Summary
When players first collect Eridian weapons in the originalBorderlandsthey are incredibly difficult to use. Although Eridian weapons have unlimited ammo that regenerates over time, these weapons can only be fired a limited amount of times before needing to recharge. Leveling upBorderlands’ Eridian weapon proficiency will allow Eridian weapons to be fired more times before running out of charges, and it will also improve their recharge rate, and their overall performance.
So far, Eridian weapons have only been available in the firstBorderlandsgame, with the exception of one weapon inBorderlands 3. If Eridian weapons return in futureBorderlandsgames, they shouldn’t come without theweapon proficiency system from the originalBorderlandsthat made them viable. Even regardless of relying on high weapon proficiency ranks though, a few Eridian weapons in particular stand out above the rest.
The Best Eridian Weapons Throughout the Borderlands Franchise
Eridian Fabricator
This weapon deserves a special mention, even though it’s not capable of dealing any damage.Borderlands 3’s Eridian Fabricatorconsumes Eridium to fire, but in turn, it shoots out weapons that players can loot, and consequently has become known as the “gun-gun.” It can shoot out a variety of lower-rarity weapons, or players can set it to fire out legendary weapons for an increased cost.
Eridian Firebomb
The General Knoxx’s Armoryexpansion for the originalBorderlandsadded a variety of Eridian weapons to what was a very limited selection in the base game. The Fire and Corrosive Eridian weapons added in this DLC came in sets of three weapons, with each set having an objectively better weapon. As such, the Firebomb is the best of the Fire Eridian weapons.
Eridian Lightning
What sets the Eridian Lighting above the other Shock elemental Eridian weapons is that it continuously deals Shock damage for a short duration after striking a target, so players don’t need to land many shots for this weapon to do its job. Extremely useful for breaking an enemy’s shield, but outside of this its Shock elemental damage isn’t very useful against unshielded enemies. There is one exception where this weapon’s Shock capabilities prove extremely useful though, which is when facingBorderlands' Eridian guardian enemies, whose health is effectively fully comprised of a shield, and consequently weak to Shock.
Eridian Mega Cannon
As the naturally stronger version of the Eridian Cannon, the Mega Cannon deserves a mention. Even with a high weapon proficiency rank with Eridian weapons, the Cannon set of Eridian weapons have extremely limited ammunition before needing to recharge, but they deal great damage if players can land their slow-moving projectiles. However, because the Eridian Cannons don’t get much use out of the weapon proficiency ranks, the Cannons, especially the Mega Cannon, are great tools to use for leveling through the Eridian weapon proficiency ranks so that the other Eridian weapons can reap the benefits from the higher ranks.
Eridian Stampeding Spatter Gun
Another one of the element-based Eridian weapons added in the dlc, which is a bit of a double-edged sword. These weapons could give the Maliwan weapons from theBorderlandsgames some healthy competition with their potent elemental effects, but unlike some ofthe best Maliwan weapons, the elemental Eridian weapons can be rather ineffective against enemies with high elemental resistances.
Eridian Wave Blaster
What makes the Wave variant of the Eridian Blaster better than the rest is that it deals shock splash damage, and its projectiles generally do more damage. However, the Wave Blaster’s wave-like projectile path that shifts up and down can often lead to players missing simple shots against stationary targets. Still though, the Wave Blaster is arguably the best of all the variations of the Eridian Blaster weapons.
