Highlights

  • Jakobs weapons in the Borderlands franchise have high damage and a fast fire rate, providing players with a powerful advantage.
  • Most Jakobs weapons lack an Elemental damage type, but certain Vault Hunters can grant them elemental damage through skills.
  • Notable Jakobs weapons include the Skullmasher sniper rifle, Bessie with increased critical hit damage, and the Maggie revolver pistol.

Overall, Jakobs weapons are the resident one-shot weapons of the Borderlands franchise. Jakobs weapons started off as slow-firing but hard-hitting weapons, and while they have always retained their exceptionally high damage, these weapons have transitioned into having a much faster fire rate throughout the Borderlands franchise. Specifically, while most of the Jakobs weapons from the latest Borderlands games are still technically semi-automatic, they can usually be fired as fast as players can press the trigger.

Another distinguishing feature of Jakobs weapons is that most of them lack an Elemental damage type, with a few special exceptions. This isn’t much of a problem though as Jakobs weapons still generally deal significant damage regardless. Not to mention, certain Vault Hunters like the Sirens in the Borderlands franchise can passively grant these weapons an elemental damage type through certain skills anyway.

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Jakobs’ Strongest Weapons Throughout the Borderlands Franchise

Skullmasher

This Legendary sniper rifle first appeared in the original Borderlands, and it has returned in all the mainline games in the Borderlands franchise so far. Skullmasher simultaneously shoots multiple projectiles, like a typical shotgun, and although each bullet only deals a portion of the weapon’s base damage, it’s still extremely powerful.

Bessie

Of all the Jakobs weapons with the signature feature of dealing increased critical hit damage, Bessie takes best-in-class. This Pearlescent weapon from the original Borderlands comes with an impressive 500% boost to its critical hit damage.

Maggie

Maggie is essentially the revolver pistol counterpart of the Skullmasher sniper rifle, in that these weapons both fire multiple projectiles with each shot. Also like the Skullmasher, this weapon has returned in every mainline Borderlands game since it was introduced in Borderlands 2.

Godfinger

This sniper behaves similarly to the Maggie and the Skullmasher with a couple of significant distinctions. The amount of projectiles fired by the Godfinger gradually increases as the initial bullet travels, up to a total of 14 projectiles, and each projectile deals the weapon’s base damage individually.

Boomacorn

The Boomacorn is one of the most unique Jakobs weapons because of its capability of dealing Elemental damage. Each projectile fired from a single shot of this shotgun deals a randomized Element, so this weapon regularly deals a variety of different damage types. Boomacorn ultimately proves one of Borderlands’ unwritten rules: just because a weapon is below Legendary-rarity doesn’t mean it’s useless.

Ionic Disruptor

Every shot from this sniper rifle negates enemy shields, so it is a game-changer for fighting Borderlands’ raid bosses and standard enemies alike. There are a few Jakobs weapons throughout the Borderlands franchise that come with this trait, but what sets the Ionic Disruptor above the rest is that the bayonet on this weapon deals Shock damage. Since Shock damage excels at breaking shields and this weapon's standard shots bypass shields, the bayonet isn’t very practical, but in principle it sets an interesting precedent for future Jakobs weapons.

Blade Fury

This is one of the few weapons in Borderlands 3 that can deal melee damage with its bullets. This weapon is further unique because while it deals melee damage it still also deals a portion of regular bullet damage.

Hellwalker

This Borderlands 3 easter egg weapon is a reference to the iconic double-barrel shotgun from the recent Doom franchise games. Hellwalker deals extremely high damage, especially in the hands of Vault Hunters who can passively refill its magazine without reloading.

Rowan's Call

There are a few Jakobs weapons in Borderlands 3 with “Call” in the name, and they all behave identically to each other. These weapons all come with an Elemental damage type, and upon scoring critical hits they refund ammo and spawn homing projectiles. These are essentially infinite ammo weapons, but what sets Rowan’s Call above the other weapons of this kind is its large magazine size, which makes it forgiving to players who occasionally miss.