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This has been an on and off project for years that has never been fully developed. On one occasion it has landed in my notes on the old forums but the task of writing a guide for each and every Jakobs weapon has been a major headache for me to comprehend and has left me burnt out before ultimately giving up, until now anyways.
This is an in depth guide of each red text weapon, and with one case a shield, that Jakobs has in their stock. Strengths, weaknesses, where to get it, how it works, how I feel about it, and overall effectiveness are included with each weapon. I will not have a color coded scaling for the quality of each Jakobs product as I don't like ranking them. I will however tell it how it is with each item and will try not be biased (don't hold your breath) with each weapon.
The weapons and shield will be divided up into the regions they can be found: Basic Borderlands 2, Scarlett, Torgue, and Hammerlock.
Too get the most out of Jakobs firearms it is usually better to take your time and aim for critical hit locations. There are exceptions of course but for the most part Jakobs is better used as precision weapons than bullet hoses and is the companies way of compensating for not dealing as much damage as elemental weaponry. To make it even easier a Jakobs Allegiance relic with accuracy recovery and recoil reduction is very much recommended if an individual wishes to use nothing but Jakobs or rely heavily on one for most of their damage. Both the Sheriff's Badge and Deputy's Badge can be used to slightly boost Jakobs pistols and shotguns respectively, however they are not as useful as an actual Jakobs allegiance relic that has accuracy recovery and recoil reduction, especially when more than one Jakobs firearm is being used. The magazine boost that can spawn on an allegiance relic is not as useful as the other two effects the relic has to offer.
Jakobs and the Vault Hunters
While any character can use Jakobs, how it affects their overall performance and how efficient they are varies from character to character.
Out of all the Vault Hunters both Maya and Zer0 are overall the best characters for Jakobs weaponry. There are some exceptions of course but these two can make effective use of most, if not all, of what Jakobs has to offer due to their abilities. Maya has many slag abilities as well as defensive capabilities to counteract some of Jakobs faults while Zer0 can boost Jakobs weaponry to new levels of power through his action skill and skills. Out of the two though Maya can effectively use a full Jakobs weapons load out without hampering her capabilites.
The other Vault Hunter's are not as well rounded when it comes to Jakobs firearms. Salvador can make extremely good use of shotguns and to an extent the revolvers but his fast paced gameplay is the opposite of what most Jakobs firearms require to make them efficient. In fact outside of a few cases Jakobs do more harm than good with Salvador since he leans more towards unleashing a lead storm than taking well aimed shots at an enemies weak spot. Axton, with some elbow grease, can make good use of Jakobs firearms but he is not as efficient as Maya or Zer0 and deals less damage than either one.
Krieg and Gaige are, for the most part, the least Jakobs friendly of the six Vault Hunters. Gaige does well with shotguns and some fast firing revolvers but she both lacks the skills to make the precision oriented weapons more powerful and most Jakobs weapons do not fit in with her playstyle to begin with. Krieg is even worse with his chaotic playstyle and skills. While it is possible to use an assortment Jakobs weaponry on Krieg and Gaige it is more or less a way of saying "I can" rather than being efficient.
Basic Borderlands
The standard Borderlands 2 game has a very large collection of firearms and, with the level cap increase, is also the most reliable portion of the game to find the Unforgiven. For the second generation Pearlescent firearms the Godfinger and Bekah, which are dropped by Tubby enemies, can be farmed effectively wherever Tubbies frolic.
1.Judge
The Judge is potentially the first unique weapon anyone can get in Borderlands 2, unless of course Lady Luck smiles upon them and a legendary drop at their feet. I say potentially because this weapon is dropped by Assassin Oney who appears during and after the mission Assassinate the Assassins. The explosive resistant nomad can also be found in Digistruct Peak as well but that is a more difficult farm than going after him in the Southpaw Steam and Power station.
For a starter weapon in Normal and possibly True Vault Hunter Mode the Judge is a solid weapon that has decent damage, good fire rate, and overall good stats with Oney not being that difficult to kill. That being said the Judge suffers from always spawning with a Tediore barrel and is outclassed by other blue or even purple quality revolvers which are not restricted to having a lackluster barrel. When compared to other red text revolvers it is wholly outclassed; the Unforgiven does roughly three times the damage of the Judge with similar parts. As such it is not worth farming except to add to a collection.
2. Law
The Law is theoretically the second unique weapon that can be acquired but is the first guaranteed unique Jakobs in the game and unlike the Judge it is worth the effort to get. Not that pointing out an idiot in a crowd to be shot is hard to begin with in the mission Won't Get Fooled again and is a rare drop from the Sheriff in Lynchwood.
