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For the legendary shield in Borderlands 3, see Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Whisky Tango Foxtrot is a legendary booster shield manufactured by Dahl.

In Borderlands 2, it is obtained randomly from any suitable loot source but has an increased chance to drop from Chubby enemies and Hyperius the Invincible.
In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, It is obtained randomly from any suitable loot source.

Special Shield Effects[]

  • On shield
    Situation normal... – Chance to drop an IED Booster when damaged. Boosters are ejected towards the nearest enemy (if any), generally the enemy who fired the shot that spawned the IED booster.
  • On boosters
    ...all foxtroted up. – Upon spawning, IED Boosters eject up to 3 shock grenades in quick succession in a high arc, which explode after a delay. IED Boosters will repeat this two additional times with a pause between each volley, for a total of 9 shock grenades per IED Booster spawned. Shock grenades appear as flashing boosters.

Usage & Description[]

IEDBooster

IED Booster, showing the second part of the shield's flavour text

The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot spawns special "IED Boosters" that have unique behavior, with the boosters being sent towards enemies instead of random directions, and each booster slowly spawning what is essentially three payloads of 3x shock MIRV grenades. IED Boosters otherwise act identical to normal shield boosters, quickly restoring 25% shield capacity on pickup. The dropped grenades harm both players and enemies; as the grenades spawn one by one, picking up the booster as soon as possible will cut the spawning short.

If used with caution and skill, the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot can double as both a decent shield and a devastating weapon. It encourages a mid-range "close-and-personal" style of combat, since the spawned IED boosters are equivalent to an automatic grenade throw towards the nearest enemy, but require the player to be within range of an enemy for the explosions to connect. As the shock grenades and status effect damage are very powerful, they can easily finish off relatively healthy enemies, and they possess grenade knockback that is capable of sending enemies flying or staggering larger foes. This is particularly effective in enclosed spaces, giving the shield room-clearing capability.

The playstyle of this shield carries inherently high risk, as multiple IED boosters can limit the player's moving room; ideally, the user should take note of the audio cue each time a booster is spawned to keep track of where they land. Additionally, the grenades explode on a timer and take a while to explode, meaning it is not effective on mobile foes.

Using the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot as a normal booster shield is not recommended, as the IED boosters drop grenades for quite a long period (~10 seconds), and the grenade's high damage and shock status effect can easily cause accidental downs, especially in a confined space. The same reasons make the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot a questionable bossing shield, and in general it should only be used for mobbing purposes.

Notes[]

  • The IED booster's description is misleading, and players can easily assume that the shock volleys spawn the instant they pick the booster up. Shock volleys automatically occur over time from an IED booster upon spawning; picking up the boosters will not spawn any grenades, but will stop the spawning of additional grenades.
  • The shock grenades spawned by the IED boosters cause significant knockback to enemies on hit. It is possible from enemies to be sent flying from a single shock grenade.
  • The explosion damage and damage over time on a shock charge is the same as equal-level weapons.
  • The sheer likelihood of getting hit by a shock grenade makes speccing into elemental resistances an effective means to limit accidental self-damage. Such examples include a Resistance Relic with shock resistance, or class-specific skills that reduce shock damage/reduce its status effect duration (eg. Axton's Forbearance, Salvador's Asbestos, Gaige's Myelin).
  • Due to their tendency of stealing items, rats can be killed when trying to take an IED Booster as it deploys charges.
  • The Whisky Tango Foxtrot cannot spawn with bandits or Torgue parts.

Trivia[]

  • Whisky Tango Foxtrot in the NATO phonetic alphabet spells WTF, which is an initialism for "what the fuck".
  • The flavor text refers to the term "SNAFU", which is military jargon for "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up".
  • IED is an acronym for improvised explosive device.
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