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That being said, certain manufacturers have changed up their perks from past games. Certain ones that were considered disappointing in the past are now some of the best in the game. This list will also take a look at some of the great legendary weapons tied to the manufacturers. Here is a ranking of all the Borderlands 3 gun manufacturers.
9 Hyperion
Hyperion weapons since Borderlands 2 have always been known for their accuracy. This benefit does make a return in Borderlands 3 but with an added perk of holding up a shield as you aim down the sights. In your first playthrough, this is very helpful but the same can’t be said for Mayhem Mode. In Mayhem Mode, you’re getting shot from all different directions, making the shield perk pretty much useless.
Your equipped shield is your true source of defense in the endgame. The only exception for the shield perk is the one that absorbs bullets as ammo, which is always useful…unless you’re Moze. There are only a few truly great Hyperion legendary weapons that are worth using in Mayhem Mode such as The Butcher, The Face Puncher, and The Crossroads. Other than that, Hyperion is probably the weakest among the manufacturers as the game gets more difficult.
8 Vladof
Aside from a couple of powerful guns, Vladof weapons aren’t as good as they can be yet. The main draw for Vladof guns is that they typically have the highest fire rate of any other manufacturer. For FL4K players, Vladofs can be insanely powerful with Fade Away.
The problem is that the high fire rate usually comes at the cost of lower damage. Certain weapons like The Ogre and Shredifier don’t deal enough damage to warrant use. Your best bet is the Lyuda, which was the best sniper rifle in the game at launch. The Lucian’s Call is also a fantastic assault rifle that’s very ammo efficient.
7 COV
Children Of The Vault (COV) weapons are new to the Borderlands franchise. For one thing, they have the coolest designs as they look like random weapons thrown together. The main perk is that they don’t have to be reloaded but they can still overheat if you hold down the trigger too long. As such, they aren’t the most ammo efficient compared to the rest of the manufacturers, as well as having low accuracy. While their accuracy and ammo consumption can be frustrating, you’ll want to use some for their high-damage output. COV weapons are typically used for close-quarters combat. It’s always best to have one equipped for Fight For Your Life, as you can unload on an enemy right next to you and not have to worry about reloading.
One of the best COV legendary weapons is the Pestilence, especially with a Gamma Burst FL4K build or an elemental Amara. The Sawbar makes a return from Borderlands 2 as a COV weapon and it’s just as great. Then there is the Psycho Stabber, which isn’t that great of a gun itself but its bladed end offers 120% melee damage, meaning Amara can be especially deadly with it if you focus on melee.
6 ATLAS
Fans were stoked to see ATLAS weapons make a return from the first Borderlands. After the events of Tales From The Borderlands, Rhys became the new CEO of ATLAS. ATLAS has homing bullets attached to their guns, which are shot after the player uses a tracking bullet on an enemy. This will cause all bullets to now target that specific enemy.
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ATLAS weapons almost always have high-damage output, even Purple rarity, which is great since the homing bullets generally don’t do critical hits (unless you’re FL4K). If you’re lucky, you can also find ATLAS weapons that homing grenades, which doesn’t need any more explanation. Ironically, the best legendary ATLAS weapons are its launchers: Ruby’s Wrath and The Freeman. Both of these launchers are excellent for Fight For Your Life since you don’t need to do much aiming. ATLAS does it for you.
5 Tediore
Tediore weapons are probably the most unique in the game. In the second game, Tediore weapons are reloaded by throwing the gun, which will cause an explosion. The more bullets left in the magazine, the more powerful the explosion is. Borderlands 3 builds on this concept by having Tediore weapons do other things besides blow up.
Certain Tediore weapons can be thrown as a mine or can bounce around. Of course, Tediore is best known in the game for introducing guns with legs. Instead of exploding, the gun can now become a temporary ally as a standing or running turret. The best Tediore legendary weapons are the Polybius, the Baby Maker, and the Ten Gallon. Oddly enough, a purple rarity Tediore shotgun actually does the most damage out of all. If you can find one with Shock damage and equip a Transformer shield, you can obliterate WOTAN’s shield.
4 DAHL
DAHL weapons received a massive upgrade from Borderlands 2. While they weren’t terrible, they were pretty basic and didn’t offer much. In the third game, DAHL is among the best manufacturers in the game. This is due to its high-damage output paired with very low recoil. Also, DAHL weapons just feel so good to use.
One new game feature is the alternate firing modes, which DAHL takes the most advantage of. You usually get two of these three firing modes: fully automatic, semi-automatic, or burst fire. This allows you to change up the gun based on your playstyle. DAHL makes some fantastic legendary SMGs and assault rifles. These include the Barrage, Night Hawkins, Breath Of The Dying, and the Venomous Hornet. Most recently, the Malak’s Bane received a major buff and is now considered just as good as the Lyuda.
3 Jakobs
If you just want to look old-fashioned, use a Jakobs weapon. Jakobs weapons essentially give Borderlands its Western feel. What they lack in fire rate, they make up for in damage, especially critical hit damage. Now, if you hit a critical hit with a Jakobs weapon, that bullet will ricochet.
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This perk makes it quite ammo efficient and you can get some lucky kills you weren’t even trying for. One effective method is pair a Jakobs shotgun (which fires multiple pellets) with FL4K’s Fade Away. If you have a mob of enemies, you just need to shoot one enemy and all of those bullets will ricochet towards everyone else, clearing out numerous enemies with just one shot. There are so many fantastic Jakobs weapons in Borderlands 3. You have the Unforgiven, Maggie, Hellwalker, Monocle, Headsplosion, King’s Call, Queen’s Call, as well as the Wedding Invitation sniper rifle, which was just added as part of an event. Hopefully, you were lucky enough to obtain it before it disappeared.
2 Maliwan
Maliwan guns have always been known for their elemental damage and that hasn’t changed in this game. The added bonus is players can now switch between different elements. For Amara players, Maliwan weapons are a no-brainer. If you’re playing an elemental Amara, you should always keep a Maliwan weapon handy since they not only do great elemental damage but their status effect chance is increased immensely.
At launch, Maliwan weapons weren’t as great as they could have been but as of today, they’re some of the best in the game. The two best weapons to use in the Maliwan Takedown are actually Maliwan weapons; the Recursion and Cutsman. The Recursion shotgun is honestly broken with how ridiculously powerful it is. The same can be said for the Cutsman, which seems to do the most elemental damage of any gun so far in the game.
1 Torque
Torque weapons need little explanation. To put it simply, they do a lot of explosions. Torque weapons became much better from Borderlands 2. In that game, guns only fired explosive projectiles but their range and fire rate were lackluster.
In Borderlands 3, they’ve introduced sticky bullets in Torque guns, which will all explode after you reload. This allows you to completely melt certain enemies and bosses, especially with a Torque assault rifle. Demolition Moze is the obvious choice for benefitting the most from Torque weapons. The best Torque weapons in the game include the Flakker, Alchemist, Devils Foursum, and the Lob. As you’ve seen in Borderlands, the best solution for victory is to just blow stuff up. Torque has you covered!
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