Like most Jakobs revolvers the Law can be fired incredibly fast if the fire button is clicked fast enough and the recoil is not brutal with the Dahl barrel lending a helping hand. However beyond those traits the Law gains 100% accuracy when aiming down the sights or through the scope which makes it quite accurate and surprisingly tolerant of Gaige's Anarchy stacks. Along with its accuracy the Law sports the second highest melee damage in the entire game and highest in the main game of Borderlands 2. Both the Law and the Bandit roid shield Order are both desirable items for anyone, especially Zer0 and Krieg, that wish to use melee as the combo enables melee damage to heal the user. By itself though the Law is a solid weapon that does not have any real weaknesses, but it is out damaged by true hand cannons such as the Unforgiven and Rex and is wholly outclassed by the Maggie. However unlike the three mentioned the Law is easy to get and unlike the Judge is an effective weapon in all three difficulties.
3. Triquetra
The Triquetra is a solid shotgun with a fixed spread and has one of the highest pellet counts in the game with only the Hydra out ranking it, but unlike the Hydra the Triquetra is easy to get and does not require a lot of walking or time to get it. It rewarded to the player after popping a leprechaun wannabe in the Clan War mission Over the Rainbow.
Despite having a bandit barrel which is between the Jakobs and Torgue barrel in terms of power and accuracy the Triquetra is quite accurate due to its fixed spread. It is very easy to score critical hit shots with when compared to other bushwhack shotguns. The fixed spread makes it a worthy candidate for Gaige when using Anarchy and other characters that want a hard hitting shotgun that is more accurate than a quad or bushwhack shotgun. While it is outdone by higher quality shotguns and some of similar quality the Triquetra is much easier to get and does well in all three difficulties with slag making it even more efficient. When one is hurting for a good Jakobs shotgun the Triquetra should be high on the list, especially if the individual does not want to farm for it. However unlike the Law the Triquetra does not have any source outside of its quest which can be a problem if the player wishes to get another Triquetra.
4. Stomper
The Stomper is theoretically the first of four precision rifles manufactured by Jakobs that the player can get. I say theoretically in assuming the player is following the story and not hoping into a DLC or being blessed by the RNG God in getting a Hammer Buster to drop. However unlike the other precision rifles Jakobs has in its line the Stomper is a guaranteed reward for finishing a parts collecting mission called Hungry Like the Skag. It is as simple as popping enough skags to get the parts required for Marcus to rebuild the weapon.
Compared to other Jakobs rifles the Stomper can hold its own due to its qualities and higher critical hit damage. However if not used for precision shots it is generally outdone by purple quality Jakobs rifles since the Stomper is built more as a precision rifle than a bullet hose. This makes it a poor man's sniper rifle but at the same time due to the vast amount of rifle ammunition that can be carried it can be used till the end of time without risk of running dry. When compared to the other precision rifles though the Stomper comes in dead last in all categories. The Stomper should be considered a stop-gap weapon until something more powerful comes along that outperforms it. In Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode the Stomper requires some elbow grease and a hefty amount of patience as it struggles with the beefy health bars of enemies. Like the Triquetra it has no source outside of its mission.
5. Buffalo
The Buffalo rifle is the most powerful non-elemental sniper rifle in the base game and second most powerful traditional sniper rifle per bullet when DLCs are included. Much like the Elephant Gun in the first game the Buffalo trades in the usage of a scope for high damage and is a quest reward for killing the monstrous skag Dukino's Mom in the mission Demon Hunter.
The Buffalo is a brute of a weapon that is capable dealing heavy damage to tougher enemies and is capable of knocking out weaker enemies with a single shot when the bullet connects with a critical location. While it lacks a scope the weapon has a significant zoom when aiming down the sights and with some practice can achieve shots that scoped sniper rifles can hit reliably. The lack of a scope also makes the Buffalo more efficient for medium to close range combat as it does not suffer from the same tunnel vision issue that other sniper rifles have, making it easier to spot approaching enemies that would otherwise be hidden from view.
While the Buffalo does have high damage it comes at the cost of it being a bolt action sniper rifle which makes it a tad harder to make follow up shots as opposed to semi-automatic sniper rifles made by Jakobs and even some bolt action rifles. This is however only an issue if the user misses or is in the thick of combat where such a trait will most definitely be apparent. At medium to long range the time required to cycle another round can just be used to find another target before blowing their brains out.
