General Info
This is a list of the gear that we, as the community, feel is the best for Wilhelm in each category. This is a community guide, so if you don’t see something on here that you think should be, post your recommendation.
The structure of the guide will be as follows: 3 to 6 slots in each category for the Top Gear: the best bits of gear from that type in terms of synergy with Wilhelm’s skills and overall effectiveness. Each piece of gear will be accompanied by a short rundown on the weapon, ideal parts and how to get it. Everything is shown in relative order of preference: Weapon type, entries within each section, parts (if multiple are suggested), Elements, and Luneshine/Glitches (if any).
Lasers
Absolute Zero 1.6k
Legendary Cryo Beam Laser with a very high Elemental Effect Chance coupled with a 218% Continuous Damage Bonus coming off a base Damage that is almost double that of the Thorny Ol’ Rosie. Has a Magazine Size of only 12, but Laser Focus almost negates this downside completely. On top of that, the Recoil is much more manageable compared to any other Maliwan Beam Laser, making this a great choice for hip firing.
Elements: Only :snowflake:
Best Parts:
Maliwan Grip
Dahl Stock
Obtaining:
Drops from EOS in Deck 13.5
Grinder/World Drop
Thorny Ol’ Rosie 669
Very high Continuous Damage Bonus. Even after the nerf, it’s still fairly good Laser, but suffers from insane Recoil and low base Damage. Investment in Targeting Scope and Welcome to the Gun Show help fight these weaknesses.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :fire:
Best Parts: Fixed Parts
Obtaining:
Mission Reward from “The Beginning of the End” in TVHM or UVHM
Laser Disker 550
Explosive Laser. It fires little disks that fly quickly and deal Explosive Damage. Flying targets take double Damage. More importantly, it is the only Laser to feature Explosive Tediore Reloads, and while the Magazine Size is fairly small, the base Damage is large enough to allow this gun to easily compete with the IVF for gun chucking, especially when coupled with the Mag Size increase from Laser Focus and Welcome to the Gun Show.
Elements: Only :boom:
Best Parts:
Tediore or Maliwan Grip
Dahl or Hyperion Stock
Obtaining:
Drops from 5H4D0W-TP in The Cortex
Grinder/World Drop
Dichotomized Splitter 636
Maliwan Lasers that use the Tediore “splitter” barrel fire 3 projectiles and receive a 210% Continuous Damage Bonus for each shot. Deadly when coupled with Laser Focus and Targeting Scope.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire:
Best Parts:
Maliwan Grip
Dahl Stock
Error Code O0L4M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Accelerated Blaster 468
Maliwan Lasers that use the Dahl “blaster” barrel are extremely accurate at medium to long ranges receive a Continuous Damage Bonus for each shot. Very Ammo efficient, especially when you consistently hit your target.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire:
Best Parts:
Maliwan Grip
Dahl Stock
Error Code O0L4M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Mining Laser 400
Very high Damage, Critical Hit Damage, and Elemental Effect Chance. Fires three target-penetrating projectiles in a tight triangular pattern at the cost of 7 Ammo per shot. This synergizes well with Targeting Scope and Escalation. Also an amazing freeze tool when in Cryo.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire:
Best Parts:
Maliwan Grip
Hyperion Stock
Obtaining:
Mission Reward from “Infinite Loop”, when turned in to DAN-TRP
Sniper Rifles
Droog 405
Vladof Sniper Rifles using a Vladof barrel. High Fire Rate, and its Ammo inefficiency is somewhat mitigated by Overcharge and the yellow Glitch. Highest DPS Sniper for Wilhelm.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire:
Best Parts:
Vladof or Jakobs Grip
Dahl Stock
Skorry (Fire Rate), Gromky (Damage), or Razrez (Critical) Prefix
Error Code O0L4M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Snider 154
Maliwan Sniper Rifles using a Maliwan or Dahl barrel, the former is preferred for its immensely higher Elemental Effect Chance and Damage. Also features a bonus 50% Elemental Splash Damage on impact.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire:
Best Parts:
Maliwan Barrel
Maliwan Grip
Dahl Stock
Barking (Damage) or Gentleman’s (Critical) Prefix
Error Code O4L4M0A0 or O4L0M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Skullmasher 173
Fires a group of six Reduced-Damage pellets at the cost of one Ammo. Low Accuracy. Targeting Scope makes this thing extremely deadly.
