Top 5 Borderlands 3 Best Assault Rifles and How To Get Them

Updated:

21 Aug 2020

Assault rifles in borderlands 3 range from being useful to being essential to builds.

While people may have some different opinions on how useful they are for their individual classes, here are what I believe to be the top 5 overall and how to get them.

5. O.P.Q. System

The O.P.Q. System is named after a gun in the game called the Q-System. This is just the OP version of it.

The O.P.Q System is an assault rifle that was only obtainable during the Revenge of the Cartels event. If you want to get one now on the max level, I’m sorry but you’re too late. Like any of the other weapons or equipment available during events, that was the only time they would be available. This is the only reason why it is so low on the list. If this article was made sooner, it would be at the top no doubt.

Manufacturer: Atlas

This weapon’s flavor text is actually a Simpsons reference. Only real fans will know which episode it’s from, do you know which one?

O.P.Q. System Stats

Legendary
Very High Damage
Average Accuracy and Handling
Great Reload Time, Fire Rate, and Magazine
B.Y.O.B.B. - Greatly increased stats. Fires 2 projectiles at the cost of 1 ammo. Occasionally causes a shock explosion on hit. Alternative Fire mode deploys a hovering drone replica of the gun which follows the wielder and fires at targets. Significantly slower alternate firing mode regeneration speed.

What Made the O.P.Q. System Great

Does a lot of damage
Doesn’t expressly do shock damage, so it works on shock immune enemies as well, but works best on enemies that can also take shock damage.
Was BIS for every vault hunter

Where the O.P.Q. System dropped

Enemies in the Revenge of the Cartels event.
Increased chance to drop from Joey Ultraviolet located in Villa Ultraviolet

4. Good Juju

There is an enemy in the game called Dinklebot who drops loot o grams which you can turn in to crazy earl to get items. Remind you of any game in particular?

The Good Juju assault rifle isn’t the best right off the bat, but with proper build-up, it can be really good. The main drawback of the Good Juju is the critical damage decrease. However, you’ll soon find that the Good Juju can make up for it all on its own.

Manufacturer: Dahl

This weapon is actually a reference to Destiny. If you know, you know.

Good Juju Stats

Legendary
Average Damage
Great Accuracy, Handling, Magazine, and Reload Time
Average Fire Rate
Kinda, sorta wants to end all existence - Magazine is instantly refilled on kill. Non-critical hits grant a 20% critical hit bonus that stacks up 25 times. Stacks are removed upon manual reload.

What makes the Good Juju Great

Damage ramps up when you use the special weapon effect correctly
Not the best but not the worst, does pretty good.

How to get the Good Juju

Drops at Mayhem 4 or higher from The Ravager located in the Forgotten Basilica on Promethea
Also drops at Mayhem 4 or higher from the Valkyrie Squad and Wotan the Invincible located in the Maliwan Takedown on Midnight’s Cairn.

3. Sickle

You might think that the sickle fires from its underbarrel attachment in a shotgun formation, however it actually fires from the main barrel in a shotgun formation.

The Sickle is an assault rifle, but it handles and shoots just like a shotgun. So as you can imagine, it doesn’t do very well at a distance, but if you can get up close and personal with this weapon, you can do some real damage. It also can come in an elemental variant with any of the other elements. So if your build relies on that, it can accommodate.

Manufacturer: Vladof

Did you know that there was a weapon in Borderlands called the Hammer that was very similar? If only there was some kind of notable symbol that both of these weapons form.

Sickle Stats

Legendary
Fairly High Damage
Great Handling
Low Fire Rate. Accuracy, Magazine, and Reload Time.
Swing the sickle! - Increased projectile damage, recoil, and ammo consumption. Fires projectiles in the shape of a sickle. No Alternative Fire mode.

What Makes the Sickle Great

Trades high fire rate for more damage per shot and a higher ammo cost
If you have the Boom prefix you do splash damage

How to get the Sickle

World Drop
Warden located in the Anvil on Eden-6

2. Soulrender

The soulrender's homing skulls will sometimes seek out different enemies, making it work very well for crowd control.

The Soulrender is a great assault rifle with a spooky special weapon effect. Courtesy of it being from DLC 2. Apart from doing solid damage, the soulrender also comes in several elemental variants. It can come in both burst-fire and full-auto variants like most Dahl weapons. Although full-auto is preferred.

Manufacturer: Dahl

I don’t know what the soulrender red text is referencing. But did you know that the bosses it drops from, Tom and Xam are actually references to twin brothers Tomax and Xamot from the G.I. Joe cartoon?

Soulrender Stats

Legendary
Solid Damage
Great Handling, Accuracy, Reload Speed, and Magazine
Average Fire Rate.
Picture a soul. Now REND that thing! - When fired while aimed in the direction of enemies, occasionally spawns a homing purple skull that explodes on contact with an enemy. Significantly increased damage.

What Makes the Soulrender Great

The homing skulls contribute to high speed builds.
Helps with staying mobile but relies on the special weapon effect a lot

How to get the Soulrender

Drops from Tom and Xam located in the Hearts Desire on Xylourgos.

1. Monarch

The monarch's alternate fire mode doesn't actually increase your accuracy as you would imagine, instead, it just increases the bullets produced.

This assault rifle is an absolute beast. It can shred enemies on just about any character. If you have the right loadout, this thing can just melt anything it touches. It’s a wonder it hasn’t been nerfed yet. It doesn’t lend itself well to high speed builds, but when you use the Monarch, you don’t need to worry about speed.

Manufacturer: Vladof

This weapon’s red text is a reference to the Monarch from the Venture Bros. cartoon. For the most part he remains the show’s main antagonist.

Monarch Stats

Legendary
BUSTED Damage
STUPID HIGH Magazine
Average Accuracy, Handling, and Fire Rate
Low Reload Time
The deadly sting of the monarch! - Increased damage. Fires 3-10 bullets for the cost of 1 ammo. Bullet fire in a randomized spread that resembles a filled square. Always spawns with a bipod and melee attachment. Firing in bipod mode deals double damage.

What Makes the Monarch Great