Borderlands 4 Best Guns and How to Choose the Best Weapon

Finding the right weapons in Borderlands 4 can make the difference between steamrolling through content and struggling against basic enemies. With hundreds of legendary drops scattered across Kairos, knowing which guns deserve your farming time becomes crucial for building effective loadouts.

We've tested dozens of legendary weapons across early campaign, endgame content, and Ultimate Vault Hunter mode to identify the standout performers. These picks excel at different stages of progression and synergize well with various Vault Hunter builds, giving you clear farming priorities whether you're just starting or pushing through the toughest content.

Which Weapons Dominate Early Campaign?

Your first legendary drops set the tone for your entire playthrough experience. These early-game powerhouses drop from story bosses and accessible farm locations, staying relevant well into higher difficulties.

How to Farm Aegon's Dream in Borderlands 4

Aegon's Dream - The Ultimate Early Powerhouse

Vladof Assault Rifle | Dropped by Horace in Fade Fields

Aegon's Dream stands as the premier early-game assault rifle, combining elemental versatility with raw firepower. Its Prophetic trait fires both Incendiary and Cryo rounds simultaneously, making it effective against flesh and shields without weapon swapping.

The weapon's enhancement grants a 30% chance to fire additional projectiles per shot, effectively boosting your DPS beyond its base stats. The optional alt-fire mode activates a secondary barrel for increased fire rate, perfect for boss burn phases.

Lead Balloon - Explosive Shotgun Excellence

Torgue Shotgun | Dropped by Splashzone in Fade Fields

This explosive shotgun fires pellets that deal area damage, scaling impressively through midgame content. Unlike standard shotguns, Lead Balloon can roll with any elemental type, adapting to different enemy weaknesses without requiring multiple weapons.

Its splash damage mechanics make it equally effective for mobbing and single-target encounters, while the Torgue manufacturing ensures reliable Fight For Your Life recoveries.

Darkbeast - Corrosive Crowd Control

Daedalus SMG | Dropped by Quake Thrasher in Timid Kyle's Neglected Opening

Darkbeast always spawns with Corrosive damage and features piercing bullets that pass through multiple enemies. Each hit carries a 5% explosion chance, creating chain reactions in dense enemy groups.

This combination makes it exceptional for armored targets and mob scenarios where positioning allows piercing shots to hit multiple enemies simultaneously.

What About Late-Game Legendary Dominance?

Endgame content demands weapons that can handle raid bosses, tough modifiers, and Ultimate Vault Hunter scaling. These late-game legendaries offer the power and utility needed for serious farming.

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Complex Root - Sniper Rifle Supremacy

Maliwan Sniper Rifle | Dropped by Mimicron in Bunker locations

The Complex Root takes sniper supremacy with its Sierpinski trait, spawning diverging projectiles that deal matching elemental damage. This creates exceptional damage over time against enemies weak to the weapon's element.

Each shot effectively becomes multiple hits, making it devastating for both single targets and grouped enemies when projectiles overlap their damage zones.

Hot Slugger - Kill-Chain Destruction

Jakobs Shotgun | Dropped by Callous Harbinger in Craven's Nook Bunker

Hot Slugger rewards aggressive play with its Blazing Barrel trait, granting 30% damage increase for 10 seconds per kill, stacking up to three times for 90% total bonus.

Combined with Jakobs' natural ricochet mechanics on critical hits, this shotgun can clear entire rooms while maintaining maximum damage stacks throughout extended encounters.

Convergence - Repeating Damage Master

Shotgun | Dropped by Bramblesong in Auger Mine

The Convergence features the Asymptotic trait, creating criss-crossing bullet patterns that deal repeating damage after your initial shot. This secondary damage can score critical hits independently, even without hitting enemy weak spots.

This makes Convergence exceptionally powerful for sustained DPS, as the repeating damage continues while you reload or reposition.

How Do Weapon Manufacturers Shape Your Playstyle?

Understanding manufacturer traits helps you choose weapons that complement your preferred combat approach and skill tree investments.

Borderlands 4

Vladof weapons excel at sustained fire with underbarrel attachments, perfect for players who prefer constant trigger pressure. Jakobs rewards precision with ricochet mechanics and high per-shot damage. Torgue specializes in explosive area damage, ideal for Fight For Your Life situations and crowd control.

Daedalus offers reliable workhorse weapons with ammo-swapping mechanics, while Order provides semi-automatic precision tools with charge-based alien technology.

Which Weapons Work Best for Each Vault Hunter?

Different characters excel with specific weapon types based on their skill trees and action skills.

Vex benefits from high critical hit weapons like Aegon's Dream and Complex Root, as her abilities amplify precision damage. Amon scales well with elemental weapons, making Hellfire and multi-element guns like Rainbow Vomit excellent choices.

Rafa excels with sustained fire weapons that trigger her combat bonuses, while Harlowe can leverage any weapon type effectively due to his versatile skill trees.

Where Should You Focus Your Farming Time?

Priority farming depends on your current progression stage and build requirements. Early campaign players should target Horace for Aegon's Dream and Splashzone for Lead Balloon, as both drop from accessible story bosses.

Endgame farmers benefit from rotating between Bunker locations for Complex Root and Hot Slugger, while Auger Mine farming provides Convergence for specialized builds.

The most efficient approach involves identifying 2-3 weapons that synergize with your Vault Hunter's strengths, then focusing farming efforts on those specific drops rather than chasing every legendary available.

These weapons represent the cream of Borderlands 4's arsenal, offering power, versatility, and build synergy that justify the farming investment. Whether you're starting your journey or pushing endgame content, these picks provide the foundation for devastating loadouts that can handle whatever Kairos throws at you.

For more Borderlands 4, take a look at our Legendary Weapons Tier List, and check out the Best Farming Routes guide for Legendary Weapons.