Special Weapon Effects (Borderlands 2)

Throughout Pandora, you will come across some unique pieces of equipment. These items contain special effects beyond that which is stated directly on the item card. Instead, there will be a line of "red text", often a pop-culture reference, telling you that there is an underlying special effect within the item.

About Special Effects
The special effect items found across Pandora will vary in rarity. While these items are unique, the stats (damage, accuracy, reload speed, etc) accompanying the item will vary, primarily based on your level, however the special effect will always be the same.

It's important to note that any of these items obtainable only through a quest can only be gotten once per play through. The level of the weapon you receive from a quest is determined when you accept the quest, not when you turn it in, so if you are trying to get some of the special effect items later in the game, don't pick up the quest right away.

Introduced in Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty DLC, there are five special effect items that have two pieces of flavor text. First you will see the . Then right under that, you will see a , or the curse. The latest DLC brought different color red text found on a variety of items(Values/meaning unknown, easy example is Neogenator (Shield). The red text is noticably darker than what is found on for example, the Bonus Package (Grenade Mod).

All of the special effects (Positive and Negative) are explained on their respective weapon page. You can also get a sense of how the stats vary based on your level as users are encouraged to provided variations of each unique special effect item they obtain in game.

Almost every item is a world drop. However, each item has a specific boss that has an increased drop rate compared to the other comparable bosses, so if you're farming, that's where you want to start. There are certain restrictions to that, such as Blood of Terramorphous, which only drops from Terramorphous the Invincible.

Sniper Rifles

 * Buffalo: Increased critical hit damage and increased normal damage, always has no scope. (Quest reward: Demon Hunter)
 * Fremington's Edge: Increased zoom level. While scoped, has the Hyperion steadying effect without having to fire. (Dropped from Reeth the Assassin during Quest "Assassinate the Assassins")
 * Trespasser: Ignores shields. Callback to Mordecai's Trespass skill from Borderlands 1, which gave up to a 100% chance to ignore shields. Mordecai also contacts you via ECHO to see if you're alright when getting a Second Wind. (Quest reward, "Animal Rights")
 * Sloth: Burst fire sniper rifle with slow moving rounds. (Quest reward, "Rakkaholics Anonymous")
 * Pitchfork: Bullets split in two after traveling a short distance. Burst fire shoots five bullets in a horizontal line. (Drop from Terramorphus)
 * Volcano: A returning Legendary Weapon from BL1. Fire damage bonus, fire effect spreads to nearby enemies. (Drop from the Warrior)
 * Morningstar: Annoying, guilt-tripping voice on reload, kill, or critical hit. Chance of additional +100% or +200% critical hit damage. Storing gun also does annoying voice which plays at random intervals. (Quest reward, "Hyperion Contract #873")
 * Chère-amie: (Translated: I am charmed, where is the library? Dear-friend.) Sends out healing beams on hit like Transfusion grenades. Similar effects to Kyros' Power from BL1. (Quest reward, "Hyperion Slaughter: Round 5")
 * White Death: Fires a trio of projectiles in a horizontal pattern for the cost of 1 bullet. Increased critical hit damage for a Vladof rifle (although still lower than that of other manufacturers). Damage is spread across the 3 projectiles. (Drop from Gettle)
 * Skullmasher: A returning Legendary Weapon from BL1. x5 pellet per bullet, low accuracy for a sniper rifle. Damage reduced greatly, 50% or 65% Damage reduction. (Drop from Son of Mothrakk)
 * Invader: Fires five shots in burst (Drop from Saturn)
 * Longbow: (Translated: This is not a sniper rifle.) Scopeless, fire damage, fires a slow, arcing projectile which leaves pixelated trail (resembling the arrows in Minecraft). (Drop from Badass Creeper)
 * Pimpernel: Fires a single round that on impact releases 5 globules matching the gun's element in 5 directions which also explode on impact. The five globules spread from the center of impact in arcs, as if droplets from a splash. (Quest Reward from C3n50r807/Censorbot - Mission: "Don't Copy That Floppy")
 * Patriot: Fires slower-moving projectiles that deal high damage. Horrendous accuracy for a sniper rifle. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Pirate's Booty DLC)
 * Tiny Tina's Cobra: Fires projectiles with Explosive properties.

