Borderlands Weapons

"You won't last long here, not without help, not without guns... a hell of a lot of guns." — Helena Pierce, Borderlands debut trailer

According to Gearbox, there are over 17 million 500 thousand different variations of weapons, as of release. The game uses a procedural process to generate its various guns in certain classes, such as handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and more, but with many variations of firing speed, reload speed, damage type and more.

Thankfully, there is an easy way to determine the basics of a weapon without having to pick it up and open an inventory screen. When you approach a weapon on the ground, a small holographic window appears above it that displays information such as weapon type (shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, etc.), damage type (static, incendiary, caustic, etc.), monetary value, as well as the weapon's rarity using a color coding system.

If a human enemy is carrying a special weapon that they drop upon their death, they will wield it against the player. Otherwise they use a default weapon for their enemy type.

The different types of weapons are:

• Alien Rifles
• Combat Rifles
• Pistols
• Revolvers
• Rocket Launchers
• Shotguns
• Sniper Rifles
• Sub-Machine Guns
• Rare Items (Above Purple!)

Effects

Found in the stats boxes of guns are sometimes cryptic or humorous messages. These lines indicate a certain effect on the gun. Several decoded messages are as follows in alphabetical order:

• 010011110100110101000111 (OMG) - Shoots an AoE electrical shock; similar to a rocket launcher. (Eridian 101100 Cannon)
• 2 More Bullets Makes All The Difference - Fires 5 round burst instead of standard 3 round burst. (Combat Rifles)  
• A beast of many forms - Fire, Lightning, and Poison. - Bullets alternate between the 3 elemental damage types on every shot. (Revolvers)
• A Gift from Papa Krom - Fires a three-shot burst when aiming. (Repeater Pistols)
• A hunter lives among the stars... - Chance to do Random Shock Damage in vicinity of user when fired. (Sniper Rifles)
• Aim for the Sniper - Better accuracy while scoped. (Shotguns)
• A Lead Wind Blows... - Fires two bullets per one ammo. (SMGs)
• A Watchful Eye - Increased zoom. (The Sentinel)
• Ammo is no longer an issue. - Regenerates Ammo. (Repeater Pistols)
• BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM! - While scoped, a five round burst. (Sniper Rifles)
• Be Careful Not to Drop It... Might Lose A Toe - +100% Melee Damage. (Repeater Pistols)
• Beware The Horde - Once fired, one rocket becomes several. The longer the rockets travel, the more they split, which can lead to 20+ rockets for a single shot! (Rocket Launchers)
• Beyond Groovy - Fires rockets instead of regular ammo. (Shotgun - Obtained from killing Flynt)
• Big Tony says "Hi" - Massive magazine size. (Repeater Pistols)
• Bring Out Your Dead - High Corrosion Chance. (Shotguns, reference to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
• Bring The HEAT! - Incendiary Rounds. (Revolvers, Repeater Pistols)
• Careful... you might put someone's eye out - unknown (Rider, reference to the movie 'A Christmas Story';  Specifically the Red Rider BB gun and the infamous saying "You'll shoot your eye out.")
• Cross Their Heart, Hope They Die - Spread follows a cross-shaped pattern. (Shotguns)
• Death Rains from Above - Additional rockets fire from the initial explosion. (Rocket Launchers)
• Double Whammy! - Shoots 2 bullets (per shot) at a 200% Burst Fire - (Revolvers, Repeater Pistols)
• Drop the Hammer - Chance to cause massive damage, pellet spread on wall is in the shape of a hammer. (Shotguns)
• Fast Hands - Super fast reload.
• Feel the Sting - Fires 2 bullets with each shot. (Repeater Pistols)
• Five Heads of Death - Each shot fires five tightly-grouped bursts, spaced out along a horizontal path. (Shotguns)
• Fools! They call me maaaad! - Bullets zig-zag when fired, and ricochet. (Revolvers)
• For the Mother Land - Ignores shield. (Snipers)
• Give Sick. - High chance for Corrosive damage, effect has a chance to transfer to nearby enemies.
• Gonna cook someone today - Creates small nuclear explosion when fired. (Rocket Launchers)
• Guns of the Revolution never fall silent. - Massive Magazine. (Combat Rifles)
• Hallelujah! - Regenerates Ammo (SMG's)
• Have A Nice Day - Shots create a 'smiley-face' pattern, not really.
• Hold Your Ground... Forever - Regenerates Ammo (Combat Rifles)
