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
JC
Hmmm damn fam, tough question. Personally brainstormer w/ 100% bonus cryo. Or the reflux w/ the same anoint
Preparing backup...
Reflux because of https://t.co/YaqMNqiLGa
Alex Ruiz Silva
Tigg’s Boom
Alexander
Oooooof this is a tuffy…… Recursion, Reflux, Brainstormer……. I’ll take the Recursion with me
God Almighty Weird At Last
Brainstormer!
adam mcfarlin
curious if u noticed the nerf on the hellwalker. Last night I was using it at 260k dps and tonight its down to 42k dps.
MentalMars
Did the hotfix didn’t go through?