Borderlands 3 has a large arsenal of weapons, with different weapon manufacturers and weapon types. In this Borderlands 3 guide, I will explain the unique manufacturer traits and provide an overview of the loot you will encounter in the game.
Table of contents
Introduction to the Next Level of Weaponry
One of the biggest features in the Borderlands franchise has always been the crazy amount of loot. Gearbox Software pushes itself even further than ever before with Borderlands 3 as they promise to include over a million weapons in the game.
Gearbox Software already set the world record of ‘Most Guns in a Game’ in the Guinness Book of Records with the first Borderlands game. 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 manufacturers their own special traits, look, and feel, they made each weapon more distinct from one another. Therefore the search for new and exciting weaponry was a threat. For the first time, you could recognize the brand before you picked up the gun and it was no longer just about comparing the stats.
With Borderlands 3 it looks like Gearbox is once again going to revolutionize their loot.
“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
Number of weapons in Borderlands 3
- Without taking anointments into consideration: 69,434,517
- With taking anointments into consideration: 4,038,988,355
Weapon Types
Borderlands 3 has 7 different weapon types each one comes with its own pros & cons and has its own ammo type. Mix up your inventory with different weapon types because that way once you run out of ammo with one type of weapon you can always switch to a different type.
| Weapon Type | Manufacturers |
|---|---|
| Pistols | Atlas, CoV, Dahl, Jakobs, Maliwan, Tediore, Torgue, Vladof |
| SMGs | Dahl, Hyperion, Maliwan, Tediore |
| Assault Rifles | Atlas, CoV, Dahl, Jakobs, Torgue, Vladof |
| Shotguns | Hyperion, Jakobs, Maliwan, Tediore, Torgue |
| Snipers | Dahl, Hyperion, Jakobs, Maliwan, Vladof |
| Heavy Launchers | Atlas, CoV, Torgue, Vladof |
| Grenades | Atlas, Hyperion, Pangolin, Tediore, Torgue, Vladof |
Weapon Manufacturers
Borderlands 3 has 9 different weapon manufacturers each with its own unique weapon traits. Usually, weapon types have a traditional way of how they function. In Borderlands this is determined by the Manufacturer. This means you will find weapon types that act like different weapon types.
Most of your favorite classic weapon manufacturers return in Borderlands 3. The only one that has been replaced is the Bandit weapons manufacturer. They have been rebranded as COV weapons.
Weapon manufacturers have new unique gimmicks to them compared to previous Borderlands games. This makes the loot feel fresh and exciting.
Atlas
Atlas manufactures Pistols, Assault Rifles, and Heavy Weapons. Their unique weapon allows you to mark enemies and fire homing bullets.
- Step 1: Hit your enemies with tracker tags.
- Step 2: Unleash a hail of Smart Bullets that track towards your targets.
- Step 3: Loot!
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Cost-Effective | x2 Projectile |
| Over-Encumbered | Increased magazine size |
| Optimized | Increased Damage But Decreased Magazine Size |
| Standardized | Increased Accuracy & Reload |
COV
CoV manufactures Pistols, Assault Rifles, and Heavy Weapons. Their unique weapon trait allows you to fire unlimited bullets until the weapon overheats.
CoV weapons kinda function like guns with large magazine sizes as you can fire them for an extended time.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Brr | Elemental dmg type – Cryo |
| Hawt | Elemental dmg type – Incendiary |
| Kemik | Elemental dmg type – Corrosive |
| Melty | Elemental dmg type – Radiation |
| Moar | x2 Projectile |
| MOARR | x3 Projectile |
| Pointy | Melee Attachement, Increased Melee Dmg |
| Stabby | Melee Attachment, Increased Melee Dmg |
| Zappy | Elemental dmg type – Shocking |
Dahl
Dahl manufactures Pistols, SMGs, Assault Rifles, and Sniper Rifles. Their unique weapon trait allows you to toggle between firing modes changing the behavior (full auto, semi auto, and burst fire) and/or zoom scope.
