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Table of Contents
- Notes on Playstyles
- Anointments
- Pistols
- Assault Rifles
- SMGs
- Shotguns
- Sniper Rifles
- Heavy Weapons
- Shields
- Grenades
- Class Mods
- Artifacts
PLAYSTYLES
While some gear can work on any build, oftentimes it is a specific playstyle that brings out the best of a piece of gear. As a disclaimer, just because a piece of gear is labeled as suitable for a particular style doesn’t mean it cannot be used in other builds. Said popular playstyles are listed below and represented by a skill icon;
- Driver Build
Tends to use weapons and gear that allows Amara to maximize the speed-based damage boost of the Driver class mod.
- Ties That Bind Build
Uses “Ties That Bind” to link together groups of enemies in order to pop them all with either excessively strong bullets or hitting the whole group at once with certain weapons to slay the lot of them.
- Phasespam Build
Utilizes gear and skills to maintain uptime of Action-Skill-End anointments and skills such as “Laid Bare” and “Samsara” for heavy damage.
- Nimbus Build
Tends to use weapons and gear with massive Damage-over-Time to boost the Nimbus’ cloud damage to absurd levels.
- Melee Build
Utilizes weapons and gear to maximize Amara’s fisticuffs potential.
ANOINTMENTS
The anointments listed here are generally considered the best you can aim for. Many of these can be slapped onto whatever piece of gear you want to use and find success, while others only work for specific playstyles. If a piece of gear later on in the Top Gear list has any other anointments that work well with it, it will be mentioned.
Weapon Anointments
On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time.
While it isn’t as potent as the Phasecast or Phaseslam damage-boosting anointments, this one can be used by Phasegrasp. Due to the placing of this anointment’s damage in the damage formula, it seldom outperforms the weapon anointments for bonus elemental damage, but it can boost the damage of the bonus elemental damage anointments on shields and grenades in return in return.
On Action Skill End, Splash Damage is increased by 200% for a short time.
This is likely the best anointment to go for on any weapons that can spawn with this, and if not it is a stiff competition. A list of what can and cannot have this anointment is here.
After using Phaseslam, Weapon Damage is increased by 300% for a short time.
Phasegrasp is typically toted as the best Action Skill for Amara, but this anointment gives Phaseslam some chance to compete for damage-boosting.
After using Phasecast, Weapon Damage is increased by 250% for a short time.
Similar to the above anointment with a bit less damage and a bit more applicable of an Action Skill.
On Action Skill End, the next two magazines will have 100% additional bonus (element) damage.
An excellent option to search for if you plan on using one weapon more often than others and want a means of punching through some resistances, such as using a Shock anointment on an Incendiary weapon to handle shields better. Be warned that reloading a weapon early counts as a “mag” for this anointment.
While under 50% health, deal 150% bonus radiation damage.
As long as you’re willing to wear either a Deathless artifact or a Front Loader shield, this anointment is stupendous for increasing your overall damage due to how it works in the damage formula as well as the fact that it applies to almost all damage you can deal.
While an Action Skill is active, Weapon Damage is increased by 200%.
On paper this sounds like a fantastic anointment, but it comes with the caveat of losing the effect if you switch to a different weapon. If you have one gun in particular you use most of the time in your build, consider this anointment.
While under 50% health, deal 150% bonus radiation damage.
This anointment is only particularly useful if you’re consistently under 50% health, meaning you’ll want either a Front Loader or Deathless equipped. Outside of equipping one of those piees of gear, you are typically better off with a different anointment.
Gain 300% increased Damage against enemies above 90% Health.
Formerly an incredible anointment, it has been relegated to only being useful on a select few weapons with very high base damage on the card such as the ION CANNON. On said weapons however, it gives it the potential to kill an enemy in one shot.
Consecutive Hits increase Weapon Damage by 1% per hit, misses remove all bonuses.
A niche anointment in most cases, but in those niches it can work well. As long as you deal some form of damage within 3/4 of a second or so, the anointment remains in effect. Best to use this with weapons that can vomit out tons of instances of damage rapidly like the Monarch.
Shield Anointments
On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus (element) damage for 10 seconds.
For bolstering your offenses, these anointments are the way to go, especially if you’re using and ending your Action Skills frequently.
On Action Skill Start, activate any effects that trigger on shield break or fill.
Depending on the shield, this can be a real knockout of an anointment. If your shield of choice has a handy on-fill or on-break effect, keep this anointment in the back of your head.
After using Phaseslam, Melee Damage is increased by 200% for a short time.
Given Phaseslam’s limited range, this anointment is well-suited for up-close-and-personal melee builds. Phaseslam and proceed to punch them into mashed idiot-burger.
On Action Skill End, Melee Damage is increased by 100% for a short time.
For melee builds that don’t want to use Phaseslam, this is your best bet. While it isn’t buffing you as much as the previous anointment, the sheer utility of Phasegrasp or the range of Phasecast can more than make up for it.
Grenade Anointments
On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus (element) damage for 10 seconds.
The exact same anointment you can find on shields. Just find a different element than the one you have on your shield, and bring some elemental fury down on your enemies…
On Grenade Thrown, Weapon, Grenade, and Action Skill Damage are increased by 25% for six seconds.
If your Action Skills stick around longer than you activate and end them, this isn’t an awful anointment to consider. It isn’t a great boost, but it is almost free.