Rocket Launchers

 * Bunny: When reloaded the gun bounces along the ground in a forward-random direction similar to a rubberized grenade. It will also randomly drop active grenades as it bounces. (Drops from Chubby enemies)
 * Nukem: When fired, the rocket simulates a small Nuclear blast (Drops from The Black Queen)
 * Mongol: A returning Legendary weapon from BL1. Uses 2 ammo per shot. Fires a large rocket which in turn fires off smaller rockets as it travels. In the description, states 'consumes less ammo per shot. Just kidding! no it doesn't.' (Drops from Dukino's Mom)
 * Roaster: A returning Unique weapon from BL1. Drastically increased rocket speed (nearly instant at mid range) (this effect may be incorrect, obtained Big Roaster without increased rocket speed), 3 rockets per shot. (Quest reward, "Note for Self-Person").
 * Pyrophobia: Causes the rockets to continuously explode during their flight. (Drops from Incinerator Clayton)
 * Badaboom: Fires 6 rockets simultaneously at the cost of 1 rocket ammo. (Drops from King Mong)
 * Creamer: High rocket velocity, rocket splits in two after a certain distance. A ratio to the damage done is converted to health, no matter direct damage or damage over time. (Quest Reward, "Creature Slaughter: Round 5")
 * Hive: Corrosive elemental. Consumes 4 ammo per shot. Fires a stationary "beehive" that emits many small homing rockets. (Rare drop from Saturn)
 *  Norfleet: An E-Tech Rocket Launcher that hurls three balls of energy similar to that seen from PRAZMA CANNONS. Each ball travels in a rather slow and hectic motion, with each ball dealing a tremendous amount of damage, while covering a large area of effect. For whatever reason, the Norfleet's flavor text is dark orange rather than red. (Drops from Vermivorous)
 * 12 Pounder: Has extremely high damage and high accuracy. Fires an arcing cannonball that bounces once if it hits a surface. Also reloads incredibly fast. (Drops from Big Sleep)
 * Ahab: Shoots a harpoon styled projectile that sticks into a target before exploding. The projectile will curve downward steeply. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Pirate's Booty DLC)

SMGs

 * Bane: Slows movement to a crawl (even running), produces Psycho Midget noises when switching to it, firing, and reloading. (Quest Reward: "The Bane")
 * Bad Touch: Deals corrosive damage, and while wielded any damage you deal returns health. Greatly increased accuracy while scoped and +70% critical hit damage. (Randomly given by Moxxi as a reward for tipping)
 * Good Touch: Deals fire damage, and while wielded any damage you deal returns health. Greatly increased accuracy while scoped and +70% critical hit damage. Equipping this gun causes the controller to vibrate until you switch to something else or open your inventory. (Randomly given by Moxxi as a reward for tipping)
 * Lascaux: 9-round burst fire while scoped; always has a Double mod and +100% recoil reduction. The fire pattern is fixed, resembling a bull. The crosshairs display an area much smaller than the firing pattern. (always found in Frostburn Canyon cave area, left fork in a pool of water)
 * Chulainn: Fires rounds that has procs both shock and slag, player is slagged when equipped. (Quest reward, "Clan Wars: Zafords vs. Hodunks")
 * Commerce: Unclear, possibly fast reload speed. (Dropped by Assassin Wot in "Assassinate the Assassins")
 * Baby Maker: Spawns 1-4 child grenades after initial Tediore explosion. Tediore weapon grenade deals 200% increased damge in comparison to other Tediore of same bullet damage and clip amount. (Drops from Madame Von Bartlesby, due to a bug it also drops from Mad Dog)
 * Emperor: When zoomed, fires 6 shot burst. Very fast accuracy recovery. (Drops from any Assassin in, "Assassinate the Assassins")
 * HellFire: A returning Legendary weapon from BL1. High fire damage that stacks and triggers on every shot. (Drops from Scorch)
 * Bitch: A returning Legendary weapon from BL1. Extremely low (< -100%) "recoil reduction" - firing increases accuracy very quickly compared to most Hyperion SMGs. (Drops from BNK-3R)
 * Bone Shredder: A returning Unique weapon from BL1. Fires two bullets per shot. (Drops from Bone Head 2.0)
 * Slagga: Three pellets per bullet, always has Slag element. large magazine capacity (Drops from Tector and Jimbo Hodunk)
 * Actualizer: +200% Weapon Accuracy. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Pirate's Booty DLC)
 * Tattler: Fires slow-moving projectiles with a large spread. Fires two shots at the cost of one ammo. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Pirate's Booty DLC)
 * Sand Hawk: Uses three rounds per shot. Fires a "bird" of 8 shots that actually flaps its wings. (Quest Reward, "Whoops" in Pirate's Booty DLC)

