Summary
There’s nothing the patrons of the world of Pandora love more than guns, and of course, the manufacturers ofBorderlandsdeliver on those in spades. One of the big draws ofBorderlandsfor players is the wide variety of different weapons that the game has, allowing for so many different approaches to combat, whether someone is an up-close shotgun type, a long-range sniper type, and any number of other things.
Every weapons manufacturer inBorderlandshas their own specialties, and each only provides a set number of weapon types. Knowing what types of weapons each manufacturer deals with and how they tend to specialize them is important when considering the build of any character within the game, and some manufacturers certainly provide a lot more value than others.
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S Tier
Maliwan:The elemental-only manufacturer is undoubtedly a go-to for any players looking to pack a punch. Maliwan weapons have virtually no downsides other than the fact that any elemental weapon has a set number of enemy types that will be resistant to that element’s effects. As long as the player plans ahead for these weaknesses and resistances, Maliwan will never fail to be some of the strongest guns, with solid accuracy and reload speed, to boot.Corrosive damage remains a brokenBorderlandselemental type.
A Tier
Jakobs:Jakobs guns are ideal for sharpshooters who want to prioritize raw power and precision. It’s the manufacturer with the least variety of weapons available in the game, with only the pump sniper rifle, revolver, and combat shotgun on offer. However, their crit bonuses negate most downsides, establishing Jakobs as a top choice for critical-focused builds. It’s also the best choice for any player looking to feel like a true cowboy in the often wild-west-like world of Pandora.
Hyperion:It may be theembodiment of corporate evil inBorderlands, but the guns of Hyperion sure are effective. The main selling point of Hyperion weapons is accuracy, and it could definitely be said that Hyperion guns are the most accurate of any manufacturer inBorderlands. On top of that, they also have some of the best variety of any manufacturer, offering guns of every model available in the game except three.
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B Tier
Atlas:The guns of Atlas are perfect for the B Tier as they can be perfectly described as “all-arounder” weapons. The main selling point of Atlas guns is that they have higher-than-average damage and magazine capacity. It’s nothing that will break the game, but it is incredibly reliable, and it’s likely that every player will have an Atlas gun they fall back on in tough times at some pointduring aBorderlandsplaythrough.
Torgue:A player’s preference for weapons from this manufacturer will largely come down to whether they can handle the low accuracy of these weapons in favor of the massive amounts of damage they can dish out. Torgue guns have high damage output and fire rate, but they suffer in the accuracy department, which is generally an area where players don’t like to suffer in a game all about shooting.
C Tier
Tediore:The weapons made by Tediore boast a high reload speed, which can be extremely satisfying along with coming in a pinch during particularly tense battle situations. Overall, though, reload speed isn’t quite as important as other stats that more directly affect combat, such as damage and accuracy. Marcus callsTediore cheap and reliable at one point duringBorderlands, which is a fairly accurate assessment. They’re fine guns to have on a budget, but nothing the player will want in the late stage.
Dahl:Dahl weapons wind up feeling middle of the pack since the guns don’t really do anything that the other manufacturers on this tier list don’t already do better in some way. Dahl boasts high recoil reduction, only with a drop in accuracy as an exchange, which somewhat defeats the purpose of recoil reduction. Meanwhile, Hyperion weapons increase both recoil reduction and accuracy. This would drop Dahl down to D Tier for being essentially irrelevant, but it is worth noting that Dahl weapons are some of the most accessible in the game, and thus will likely be necessary for many players, at least in the early game.
Eridian:Eridian weapons are essentially theBorderlandsversion of theCovenant weapons fromHalo, since both are alien-type weaponry that never run out of ammo. Having unlimited ammo certainly sounds like a promising selling point on the surface, but actually using Eridian weapons may not be the reality that was promised for most players, since they exchange ammo for recharge times which can often be cumbersome.
Since these are weapons made by the alien race where Eridium also comes from, it would be nice if they also inflicted Slag, but that status effect wouldn’t be introduced untilBorderlands 2, and Eridian weapons havesadly been missing since the originalBorderlands.
D Tier
Vladof:These weapons are somewhat similar to Torgue, but rather than high damage, Vladof weapons opt for a high fire rate in exchange for less accuracy. The end result is most players will likely just rather have a Torgue weapon to deal much more damage if it’s going to be low accuracy anyways. A Vladof weapon with ahigher proficiency rank can be useful inBorderlands, but overall is just nothing like its competitors.
S&S Munitions:S&S is similar to Maliwan, being a manufacturer that primarily specializes in elemental weapons. The reason for the drastic difference in tier placements is that the player seldom has any reason to use an S&S gun over something made by Maliwan, or even something made by the vast majority of other manufacturers on this list. Unlike Maliwan, which boasts higher accuracy and reload speeds for its weapons, S&S only boasts a higher magazine capacity. Less time reloading can be nice when dealing with large waves of enemies, but it ultimately winds up feeling less effective when these weapons come up short in all other areas.
Borderlandsis available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
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