• Holy Crap, It Shoots Rockets! - shoots rockets instead of pellets. (Shotguns, uses the weapon's ammo type not actual rockets)
• I Can Do This All Day... - Regenerates Ammo. (Shotguns)
• "I feel like I'm gonna break this thing." - Slower walking speed while held, causes massive shock damage (Alien Rifles, reference to the movie 'Men In Black'; Specifically, the ridiculously-powerful miniature handgun, 'The Noisy Cricket')
• I Have You In My Eye, Sir - Massive Zoom. (Seen on a white sniper rifle)
• I LIKE IT! - Massive explosive damage. (Sniper Rifles)
• Invade your skull. - While scoped, fires the entire clip in one burst. (Repeater Pistols)
• I spy with my little eye... - Massive scope zoom. (SMG's)
• It Rises! - Rockets have an arced trajectory. (Rocket Launchers)
• It's a Helluvah Thing - Speculated to have some knockback effect.
• It's a Painful Thing - ??? (The Blister)
• Lightning never strikes the same place twice, but it can strike freaking everywhere! - Area-of-Effect Shock (Alien Rifles)
• Makes Their Brain Hurt - Each shot fires a shotgun-like burst. (Sniper Rifles)
• May God have mercy upon my enemies because I won't - Ignores shields. (Is a famous quote from Patton, WWIl U.S. Army General)
• Monster Kill! - Fires all rockets simultaneously with each trigger pull. (Rocket Launchers, possible reference to the 'Unreal' Series, mainly on the PC, where the rocket launchers can shoot up the six rockets with one shot. Getting five kills within four seconds of each other is a MONSTER KILL!)
• Never Stop Shooting - Regenerates ammo. (Repeater Pistols)
• Omnia vincit amor - 100% critcal damage bonus. (Lady Finger)  
• One Bad Dog - Massive Magazine. (Shotguns)
• OMG! it shoots rockets! - FIRES ROCKETS (found randomly on a midget shotgunner and was white rarity.)shotgun)
• Pain Heals. - Heals your co-op buddy when you shoot him.
• Pele demands a sacrifice! - Massive Fire Damage.
• Pew Pew Pew! - Has a chance to home in on your target.
• Ride the Wave, Dude! - Bullets follow a wave pattern up and down as they go out from the gun. (Shotgun)
• Slice Slice! - 300% Melee Damage.
• Sniper Killer... Qu'est que c'est - Fully Automatic. (Sniper Rifles, reference to the song Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads, the lyrics are "Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?"; The full phrase in French is Un ami, qu'est-ce que c'est?)
• Sniper Rifles are for Chumps. - High accuracy, tight pellet spread. (Shotguns)
• Sometimes, I Forget To Reload - Unlimited ammo. - ( The Dove)
• Tear it up - 300% Burst Fire Count. (SMG's)
• The All-Seeing Eye. - Massive zoom. (Combat Rifles)
• The Cutting Edge - Shots have a chance to ignore shields, massive zoom. (Sniper Rifles)
• The Destructor has come. - While scoped, fires the entire clip in one burst. (Combat Rifles, reference to the movie Ghost Busters; Specifically a quote from the character "Gozer the Gozerian")
• The Legend Lives - Knocks target back when hit. (Shotguns)
• The ultimate close quarters feline. - Large magazine with low accuracy. (SMG's)
• Thwack - Critical Damage deals more damage. (Sniper Rifle)
• TORGUE! Bastard guns for bastard people! - Massive damage bonus (Torgue brand Combat Rifles)
• Unending Firepower - Ammo is unlimited, it spends when you fire, but instantly regenerates.
• Unrelenting Firepower - Regenerates ammo. (Revolvers)
• The Unstoppable Force! - Rockets periodically explode in mid-flight. (Rocket Launchers, note the rocket continues traveling to hit its target, regardless of how many times it explodes in flight.)
• Vengeance is Yours -100% melee damage, possibly. (Repeater Pistols
• Walk It Off - Chance to score a critical hit on an enemy's legs. (Sniper rifles)
• War is in your blood - Massive Magazine. (Combat Rifles)-( The Meat Grinder)
• Why Don't You Go Shoot Yourself An Elephant? - Massive Damage, no scope. (Sniper Rifles)
• We Don't Need No Water... - x4 Fire. (SMG)
• Your Move, Creep - Fires a three-round burst per one ammo. (Repeater Pistols references the movie Robocop, the clue is one of the character's catchphrases, and the three-round burst is indicative of his signature sidearm, the Auto-9)

Notes

• Some of these effects may not be 100% accurate.
• Also, some of these effects only apply to certain guns, such as those dropped by bosses, and the description relates to the boss itself, such as the description for The Clipper says "Be Careful Not to Drop It... Might Lose A Toe" belongs to the boss Nine-Toes and is the reason for his namesake.

