Highlights

  • Maliwan weapons are known for their elemental capabilities and make for great utility weapons in the Borderlands franchise.
  • While Maliwan weapons may have weak bullet damage, their elemental status effects can devastate enemies or apply damage over time.
  • Some notable Maliwan weapons include the Complex Root, D.N.A., and Flipper, each with unique abilities that make them powerful in the hands of vault hunters.

Maliwan is known for its weapons’ elemental capabilities, often exclusively making elemental weapons, although there are a few noteworthy outliers. Ultimately, Maliwan weapons make for great utility weapons throughout the Borderlands franchise because of their potent elemental effects. In the recent Borderlands games, most Maliwan weapons even come with two or more separate elemental damage types.

Sometimes Maliwan weapons’ overall bullet damage is weak, but most of them make up for this after activating their elemental status effects, which either devastate certain enemy types outright or apply a lethal damage-over-time effect. Not to mention, in the hands of one of Borderlands’ vault hunters who specialize in dealing elemental damage, Maliwan weapons can still be extremely powerful.

Tales From the Borderlands August holding Hyperion SMG
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The Best Hyperion Weapons in Borderlands History

While Hyperion weapons are known for their superior accuracy throughout the Borderlands franchise, some Hyperion guns bring a lot more to the table.

Maliwan's Strongest Weapons Throughout the Borderlands Franchise

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Complex Root

The Complex Root shoots several projectiles that follow an original projectile while moving in random directions. Despite having an unusually slow projectile speed, this weapon can strike multiple targets and even hit large targets several times with a single shot. In a way, this sniper rifle is comparable to some of the best rocket launchers in Borderlands 3, except with the added ability to score critical hits.

D.N.A.

This weapon’s initial value comes from its ability to deal every element in the game in short succession, and it naturally sports an extremely high overall damage. The D.N.A. arguably deserves to return in future Borderlands games, because of its unique and powerful nature.

Flipper

Continuously firing this weapon increases the amount of projectiles fired, without increasing the amount of ammo, resulting in an extremely high damage output and status effect application rate. In the hands of vault hunters who can regenerate ammo, the Flipper is a relentless monster.

Free Radical

This Maliwan pistol is fairly similar to the powerful “Call” family of Jakobs weapons in the Borderlands franchise, with its ability to spawn homing projectiles for every bullet that hits a target. Unlike the Jakobs' weapon counterparts though, the Free Radical is designed for single targets, and it doesn’t require players to land critical hits to spawn the additional projectiles.

Grog Nozzle

Despite having low damage, the Grog Nozzle is a great utility weapon, and it’s arguably a must-have for Gunzerker builds in Borderlands 2. This weapon consistently applies Slag to enemies, and it also heals the wielder when they deal damage. It's not the only Maliwan weapon that has these unique effects, but it combines them in one convenient package.

Hellfire

The returning appearances of this weapon haven’t aged well, but the Hellfire was at one point one of the best elemental weapons in the Borderlands franchise. The stacks of fire damage applied by this weapon are surprisingly lethal, even against enemies that have high resistance to fire.

Norfleet

This iconic weapon is one of the best weapons in Borderlands 2 in terms of damage per shot. Also, despite being Maliwan’s specialty, this weapon doesn’t rely on its elemental effects to pack a punch. Very few enemies can withstand a full barrage from one player using the Norfleet outside of Borderlands’ raid bosses.

Pimpernel

This unique sniper shoots out multiple elemental orbs wherever the initial projectile lands. Other legendary Maliwan snipers have similar effects. However, the Pimpernel generally outperforms their damage. This weapon proves Borderlands’ unwritten rule that unique weapons don’t have to be Legendary rarity to be top-tier.

Plasma Coil

The Plasma Coil is often considered one of the best weapons in all of Borderlands 3, and rightfully so. The main appeal of this SMG is its devastating 16-round burst, which makes its status effect application extremely consistent.

Vibra-Pulse

The Vibra-Pulse’s main appeal is its unique ability to chain its Shock damage to nearby enemies. This weapon also heals the wielder for a portion of the damage dealt with it, which pairs extremely well with its crowd-control capabilities, overall proving to be a great utility weapon.