With how powerful it is the Buffalo does well in all three difficulties though slag definitely helps it in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. Being that it is also a guaranteed reward from a mission makes the Buffalo an excellent choice for anyone wanting to use a Jakobs sniper rifle. The buffalo is also unobtainable outside of its mission but being that it is an end game weapon it is not much of an issue as it is with the previous weapons.
The weapon does not suffer too terribly bad from mismatched parts but finding one with Jakobs grip and the Tum Tum prefix makes it even more powerful.
6. Maggie
If there is a Jakobs weapon that everyone should have, it is the Maggie. Being the last of the powerful masher revolvers the Maggie is a monster of a revolver that has no real weakness but plenty of advantages and is one the first legendary weapons that can be farmed in the Jakobs line. It is available for farming after finishing the lengthy Clan War mission chain and siding with the Hodunks and is the easiest legendary to farm--simply enter the Dust from the Lynchwood side and pop Mick Zafford as many times as needed to get it to drop.
The Maggie is a monster of a revolver that sports very high damage, a hefty magazine, tolerable recoil, good reload speed, and is surprisingly accurate despite shooting multiple projectiles at once. It is also a weapon that does not weigh in on its utility based on its prefix; the only one that can be considered bad is Two-fer and only because of recoil and not really doubling the pellet count. With these qualities the Maggie is a universal weapon that every Vault Hunter can use. Even Krieg and Gaige, who are rather anti-Jakobs with their skills and playstyle, can use the Maggie efficiently. While it is not as powerful as most high end shotguns per trigger pull the Maggie can be turned into a bullet hose and deals very high damage per second. It can often blow away enemies at close to medium range effortlessly and especially so when the pellets strike a critical hit location. There are very few, if any, situations where the Maggie is handicapped and as such the Maggie is a weapon worth the time and energy spent acquiring it.
7. Skullmasher
The Skullmasher makes a return from the first game and is actually not as good as its original incarnation. What's worse is that the Skullmasher is one of the more difficult and annoying legendary weapons to farm as its assigned loot pinata, Son of Mothrakk, is at the very end of the Wild Life Explotation Preserve and is notorious for dropping his loot in out of reach locations. For the most part it is less painful and potentially more efficient to farm the Loot Midgets in the Wild Life Explotation Preserve, or anywhere actually, than it is going after the giant rakk.
Just like the Borderlands 1 Skullmasher the Borderlands 2 version is a semiautomatic sniper rifle that acts more like a shotgun than a sniper rifle but like every Jakobs weapon the Skullmasher has lost its knockback from the first game and when compared to other sniper rifles it is not exactly stellar for the amount effort required to obtain it. Still though the Skullmasher is a powerful weapon when facing large enemies with easy to hit critical hit locations and is for the most part is stronger than other sniper rifles up close but it is at range that Skullmasher suffers. Exasperating the whole issue is that Striker, another returning Jakobs weapon, is usually a much better option than the Skullmasher outside of a sniper oriented Zer0 build as both weapons have a similar roll.
If stumbled upon the Skullmasher is an excellent gun for mid-range combat or against large enemies but to actually farm for the weapon it is not exactly worth it outside of collecting it or wanting it for a sniper build. Fortunately it does not really suffer from a bad prefix though like with every other sniper rifle in existence the bayonet prefix should be avoided like the plague that it is.
8. Striker
Like the Skullmasher the Striker is an old dog returning but unlike the Skullmasher the Striker has actually become stronger than its previous incarnation. Both the Striker and the Skullmasher are dropped around roughly the same level but the Striker is a much easier farm than the Skullmasher. The boss that drops the Striker, Old Slappy, becomes a loot pinata after finishing the mission Slap Happy.
Just as the Skullmasher thinks it is a shotgun the Striker thinks it is a sniper rifle but between the two the Striker accomplishes its dream much more efficiently. At medium range the Striker is extremely powerful and is capable of reaching out and touching enemies even further thanks to its accuracy. A few other Jakobs shotguns can as well but not without certain character skills helping them and even fewer can do the same amount of damage the Striker can do. However at close range or with just body shots the Striker is outclassed by almost every other shotgun in the Jakobs line, even point blank critical hits it can be outdone by heavy hitters such as the Orphan Maker or the Hydra.