PISTOLS
Lightshow
Whether your a fan of the infamous Double Anarchy of Borderlands fame or not, the Lightshow makes light work of many encounters. With a quartet of dazzling bullets fired at at copious rates with seemingly non-existent recoil, it’ll chew through enemies well enough as long as you can manage the slightly wide arrangement of the bullets.
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Elements:
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- Obtained from: Lasodactyl, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Beacon
The Beacon handily shines a path to victory for the wielder. The gimmick of the weapon is the nova it produces when you reload, but that is negligible in the face of excellent damage and fire rate with no glaring weakness. A versatile weapon that will seldom disappoint.
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Elements: | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Hellshock
- Obtained from: Jerrick Logan, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Tizzy
With a little bit of everything under the hood, the Tizzy’s capable of just about whatever you want it to do. First, it seems to gain a massive fire rate increase and heat rate decrease once the weapon reaches maximum heat. Secondly, every so often it will fire an amped shot. Thirdly, it also spawns small homing projectiles that seek out enemies. As long as you have a means of keeping your ammo supply happy, this pistol will not disappoint.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Maggie
The queen of Mashers sitting high on her throne, the Maggie is a fearsome pistol. Despite not packing an innate element, it’ll handily take care of most enemies you come across.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Masher, Robo-Melter, Little Yeeti Masher
- Obtained from: Turnkey Tim, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Prompt Critical
While the special effect of this weapon is to increase the damage of sticky bombs on foes as you apply more stickies, as of writing this entry the damage does not appear to be all that stellar. Instead, just use this powerful triple-projectile hand cannon the classic way; shoot them in the head until the noggin explodes.
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Elements: | | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Unkempt Harold, Craps
- Obtained from: Evil Lilith, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Gargoyle
Not content to merely defend the night, the Gargoyle vomits out loads of corrosive rounds that then proceed to explode for more damage, as well as having a chance to launch multiple blobs for higher damage. Anything with a yellow health bar will not appreciate being on the business end of this weapon.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Hornet,Skeksil
- Obtained from: Dickon Goyle, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Nemesis
When Amara feels like dealing as many elements as the same time as possible, the Nemesis is a good candidate. With innate shock damage accompanied by either fire and corrosive, Amara can use her skills and anointments to hit foes with every flavor of elemental pain.
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Elements: | (bonus damage)
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Auto-Burst
- Obtained from: Mouthpiece, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Trickshot
Packing some of the highest Jakobs fire rate this side of a Gatling Gun, the Trickshot starts off semi-auto but goes fully automatic as soon as you land a shot and showers your target in a fully-automatic hail of lead until your magazine is empty. It chews through ammo just as quickly though, but it will seldom disappoint.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: The Flood
- Location: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
The Blanc
Flip the switch and go to town with this handgun. The Blanc gains up to 450% increased damage by damaging an enemy and then switching the weapon’s firing mode. A simple tip for using this weapon is to simply switch the firing mode every time you reload the weapon.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Auto-Burst
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Nemesis
- Obtained from: Ipswitch Dunne, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Wagon Wheel
A sleeper-hit Jakobs pistol on Amara. By itself it isn’t that great, but combine it with Amara’s toolkit and it’ll drop baddies like sacks of hammers. Check the “Wheel of Pain” build on Youtube for better details.
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Tink Train, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Scoville
The biggest booms in a pistol package. The Scoville is something you point in a group of enemies’ general direction and blow them up to kingdom-come. Just don’t catch yourself in the explosion or you’ll be in for some pain.
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Elements: |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: x2 Projectile Stock.
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Dowsing Rod (alternate fire), Protuberance, Host
- Obtained from: Reward for completing all five Torgue’s Marketing Mistake challenges.
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Playstyles:
Wyvern/Psycho Stabber
For hacking, whacking, and otherwise chopping up foes, Wyverns can spawn with a high base melee damage bonus as well as anointments to further bolster it (and the Splash damage anointments if you’re looking to boost things like the Stinger or Fish Slap.) If you aren’t going to be using splash-based melee though, the Psycho Stabber sports a massive increase in melee damage, and it works well with the 300/90 anointment or melee anointments.
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Elements: (Psycho Stabber), | | || | (Wyvern).
- Best Parts/Prefixes: 160% Melee Damage (Wyvern)
- Obtained from: Norman Bates (Psycho Stabber), world drop (Wyvern).
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Playstyles:
Honorable Mentions
Lucky 7
The Lucky 7 can potentially be one of the strongest weapons in the entire game, but it requires building around it to get the most out of it. When combined with a source of ammo regeneration though, you can maintain the ideal roll for long periods of time and eviscerate enemies.
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Elements:
- Notable Anointments: “While Terrified, gain ammo regeneration. The more Terror you have, the higher the bonus.”
- Location: Scraptrap Prime, world drop in the Handsome Jackpot DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Firefly
Shoot an enemy with this pistol, and the initial shot will spawn three more “fireflies” that seek out nearby targets. It is a bit lacking in the fire rate and magazine department for a Vladof and it incendiary-only, but it can definitely bring the pain if the extra projectiles strike the initial target.
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Elements: |
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Miscreant
A Vladof-pistol after Mr. Torgue’s heart, the Miscreant hoses out micro-rockets like there is no tomorrow. The rockets are a little slow in-flight, but they aren’t lacking for power.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: The Quartermaster, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Peashooter
Take the Lead Sprinkler, turn it into a pistol, give it the fastest reload speed this side of a Tediore, and you have the Peashooter. Critical hits with this weapon drop multiple explosive ricochets in the target’s area for considerable damage, and the lightning-fast reload speed ensures you never have down time.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Lead Sprinkler
- (Cannot be anointed.)