Elements: Only :no_entry_sign:
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Dahl or Hyperion Stock
Skookum (Damage) or Tumtum (Critical) Prefix
Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) or Punisher (Critical) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Drops from Nel in Regolith Range
Grinder/World Drop
Muckamuck 101
Jakobs Sniper Rifles with a Jakobs barrel. The Damage potential with Glitch Effects is extremely high, especially with the red and yellow Glitches.
Elements: Only :no_entry_sign:
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Dahl or Hyperion Stock
Skookum (Damage) or Tumtum (Critical) Prefix
Error Code O4L4M0A0 or O4L4M4A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Omni-Cannon 239
Fires a Non-Elemental bullet that does 50% Explosive Splash Damage on impact. While it may not be the best Sniper Rifle in the conventional sense, it makes for a highly accurate hand cannon.
Elements: Only :no_entry_sign:
Note: Bullets do both :no_entry_sign: and :boom: Damage
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Hyperion or Dahl Stock
Investment (Damage) or Enterprise (Critical) Prefix
Obtaining:
Drops from The Sponx in Subconscious
Grinder/World Drop
Pitchfork 77
Fires 5 horizontal shots in a line, shaped in a “V” pattern. Consumes 2 Ammo per shot. This weapon performs amazingly against bosses, hitting several bullets on their generally larger Critical Hit Spots with each trigger pull.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Dahl Grip
Pacifying (Damage) or Night (Critical) Prefix
Dahl Stock
Punisher (Critical) or Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Pistols
Shooterang 369
An interesting Tediore Pistol, because the biggest upside to it isn’t its unique Reload. The Shooterang’s high base Damage works extremely well with Wilhelm’s mostly Fire Rate and Critical boosting skills, serving as an amazing vanilla DPS Pistol.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Tediore or Jakobs Grip
Super (Damage) Prefix
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Slapper 193
The Slapper is a Torgue Pistol that uses the Torgue barrel, giving it the highest possible Damage per Ammo spent for an automatic Pistol. While Wilhelm doesn’t have nearly as much Ammo issues as other characters, thanks to Overcharge, the Slapper’s high Damage synergizes with Afterburner and Willhelm’s other Fire Rate skills. Also features a bonus 100% Explosive Splash Damage on impact.
Elements: Only :boom:
Best Parts:
Torgue Grip
Hard (Damage) Prefix
Error Code O0L4M0A4 or O0L4M4A0
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Anarchist 146
Vladof Pistols that use the Vladof barrel, making it one of the highest DPS Pistols, at the cost of extreme Ammo inefficiency. However, this downside can be mitigated by Overcharge.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Vladof or Jakobs Grip
Vengeful (Fire Rate) or Dva (2x Projectiles) Prefix
Error Code O0L4M0A4 or O0L0M4A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
T4s-R 189
Fires lasers. High Fire Rate and Accuracy. Highest Elemental Effect Chance among all Pistols.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire:
Best Parts:
Torgue or Vladof Grip
Win-Win (Damage) or Redundant (2x Projectiles) Prefix
Obtaining:
Holodome (Guaranteed in Round 1)
Repeater 104
Dahl Pistols that use the Dahl barrel, allowing it to get an extra shot in its Burst. This gun was fairly average prior to the addition of Glitch Effects. When using a Glitched variant. this gun receives no Fire Rate penalty from the red Glitch while ADS, boosting its DPS immensely, especially with Targeting Scope. It should be noted that a Blowfly 152 is generally a better choice than a Corrosive Repeater.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Dahl, Vladof, or Jakobs Grip
Neutralizing (Damage) or React (Fire Rate) Prefix
Error Code O4L4M0A0 or O4L0M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Shotguns
Shotgun parts guide 298
The Hyperion stock is the best, except for Hyperion Shotguns, where Torgue is just as good.