The Striker is the most ammo efficient shotgun in the Jakobs line; requiring a single shotgun shell per trigger pull. When aiming for critical hit locations (and using slag in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode) the Striker is extremely ammo efficient and can be used for a much longer duration than any other shotguns when used properly. It also has a rather quick reload speed and the recoil, while somewhat bitty, is tolerable. While it can be fired incredibly fast the small magazine size and the recoil makes it more of a noise maker than a devastating weapon at all but point blank range when done so.
The best prefix for the Striker is Doc's which bumps its critical damage up higher with Rustler's a runner up in that it allows the shotgun to do more damage with body shots but less in critical hit locations when compared to the Doc prefix. The worst prefix for the Striker is Barbed as it has a habit of waving all over the place while aiming down the sights along with the bayonet not fitting in with how the Striker should be used.
9. Hammer Buster
The Hammer Buster is a very accurate, powerful, and easy to use rifle manufactured by Jakobs. Compared to the Stomper the Hammer Buster blows it out of the water in ever field. The Hammer Buster becomes available after taking out McNelly in The Dust who spawns during and after the Bane mission. The psycho is not exactly hard to find or to kill, in fact it takes longer to get to him than to kill and the bonus of having a vehicle on hand renders McNelly into a mere speed bump.
While the Hammer Buster is easy to turn into a bullet hose of sorts to get the most out of it the rifle should be used for critical hits. While the recoil is not as bad as some weapons the Hammer Buster is very difficult to use accurately if the user lays into it while trying to score critical hits, however it does well in snapping off accurate shots back to back when pausing. Burst fire is also a good way of using it at medium range. Sharing faults with other Jakobs rifles the Hammer Buster has a relatively small magazine and can take a while to reload which can be a problem in a fire fight if the user is too reckless. These problems however can be offset by skills and Badass ranking with the recoil being reduced with an allegiance relic if one happens to have one.
While the Hammer Buster outdoes the Stomper the Damned Cowboy outperforms the Hammer Buster in optic magnification and critical damage. When compared to the Bekah the Hammer Buster suffers the same fate it bestowed upon the Stomper, especially past the Bekah's sweet spot.
10. Unforgiven
Along with the Striker and Skullmasher the Unforgiven is a veteran of the first game. However out of all three the Unforgiven is the one that lost the most power. Not only is the Pearlescent revolver unable to spawn with the fabled masher attachment but the Unforgiven actually has a lower critical hit damage number at 75% critical damage A and 25% critical damage B. In comparison the Unforgiven in the first game had 100% revolver damage plus the 100% of its unique barrel which made it a heavy hitter even without the masher attachmnet. As a result it is a shadow of its former self and is often overlooked because of it.
Despite its fall from grace the Unforgiven is still a potent weapon when used properly, though it does have a steep learning curve. It fires much slower than other revolvers in the Jakobs line but it is offset by its accuracy and high damage when striking a critical hit location. In a sense it is a pocket sniper rifle and when used as such it is quite potent in medium to long range engagements and is very ammo efficient. It does however require a lot of elbow grease and an allegiance relic really helps it out along with a matching Jakobs grip.
The two best prefixes for the Unforgiven are Dastardly and Straight Shootin' with Dastardly outpacing Straight Shootin'. The two worst prefixes are Two-fer and Bowie. Two-fer negates the Unforgiven's accuracy with the two projectiles while Bowie--bayonet prefix--is not something you want any precision weapon to begin with.
11. Bekah
Part of the second generation Pearlescents the Bekah is hands down the most powerful Jakobs weapon in Borderlands 2 with the legendary Unforgiven in the first game being the only Jakobs weapon that rivals it. This mighty assault rifle is just as difficult to acquire as it is powerful, being only obtainable from Tubby enemies and only after reaching level 61 with the Digistruct Peak DLC.
When compared to the Hammer Buster the Bekah appears to have slightly better stats and it actually outperforms the Hammer Buster in close quarters but doing so is a waste of time. The Bekah's true potential is reached when the bullets have time to reach a certain distance before three more bullets spawn; effectively quadrupling its damage. Combined with its sniper rifle quality critical damage and the Bekah is capable of decimating enemies, slagged or no, quickly when the bullets hit a critical hit location. To compensate for this the Bekah has some hefty recoil, small magazine size, and a reload speed on par with the Hammer Buster.
With a somewhat steep learning curve and with its range requirements the Bekah should be used from medium to long range only. If playing as Maya and Zer0 with their projectile velocity skills the distance required to allow the first bullet to "birth" the three other bullets is increased significantly as the projectiles rely on time instead of distance before spawning. It is also better to either pause between shots or fire in bursts of 2-4 shots before stopping to let the gun reset. Going all out will throw accuracy out the window and make it very hard to control even with an allegiance relic.
