Harold will travel directly below the aimed shot in parallel fashion, or sometimes with an ‘X’ pattern under the right circumstances.
- Because the additional projectiles are not listed on the item card, each receives full amp damage from amp shields.
- The Unkempt Harold’s damage is boosted by grenade damage bonuses.
Trivia:
- The name “Unkempt Harold” is a variation on Dirty Harry.
- Both the name of the gun and the flavor text are references to the first Dirty Harry movie, starring Clint Eastwood. After the film’s first shootout scene, Eastwood’s character, Dirty Harry, holds his gun on a bank robber and says, “Now I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire six shots? Or only five?”
- The gun’s spread pattern (3-5-7) is a reference to the .357 S&W Magnum cartridge whose introduction began the “Magnum” era of handgun ammunition. Oddly enough, Harry Callahan’s revolver was a Smith and Wesson 29, which is chambered in a .44 Magnum, not a .357 Magnum.
- In the game files, the Unkempt Harold is referred to as “Calla”, another reference to the film Dirty Harry, the protagonist of which is called Harry Callahan
- In Tales from the Borderlands, Finch uses an Unkempt Harold