Flayer
Having a larger magazine than its purple equivalents, or any Jakobs shotgun for that matter, the Flayer also has two additional projectiles, making it very powerful. Its decent accuracy can be tightened with Celestial Doppelganger, Sponsored By, or Company Man, which will make most, if not all, pellets hit a critical spot, dealing impressive damage. The Quad can still outdamage the Flayer, but only if you use Absolute Advantage to negate the Quad’s low mag and high ammo consumption.
Alternative:
Quad
Quad
Coachgun
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Critical prefix (Doc’s)
Sponsored By:
Hyperion/Jakobs/Dahl
Obtaining:
Drops from Viruses
Grinder/World Drop
Quad
Jakobs shotguns suffer from a low magazine, and increased ammo consumption, but Absolute Advantage negates those completely. The Quad can have glitch effects, and with Absolute Advantage will outdamage the Flayer.
Alternative:
Quad
Coachgun
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Critical prefix (Doc’s)
Quad:Error Code O4L4M0A0 or O4L0M0A4
Sponsored By:
Hyperion/Jakobs/Dahl
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Builds:
@Derch ‘s Deputy Jack: They call me Trinity
Development
Hyperion shotguns with the Torgue barrel. Essentially elemental quads, with normal critical and reverse recoil. Typically used by Athena, these monsters can be very effective thanks to their good stats and increase projectile count, but come with increased ammo consumption. Thankfully, Absolute Advantage is here to save the day. Much like quads, get these with the Loop glitch, get AA going, and you’ll be sending a ton of pellets down the road. Just Compensation and Sponsored By can increase their magazine size to extend the use of the glitch, and Marginal Benefit can restore the mag to 100% bypassing the reload, and therefore maintaining the glitch for further use. Melee to interrupt the Loop glitch. Company Man, Sponsored By, Celestial Doppelganger, and Precision Strike can massively improve their accuracy, making them very effective in combat, as long as Absolute Advantage is active. If not, switch to a Thinking/Bullpup.
Alternative:
Thinking
Development
Best Parts:
Jakobs / Hyperion Grip
Critical prefix (Critical)
Error Code O0L4M0A4
Sponsored By:
Jakobs/Scav/Hyperion/Vladof
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop/Glitch chest
Flakker
Increased Damage. Consumes 4 Ammo per shot. Projectiles split into several “flak” explosions that occupy a fixed area. Does extremely well against large targets, such as Felicity or Iwajira. Even though it does not benefit from grenade damage bonuses, and cannot crit, it is still one of the highest damaging weapons in the game, and its low mag and high ammo consumption can be mitigated with AA, and Just Compensation, and Marginal Benefit can take care of the slow reload speed. Requires optimal distance to be effective.
Alternative:
Ravager/Ravager
Torguemada
Best Parts:
Torgue Grip
Pellet count prefix (Casual)
Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) Luneshine
Sponsored By:
Jakobs/Scav/Vladof
Obtaining:
Drops from Even-More-Disgusting-Tork in Stanton’s Liver
Grinder/World Drop
Thinking
Glitch Hyperion shotguns with the Hyperion barrel. Although ammo efficiency is not a big concern, these do consume one bullet per shot, and have decent stats. The pellet count is low, compared to Hyperion shotguns with other manufacturer barrels, but these can still be effective, and Absolute Advantage will not be active forever. If you get a glitch effect on, these outdamage the Bullpup.
Best Parts:
Jakobs / Hyperion Grip
Pellet count prefix (Enforceable)
Error Code O0L4M0A4
Sponsored By:
Vladof/Jakobs/Scav/Maliwan
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop/Glitch chest
Moonface
Fires in a smiley pattern, with +50% explosive splash damage. The spread can be tightened with accuracy boosts, and the magazine can be fixed with Absolute Advantage.
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Pellet count prefix (Rustler’s) or Critical prefix (Doc’s)
Sponsored By:
Jakobs/Maliwan
Obtaining:
Reward for sidequest “Red, then dead”, in Lunar Launching Station.