- Obtained from: Mission Reward for “Blood from a Stone”.
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Playstyles:
Quickdraw
One of the few weapons in the list that can’t be anointed and isn’t Legendary, the Quickdraw is not to be slept on. Switching to this weapon from any other will instantly reload it as well as give it a powerful amp damage bonus for a brief period of time.
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Elements:
- (Cannot be anointed.)
- Obtained from: Mission Reward for “The Quick and the Quickerer”.
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Playstyles:
King’s Call/Queen’s Call
A brother and sister pair of alien-barrel pistols with a penchant for elemental carnage, the Call pistols excel in Amara’s hands. For every critical hit landed with these guns, you’ll regain the three ammo you just used up as well as produce three additional homing projectiles that explode on impact. Combine this with the quirk where the bonus projectiles increase in amount for each additional element dealt (whether through anointments or skills like “Infusion” or “Forceful Expression”) and Indiscriminate, and you’ll bury your foes under a swarm of projectiles.
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Elements: | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Seventh Sense
- Obtained from: Tyreen the Destroyer.
- Playstyles: Any.
ASSAULT RIFLES
Monarch
It’s less of an assault rifle so much as it is a full-auto shotgun. Four bullets per shot in standard mode and eight if using the bipod (double for both of those if you get an x2 version), the Monarch pours out a horizontal spread of bullets that eviscerates anything in close-quarters.
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Elements: | | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Dictator
- Best Parts/Prefixes: x2 Projectile Grip (Annexed)
- Obtained from: Killavolt (Mayhem 6 or higher).
- Playstyles: Any.
O.P.Q-System
Note: Currently unobtainable. Was previously obtainable during the “Revenge of the Cartels” event at a maximum of level 57.
The Q-System fires two high-power bullets at the cost of one ammo and no penalty to other stats, simple and sweet DPS. The O.P.Q-System adds a truckload of damage and fire rate on top of what the regular one already had, a chance to deal bonus shock splash damage, and an alternate firing mode that lets you produce flying copies of your gun to hose down foes with.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Q-System
- Obtained from: Joey Ultraviolet/Josie Byte/Franco Firewall (Limited time event).
- Playstyles: Any.
NoPewPew
Note: Currently unobtainable. Was previously obtainable during the “Revenge of the Cartels” event at a maximum level of 57.
NoPewPew does in fact pew pew quite a lot. It can arguably be called an assault-rifle of the Linoge, just with jacked-up damage and fire rate. As long as you can land your shots, this umpteenth fire-only COV rifle will cook fleshies.
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Elements:
- Alternative/Similar Weapons: Linoge
- Obtained from: Joey Ultraviolet/Roaster/The Tenderizer (Limited time event).
- Playstyles: Any.
Sickle
Similar to the Dictator in that it is a Vladof AR well-suited to close quarters, the Sickle trades the high fire rate for more damage per shot, range, and a higher ammo cost. If you’re feeling bombastic, the “Boom” variant gives the Sickle splash damage.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Boom
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Ogre
- Obtained from: Anointed X-4, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Clairvoyance
Combining versatility and raw damage with a frosty aftertaste of bombs, the Clairvoyance can be adapted to nearly any situation. Whether you want a pseudo-sniper, fully-automatic rifle, or a semi-auto shotgun-wannabe, the Clairvoyance can fill the role depending on the parts.
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Elements:
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Full-Auto trigger or Masher trigger.
- Obtained from: Kritchy.
- Playstyles: Any.
Bekah
Four bullets for the price of one, the Bekah wreckahs as long as you’re far enough away for the initial bullet to split into three more.
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Complete all Hammerlock Legendary Hunt challenges and receive it in the mail.
- Playstyles: Any.
Good Juju
It takes a little bit of build-up, but once it is there the Good Juju decimates enemies. Superb damage is initially set back by a hefty critical hit damage penalty, but for every body shot it gains a bonus to critical hit damage (capping at 500%). This bonus resets when you reload the gun, but for every kill you make with it it’ll refill the magazine without reloading. Crank that magazine as high as you can and go to town.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: 45-Round Magazine.
- Obtained from: The Rampager (Mayhem 4 or higher), Valkyrie Squad, Wotan the Invincible.
- Playstyles: Any.
Star Helix
A triple threat with triple bullets, the Star Helix shoots one straight round and two oscillating (wiggling) rounds with each bullet fired. A bit tricky to land all three bullets, but it’ll quickly shave off health bars when it does.
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Elements: | | |
- Obtained from: Power Troopers, world drops.
- Playstyles: Any.
Breath of the Dying
Taking a cue from Diablo II, the Breath of the Dying releases a circle of explosive projectiles upon slaying a foe. These projectiles pack some serious punch, oftentimes killing adjacent foes. Asides from that, it packs a hefty amount of damage in the barrel.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Kaos
- Obtained from: Shrieking Banshee (Breath of the Dying), world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Honorable Mentions
Rebound
For when you absolutely want to buzz-axe something but lack an actual buzz-axe, the Rebound has you covered. The Rebound fires explosive sawblades that proceed to rebound (surprise) off walls. Like most CoV rifles it can spawn with up to x3 projectiles, so take this into an indoor fight and watch blades fly all over the place.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: Psychoreaver, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Sawbar
A slightly odd CoV rifle that encourages ranged combat. After a set period of time, the initial bullet detonates and splits into three more exploding bullets. If you nail the sweet spot for the split, you essentially deal 300% more damage than you would otherwise. Excellent at taking down large fleshy enemies.
