9 Best Legendary Shotguns in Borderlands 3 That Every Vault Hunter Should Have

Best Legendary Shotguns

There are a lot of legendary Shotguns in Borderlands 3 but like any true Vault Hunter, you only want to best of the best. This weapons guide will tell you exactly which pistols you should have equipped in your inventory. So get ready to farm these babies:

9. Guardian 4N631

The Guardian 4N631 is a Hyperion Shotgun with a unique damage amplifier because it will deal more damage the further away you are from the enemy. This damage can crank up to 400% however, the weapon’s projectile speed is pretty slow making it more difficult to obtain that damage buff.

The Guardian 4N631 itself isn’t always that great but its special ability can help you elevate your build as the damage buff also affects your other damage outputs. This means your (homing) grenades can also deal 400% damage. There is a cool Moze Build that keeps triggering grenades that benefit from the Guardian 4N631.

The Guardian 4N631 is a Director’s Cut exclusive Legendary. You can get one by leveling up your ‘Fallen Heroes’ Vault Card. It will cost you 5 ‘Fallen Hero’ Vault Card Keys.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
x	x	x	9445 x9	x	x
x	x	x	8157 x12	x	x
x	x	x	7045 x16	x	x
x	x	x	6297 x18	x	x
x	x	x	5438 x24	x	x
x	x	x	4696 x32	x	x

8. Flakker

The Flakker is a Torgue shotgun that creates a series of explosions at a set distance. If you can manage to get the ideal distance between you and your target, you not only have a nice explosive fireworks show but also a storm of destruction.

This Torgue shotgun works best on bigger enemies as the explosions are randomized and therefore don’t consistently hit smaller mobs. That said, it’s still a fun and powerful weapon to use but like in Borderlands 2, you need to know how to master this weapon.

The Flakker can be randomly obtained from any loot source but it has a 15% chance of dropping from Manvark who is located in Konrad’s Hold on Pandora.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
23672 x3	x	18938 x3	x	x	17754 x3

7. Butcher

The Butcher is a high-fire-rate Hyperion Shotgun, therefore, it can eat pretty fast through your ammo, however, its special legendary effect has a chance of refilling the weapon’s current clip giving you more free shots.

The Butcher has a bit of a kickback but if you can manage to land your shots, you can keep firing the weapon for a while, way beyond the listed magazine size.

The Butcher can be randomly obtained from any loot source. But it has a high chance of dropping from Raging Titan who is located in the Final round of the Slaughter Shaft on Pandora. It can also be obtained from Crazy Earl by using Loot-o-Grams that you can get from Dinklebot in Skywell-27 on Promethea.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
19958 x3	16964 x3	15966 x3	15966 x3	15966 x3	14968 x3
13305 x6	11309 x6	10644 x6	10644 x6	10644 x6	9979 x6

6. Hellwalker

The Hellwalker is a Jakobs Shotgun that shoots in a pentagram pattern and each critical hit will ricochet a fire projectile at the nearest enemy.

This is the Doom shotgun in Borderlands 3 and the game fully plays into that with the weapon’s pellet pattern, mechanics, and sound. This shotgun is a beast and its fixed bullet pattern makes it a reliable weapon to use.

The Hellwalker can be randomly obtained from any loot source but it has a high chance of dropping from Road Dog who is located in The Splinterlands on Pandora.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
x	x	47654 x10	x	x	x

5. Face Puncher

The Face Puncher is a Hyperion Shotgun that is rather unique because it deals Melee damage instead of regular gun damage. This allows you to create interesting builds with artifacts, for example, providing you with Health or Ammo regeneration but you can also turn this into an elemental or explosive weapon.

The damage on the item card doesn’t seem like much but the Face Puncher holds up in End Game due to Mayhem Scaling giving it a x16 damage multiplier on Mayhem Level 10/11 making it a top-tier legendary item.

The Face-puncher can be obtained from any farmable loot source but has a high chance of dropping from Muldock, the Anointed who is located in Floodmoor Basin on Eden-6.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
2737 x7	x	x	x	x	x
1825 x14	x	x	x	x	x

4. Convergence

The Convergence is a Hyperion Shotgun that rises to the top of the best shotguns in the game. For each pellet that is listed on the item card, the projectile will spawn 3 more pellets on impact. These additional pellets will travel outwards for a short distance before converging into the target.