SMGs
Torrent 445
Increased Damage, Magazine Size, Fire Rate, and Burst Count. Extremely low Recoil when hip-fired. No Movement Speed penalty while aiming down the sights. Also has a VERY fast Fire Rate when using Burst Fire.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Dahl Grip
Dahl Stock
Flying (Bullet Speed) or Stopping (Damage) Prefix
Punisher (Critical) or Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Drops from Meg in Hyperion Hub of Heroism
Grinder/World Drop
IVF 177
Upon Reloading, it is thrown like a typical Tediore weapon and explodes. The resulting explosion spawns two smaller guns that also explode. The smaller guns deal reduced Damage. The IVF works well on any character, even Wilhelm and his lack of kit synergy with most Tediore weapons.
Elements: :no_entry_sign: :snowflake: :zap::fire:
Note: Reload will be :boom: if the gun is :no_entry_sign:
Best Parts:
Scav or Tediore Grip
Dahl Stock
Refill (Reload Speed) or Hefty (Damage) Prefix
Boominator (Grenade Damage) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Meat Grinder 194
Fires three bullets at the cost of 2 Ammo per shot. Normally, this gun has so many Accuracy and Recoil issues that it was basically unusable except for point blank combat. On Wilhelm, however, Targeting Scope and Welcome to the Gun Show make these weaknesses almost unnoticeable, extending the effective combat range. Additionally, Wilhelm’s various Fire Rate boosts from skills like Overcharge and Emergency Response turn this weapon into a bullet hose.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Scav Grip
Dahl Stock
True-Blue (Damage) or Kwikner (Bullet Speed) Prefix
Obtaining:
Drops from Meat Head in Triton Flats
Fast Talker 137
With its large Magazine Size, high Fire Rate, and fast Reload Speed, the Fast Talker is an amazing vanilla DPS weapon.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Scav Grip
Dahl Stock
True-Blue (Damage) Prefix
Obtaining:
Tales from the Borderlands Season Pass
Fridgia 111
Always Cryo. Very high Elemental Effect Chance. No Recoil, extremely high Burst Fire Count. Fires 2 bullets at the cost of 1 Ammo in a fixed pattern of the Lascaux cave paintings. Great as a freeze tool, and pretty good on its own.
Elements: Only :snowflake:
Best Parts:
Dahl Grip
Stopping (Damage) or Flying (Bullet Speed) Prefix
Obtaining:
Mission Reward from “In Perfect Hibernation”
Assault Rifles
Major Tom 399
Each shot fires three projectiles in a horizontal pattern at the cost of two Ammo. While ADS, it fires a burst of five projectiles in an horizontal line. It’s better on bosses and enemies with large Critical Hit Spots, as it lets you take full advantage of Targeting Scope.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Dahl Grip
Dahl Stock
Deep (Bullet Speed) or Feral (Fire Rate) Prefix
Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) or Punisher (Critical) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Torgue Rifle 243
Torgue AR with the normal Vladof barrel. Similar DPS to a Spitter Rifle, but without the slow spin-up time and poor Accuracy. Works well with Afterburner and Fire Rate buffs. Also features a bonus 90% Explosive Splash Damage on impact.
Elements: Only :boom:
Best Parts:
Torgue or Jakobs Grip
Dahl Stock
Slippery (Bullet Speed), Wild (Fire Rate), or Plump (Mag Size) Prefix
Error Code O0L4M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Minigun 262
Dahl ARs that use the Vladof “spinigun” barrel. Unlike other spinigun variants, the Minigun reaches its max Fire Rate instantly, with no spin-up time. The Burst Fire of the Minigun also fires way more projectiles than any other Dahl weapon, as each shot in the Burst fires three bullets. These quirks allows the Minigun to perform much better than other Assault Rifles, especially when factoring Glitch Effects and the insane Critical boost from Targeting Scope.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :no_entry_sign: :fire:
Best Parts:
Dahl or Jakobs Grip
Dahl Stock
Attack (Damage) or Onslaught (Mag Size) Prefix
Error Code O4L4M0A0 or O4L0M0A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Gatling Gun 125
Jakobs AR with the Vladof “spinigun” barrel. Fires 3 bullets at the cost of 3 Ammo per shot. High Damage coupled with a nice Type B Critical bonus coupled with Targeting Scope make it a well rounded AR. Although it is slightly less Ammo efficient than a Hammer Buster II, it more than makes up for it in DPS.