Shields
Manly Man Shield: Wearer receives increased elemental damage.
 * Order: High roid damage. When a "Law" type revolver is equipped, any melee damage done is converted to health. (Quest Reward, "BFFs")
 * Flame of the Firehawk: Constant fire nova effect while shields are at 0. This effect lasts indefinitely, as long as your shield remains at 0, triggers roughly every two seconds. Must recharge fully to trigger new nova. Nova triggers once when player is downed regardless of full charge. (Quest reward, "Cult Following; The Enkindling")
 * Love Thumper: High roid damage. Low recharge rate and incredibly high recharge delay counting into several minutes. Melee attacks create a Nova-like explosion while the player is buffed by its roid damage. Currently the nova explosion damages friendly players in your game. (Quest reward, "Best mother's day ever!")
 * Deadly Bloom: Has fast recharge rate with a very powerful nova on shield loss or entering fight for your life mode. The nova on shield loss follows the usual normal mechanic, and will not trigger again until the shield is recharged, but the nova on entering Fight For Your Life will trigger every time. (Quest Reward, "Helping Out Overlook")
 * Aequitas: +10% duration to Fight For Your Life for every Aequitas or Veritas equipped in the party. (Quest Reward, "Clan Wars: Wakey Wakey")
 * Pot O' Gold: The shield can drop money when hit. (Rare drop from Bagman in "Clan Wars: End of the Rainbow")
 * The Sham: Abnormally high bullet absorb rate, around 80%. (Drops from BNK-3R)
 * Tortoise: Very high capacity, lowers health and movement speed when active, raises movement speed when depleted. (Drops from Blue)
 * Neogenator: Has health regen and very high +max life. The lower your shields are, the higher the health regen. Stops regeneration when shields are empty. (Drops from Spycho)
 * 1340 Shield: Typical bullet absorb rate, high capacity, decent recharge rate and delay. Has Hyperion Loader voice. (Quest reward, "Out of Body Experience")
 * Whisky Tango Foxtrot: Has a chance of dropping shield boosters on hit. Shield boosters bounce away and then launch 3 volleys of 3 grenades, each in a tight circle around the booster. The explosives damage both allies (including the player) and enemies. (Drops from Chubby enemies)
 * The Bee: Extremely high Amp damage bonus and No Amp Shot Drain. (Drop from Hunter Hellquist)
 * Impaler: Launches Corrosive homing spikes when damaged with bullets. Deals Corrosive Spike Damage to melee attackers. (Drops from the Warrior)
 * Cradle: When shield depletes, it is thrown away as an explosive and then "reloaded" like a Tediore gun. (Drops from Henry)
 * Black Hole: Pulls nearby enemies towards you then releases a shock nova when shields are depleted; similar to the effect of singularity grenades. (Drops from Foreman during the Quest "Hell Hath No Fury")
 * Hide of Terramorphous: High Fire Nova, Fire Spike and Roid damage. (Drops from Terramorphous)
 *  The Transformer: Large chance to absorb enemy bullets and immunity to electricity. Shock Damage received recharges shield HP. (Drops from Pimon)
 * Manly Man Shield: Adds bonus Explosive Damage to all Melee Attacks. This ability stays in effect, even while shields are totally depleted. (Quest reward, "Message in a Bottle")
 *  Evolution:  Adds Health Regeneration. Health capacity is increased while Action Skill is active. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Pirate's Booty DLC)
 * Hoplite : High shield capacity that is increased by 20% for each Hoplite equipped in the party. Also decreases movement speed while full. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)
 * Big Boom Blaster : Standard Booster Shield, except the boosters give you one rocket ammo and one grenade when picked up. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)
 * Sponge : Appears to be a standard Absorb Shield, other effects are unknown at this time. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)
 * Pun-chee : Appears to be a standard Maylay Shield, other effects are unknown at this time. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)