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Borman Nates, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Lovable Rogue
If you’ve ever had the problem of having to choose between a Torgue rifle’s main firing mode and the sticky bomb mode, then look no further. The Lovable Rogue fires a bullet that deals damage on impact as well as leaving a sticky, and has a chance to spawn homing missiles when the stickies go off. It’s also one of the few fully-automatic Torgue weapons, for those with sore fingers.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Contained Blast
- Obtained from: Evil Brick, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
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Playstyles:
Juliet’s Dazzle
For sustaining fire and dealing with crowds, the Dazzle shines. Possessing innately penetrating bullets that ricochet off surfaces and an ability to refill the magazine upon a kill (great with “Next two mags” anointments), it handles indoor encounters particularly well. The bullet are a bit slow and they arc (although depending on the parts, the shots can move up to 75% faster or so), so adjust your aim accordingly.
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Elements: |
- Obtained from: Aurelia, Wotan the Invincible.
- Playstyles: Any.
Soulrender
No bones about it, the Soulrender is a solid rifle for most occasions. High base damage with no deficiency in the stats and a chance to fire potent, homing exploding skulls with every bullet. The homing skulls in particular lend themselves well to high speed builds when aiming is difficult.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: Tom & Xam.
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Playstyles:
SUBMACHINE GUNS
Power Coil
No one gun should have all that power…The Power Coil boasts an absurd amount of splash damage (as of November 16th), out-damaging some sniper rifles per shot, and burst-fires 16 rounds at a time with minimal delay between volleys. The single downside of this weapon is that it is elementally locked, but other than particularly bulky armored foes, nothing will take the business end of this SMG smiling.
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Elements: |
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Flipper
The Flipper gives zero flips; it swiftly goes from firing one bullet to firing nine in the shape of a diamond, essentially meaning it has nine times the damage it says on the card. As long as “Immune” doesn’t show up when you shoot something with this gun it’ll likely die fast.
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Elements: : | || |
- Obtained from: Minosaur, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Blood-Starved Beast
If Moze’s Short Fuse skill were to be personified into a gun (gun-ified?), this is what you would get. Alongside an increased projectile count, the Beast’s bullets have a chance of randomly exploding upon impact with an enemy.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Evil Lilith, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Kaoson
Take some Torgue tech, cram it into a Dahl SMG, crank the damage way up along with an accuracy increase, and you have the Kaoson. The Kaoson is practical in nearly every situation due to the combination of solid stats on the card and effectively dealing double damage due to the sticky projectile that detonates shortly after shooting something with it.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: Captain Traunt (Mayhem 6 or higher).
- Playstyles: Any.
Dark Army
What’s better than a decent gun? Four of them. Having this weapon in your hands will produce a trio of drones that will accompany you and attack enemies. After reloading the Dark Army, the drones gain a damage boost as well as inherit the element of the Dark Army in your hands.
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Elements: | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Ten Gallon
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Ion Laser
The Ion Laser doles out damage in two forms; firing it normally will send out a steady stream of damage, while ceasing your fire releases a swath of projectiles after you finish firing with the number based on how long you fired. If you repeatedly spam the fire button immediately after releasing though, you can release multiple volleys of these projectiles for high damage.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Evil Saint Lawrence.
- Playstyles: Any.
Honorable Mentions
Cutsman
For making crowds and big foes quake in their boots with ever-widening laser-chains, the Cutsman is a cut-above the competition. Aside from higher than average ammo consumption, the only demerit is the somewhat slow projectile speed.
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Elements: | |
- Obtained from: Borman Nates, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Proprietary License
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; Shoot something in the body with the License, and it’ll apply sticky bombs. Shoot them in the crit zone, and it’ll ricochet shots to nearby enemies like a Jakobs.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Hydragoian, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC
- Playstyles: Any.
SHOTGUNS
Reflux
The Reflux is a fearsome weapon for melting the living crap out of groups of foes, and it really ups the acidity when you can tie multiple enemies together to share the pain.
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Elements: |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Brainstormer
- Obtained from: GenIVIV (Mayhem 6 or higher.)
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Playstyles:
Hellwalker
The Jakobs twin-barrel with some bake in its buckshot, the Hellwalker doles out pain in spades. For single target destruction, the Hellwalker will seldom disappoint.
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Elements:
- Alternative/Similar Weapons: Robin’s Call, Garcia, Stagecoach, Dakota
- Obtained from: Road Dog, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Face-puncher
When your meathooks aren’t long enough to reach distant enemies, this shotgun comes into play. Benefiting from melee damage being heavily boosted in Mayhem Mode as well as Amara’s toolkit, it’s a real knock-out for pummeling opponents.