Much like the Maggie the Bekah is effective in the hands of all the Vault Hunters due to how powerful it is. The biggest issue however is trying to get a hold of the weapon. Being that it is only dropped by Tubbies (which do not always spawn to begin with) the Bekah is a time killer of a weapon to obtain which is a weakness that is shared with the second generation of legendary COMs and Pearlescents. It is however worth the effort.
12. Godfinger
The Godfinger is the only other second generation Pearlescent with the Jakobs logo. Along with the Bekah it has a unique bullet spawning trait but unlike the Bekah which spawns all of its projectiles in one go the Godfinger spawns its projectiles gradually. As a result the Godfinger does not reach its full potential unless used at actual sniper rifle ranges and not close or medium range. If done so the Godfinger is usually outdone by other sniper rifles. When used at range however it deals considerable damage.
The Godfinger becomes laughably inefficient if Maya and Zer0 have points in their skills that increase the speed of their bullets. This is due to the fact that like the Bekah the Godfinger relies on time and not distance before spawning the extra bullets. As a result the Godfinger requires such a ridiculous amount of distance between the target and the user that continental drift may shift the target out of the way of the bullets. There are very, very, very few situations where such a distance is capable of being exploited.
While the Godfinger is an excellent sniper rifle its unique trait makes it inefficient when compared to other sniper rifles along with how combat flows in Borderlands 2. In comparison to the Bekah the Godfinger is not as sought after and with how difficult it is to obtain there are better, far easier to get sniper rifles.
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirates Booty
Captain Scarlett's DLC is both a blessing and a curse for Jakobs. It is the first time that Jakobs with elemental properties are revealed and also contains one of the most powerful shotguns in the game. At the same time however the elemental weapons are not exactly stellar and the shotgun in question relies heavily on the Rustler's prefix for it to truly shine.
1. Stinkpot
For how I feel about this weapon, the following picture fits perfectly:
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The Stinkpot breaks the rules that should never be broken. It has no critical damage, is pure splash (Maya's Reaper skill does not affect it), is difficult to farm due to the boss in question not respawning, and has very low elemental chance and DoT. The Stinkpot is what Jakobs should NOT be and as a result it falls flat on its face when compared to every other Jakobs weapon. While the corrosive element does give the thought that it would be useful against armored enemies almost every other Jakobs weapon can out perform it thanks to the innately high critical hit damage that Jakobs have. The only enemies that the Stinkpot can hope to perform well against (not in Maya's hands) is against armored titans such as Saturn and even then other Jakobs weapons will still do better.
The Stinkpot also has the wonderful trait of having a good chance of its rounds bouncing off the target and is probably the only weapon that is efficient when aiming at the enemy beside the target you want to hit. While Axton can potentially make the Stinkpot--nope sorry, not even Axton can save this thing as it is unaffected by his grenade damage boosting abilities. Both Maya and Zer0, the two characters that Jakobs work the best with, cannot make effective use of this rifle. Maya's Reaper skill makes all other weapons far more powerful than the Stinkpot (due to it being pure splash) while Zer0's critical damage boosting skills do not affect the Stinkpot.
It's a shame that the only Jakobs cannon (A Jakobs rifle that spawns with the Torgue rifle barrel) is so lackluster. While it CAN be used one has to ignore the fact that every other Jakobs weapon, even the Judge, is capable of outperforming it.
2. Orphan Maker
The Orphan Maker is part of a small collection of items that form the Cursed family and like the other Cursed items the Orphan Maker has a rather noticeable downside to using it. In the case of this shotgun it kicks so hard it damages the wielder but in exchange it has the highest damage per pellet out of any shotgun. Like the other Cursed weapons it is a quest reward in the Message in the Bottle series and is in the Oasis region.
While by itself the Orphan Maker is potent, it is extremely humorous in how a single prefix actually doubles its damage. The Rustler prefix grants every Jakobs shotgun two additional pellets and for the Orphan Maker, which has two to begin with, it effectively doubles its damage. As a result the Orphan Maker becomes an extremely powerful weapon with excellent accuracy, reload speed, and damage. Being as powerful as it is the Orphan Maker is a top tier weapon for one of the most powerful Salvador builds in Borderlands 2. Even outside of such a ridiculous build the Orphan Maker is an extremely powerful gun.