Grenade Mods
Captain Blade's Midnight Star: Child grenades spawned will instead fly at the thrower instead of a regular radius.
 * Bonus Package: MIRV style grenade, spawns a second set of child grenades after the first set explodes. (Drop from Boom and Bewm.)
 * Kiss of Death: Homing elemental grenade that latches onto target's face until they die or grenade detonates. Upon exploding sends out healing beams as if from a transfusion grenade (Quest Reward, "Hell Hath no Fury")
 * Fuster Cluck: Once the grenade is thrown, mini grenades rapidly spawn from it in mid-air. (Quest Reward, "The Pretty Good Train Robbery")
 * Nasty Surprise: Teleports and splits into four child grenades near the feet of multiple enemies in front of the player. (Drops from Vermivorous; can appear in vending machine very rarely)
 * Rolling Thunder: When thrown stays low to ground and has an explosive bounce. Can not hit high rose enemies and wont jump over small gaps between land. (Drops from Wilhelm)
 * Storm Front: Initial explosion spawns a 'fork' which shoots out a few child grenades. The fork creates an aura that shows the range of its electricity can reach (much like teslas). The fork attacks any enemies that wander near it for shock damage. The child grenades also attack enemies near them with a smaller range and slightly less damage. The fork and child grenades explode for additional damage when finished. (Drops from Mutants in "Splinter Group" )
 * Pandemic: Corrosive Spawns three homing grenades after initial explosion. (Drops from Mortar)
 * Leech: After the first set explodes it spawns a second set of child grenades which has high elemental DOT. In addition it also leeches health directly for as much damage as it dealt. (Drops from the Warrior)
 * Quasar: Pulls in enemies around it, causing period damage until it explodes for massive damage. (Drops from Ultimate Badass Varkids)
 * Fire Bee: Seems to act like a sprayer type grenade in that when it detonates, it starts spinning and releasing fire, as well as smaller mirv style explosives during.
 * Sky Rocket: Deals an insane amount of fire damage based on your level in a MIRV style firework explosion. Grenade travels upward in an arc, and will bounce back down when it hits a ceiling. Best used indoors (Despite the "Warning"). This mod is automatically installed on any characters created after a player enters the SHIFT code which comes with specific retail special editions of the game.
 * Bouncing Bonny: Bounces similar to a bettie grenade but with horizontal movement and throws out secondary grenades alongside normal bouncing bettie effect. (Drops from loot midgets)
 * Fastball: Thrown straight out - bounces once if hits terrain, explodes if hits an enemy. Very small radius. (Drops from Boll)
 * Breath of Terramorphous: Causes multiple "Fire Fountains" to emerge from the ground in the area around the explosion in a seemingly random pattern. Lasts for a few seconds. (Drops from Terramorphous)
 * Captain Blade's Midnight Star: High damage MIRV grenade (Quest Reward: Message in a Bottle, Magnys Lighthouse)
 * O-Negative: High damage for a Transfusion grenade. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)
 * Meteor Shower: Increased amount of child grenades, each child grenade spawns one additional grenade upon detonation, similar to the Bonus Package. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)
 * Crossfire: Bouncing Betty grenade that spawns high-damage child grenades with every bounce, similar to the Bouncing Bonnie. (120 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)

Class Mods

 * Legendary Siren: Increases movement speed by 40% when using Phaselock. (Drops from Vermivorous)
 * Legendary Soldier: Gives bonuses to Cooldown, Gun Damage, and Fire Rate. Increases skill level in all tier 1 skills by 5 (a total of 30 points). This class mod has no "unique" effect, but gives a fantastic all-around boost. (Drops from Vermivorous)
 * Legendary Berzerker: Increases movement speed while Gunzerking by 20%. (Drops from Vermivorous)
 * Legendary Berzerker: High action skill cooldown, fire rate and melee damage increase, move speed while Gunzerking increased by 20%.
 * Legendary Hunter: Gives bonuses to Cooldown and Critical Damage. Heals owner by 10% of their maximum health when entering Decepti0n. Increases skill level in 5 tier 1 skills by 5 (a total of 25 points). (Drops from Vermivorous)

Relics
Captain Blade's Otto Idol: Reduce Fight for Your Life Time
 * Deputy's Badge: Increases Fight for Your Life Time by 10% for every player equipped with a Deputy's Badge. (Quest reward, "Showdown")
 * Sheriff's Badge: Increases Total Life and Fight for Your Life Time by 15% for every player equipped with a Deputy's Badge. Dropped by The Sheriff of Lynchwood
 * Blood of Terramorphous: Health Regeneration +0.5%
 * Captain Blade's Otto Idol: Returns a portion of your health after each kill. (Found in the Lost Treasure of the Sands.)
 * Blood of the Seraphs: Max Health + --.- Health Regeneration + --.-(50 crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Pirate's Booty DLC)
 * Might of the Seraphs: Melee Damage +30% Override cooldown rate +30% (50 Seraph crystals @ Seraph Vendor, Campaign of Carnage DLC)