The Best Guns in Borderlands 3: Bounty of Blood DLC

Borderlands 3's third DLC, Bounty of Blood, takes players to the planet of Gehenna to partake in some classic Wild West bounty hunting. As one would probably expect, there's plenty of bosses, named bandits, and special animals that you can obliterate to try and find some sweet, sweet loot. With about 20 new Legendary guns in the DLC, there's definitely no shortage of loot to be had, but it can be hard to determine which is worth using. Oddly enough, there doesn't appear to be any new shields, artifacts, or grenades in Bounty of Blood, but that doesn't make the loot any less exciting.

It should be kept in mind though that with Borderlands 3's Mayhem multiplier system, just having the best guns isn't enough. You will also need very optimized builds to get the most out of many weapons at higher levels. Even the best guns need some help to compete against enemies with 10,000% extra health.

Borderlands 3: Bounty of Blood's Best Guns

Flipper

Effect: Holding down the trigger increases the number of projectiles being fired at once. Maxes out at nine projectiles.

Dropped by: Minosaur (hunting target in Bloodsun Canyon)

At first glance, the Flipper seems like it's another Maliwan SMG. The first shot or two that the comes out of the Flipper is just a typical elemental bullet with no real noticeable effect. As you hold down the trigger though, the Flipper starts to fire out extra projectiles per shot, kind of like a shotgun but with the fire rate of an SMG. At its peak, the Flipper fires nine projectiles at once in a tight diamond pattern with no apparent loss of damage or ammo efficiency. You're basically getting 900% extra bullet per bullet.

The downside is that you're not getting all that extra damage immediately. A delay of a couple of seconds seems trivial, but in Borderlands 3 that can mean the difference between getting a Second Wind or dying.

Unkempt Harold

Effect: Fired projectiles divide into more projectiles in a horizontal pattern after a set distance

Dropped by: Caber Dawd (assassination target in Bloodsun Canyon)

One of Borderlands 2's most famous guns is back in Borderlands 3, and it's basically the same DPS machine that we knew and loved. For those who are unfamiliar with this Torgue pistol, it fires a salvo of explosives in a horizontal pattern. After a bit of travel time, each of those explosive projectiles turns into even more explosive projectiles, essentially turning you into a walking broadside machine. 

Unfortunately, the Unkempt Harold is relatively bad at close range because aside from the fact that the projectiles need time to split apart, there's a decent chance that you might kill yourself with the splash damage. Furthermore, the spread makes it difficult to land long range shots on skinnier and faster targets. 

Contained Blast

Effect: Fires a normal explosive projectile and a sticky explosive projectile at the same time

Dropped by: Abbadoxis (hunting target in Ashfall Peaks)

The Contained Blast is basically Torgue's answer to whether or not you can make an accurate, relatively long range gun that creates a perpetual state of explosions. When firing the Contained Blast, two projectiles come out. You get a typical explosive projectile that detonates on impact and a sticky projectile that explodes when you reload. It's great for applying constant DPS at almost every range, though you definitely want to remember to reload to get the most out of the dual projectiles.

Light Show

Effect: Fires a circular pattern of four bullets

Dropped by: Lasodactyl (hunting target in the Obsidian Forest)

Not to be outdone by the Borderlands 3 version of the Unkempt Harold, Vladof decided to make its own top-tier pistol. The result is the Light Show, a pistol that unleashes a circular pattern of four bullets every time it fires. Since it's a Vladof weapon, the fire rate is very high, spewing forth a tornado of bullets every time you fire. Unlike the Unkempt Harold, the Light Show is safe to use at almost any range and any target. Granted, there is a small "safe zone" where the circle of bullets can't hit, but it's largely irrelevant for normal-sized targets at mid range.

Borderlands 3: Bounty of Blood's Honorable Mentions

Complex Root

Effect: Fires a mid-range burst of explosives that move in a zig-zag pattern

Dropped by: Lani Dixon (assassination target in Ashfall Peaks)

For whatever reason, no small number of Borderlands 3's Legendary sniper rifles are terrible at functioning as traditional sniper rifles, and the Complex Root is no exception. It's more accurate to describe it as a launcher that fires a swarm of angry, explosive bees at people. As such, accuracy is a pretty relative term for the Complex Root, and you can forget about long-range marksmanship with it. Ultimately a bit of a novelty weapon, though it's still quite lethal. 

Spade

Effect: Fires sticky projectiles that penetrates targets, leaving sticky projectiles on all enemies that it pass through until it hits the environment

Dropped by: Waylon Hurd (assassination target in the Obsidian Forest)

While you typically want high damage weapons in Borderlands 3, sometimes the drawbacks of a gun are too much. The Spade is one such example in that it fires penetrating sticky explosives. In theory, you can get double the damage by aiming at someone's feet, letting the projectiles apply to an enemy and the ground beneath them. In practice, it's a lot simpler just to get a gun that rewards you for shooting the face. On top of that, the Spade has a terrible magazine capacity and reload speed, meaning that you're probably going to end up spending more time not shooting than actually shooting.