Equipment of the highest tier is very coveted in any loot-oriented game. Take Borderlands 3 Legendary items, for example. This is the sort of stuff you build your entire character around. Getting a top-tier weapon means dishing out insane damage, yes, but it can also bring a paradigm shift in gameplay. This is exactly what makes Legendaries as interesting as they are! Here, we'll discuss some of Borderlands 3's most interesting Legendary drops, and we'll also see how they can affect your moment-to-moment gameplay.

It's easy to think of Borderlands 3's Legendary items as simple DPS increases. If we're being cynical, that's precisely what they are, of course. Having said that, we could boil down any given game to its bare minimum and call it a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are fun, aren't they? Tangents aside, Legendaries can, indeed, make you play Borderlands 3 differently, but only if you want that. If you're okay with using Legendary items like their less interesting brethren, that's perfectly fine, but it does miss the point somewhat.

Here, we'll take a quick look at what sort of wacky equipment you can find in Borderlands 3's highest tier of loot. If you'd like to try that out in practice, check out our small Borderlands 3 discount! Otherwise, keep reading.

Can Legendary Weapons change the way Borderlands 3 plays?

Not only do Borderlands 3's Legendary weapons provide way more bang for your buck than anything else in the game, but their functionality is also quite fascinating sometimes. Take the ever-popular Stark Krakatoa for example. This Maliwan Sniper Rifle shoots some very powerful bullets, yes, but it also offers a chance to spawn mini-volcanoes on enemy corpses. Very few of us expected to see something this wild in Borderlands 3, we bet. The gun is a complete game-changer when you get it (preferably at a high power level), or at least it was in our case. Not only can it dish out respectable damage to powerful enemies, but it can also provide further area-of-effect damage if you're lucky.

Our personal favourite, however, was the Shocking Vanquisher SMG. As its name may suggest, this is a slide-oriented close-quarters weapon that boosts your slide speed by a fair 20%. It also gets double fire-rate when sliding, allowing you got real close to your targets before turning them into red mist. It's great fun! It's also a fine weapon when used like any other Dahl SMG, but embracing its perks makes a world of difference.

What do you do, then, when you finally get a good Dobby the Dictator Assault Rifle? Do you use its unique bipod perk? Borderlands 3 uses its Legendary-tier weapons to pull you out of your comfort zone, even if not by design. More than anything else, however, Legendary guns seem to break the monotony of Borderlands 3's core gameplay loop. We're big fans of what Gearbox has done with the game, but even top-tier gameplay can grow old after a while. When that happens, you just nab a fresh Legendary and throw a wrench into the gears of monotony. Works great!

How do other Legendary Items come into the Equation?

Borderlands and Borderlands 2 have had their share of interesting non-weapon items, like Shields and Grenades. However, none of them holds a candle to Borderlands 3's Legendary Shields and Legendary Grenades. Artifacts, too, matter a great deal when push comes to shove. A particularly interesting one is the Electric Slide Launch Pad, which synergizes perfectly with Shocking Vanquisher. This Artifact creates arcs of Shock damage whenever you slide, which can also jump from one enemy to another if they're close enough for the effect to trigger. Those who are going for a true Vanquish build should definitely look into this one!

Grenades that spawn other grenades that shoot bullets that explode are fair game, too, as well as irradiating spike shields. Those who wish to go all out, however, may prefer the Transformer Legendary Shield, as it nullifies all Shock damage and even replenishes your ammo from time to time.

While balancing is clearly important to Gearbox, they're not averse to allowing players to experiment with some truly wild items. As you'd expect, Legendaries provide this in droves, even more so than any of us might have expected. It's true that each and every Borderlands game has promised an infinite supply of loot, but it seems like Gearbox has managed to deliver this only just now, with the fourth iteration of the franchise. Perhaps it's a matter of hindsight, though, and we're just getting spoiled with the quality and variety of gear that's on display in Borderlands 3. Whatever the case may be, we're big fans!

If you're only just entering Borderlands 3's post-story endgame gameplay, Legendaries should be your bread-and-butter. However, if you haven't had the chance to play Borderlands 3 just yet, our offer might be just the thing you're looking for.