Despite its power though the self damage makes it riskier to use than other weapons, especially for Zer0 who can boost its damage to such absurd levels that it can knock him out of he is not careful. The Orphan Maker is capable of stripping weaker shields in only a few shots and stronger shields can be weakened quickly if the Orphan Maker is used excessively. It is also possible for the user to knock themselves into FFYL if they are not careful with the Orphan Maker. It is also completely reliant on the Rustler prefix as every other prefix leaves the Orphan Maker average at best.
3. Greed
Greed is the second elemental Jakobs to appear in Scarlett's DLC and like the Stinkpot it is impossible to farm. However unlike the Stinkpot the Greed is not riddled with handicaps, though it is incapable of spawning with a scope. Outside of its incendiary damage and unique trait the Greed acts like any other Jakobs revolver with its fire rate, moderate recoil, and reload speed.
What sets the Greed apart from the other revolvers however is that the user does not slow down when aiming down the sights. As a result the Greed is quite efficient in close quarters in aiming down the sights as whoever is using it won't be slowed down and can back away from an approaching enemy while making accurate shots. In the case of Axton aiming the down the sights can make him move faster than sprinting which allows Axton to weave in and out of cover or evade enemies while aiming down the sights, or just moving faster in general from one location to another.
Being elementally locked and lacking the ability to spawn a scope hinders the Greed and makes it more of a niche weapon. Also despite its incendiary damage it can be overpowered by equal or greater quality revolvers such as the Unforgiven, Rex, and potentially the Law. It is still better than the Stinkpot.
TORGUE'S CAMPAIGN OF CARNAGE
Torgue's DLC has only one Jakobs weapon, but it is the rarest Jakobs weapon in the entire game. As result this section is going to be very short but is worth mentioning.
1. Cobra
The Cobra is hands down the rarest Jakobs weapon, if not the rarest weapon period, in the game of Borderlands 2. The chances of being struck by lightening twice and having Torgue riding down the second lightning bolt while performing an air guitar solo before suplexing your hapless butt into the pavement is more likely to happen than having the Cobra drop. It is that rare.
For the most part the Cobra is a decent sniper rifle and does fairly well in the lower difficulties. Its unique trait however becomes the bane of its existence in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. The Cobra's unique effect creates an explosion upon impact which has a sizable radius and is also boosted by explosive damage, but the sniper rifle itself is not a gyro weapon like Torgue weaponry is. If it was it would be the best sniper rifle for Axton and might even be useful in the hands of Krieg, which is saying something. In it's current state though it is unaffected by any and all forms of boosting grenade damage and does not kick in any of Krieg's abilities.
The difficulty of obtaining a Cobra makes it not even worth the thought of attempting to find it. The only enemies that have a chance to spawn it are Pete's Burners in the Beatdown with the chance of it dropping being extremely low. As a result attempting to farm the Cobra will more than likely drive anyone who does so to the brink of their sanity and may even induce a violent rage. It is simply not worth the effort to try and farm it, which is a shame.
**Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt **
The final DLC that features Jakobs unique items Hammerlock's DLC also features the most and also contains the only Jakobs shield. The Hammerlock series weapons are a throw back to the standards of the first games Jakobs weaponry: high damage, accuracy, kick like a mule, and sluggish in operation.
While Hammerlock's DLC houses a large amount of Jakobs equipment it is also a Jakobs fan's worst nightmare. Most enemies have critical hit locations that are either very hard to hit or lack them to begin with. The local savages need to be killed as quickly as possible especially if a Witch Doctor is present while the wildlife are heavily armored with have very small critical hit locations. The DLC feels as if it were created to be a sick joke for anyone that likes Jakobs or uses them heavily.
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Rex
Alongside the Unforgiven the Rex is a hand cannon and not a rapid firing revolver. Even more sluggish and powerful than the Unforgiven the Rex is dropped by Bulstross after compelting the mission Palling Around and is quite powerful when used properly.
While the Rex sports higher damage than the Unforgiven, it also has slightly lower stats outside of damage but it is easier to find than the Rex. The Rex also requires more skill to use and missing shots can be painful with how slow it fires, reloads, and kicks. While its accuracy is slightly lower than the Unforgiven's there is no real difference between the two other than the Rex is better at body shots while the Unforgiven can follow up critical hits more efficiently. However it boils down to personal preference more than anything between the two hand cannons.
The sluggish fire rate means that the Rex should be used at medium to long range, which is comparable to the Buffalo in terms of combat usage but it is a much larger ammunition reserve. The wielder is more likely to die than run out of ammunition when using the Rex.
