Highlights

  • Tediore weapons in Borderlands games have fast reload speeds because players throw them and a new weapon is constructed, with the thrown weapon usually exploding.
  • However, Tediore weapons don't return any leftover ammo when thrown, making them expensive to use, though there are some exceptions worth using regardless.
  • Examples of powerful Tediore weapons include the Anarchy shotgun due to its stacking damage and the Baby Maker SMG due to its mini gun explosions. The Needle Gun and S3RV-80S-EXECUTE also shine due to their debuff effects.

In the recent Borderlands games, Tediore weapons’ signature feature has become their superb reload speeds. This is because instead of reloading Tediore weapons in a typical fashion, players will instead throw the weapon, and a new one will be constructed in their hands, while the thrown weapon will usually explode.

Although Tediore weapons are known for their best-in-class reload speeds, they aren’t always very efficient weapons to use. This is because thrown Tediore weapons won’t return any leftover ammo in them, which can be very expensive, except in the hands of certain vault hunters who can naturally regenerate their own ammo. However, some of Borderlands’ Tediore weapons are special exceptions that are worth using regardless of their ammo consumption.

Borderlands 2 Mr Torgue
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Tediore’s Strongest Weapons Throughout the Borderlands Franchise

Anarchy

This shotgun will progressively buff its own damage upon scoring kills with it, and the buff will last until the wielder dies or stows the weapon. The Anarchy is especially deadly when used by vault hunters who can passively regenerate ammo to sustain this weapon’s buff, although shotgun ammo is plenty easy to naturally come by in Borderlands’ ammo economy.

Baby Maker, Baby Maker ++, and IVF

These three weapons are identical legendary weapons that have shown up in separate games in the Borderlands franchise, retaining the same unique weapon effect each time. The Baby Maker and the IVF are both SMGs, while the Baby Maker ++ is a pistol with a slight twist. Throwing these weapons will cause them to explode and spawn a miniature version of the weapon that will also explode, with a chance for this to happen up to three more times. What makes the Baby Maker ++ so different is that when thrown it automatically homes in on targets, either by utilizing tiny legs or flying through the air.

Bone Shredder

This weapon from the original Borderlands doesn’t resemble any of Tediore’s signature traits, but it’s still a powerful weapon that players will have a hard time replacing. The Bone Shredder shoots two bullets for the price of one, which proves extremely effective for a high rate of fire SMG.

Brightside

The Brightside is more of a secondary utility weapon than a meta primary weapon, but it’s still incredibly powerful. After throwing this weapon it will split into four lingering drones that each shoot enemies with a separate elemental damage type. Normally, Maliwan weapons in the Borderlands games are the best-in-class for dealing elemental damage, but the Brightside’s ability to blend all four elements together is quite a spectacle.

Kaneda’s Laser

As a Tediore rocket launcher, this weapon’s explosive reload is extremely powerful, yet that’s only half of the appeal of this weapon. Instead of a standard rocket projectile, Kaneda’s Laser shoots a single, high-velocity laser, which happens to be one of the few rocket launchers in the Borderlands games that can naturally score critical hits.

Needle Gun

The Needle Gun is an easter egg weapon from Borderlands 3 that resembles the Needler weapon from the Halo franchise. After enough of this weapon’s tracking projectiles strike a single target, the target will become significantly vulnerable to incoming damage, and killing a debuffed target will fully reload the Needle Gun. The option of activating a full reload makes this weapon great against weak targets, but its debuff is still incredibly effective even against Borderlands’ raid bosses.

S3RV-80S-EXECUTE

This Tediore weapon deserves the spotlight, even if it’s just an honorable mention, because of the utility it provides. While this weapon on its own generally deals lackluster damage, hitting a target with its explosive reload applies a stackable debuff that temporarily increases incoming damage by 50%. For players who have a weapon slot to spare, this is an effective way to recreate the Slag elemental debuff from Borderlands 2.