The Convergence has a low fire rate and magazine size but the weapon makes up for it in raw damage making it one of the best Shotguns in Borderlands 3.

The Convergence has an increased chance of dropping from Dr. Benedict who is located at the Benedict of Pain in Krieg’s Mind.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
16421 x3	13958 x3	13137 x3	13137 x3	13137 x3	12316 x3
15600 x4	13260 x4	12480 x4	12480 x4	12480 x4	11700 x4
10948 x6	9305 x6	8758 x6	8758 x6	8758 x6	8211 x6
10400 x8	8840 x8	8320 x8	8320 x8	8320 x8	7800 x8

3. Reflux

The Reflux is a Hyperion Shotgun that always comes in the Corrosive element making it ideal for Armored Enemies. Damaging enemies will create a Corrosive beam between the target and a nearby enemy. This chain will transfer damage to the linked target.

The Reflux works similarly to the Brainstormer but that shotgun only comes with the Shock element and has a lower base damage.

The Reflux is Mayhem Mode 6 or higher Legendary. You can get it from GenIVIV who is located in Voracious Canopy on Eden-6.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
x	x	x	x	17953 x7	x
x	x	x	x	11969 x14	x

2. Trevonator

The Trevonator is a Maliwan Shotgun that shoots a burst of orbs that explode on impact. While most Maliwan weaponry needs to charge up, the Trevonator fires instantly with devastating power.

This is the best base game shotgun in Borderlands 3, it’s powerful and easy to obtain early on in the game.

The Trevonator can be randomly obtained as a world drop from any loot source but it has a 15% chance of dropping from Private Beans who you can farm at the graveyard located on Athenas.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
x	29461 x3	29461 x3	29461 x3	29461 x3	29461 x3
x	19641 x6	19641 x6	19641 x6	19641 x6	19641 x6

1. Anarchy

The Anarchy is a Tediore Shotgun with a stacking mechanic and when you manage to get ALLL THE STACKS, the Anarchy will deal A LOT OF DAMAGE!!!

Reloading the weapon or killing an enemy provides you with a +30% Weapon Damage boost which can be stacked up 10 times. This grants you +1379% Weapon Damage at Max stacks!!!

I love that this is a callback to Gaige from Borderlands 2 but personally, I don’t like these stacking mechanics. That said, the Anarchy allows you to do a ton of damage making it one of the best Borderlands 3 Shotgun.

You can give this weapon to Zane’s Clone but it also needs to build up stacks before it goes all out.

The Anarchy can be obtained from any suitable loot source, as a world drop on Xylourgos, in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC. Check out this guide for Best Legendary Farm Location in DLC2. It also has a 12.5% chance of dropping from Kukuwajack who is located in Negul Neshai.

Kinetic	Cryo	Fire	Shock	Corrosive	Radiation
4941 x9	4200 x9	3953 x9	3953 x9	3953 x9	3706 x9
4471 x10	3800 x10	3577 x10	3577 x10	3577 x10	3353 x10
4694 x12	3990 x12	3755 x12	3755 x12	3755 x12	3521 x12
4941 x13	4200 x13	3953 x13	3953 x13	3953 x13	3706 x13
4471 x15	3800 x15	3577 x15	3577 x15	3577 x15	3353 x15
4694 x18	3990 x18	3755 x18	3755 x18	3755 x18	3521 x18
4247 x20	3610 x20	3398 x20	3398 x20	3398 x20	3185 x20

If you have any honorable mentions, let me know in the comments below.

MentalMars

More Legendary Weapons

• Borderlands 3 Legendary Weapon Tier List
• Every Borderlands 3 Legendary Weapon
• Best Borderlands 3 Legendary Shields
• Best Legendary Grenade Mods in Borderlands 3
• Best Legendary Rocket Launchers in Borderlands 3
• Best Legendary Snipers in Borderlands 3
• Best Legendary SMGs in Borderlands 3
• Best Legendary Assault Rifles in Borderlands 3
• Best Legendary Pistols in Borderlands 3