Getting to where Bulstross spawns is usually more time consuming than killing Bulstross himself to farm the Rex to begin with. Other than being bigger than other borok's Bulstross' only unique characteristic is that he throws up partially digested midgets to fight you.
Like the Unforgiven Dastardly and Straight Shootin' are the best prefixes. Between the two however it is a toss up due to how much damage the Rex already does and how the Straight Shootin' prefix can help it. Bowie and Two-fer are just as useless on the Rex as they are on the Unforgiven if not more so.
2. Hydra
Originally Atlas, the Hydra returns as a very powerful point blank Jakobs shotgun that sports the highest pellet count in the game. The sheer damage output of this shotgun is offset by the fixed spread and the fact you have to be in kissing distance to use it effectively. It is also not really bothered by prefix with only the grip having to be Jakobs to matter, although Doc's makes it more devastating when fighting enemies with large critical hit locations that can also be approached.
In terms of farming the Hydra requires a lot of walking, though not as much as the Elephant Gun or the Damned Cowboy. After finishing the Big Feet mission the massive crystalisk Rouge can be farmed for the Hydra. Staying mobile is usually the best way to combat Rouge and keeping an eye on the nearby spores is also a good idea as they can become a problem if they are aggroed by either the player or Rouge.
The Hydra is an extremely powerful shotgun that excels against melee enemies and enemies that can be approached. Beyond point blank range it is outdone by other shotguns unless enemies are clumped together tightly which is often a rare occurrence. The Hydra is also capable of chewing through ammunition like tomorrow and puts whoever wields it at risk for retaliation with how close they have to get to their target before it can do a large amount of damage, though Maya and Zer0 can more safely than others with their action skills. This can be suicide against very dangerous enemies such as God-liaths, Badass Psychos, some bosses, Badass Pyro Threshers, Rabids, and rocket totting enemies just to name a few. However when used as an exclusively anti-melee weapon only a Rustler's Orphan Maker and the Twister with an elemental relic can hope to surpass it in terms of Jakobs weaponry.
3. Damned Cowboy
The Damned Cowboy is a sniper rifle that thinks it is a rifle. This very accurate, highly damaging, and rather slow firing rifle is one of the most annoying weapons to farm in Hammerlock's DLC. Requiring anyone wanting to obtain one to finish the quest Now You See It which is almost on the other side of Candlerakk's Crag and to kill a very annoying stalker by the name of Bloodstail who is almost always invisible and is capable of regenerating his shield at an aggravating rate. A stress ball might be required if farming for a significant amount of time.
The Damned Cowboy is the Stomper's big brother and actually deals a higher amount of damage with critical hits than the Stomper and the Hammer Buster while also having the highest magnification of any Jakobs rifle in the game. This however comes at the cost of a rather sluggish fire rate, lower body shot damage, rather sluggish reload speed, and noticeable recoil. While it is outdone by all other precision weapons the Damned Cowboy is easier to use than either the Rex or Unforgiven, has a greater range than the Striker, and has a much larger ammunition reserve than sniper rifles.
Both Zer0 and Maya can make effective use of the Damned Cowboy with Axton being able to nullify some of its faults with his set of skills. Despite these benefits the Damned Cowboy is not a top tier weapon and does require patience to use.
The best prefix for the Damned Cowboy is the Boss or Horse if you lack an allegiance relic but firing the rifle as fast as you can is rather silly. Like with any other weapon a bayonet attachment is worthless unless you plan on using the Damned Cowboy as a makeshift stick to roast marshmallows over a campfire.
4. Elephant Gun
This monster of a rifle is dropped by the tough drifter Arizona who spawns at the end and after the mission Egg on Your Face.
The Elephant Rifle is the most powerful traditional sniper rifle the game and is the most difficult to use. Where as the Buffalo has iron sights the Elephant Gun lacks even these. Combined with a cumbersome cycling animation that is only surpassed by the Flakker, very steep learning curve, and possibly the most brutal recoil in the entire game makes the Elephant Gun a weapon not for the faint of heart.
These faults offset the brutal power that is the Elephant Gun which is capable of doing a large amount of damage to enemies even without slag. With slag it is capable of dismantling enemies in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode and is a very dangerous weapon in the hands of Zer0 who can boost its incredible power further with Maya being a runner up.