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Elements:
- Location: Muldock the Anointed, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Trevanator
A versatile and potent weapon, the Trevanator (rest easy, Trevor Eastman) fires a three-round burst of three projectiles (or six, depending on the version you have) per pull of the trigger that deal splash damage. If you need a nice elemental shotgun without any excessive bells or whistles, the Trevanator won’t disappoint.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Private Beans, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Convergence
Whereas the Reflux and Brainstormer proceed to hit your primary target and spread out to attack nearby targets, the Convergence hits your target and then proceeds to do it again. Shooting an enemy will spawn extra projectiles that proceed to penetrate your target again. As long as your able to keep a bead on your target, your DPS is basically doubled or tripled depending on the enemy faced.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: Dr. Benedict, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Anarchy
A real 12-Gaige shotgun (* rimshot *), the Anarchy does far more than what the card suggests. Due to how the damage bonuses stack with one another, the damage actually climbs to absurd levels. Kill ten enemies and become the “God of Damage”.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: World drop in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Tigg’s Boom
Take a Bangstick, buff the damage a bit, replace the Sticky mode with meteors that fall from the sky after hitting an enemy, and you have the Tigg’s Boom. If you don’t have a particular use for the sticky mode most Torgue shotguns have yet want more boom out of your boomstick, the Tigg’s Boom will suffice.
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Elements: | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Bangstick
- Obtained from: Wotan the Invincible.
- Playstyles: Any.
Honorable Mentions
Redline
If Torgue stole the Butcher and had their way with it, you’d get the Redline. After a brief period of charging up it vomits out projectiles with a passion. It’s potent, but likewise ammo-hungry.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: Road Dog.
- Playstyles: Any.
Nothingness
If the Flakker had lasik surgery done to its eyes and became a Maliwan, the Nothingness is what it would become. The Nothingness has a lot more than nothing going for its firepower. Firing it will shoot a beam that will leave a trail of mid-air explosions in its wake, but if you fire it at the foot of an enemy (the closer the better) all of those explosions will be clustered around their toes for massive damage.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Gmork.
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Playstyles:
Insider
Similar to the Nothingness, the Insider is well suited to aiming at the feet (or rather, inside the target). The Insider’s rounds pass through a target and explode on hitting a solid object, meaning you can potentially hit for double damage if your aim is true.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: World Drop in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
SNIPER RIFLES
Complex Root
Despite being called the Complex Root, it makes simple work of enemies. Firing a shot from this weapon will produce a swath of floating projectiles that zip around the trajectory of the initial shot before detonating for high damage. Find the right range for trapping your targets in that swath, and they’ll pop like balloons.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Lani Dixon, world drop in the Bounty of Blood DLC.
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Playstyles:
Sand Hawk
Changing its plumage a bit from an SMG in BL2 to a Sniper Rifle in BL3, the Sand Hawk returns to massacring enemies with bird-shaped carnage. Unless you fight something with an immunity to the element you’re using, you can generally just cram this gun in something’s face, pull the trigger, and move on to the next quarry.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Semi-Auto (tightens up the spread pattern considerably)
- Obtained from: Katagawa Jr. (Mayhem 6 or higher).
- Playstyles: Any.
Skullmasher
Packing the highest base damage out of any Jakobs sniper rifle in the game, the Skullmasher continues to turns brains into spuds as it has done for over a decade now. Asides from swissing heads with multiple pellets, it also sports an above-average fire rate for a Jakobs sniper rifle.
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Eista, world drop in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC.
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Playstyles:
Boogeyman
For the sniper who wants an economic rifle that is surprisingly good at taking out crowds, the Boogeyman fills those shoes. Coupling a high chance to not consume ammo when firing as well as a chance to spawn a floating skull that can easily one-shot enemies whenever you net a kill, the Boogeyman leaves the targets quaking in their shoes.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Krakatoa
Packing almost double the base damage of most Jakobs rifles, Krakatoa blows up a fleshy’s head like none other. The volcano that spawns after you kill something is more of an afterthought, but it can come in handy for dealing some extra hurt to enemies (or yourself).
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Tumorhead, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Wedding Invitation
Note: Currently unobtainable, unless you refrained from redeeming the last reward for the Valentine’s Day event (originally obtained at level 53).
A veritable swiss army knife of a rifle. Packing two elements (incendiary on initial bullet, cryo on ricochet) along side the ability to regain ammo on crits, this weapon is a handy invitation to send your enemies on their merry way to the grave.
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Elements: initial bullet, on ricochet.
- Obtained from: “Broken Heart” event reward for breaking 100 hearts (limited time event).
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Playstyles:
Honorable Mentions
Headsplosion
It does exactly what it says on the tin; makes heads go boom. Alongside the high base damage this rifle packs, it can be further boosted by Splash damage bonuses to really liquify a skull.
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Elements:
- Location: King Bobo.
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Playstyles:
Unseen Threat
Asides from the very high base damage, the Unseen Threat has a trick up its sleeve; landing a critical hit will spawn three extra projectiles that will seek out a nearby target and nail them hard.
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Amach, world drop in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC.
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Playstyles:
Monocle
Probably the most traditional sniper rifle out of all of the snipers on this list, but tradition works. Sporting the highest zoom in Borderlands 3, this weapon gains a huge critical hit bonus while using the scope. Stand a mile away and fire away.
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Elements:
- Location: Demoskaggon, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Lyuda
Sitting pretty near the top of the food chain, the Lyuda can kill scores of men with ease. As long as you nail the sweet spot for the splitting bullets, few things will take a full magazine to the face without keeling over.
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Elements: | | || |
- Obtained from: Tremendous-Rex, complete all of Zer0’s Targets of Opportunity challenges, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Storm
Dropping down a rarity from BL2, the Storm will spawn a host of floating shock orbs that proceed to zap the living daylights out of nearby foes not unlike the Brainstormer. Stellar for stipping shields from afar.