Dahl weapons are reliable weapons that speak to modern soldiers as these guns can adjust to different combat scenarios.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Adapting | x2 Projectile |
| Arctic | Elemental dmg type – Cryo |
| Bladed | Melee Attachment |
| Daunting | Extended Mag |
| Dauntless | Increased Rate of Fire |
| Decaying | Elemental dmg type – Radiation |
| Disciplined | Increased DPS, Decreased Mag |
| Freezing | Elemental dmg type – Cryo Damage |
| High Capacity | Extended Mag |
| Reflexive | Increased Reload Speed |
| Relentless | Increased Rate of Fire Speed |
| Searing | Elemental dmg type – Incendiary Damage |
| Shocking | Elemental dmg type – shock dmg |
| Tamed | Reduced recoil, Increased handling |
| Trained | Extended Mag & Increased Accuracy |
| Venomous | Elemental dmg type – Corrosive |
Hyperion
Hyperion manufactures SMGs, Shotguns, and Sniper Rifles. Their unique weapon trait provides increasing accuracy the longer you fire and a front-facing shield on your weapon.
- Hyperion Shield: Standard Shield
- Genesis Shield: Absorbs projectiles into your magazine.
- Amped Shield: Taking damage stacks damage for a short time.
- Redirect Shield: Reflects melee/projectile damage back at attackers.
Hyperion weapons basically do the opposite of regular weapons as those become less accurate due to the recoil when fired.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Auditing | Elemental dmg type – Cryo Damage |
| Bank-rolled | Chance Ammo returned to Mag |
| Bleeding Edge | Melee Attachment |
| Cash-Infused | Shock & Increased Money Drop |
| Defrauding | Corrosive |
| Holistic | Increased Handling |
| Hostile | Incendiary |
| Popular | Increased Mag & Handle |
| Powerhouse | Increased DPS & Crit |
| Redundant | x2 Projectile |
| Undermining | Radiation |
| Viral | Increased DPS |
Jakobs
Jakobs manufactures Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, and Sniper Rifles. Their unique weapon trait allows a bullet to ricochet to another target when scoring a Critical Hit.
Jakobs weapons are Old West-inspired weaponry and normally don’t deal elemental damage therefore they are devastating and can be fired as fast as you can pull the trigger.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bloodsoaked | Melee Attachment, Increased Melee Dmg |
| Bowie | Melee Attachment, Increased Melee Dmg |
| Cuttin | Melee Attachment, Increased Melee Dmg |
| Dastardly | Increased DPS |
| Deadeye | Increased accuracy & Zoom |
| Quad | 4x Shot |
| Quickdraw | Increased accuracy |
| Speedloadin’ | Increased reload speed |
| Trick | Increased Crit |
| Wicked | High DPS |
Maliwan
Maliwan manufactures Pistols, Shotguns, and Sniper Rifles. Their unique weapon trait allows them to toggle between two elemental damage types.
Maliwan weaponry has a higher chance of dealing the elemental damage over time (DoT) effect, however, these weapons do have a brief charge-up time.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Abundant | Increased Mag size |
| Binary | x2 Projectile |
| Expert | Increased Handling |
| Hazardous | Corrosive |
| Compressing | Increased reload speed |
| Escalating | Increases DPS output the longer it fires (needs confirms on more weapons) |
| Vivid | increased Damage |
| Sneering | Increased Fire Rate (unconfirmed the difference in this and Stark) |
| Mocking | Increased DPS |
| Stark | Increased Fire Rate |
Tediore
Tediore Manufactures Pistols, SMGs, and Shotguns. Their unique weapon trait allows you to digi-struct a new weapon in your hands instead of reloading. You throw away your old weapon which will explode like a grenade or turn into a sentry turret or spider bot.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Clearance | x2 Projectile |
| Maxed Out | Increased DPS |
| Firesale | Elemental dmg type – Incendiary |
| Frozen | Elemental dmg type – Cryo |
| Poison | Elemental dmg type – Corrosive |
| Precision | Increased Accuracy |
| Rad | Elemental dmg type – Radiation |
| Same-Day | Increased Fire Rate |
| Supercharged | Elemental dmg type – Shock |
| Turbo | Increased rate of fire |
Torgue
Torgue manufactures Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, and Heavy Weapons. Their unique weapon trait allows them to switch between regular and sticky projectiles. The stickies deal more damage if a bunch of them detonate on the same target.
