Borderlands 3 is Gearbox Software's looter shooter, published by 2K and on Steam since 13 March 2020 after six months of Epic exclusivity. Four Vault Hunters chase Troy and Tyreen Calypso across Pandora, Promethea, Athenas, Eden-6 and Nekrotafeyo, the first time the series leaves Pandora properly. The level cap sits at 72, with Mayhem 1 to 11 layered on top to scale enemies and loot for endgame play.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Keep a shock gun, a corrosive gun and an incendiary gun equipped at all times
Keep a shock gun, a corrosive gun and an incendiary gun equipped at all times. Enemy health bars are colour coded by type, and a corrosive weapon against an armoured Badass roughly halves the fight compared with the wrong element on a higher damage gun.
2. Anointments outweigh rarity by a wide margin at endgame
Anointments outweigh rarity by a wide margin at endgame. A purple weapon with a 300 percent bonus against enemies above 90 percent health frequently out damages a legendary with no anointment, so check the bottom of the item card before you sell anything.
3. Push straight to Mayhem 11 rather than sitting on Mayhem 10
Push straight to Mayhem 11 rather than sitting on Mayhem 10. Mayhem 11 keeps the highest loot and experience bonuses while switching off the random modifiers, which removes the runs where a bad modifier roll makes a boss unkillable.
4. Run True Vault Hunter Mode instead of grinding one boss in normal mode
Run True Vault Hunter Mode instead of grinding one boss in normal mode. It replays the whole campaign scaled to your level with better drop quality, so you gear up while making progress rather than resetting one map for hours.
5. Slide and mantle are not decorative
Slide and mantle are not decorative. Sliding cancels reload animations on several builds and mantling breaks enemy tracking, and Borderlands 3 is built around far more movement than Borderlands 2 ever was.
6. Learn what your manufacturer is actually doing
Learn what your manufacturer is actually doing. Tediore guns become a thrown explosive on reload, so reloading a full magazine deliberately is a damage move, and COV guns overheat instead of reloading and will break permanently if you never let them cool.
7. Guardian Rank keeps paying out past level 72 and is shared across every character on the account
Guardian Rank keeps paying out past level 72 and is shared across every character on the account. Spending points into the Enforcer, Survivor or Hunter lines early means your second Vault Hunter starts noticeably stronger than your first did.
8. Farm Graveward on Eden-6 or General Traunt on Nekrotafeyo when you need volume rather than a specific item
Farm Graveward on Eden-6 or General Traunt on Nekrotafeyo when you need volume rather than a specific item. Both have short runs back from the fast travel point, and the total loot per hour beats hunting a single dedicated drop most of the time.
9. In co-op, check whether the lobby is on Cooperation or Coopetition
In co-op, check whether the lobby is on Cooperation or Coopetition. Cooperation gives every player their own instanced loot and level scaled enemies, while Coopetition uses shared loot and one enemy level, and joining the wrong one is why loot disappears before you reach it.
10. The four DLC campaigns, Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, Guns Love and Tentacles, Bounty of Blood and Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck, hold several of the strongest guns in the game including The Monarch and the Plaguebearer
The four DLC campaigns, Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, Guns Love and Tentacles, Bounty of Blood and Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck, hold several of the strongest guns in the game including The Monarch and the Plaguebearer. They scale to your level, so there is no wrong time to start one.
Advanced Strategies
Role Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Amara the Siren (A-Tier):
- Focus on Action skills and four skill trees combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Lyuda
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For FL4K the Beastmaster (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Hellwalker
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Borderlands 3's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Action skills and four skill trees + Manufacturer specific gun behaviour: Each Vault Hunter has three base trees plus a fourth added by the Designer's Cut, and every tree carries its own action skill. Combined with Manufacturer specific gun behaviour, jakobs guns fire fast and can ricochet critical hits onto another enemy, maliwan charges then fires one of two elements, tediore guns are thrown like a grenade on reload, torgue fires explosive sticky rounds, vladof adds barrels and rate of fire, hyperion raises a shield while you aim, and cov guns overheat instead of reloading and eventually break.
Elements against health bar types + Anointments and Mayhem levels: Shock strips shields, corrosive eats armour, incendiary burns flesh, cryo slows and then freezes, and radiation spreads on kill. When paired with Anointments and Mayhem levels, anointments are extra effects tied to your action skill, such as 300 percent bonus damage against targets above 90 percent health.
