The big February update for PS Plus has arrived, and talk about great timing. Along with the big names like Horizon Forbidden West and Resident Evil 7, also included is Borderlands 3! As of this writing, I have burned myself out on this game. Again. For the third time. I’m not saying I’m an expert, but I certainly have opinions! And while character builds and skill trees are important, you play these games for one reason. High powered, handheld artillery! However, it takes a little more work than just solving quests to get the best weapons. Here’s a quick look on how to get some of the best weapons in the game.
Farming
No, there’s no Harvest Moon simulator. In Borderlands 3, farming is when you are going for a specific weapon. While a lot of weapons can appear as a world drop (Meaning it can drop from any enemy, in loot chests, or even appear in vending machines), you will have a higher chance of getting it from a designated drop source enemy, which is usually a boss or a rare spawn character. But depending on that weapon’s drop rate, it can take many, MANY runs for a weapon to drop. If an enemy doesn’t drop the weapon, you will have to save and quit, and then resume your game, as the enemy will only spawn once a play session. To increase your chances, you can purchase the loot luck booster from the Borderlands Science machine called…*Sigh* Butt Stallion Milk (No, I am NOT explaining it), or you can unlock the Shlooter artifact from the Welcome to Pandora Vault Card from the Director’s Cut DLC, which will boost Legendary drops by 1000%.
Light Show
Let’s start will a real fun weapon, the Light Show. This Vladof pistol has a high rate of fire and major magazine capacity like all Vladof weapons, with the fun mechanic of shooting 4 projectiles in a rotating square pattern. This gun will basically let you live the “A-10 go BRRRT” meme to your heart’s desire. With good damage output and the possibility of spawning as any of the elements, the Light Show should get you through a lot of the early Mayhem levels quite easily.
The Light show is dropped by the Lasodactyl in the Obsidian Forest, about halfway through DLC 3 – Bounty of Blood. Once you discover the fast travel location for the laboratory, it’s a short trek to cave south, where the Lasodactyl spawns. Be careful though, as flying enemies tend to be a pain to deal with. Most of the action skills can do major damage or hold it in place while you do the work. And be mindful of the position of where it’s at when you finish it off. Getting the drop, and then watching go down the side of the bottomless pit is quite the sinking feeling. I’m here all week, try the veal!
Flipper
Like the previous weapon, an effect you can take into consideration is how many projectiles you’re getting per spent ammunition. The Flipper takes this into consideration, and then throws that rulebook out the window. This Maliwan SMG will spawn with 2 random elements, like all Maliwans do, with the added effect of increasing the amount of projectiles while you’re holding the trigger. You’ll go from 1 to 3 to 5 to 7 to 9 projectiles in a matter of moments, basically turning spray and pray into spray and it’s-already-happened.
You can get this pretty easily from the Minosaur, a minotaur-dinosaur-bandit hybrid hunt target found in Bloodsun Canyon from DLC 3 – Bounty of Blood. His lair is right by the entrance to the map, not even a 15 second walk to the area. One thing to keep in mind, make sure you let him hop off his platform, as there doesn’t seem to be a way up to it. So, if you kill him on that platform, and he drops the Flipper on top, there’s no way to get to it.
Soulrender
Now, if you want to just crush absolutely everything in this game, get yourself a Soulrender. This Dahl assault rifle feels like it breaks the game, that’s how unfair this thing is. While firing, it will also shoot purple homing skulls towards the nearest enemy, doing Splash Damage 20 times the base damage of the weapon. You put this gun in the hands of a Bottomless Mags Moze, with a handful of the Demolition Woman skills, you just become completely unstoppable. But make sure you get a full auto variation, that way, all you have to do is hold the trigger down.
The Soulrender comes from Tom and Xam, two mini bosses from DLC 2 – Guns, Love, and Tentacles. The bad thing is they are located in the Heart’s Desire map, which is basically the last level of the DLC, making it a trek to get through the story, all for one gun. The good thing, however, is that you don’t have to save-quit in this case. If you focus on one of them, (It can be either or, they both have the same chance for the weapon), after they drop, all you have to do is fast travel back to the closest station, which is quite literally right before them. They both will respawn, making this a very fast farm.
The Butcher
Making an appearance in every Borderlands game, The Butcher has become a powerful mainstay for any Shotgun heavy player. Not only does this Hyperion gun still have the front facing shield effect like the rest of the line, it’s unique ability will refill your magazine with a random amount of bullets, making it feel like a crazy machine gun. It can also spawn in any of the elements, making it perfect for any need.
The problem, however, comes from its sources. The Butcher can be dropped by the Raging Titan, who acts as a final boss of the Slaughter Shaft. The only problem is you have to go through the entire 5 round Circle of Slaughter, just to make him appear. And if you want to keep farming him, you have to leave a spare enemy alive and let them hurt you, so you can restart the round without save-quitting. This is far too much time for our needs. A quicker way is to find Dinklebot, a rare enemy in Skywell-27, who drops Loot-O-Grams. You can trade these to Crazy Earl on Sanctuary for a small chance for The Butcher, but I’ve had more luck getting this as a world drop than anything else.
If you need a great layout for any situation a budding Vault Hunter can find themselves in, all of these weapons will treat you right. And this is only a fraction of the legendaries available to find, so you can mix and match to find the right blend to fit your style. If you have any thoughts on builds or strategies, head on over to the Boss Rush Discord and work it out with your fellow Vault Hunters.
Featured Image: 2K Games
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, LeRon, Stephanie, Edward, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk their week in games, entertainment, and more while also bringing topics for conversation, answer listener and community questions, and cover major news and events happening in the video game industry. Watch The Boss Rush Podcast live on Wednesday Nights on Twitch at 8:30PM ET / 5:30PM PT or on Friday mornings at 7AM ET on YouTube and podcast services everywhere. Thanks for listening! You can also get this episode one week early on Patreon.
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