UPDATED UPDATE: It seems like a recent Chrome update essentially broke Flash in Chrome on purpose. Both these galleries and Gearcalc need Flash.

Workaround: Install the Mozilla Firefox browser (https://getfirefox.com/) and then, from Firefox, install the Adobe Flash plugin (https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/). Note for the Flash installation: Remember to uncheck boxes for the McAfee bloatware (or any other bloatware) before hitting “Install Now”. All you want is Flash. Workaround confirmed 5/3/2019 on Windows 7.



Welcome to this huge archive of all Borderlands’ best[*] weapons and items at their highest possible levels. These are the real guncards from the game arranged in swift galleries with built-in Gearcalc links for every weapon and shield (Class Mods and Grenade Mods are in the archive but without links). All Pearlescents and Legendaries are included except for the Wildcat. Galleries of Borderlands’ Best Weapons and Items last updated 2/15/2016. Honeyminer sidebar link added 4/20/2020.



Navigating Borderlands’ Best Weapons and Items

The top menu bar^ leads to loads of guns in pop-out galleries where you can:

hover to see the guncards

OR navigate using keyboard arrow keys (click any thumbnail to enable this)

click a guncard to go to the gun’s Gearcalc page for parts makeup, damage per second, reload speed, damage at different levels etc.

*Deciding upon Borderlands’ Best Weapons

“Borderlands best weapons and items, eh?”, you might ask; and “How were Borderlands best weapons and items chosen?” Good questions. Given the strengths and weaknesses of the different characters in Borderlands, and the individual preferences that each player might have, it’s going to be more or less inaccurate to say that a certain gun configuration is the ‘best’. So, instead, this site focuses on presenting a great variety of Borderlands’ best weapons and items. Generally speaking, we’re taking the standard top gun configs as suggested by A. the Gun Number ‘Best of’ List here and B. Gearcalc’s damage-per-second figure**, and going from there. In most cases, each brands’ barrel4 and barrel5 are presented, along with significant stock/mag variations if applicable. The members of the Gearbox Gearchat forum here then provide feedback and the end result is what you see in these galleries. If anyone wants another gun on here – a holy grail perhaps – just ask. A Holy grail can be added with a note as to who is looking for it [see Holy Grail Gallery]. If you’d like a new weapon (or class of weapon) added, please propose it in the development thread for review and discussion. Any and all feedback is appreciated – either in the development thread or here on the site! Click here for the development thread in the Gearbox Forums.

**Gearcalc’s Elemental DPS figure and Borderlands Best Elemental Weapons

Note that the Gearcalc Damage per second figure does not include elemental DoT (damage over time); it only includes the impact damage from the elemental bullets see here (look under the ‘Tech’ tab in Gearcalc). This is because different enemies have different levels of resistance to DoT triggering and, although it can be insanely powerful, it can also just not work- especially if the target is a boss or a badass version. Level differences can also keep DoT from triggering reliably. Because of all the what if and dependencies involved in DoT, it’s left out of the equation as a hard number. This sounds like it might cause trouble in deciding on Borderlands’ Best Weapons, but since all elements and weapon types are represented equally, it’s not an issue. For more info on DoT, see Scottes’ test threads here (links below his sig pic).