Guardian Rank and True Vault Hunter Mode scaling: Guardian Rank is account wide and keeps issuing small permanent bonuses long past level 72. True Vault Hunter Mode replays the campaign at your current level against tougher enemies, and it is where most players gear up before pushing Mayhem seriously.
Weapons Efficiency
| Weapon | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lyuda | Boss damage at range, and it pairs well with FL4K critical hit builds that already multiply every shot. | A Vladof sniper rifle whose round splits into three after a short travel distance. |
| Hellwalker | Close range flesh targets, and any build that wants to delete a room without aiming carefully. | A Jakobs shotgun that fires a horizontal line of incendiary pellets and quotes Doom on its item card. |
| Cutsman | Crowds and corridors, where the widening gap between the orbs catches several enemies per shot. | A Maliwan SMG that fires two linked orbs which drift apart as they travel, cutting through anything caught between them. |
| The Monarch | Sustained damage on a stationary target, which suits Moze and anyone holding a defensive position. | A Vladof assault rifle from the Bounty of Blood expansion. |
| Plaguebearer | Slaughter waves and dense trash packs, and it remains one of the safest Mayhem 11 clear weapons. | A Torgue rocket launcher from Guns, Love, and Tentacles. |
Location Efficiency
Pandora (About 1 to 13 on a first run): The series home world and the opening act, covering The Droughts, Ascension Bluff, Devil's Razor, The Splinterlands and Konrad's Hold. Road Dog in The Splinterlands is the dedicated source for the Hellwalker shotgun.
Promethea (About 10 to 18): The Atlas corporate world, taking in Meridian Metroplex, Meridian Outskirts, Lectra City, Atlas HQ, Neon Arterial and Skywell-27. It is where the Maliwan war plot runs and where Katagawa Jr. and the Rampager sit as bosses.
Athenas (About 14 to 17): A small monastery world reached early and revisited later, home to the Order of the Impending Storm. Borman Nates on Athenas is the dedicated source for the Cutsman SMG, which keeps players coming back at every level.
Eden-6 (About 18 to 27): The Jakobs swamp world of Floodmoor Basin, The Anvil, Jakobs Estate, Voracious Canopy, Ambermire and Blackbarrel Cellars. Graveward in the Jakobs Estate was the most farmed boss in the game for the first year after launch.
Nekrotafeyo (About 28 to 33): The Eridian home world and final act, across Desolation's Edge, Tazendeer Ruins and The Pyre of Stars. It closes the Calypso story and holds General Traunt as a repeatable farm.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Carrying four guns of the same element and then wondering why armoured enemies take three magazines.
- Selling unanointed legendaries while keeping anointed purples out of the loadout, which is exactly backwards at endgame.
- Staying on Mayhem 10 for the loot bonus when Mayhem 11 gives the same rewards without the random modifiers.
- Never letting COV weapons cool, then losing them permanently when they break mid fight.
- Treating Zane like the other three by picking one action skill, when his design assumes two running at once.
Pro Quick Tips
- Keep a shock gun, a corrosive gun and an incendiary gun equipped at all times. Enemy health bars are colour coded by type, and a corrosive weapon against an armoured Badass roughly halves the fight compared with the wrong element on a higher damage gun.
- Anointments outweigh rarity by a wide margin at endgame. A purple weapon with a 300 percent bonus against enemies above 90 percent health frequently out damages a legendary with no anointment, so check the bottom of the item card before you sell anything.
- Push straight to Mayhem 11 rather than sitting on Mayhem 10. Mayhem 11 keeps the highest loot and experience bonuses while switching off the random modifiers, which removes the runs where a bad modifier roll makes a boss unkillable.
- Start with FL4K the Beastmaster, switch to Amara the Siren when ready
- Invest in Lyuda above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Pandora → Promethea → Athenas → Eden-6 → Nekrotafeyo. See our maps guide
- Action skills and four skill trees + Manufacturer specific gun behaviour together are stronger than either alone
More Borderlands 3 Guides
- Borderlands 3 Borderlands 3 Overview
- Borderlands 3 Best Builds
- Borderlands 3 Tier List
- Borderlands 3 Walkthrough
- Borderlands 3 Beginner's Guide
- Borderlands 3 Weapons Guide
- Borderlands 3 Combat Guide
- Borderlands 3 Boss Guide
- Borderlands 3 Maps & Locations
- Borderlands 3 Crafting Guide
- Borderlands 3 Classes & Characters
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