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Elements:
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Firestorm
- Obtained from: Red Jabber., world drop
- Playstyles: Any.
Cocky Bastard
While not as outstanding as the other two Legendary Jakobs Sniper Rifles added with “Guns, Love, and Tentacles”, the Cocky Bastard can more than hold its own. Nailing a critical will grant an extra 100% shock damage to make short work of shielded targets.
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Elements: (Bonus on critical hit)
- Obtained from: Eista, world drop in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC.
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Playstyles:
HEAVY WEAPONS
Plaguebearer
Bringing the pain with a swarm of projectiles, the Plaguebearer bears bad news for the competition. While in flight, the main rocket continually produces mini-rockets that fly in a spiral around the main rocket until they lock-on to an enemy to destroy. Given the slow speed of the rockets, it is best to fire this weapon at a distance from your target to allow more mini-rockets to spawn.
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Elements: | || |
- Similar/Alternative Weapons: Scourge, Lump
- Obtained from: Warden (Mayhem 6 or higher.)
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Playstyles:
Backburner
A Vladof heavy weapon that you can definitely bring to the fore and fray, the Backburner will suck enemies in when the main shot impacts something and then erupt with multiple, very powerful child projectiles that shoot up and rain back down in the vicinity.
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Elements: | || |
- Obtained from: Agonizer 9000 (Mayhem 6 or higher.)
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Playstyles:
Major Kong
The ION CANNON’s distant COV cousin, the Major Kong fires out one decently strong shot for three to four ammo and spawns two extra homing missiles. Holding down the fire button will increase the damage significantly at the cost of your ammo, but it packs a wallop.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: x2 Projectile Tail
- Obtained from: Psychoreaver, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Yellowcake
Note: Currently unobtainable. Was previously obtainable during the “Revenge of the Cartels” event at a maximum level of 57.
Provided you’re a modest distance away, the splitting projectiles of this launcher will take down most foes fairly easily.
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Elements:
- Best Parts/Prefixes: x2 Projectile Tail
- Obtained from: Joey Ultraviolet, Tyrone Smallums, FISH SLAP!!! (Limited time event.)
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Playstyles:
ION CANNON
When you need to absolutely delete the living ■■■■ out of something now, the Ion Cannon is the launcher for the job. You’ll be chunking out a hefty amount of ammo with every blast fired, but if it doesn’t have “Invincible” in the name or immunity phases, it probably isn’t surviving a shot to the face.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: x2 Projectiles Grip (Annexed)
- Obtained from: Fabricator (Enemy, not the Eridian Fabricator).
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Playstyles:
Honorable Mentions
Globetrottr
Able to dunk a foe with ease, the Globetrottr fires spinning “sawblades” of plasma that buzz along the ground and begin dribbling once they make contact with a foe. Assuming the foe is large or remains still for the dribbles to do their thing, they’ll be feeling the pain.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: x2 Projectile Tail
- Obtained from: Scourge the Invincible.
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Playstyles:
Nukem
With the biggest booms this side of Vault-Tec, the Nukem can drop bodies fairly easily. As long as you can handle the arc of the rocket, it’s a cinch to bury an enemy in nuclear clouds.
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Elements:
- Obtained from: Loco Chantelle, world drop in the Handsome Jackpot DLC.
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Playstyles:
SHIELDS
Stop-Gap
When you need to take a barrage of missiles to the face for whatever reason, the Stop-Gap can keep you standing. Five seconds of invincibility can go a long way depending on how you use it, and Mindfulness can help reduce the recharge delay to zilch so you can top it off to regain the Invinciblity again for later.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Booster.
- Obtained from: El Dragon Jr., world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Old God
Alongside the usual high capacity that Hyperion shields offer, it also comes with a 20% damage bonus to whatever element the shield is alongside a matching 25% resistance. It also has the distinction of spawning with three random additional parts unlike the two that most Legendary shields are restricted to. A well-rounded shield for when you don’t want to compromise too much offensively or defensively.
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: World drop in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Recharger
Whatever the capacity on the item card says, you can basically double that provided the special effect of this shield is ready to go.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Turtle.
- Obtained from: Urist McEnforcer, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Transformer
All-around excellence with an appetite for lead and lightning, the Transformer works wonders for keeping both your shields and ammo reserves happy. It happens to pair particularly well with a Driver com and the Action Skill End anointments, for (provided your action skill’s element is Shock) the self-damage will actually end refilling the shield instead of denting it.
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: Queen AntWanette, “It’s Alive!” mission reward, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Plus Ultra
When you want to take your health bar to the next level, this shield is your answer. Asides from having an innate 35% absorb rate and chance to increase Action Skill Cooldown speed, this shield also has an unlisted effect of doubling your max health.
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: Dr. Benedict, World drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Madcap
If the Plus Ultra is the king of health-based shields, this shield is the king of shield capacity. With the right parts it can easily crack over 100,000 capacity by itself. The downside of the Madcap is that is cuts your time in Fight-For-Your-Life in half, but with this much capacity it’ll take a while before you actually fall on your knees.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Turtle, Shield Charge, Absorb.
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
Ward
The definitive melee shield of Borderlands 3. With a meaty 300% boost to melee damage and 4% health regained per second while the shield is depleted, it is a lynchpin in most melee builds.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Brawler (300% Melee Damage Bonus)
- Obtained from: Graveward.