The Elephant Gun is best used at medium to long range due to its sluggish fire speed and recoil. While it can be used in close quarters doing so makes a miss feel a whole more painful as it takes a while to chamber a new bullet. Of all the guns on this list this is the one where an Jakobs Allegiance Relic is almost a requirement to even use as the crosshairs will try to touch the four sides of a person's monitor. The only character that can effectively use this powerhouse without an allegiance relic is Axton and even then the recoil is still tough to reign in.
6. Rough RIder
The Rough Rider is the first and only shield stamped with the Jakobs logo and is the only shield that has no real shield to begin with. Instead it gives a very large amount of health and a small amount of damage reduction and as such it is not for the faint of heart to use. This shield is dropped by The Bulwark during and after the mission Palling Around.
This shield is best used by characters who can compensate for lack of a shield by boosting their health, toughness, and/or having some way of negating the damage. The characters Salvador, Krieg, and Axton can make use of the shield but Krieg gets the most out of the shield, alongside a health relic, is the only real way to use melee Krieg without killing himself in 3-4 hits from the self inflicted melee Strikes of Silence the Voices in OP 7-8. Salvador can use it with some builds to get as much out of Inconceivable and All out of Bubblegum while Axton can use it to make use of Crisis Management. Axton can also use the Rough Rider alongside his Pointman COMs and Grit to keep him alive but is not as effective as other shields or builds. Maya can also use the shield to make use of Fleet but she is not as sturdy as the other mentioned Vault Hunters.
As a result the Rough Rider is more or less, outside of Krieg, a means to increase difficulty.
7. Twister
The Twister is a rare and ridiculously powerful shotgun when supported with proper gear. This powerful shock shotgun can only be obtained by allowing a Badass Savage to be leveled up by a Witch Doctor to a very tough enemy by the name of Omnd-Omnd-Ohk who is not a slouch in combat and can be quite hard to spawn. However for this weapon it is quite worth it.
Without being upgraded the Twister is outdone by the Hydra but with the backing of an elemental relic or in the hands of Gaige (or both if you want overkill) the Twister is capable of making enemies disappear; not even blood remains. Zer0 can make this weapon do a ridiculous amount of damage with his B0re skill, to the point it is capable of turning raid bosses into little more than sizzling piles of goo.
Such ridiculous damage comes at a cost. The Twister is very ammunition hungry due to it having a Torgue barrel and as a result it has to be reloaded rather frequently. The Twister's projectiles, a swirling vortex of shocking doom, is also very slow and even with Maya's or Zer0's projectile skills it is still a very poor choice against fast moving enemies or at range. Against enemies such as Buzzards the Twister is about as effective as shouting insults at them; a lot of noise that is going to make them angry. That is unless the Twister is shot at an approaching Buzzard which even then it has a chance to miss if the Buzzard decides to enter "float around like an idiot" mode. Enemy vehicles and other enemies that have a habit of zooming around from place to place rather than attacking head on are a serious challenge for the Twister to hit. Against larger and slower enemies though the Twister is capable of making them disappear into thin air.
The Twister is not too finicky with a prefix but the bayonet attachment is the worst for it.
8. Hawk Eye
The Hawk Eye is the only Seraph Jakobs weapon in the entire game and is dropped by two of the most annoying raid bosses in the game: Dexiduous and Voracidous.
For the most part the Hawk Eye can be considered the big brother of the Unforgiven with how it is meant to be used. It has the potential to the highest scope magnification in the game, has the highest critical damage number of any sniper rifle, is very accurate, surprisingly low recoil, and can be fired fairly quickly. These amazing traits are exchanged for laughably low base damage and a penalty against anything but critical hits.
In regards to sniping the Hawk Eye can land critical hits all day and becomes a peashooter with an allegiance relic with recoil recover and recoil reduction. Due to its magnification it can nail targets farther than most sniper rifles more reliably. Despite these qualities it is outdone damage wise by almost every single other Jakobs sniper rifle. In fact a purple Muckamuck can out do the Hawk Eye while both the Buffalo and Elephant Gun are way out of its league despite both rifles being harder to use than the Hawk Eye. It does not help its case that it is dropped by two of the most frustrating raid bosses and not simply sold in the Seraph crystal shop. The biggest issue for the Hawk Eye though is the amount of sniper rifle ammunition that can be carried. If ammunition could be regenerated like it is in Borderlands 1 the Hawk Eye would be a fantastic weapon to just sit back and spam bullets down range.
For the Hawk Eye it is potentially more beneficial to have the Skookum prefix rather than Tum Tum with the pig sticker attachment coming in dead last.
That my friends is all there is. If you have any questions or concerns fire them off below.