Torgue loves explosives therefore their weaponry shoots mini gyro rockets.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Burning | Elemental dmg type – Incendiary |
| Casual | Increased DPS |
| Cocky | Increased Splash & Accuracy |
| Double Penetrating | x2 Projectile |
| Gratifying | Extended Mag & Increased DPS |
| Itchy | Elemental dmg type – Radiation |
| Nasty | Increased Splash |
| Oozing | Elemental dmg type – Corrosive |
| Packin’ | Increased Magazine Size |
| Shrinking | Elemental dmg type – Cryo |
| Stimulating | Elemental dmg type – Shock |
| Shredded | Improved dmg and projectiles |
| Stuffed | Improved splash |
| Triple | Armor Penetration |
| Triple-Penetrating | 3-Shot |
Vladof
Vladof manufactures Pistols, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Heavy Weapons. Their unique weapon trait allows them to fire faster than any other weapon manufacturer.
Every Vladof weapon is basically a mini-gun and on top of that, their ammo-hungry guns have under-barrel attachments that include tasers, rocket tubes, and additional gun barrels.
| Prefix | Effect |
|---|---|
| Annexed | x2 Projectile |
| Englufing | Bi-Pod attachment |
| Molten | Elemental dmg type – Incendiary |
| Negating | Elemental dmg type – Cryo |
| Nuclear | Elemental dmg type – Radiation |
| Otchky | Increase accuracy and mag size |
| Pestilent | Elemental dmg type – Corrosive |
| Resolute | High DPS |
| Storming | Elemental dmg type – Shock |
| Unending | Increased Magazine Size |
| Vicious | Engulfing |
Weapons Rarities
Borderlands 3 has 5 different weapon rarities. Higher rarity weapons often have better stats than their lower-rarity counterparts. It’s possible that a lower rarity can outperform a legendary item in some areas but the special legendary trait that a legendary item has is what it makes it excel.
- Common (White)
- Uncommon (Green)
- Rare (Blue)
- Epic (Purple)
- Legendary (Orange)
All Borderlands 3 Weapons Ranked
Elemental Weapon Damage
The weapons in Borderlands 3 can also output elemental damage again. Maliwan weapons can even switch between various elements.
| Damage Type | Strength |
|---|---|
| Kinetic | Overall |
| Fire | Good Against Flesh |
| Cryo | Slows Enemies Down Until They Freeze |
| Corrosive | Good Against Armor |
| Shock | Good Against Shields |
| Radiation | Spreads |
Melee Weapons
Every Vault Hunter has their own off-hand melee attack but Borderlands 3 does not contain melee weapons.
Randy Pitchford confirmed ahead of Borderlands 3’s release that there are over a million weapons in the game, however, you only have 1 offhand melee weapon.
Gearbox Software did add Melee Weapons to your loadout in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, therefore, we might see this mechanic return in Borderlands 4.
Instance Loot
Loot drops are unique for every individual player in Borderlands 3 when playing the game in Cooperation mode. This means that you don’t have to worry about co-op buddies stealing loot drops before your eyes.
You can still play by the old Borderlands 2 rules when you set the game to Coopetition. Loot will be shared and the game will scale to the host. Coöpetition does allow you to Power Level a new character.
If you forget to pick up an important item or are not able to pick it up for some reason, then there is the Lost Loot Machine for you.
No, Borderlands 3 doesn’t have a gameplay mechanic or feature that allows you to upgrade an item in your inventory. You will need to find that weapon again, however, most unique weapons have a dedicated farm location.
No, There is no gameplay mechanic or feature to alter the weapon parts of an item. each weapon spawns with a random set of weapon parts while some items have fixed weapon parts. You can reroll the Anointment on an item.