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Playstyles:
Big Boom Blaster
One of the most sustainable shields in the game, the Big Boom Blaster helps itself to a 60% chance to restore 60% of your max capacity while also giving you a bit of heavy weapon ammo and a grenade.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Capacity.
- Obtained from: The Unstoppable, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Beskar
I’m rubber, you’re glue. As long as your shields are full, this handy shield will cut the damage you recieve down a chunk and return bullets to sender.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Absorb, Shield Charge, Turtle.
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any, but favors using Distributed Denial.
Stinger
Another good choice for Sirens looking to use Melee damage. With Mayhem melee-scaling and the “On Action Skill Start, activate any effects that trigger on shield break or fill.” anointment coupled with Amara’s natural means of boosting melee damage, it can provide ludicrous damage.
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: Anathema the Relentless.
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Playstyles:
Recharge-Berner
An alternative to the Stinger-focused builds, this one trades the raw melee damage of the Stinger for the combination of a decently strong nova and instant shield recharging.
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Best Parts/Prefixes:
-
Obtained from: Valkyrie Squad.
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Playstyles:
Honorable Mentions
Red Suit
The ability to ignore all Radiation damage makes this an excellent choice to pair with an elemental Projector relic. With a hefty boost from the relic coupled with Amara’s innate elemental gifts, you can turn the battlefield into an irradiated mess.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Trigger Happy.
- Obtained from: Atomic, “All Bets Off” mission reward.
- Playstyles: Any.
Snowshoe/Frozen Heart
Decent shields by themselves, but there is a quirk with the nova in that it’ll also apply to novas produced by anointments. With the anointment for producing novas while an enemy is Phasegrasped, Amara can very quickly freeze multiple enemies in succession. That, or you can simply use the “On Action Skill Start, trigger shield effects” anoint for similar results.
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Noteworthy Anointment(s): While an enemy is Phasegrasped, Amara constantly produces novas. On Action Skill Start, trigger any Shield Effects.
- Obtained from: Aurelia (Frozen Heart), Wotan/Valkyrie Squad (Snowshoe).
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Playstyles:
Gas Mask
While the 50% increased Fight-For-Your-Life duration this shield offers isn’t bad, the thing that is more attractive about this shield is that it can spawn with three additional shield parts instead of two. The only reason why this is in Honorable Mentions is because the Old God exists as a Hyperion legendary shield that can also spawn with triple parts.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Absorb, Shield Charge.
- Obtained from: Specific chests or world drop in the Arms Race DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
GRENADES
It’s Piss
While Amara seldom has issues dealing damage, It’s Piss is a handy grenade to keep on hand for melting beefier foes like Badasses and Bosses.
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Elements:
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: Sloth/Thunk.
- Playstyles: Any.
Hex
The Hex produces a swath of tesla beams to cook your foes, with the cryo variant in particular being quite effective at freezing or otherwise slowing enemies. Throwing it into a crowd can be useful with Sustainment to help keep you healthy.
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Elements: | |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Divider, MIRV (Recurring, MIRV-tacular)
- Obtained from: Sky Bullies, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Quasar
If you aren’t using “Allure”, the Quasar is very useful for bundling up enemies so you can raise hell with your Action Skill or weapons such as the Brainstormer that affect multiple enemies.
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Elements:
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: Wick and Warty, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Fish Slap
Note: Currently unobtainable. Was previously obtainable during the “Revenge of the Cartels” event at a maximum of level 57.
A knuckle sandwich in an iron bun, the Fish Slap deals melee damage with gusto. Benefiting from melee damage scaling with Mayhem Mode, it’ll slap your enemies into next week’s obituaries.
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Elements: | | || |
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Roider (Juiced)
- Obtained from: FISH SLAP!!!,
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Playstyles:
Storm Front
Another excellent grenade to use with “Ties That Bind”. Similarly to the Hex, the Storm Front is a tesla-style grenade that produces an entire field of electrocution. While it doesn’t have the tracking abilities of the Hex and only comes in shock, the Storm Front boasts a notably higher damage-over-time and a longer duration.
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Elements:
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: Undertaker, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
CLASS MODS
Phasezerker
A solid class mod for just about any build, the Phasezerker pumps her damage and action skill cooldown up whenever she activates an Action Skill. If you have a point in Conflux and some anointments for bonus elemental damage when your Action Skill Ends, it’ll put a DoT of those respective elements on you which can be used with an Elemental Projector for high damage.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: +5 Clarity or Anima. +1 Conflux if using an Elemental Projector Relic and Action Skill End Elemental Anointments.
- Obtained from: Hag of Fervor, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Kensei
While the special effect of adding melee damage to your gun damage doesn’t trigger any melee-based effects like Knifedrain or Static Touch, the Kensei is still a very powerful class mod. Between Amara’s melee-boosting skills, gear that further boosts melee, Cryo, and Mayhem scaling applying to melee damage, the Kensei can easily make your shots reach absurd levels of damage.
- Obtained from: Heavyweight Horker.
- Playstyles: Any.
Spiritual Driver
For obliterating enemies at high speed with high speed, the Spiritual Driver takes first place. Specifically designed to use “Mindfulness” and Elemental Projectors to full effect, it allows Amara to become the fastest thing in the game outside of outright teleportation and hit like a truck.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: +3 Mindfulness, +2 Helping Hands
- Location (Mayhem 4 or higher only): Sylestro, Wotan the Invincible.
