Balance Idea - The Boomer

Borderlands 3 Borderlands 3 General Discussion
#1

Id Like to see SMGs buffed in the game generally, but i had a specific idea for The Boomer that would mean that it remains unique while improving it.

Lets start out with the issues of the boomer.

  1. Poor Base damage numbers - at around 4-5k a bullet it just cant compete with so many other splash weapons.
  2. Locked to Fire or Non elemental - i wouldn’t change this, it is just a negative of the gun.
  3. Low DPS - combined with the base damage it also has a small mag and this means the dps is very low.

Compared to the Kaoson, its closest comparison, it is out damaged because the Kaoson effectively hits twice. And the flipper out does these both on ammo cost and damage output.

So here is what i would do.

  1. Increase base damage on a level 60 version to around 14k per bullet - an annexed version would be around 11-12k per shot x2
  2. Increase Ammo cost to 2 per shot (3 for annexed version)

With these changes i think it would be slightly better than the Kaoson currently, and would rival the flipper as a good splash option, as a higher ammo cost, but higher accuracy gun.

It also makes sense that big exploding bullets take up more space and would be “2 ammo per shot”

#2

Honestly, I don’t think it should be better than the Kaoson. Neither should the Flipper, for that matter. The Kaoson is an M6+ drop which in my book means that it should outclass just basic DLC items.
Though that’s more of an issue with the Kaoson than with your proposed changes, the accuracy and crit nerf really overdid it when all it “needed” was a slight damage decrease.

#3

Yes i understand i also think the Kaoson should be better, one of the ways it is better is the choice of elements, and should have a damage buff as well, but what my idea was trying to do is keep the boomer unique, rather than just increasing the damage to make it nothing more than an instant impact Kaoson.

While my idea would make the boomer better than the current Kaoson, it would not make it better than the Kaoson if it also got a small buff along side all smgs (apart from the flipper) as i would like.

#4

Boomer need more Boom!

2 Likes
#5

people acting like slapping some mayhem gate on a gun should make it special :d as if 8 year old kid can not just play m10 if he decides to lmao. gimme a damn break. all guns and nades should be good including regular ones that is what can and will give the game longevity.

3 Likes
#6

I agree with this. Just because something is mayhem locked or drops only from raids doesn’t mean it should overshadow everything else. That would just be creating another kind of balance problem and pigeonholing every one to using that gear instead.

#7

I think that MH gear should have a slightly higher base to their damage or something special about them.
But a build with another gun MH or not would surpass it.

For example the kaoson - its the double hit and the hits while reloading that make it unique, giving life steal while you’re reloading.

#8

Not saying non-gated guns shouldn’t be good, just saying gated guns should be a bit better, after all they are a bit more of a hassle to get and are not obtainable until you have finished the story.

That’s just fair as far as I’m concerned. If they weren’t better they wouldn’t be worth the additional effort of getting.
That’s not to say they should make everything else in the game irrelevant, but they should live up to their status. And as for the Kaoson, it was very much worth it when it first released, but now… Chances are you are gonna grab yourself a Flipper or a Proprietary License or a Cutsman or a Hyperfocus instead (well, or a Smog or Kyb’s Worth, but Takedown Drops should also be on the higher end of the spectrum). They nerfed the only Dahl SMG that ever managed to be truly viable on Mayhem 2.0 and that’s kind of a shame, particularily since other, much more blatantly overpowered Mayhem gated drops like the Reflux or the Back Burner didn’t get the same kind of treatment.
Sorry, I’m just a bit salty about that.

#9

Getting M6 Kaoson is just as easy / hard as getting M6 Superball.
TBH I don’t know why any loot even is mayhem level locked as I find that really stupid but I don’t think that stuff should be better just because of that because once you turn that slider to M6+ it’s just as easy to get that as it is to get any other gun on that difficulty.