Rarity

Gun colors in descending rarity

Borderlands uses a classification system for gear that follows the standard color-coding system for RPGs. A common (white) gun would be average, money will glow (yellow) when dropped or found, an uncommon (green) would be slightly above average, a rare (blue) would be a premium gun, an epic (purple) would be a very strong gun, and legendary (orange) guns are the best of the best. The rarity of each gun is indicated by color as stated on the page of each gun. (See Category:Weapons)

White < Green < Blue < Purple < Yellow < Orange < Dark Orange < Pearlescent

The rarity of a gun influences how good it will be, but you will find that some guns are exceptions to the color code. For example, you might find a rare (blue)gun that has drastically less damage than a common gun that has the rocket ammo effect.

Note: May Be hard to spot the difference between White and Pearlescent, Pearlescent will be placed above Dark Orange guns or at the top of your backpack, and will usually have red text In the stat/description box of the gun.

Elemental Effects

The elemental effects include fire, electrical, explosive, and corrosive.  The damage of the elemental effect is a multiplier indicated by the elemental plaque and a "xN" in the weapon description, where N is a number from 1 to 4. The chance an elemental affect will occur depends on the difference between the level of the player and the level of the enemy. Occasionally a weapon description will include text reading "high elemental effect chance" or "very high elemental effect chance", which implies that the gun has a greater then normal chance of causing its elemental effect. Elemental attacks are added to the base damage of the weapon used and can have secondary benefits.

Each element has a specific benefit to use against differing enemies:

• Fire has a benefit against fleshy enemies and causes the enemy to burn for a length of time.

• Shock has a benefit against shields. It depletes them more readily but is less effective against flesh and armor than a normal weapon of the same type.

• Explosive weapons have a chance for the round to explode in enemies, dealing much more damage and leading to an incredibly messy death on a critical hit.

• Corrosive has a benefit against armored enemies, slowly draining health and making them weaker to other attacks as the ongoing damage progresses.

Each element also has its own specific death animation, most of which leave no trace of the target behind:

• Fire slowly incinerates the enemy. A fair bit of screaming is involved.

• Shock makes lighting arc up and down their body, eventually leading to their head exploding.

• Explosive leaves you with a loud bang and giblets. Fun against low level enemies.

• Corrosive is similar to fire, only it's acid doing the job.

Manufacturer Grade

In the land of Borderlands there are multiple manufacturers that make the guns that you shoot enemies with.  Each company will usually have particular attributes associated with it. Probably the easiest way to learn these different attributes is to listen to Marcus when you use a vending machine, as he will comment on the manufacturers and their attributes.

List of manufacturers:

• Atlas - All around good accuracy, fire rate, power, and low recoil for the level of the weapon. Rare at lower levels.
• Dahl - These weapons will most likely have less recoil than most guns.
• Eridians - Alien weaponry, generally high damage, unlimited ammunition.
• Hyperion - These weapons feature long range scopes and high accuracy.
• Jakobs - These weapons will typically have high damage, even without additional effects.
• Maliwan - Weapons made by this corporation will always do elemental damage.
• S&S Munitions - This company makes guns with extended magazines.
• Tediore - This company makes guns that are lightweight and will reload faster.
• Torgue - Typicaly combine good damage, low recoil, and high fire rate.  
• Vladof - Fires quicker than most other average guns.
• Gearbox - Certain easter egg weapons in the game have the manufacturer name Gearbox instead of, say S&S or Jakobs. An example is shown here.

See Manufacturers for more info

Guaranteed Weapons

These weapons and modifications have a 100% chance to drop off a specific enemy or be contained in a specific location.

See Guaranteed Drops

Weaponry List

Please see the Weapons category page to see all weapons added to the wiki thus far.