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Playstyles:
Muse
Amara continues to find ways to deal absurd amounts of damage, and this class mod is no exception. When you deal Melee damage, it produces a powerful orb that is considered “projectile” damage, meaning that you can trigger the Groundbreaker Guardian Perk to increase your melee damage and continue the cycle.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: +1 Illuminated Fist, +3 Laid Bare, +1 Jab Cross.
- Obtained from: Evil Lilith, world drop in the Fustercluck DLC.
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Playstyles:
Nimbus
Whenever Amara damages an enemy with her Action Skill, this class mod will produce a cloud of her Action Skill element at the enemy’s location. The funny thing about this cloud is that it inherents the damage-over-time damage of the weapon in your hands, meaning it come become devastating if something like a Kill-o-the-Wisp or ION CANNON is held.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: +5 Tempest. +1 Conflux if using an Elemental Projector Relic and Action Skill End Elemental Anointments.
- Obtained from: Sera of Supremacy, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Breaker
One of the best options for pumping up your punches, the Breaker suits itself well for a melee build. Sticking close to enemies will help keep your insides on the inside as you remove their insides from enemies.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: +1 Find Your Center, +3 Personal Space, +1 Jab Cross
- Obtained from: Skag of Survival, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Golden Rule
Somewhat of a middle ground between the Spiritual Driver and Phasezerker, the Golden Rule can come in handy if you want to go insanely fast while still having an ability to cool off Action Skills faster.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: +3 Laid Bare
- Obtained from: Jackbot, world drop in the Handsome Jackpot DLC.
- Playstyles: Any.
ARTIFACTS
Top Prefixes
Elemental Projector - Between Amara’s elemental boosts and her various means of lighting herself up, the Elemental Projector allows her damage to shoot through the roof.
Snowdrift - When fast isn’t fast enough, the Snowdrift helps you fix that. If you’re confident in Amara’s damage and don’t feel you’ll need an Elemental Projector or just want to break the sound barrier, this is the prefix for you.
Last Stand - Excellent for sponging a barrage of attacks or a particularly mighty blow, the Last Stand gives you an auxilary means of defense every 40 seconds.
Knifedrain - Very useful on a Melee build, as it allows you to essentially top off your health bar with every punch you land. It gives a punchy gal the means to tank damage as she crushes skulls.
Ice Breaker - An alternative to the Knifedrain for a melee build. Frozen enemies take triple damage from melee damage, allowing you to lay low some of the mightier enemies with ease.
Stone - Adding an element of your choice to all of your melee attacks is a nice perk to have for any brawling build. Cryo may be the most applicable one in order to potentially triple your damage, while Radiation is more consistent and Fire can lay the pain on flesh targets that won’t freeze.
Pearl of Ineffable Knowledge
Claptrap actually did something very useful for once. As long as you’re able to maintain a consistent flow of damage on enemies in one form of another, the Pearl will substantially boost your DPS.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Magazine Size, Fire Rate.
- Obtained from: Claptrap, during “The Call of Gythian” story mission in Guns, Love, and Tentacles.
- Playstyles: Any.
Victory Rush
One of the few Legendary relics in the game with an effect that isn’t tied to sliding, stomping, or meleeing an enemy, the Victory Rush increases your damage and movement speed for a minute after killing a Badass enemy. A nice damage boost for Amara given that she seldom has trouble with surviveability.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: (Weapon Type) Damage, Area-of-Effect Damage, (Element) Damage, Magazine Size, Cryo Efficiency, Action Skill Cooldown Rate.
- Obtained from: Azalea, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Unleash the Dragon
The relic that lights your fists on fire. With every strike you’ll set an enemy on fire with a DoT that is based on your melee damage. Either you mash them into hamburger with your punches or cook them into a well-done steak.
- Best Parts/Prefixes:
- Obtained from: El Dragon Jr.
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Playstyles:
Commander Planetoid
For the melee Amara who wants some extra oomph to their blows but don’t want to be locked into any one particular element, the Commander Planetoid does the job adequately. It’ll apply a random element to your blows every few seconds so your mileage may vary though.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Melee Damage, Action Skill Cooldown Rate.
- Obtained from: Sheega, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Static Charge
If you’ve decided to illuminate your fists with fire or corrosive damage, the Static Charge can be an excellent way to get past shields that would otherwise hamper your punch time. It also gives some nice area-of-effect capabilities for melee damage.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: Melee Damage.
- Obtained from: Artemis, world drop.
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Playstyles:
Honorable Mentions
Otto Idol
Unless you’re in the thickest of combat, the Otto Idol isn’t particular useful for Amara. But for those hectic moments the Otto Idol can be a good source of secondary healing.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: (Weapon Type) Damage, Area-of-Effect Damage, (Element) Damage, Magazine Size, Action Skill Cooldown Rate.
- Obtained from: Rachel the Anointed, world drop.
- Playstyles: Any.
Splatter Gun
For the same reason that it comes in handy on an Antifreeze build for Zane, the Splatter Gun can come in handy on a Driver build if it has a Snowdrift prefix. Slide fast and blast some ass.
- Best Parts/Prefixes: (Weapon Type) Damage, Area-of-Effect Damage, (Element) Damage, Magazine Size, Action Skill Cooldown Rate.
- Obtained from: Road Dog.
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Playstyles:
I’ll add your new one to the Resource Guide and remove my old one so you don’t have to keep the “New” in the title.