Elements: Only :no_entry_sign:
Best Parts:
Jakobs Grip
Dahl Stock
Boss (Damage) Prefix
Error Code O4L4M0A0
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Hail 95
The Hail is a unique Vladof Assault Rifle with a steep learning curve. The bullets, upon firing, go skyward in a parabolic arc. When the bullets reach the apex of the arc, they split in two and rain ugly death. This Rifle has an uncharacteristic positive Critical Damage multiplier, coupled with 80% splash damage. On top of all that, it is also a Moxxi weapon, meaning that it will heal the wielder for about 3% of all Damage dealt while it’s held. It must be noted that this particular weapon has anti-synergy with Afterburner, one of Wilhelm’s staple skills, as it raises the arc and makes the split unrealistic to achieve in mobbing scenarios. However, the various upsides for using this weapon, such as the Moxxie heal and the Splash Damage, outweigh this particular downside.
Elements: :zap: :snowflake: :fire:
Best Parts:
Jakobs or Vladof Grip
Dahl Stock
Ferocious (Damage) or Rabid (Fire Rate) Prefix
Note: The Swift (Bullet Speed) Prefix makes the arc go EVEN HIGHER. I do not recommend.
Obtaining:
Dropped from Iwajira in Serenity’s Waste
Rocket Launchers
Kaneda’s Laser 461
This Tediore Rocket Launcher is unique in the fact that instead of Rockets, it fires a highly accurate Explosive Laser that can Crit. The bonuses from Targeting Scope allow Wilhelm to snipe Crit Spots while hip firing for an insane amount of Damage. Coupled with its high Mag Size and quick Reload Speed, this is by far the best Rocket Launcher for Wilhelm.
Elements: Only :boom:
Best Parts:
Tediore Grip
Torgue or Vladof Exhaust
Torgue Sight (Fixed)
Damage Attachment
Note: The weapon will be called “Kaneda’s Laser” regardless of its Attachment, so look out for that
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Badaboom 110
Fires six mini-rockets for the price of one rocket Ammo, which is super good considering the rarity of rocket Ammo in the borderlands. One of the most versatile Rocket Launcher choices for Wilhelm.
Elements: :boom: :zap: :snowflake: :fire:
Best Parts:
Scav Grip
Torgue or Maliwan Exhaust
Maliwan or Tediore Sight
Clever (Reload Speed), Kwik-Change (Weapon Swap Speed), or Heap’d (Damage) Prefix
Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Nukem 50
This Torgue Rocket Launcher fires straight before taking a nosedive into a giant mushroom cloud of an explosion. This Launcher does a lot of Damage and can be used to clear an entire room of baddies quickly. The catch is that it only has two shots before needing to Reload. However, with skills like Overcharge and Rapid Reinforcement, this issue is not nearly as hampering.
Elements: Only :boom:
Best Parts:
Torgue Grip
Torgue or Maliwan Exhaust
Tediore Sight
dippity (Reload Speed) or Fwap A (Weapon Swap Speed) Prefix
Piercing Rounds (Shield Bypass) Luneshine
Obtaining:
Drops from Flame Knuckle in The Holodome
Grinder/World Drop
Duurp 66
A Torgue Rocket Launcher with a Torgue Barrel. The addition of Glitch Effects really makes this thing shine. In particular, the yellow and red Glitches take the already high Base Damage and makes it ridiculous. Synergizes well with Afterburner, as the Projectile Speed is very slow.
Elements: Only :boom:
Best Parts:
Torgue Grip
Maliwan or Torgue Exhaust
Maliwan or Tediore Sight
dippity (Reload Speed), Fwap A (Weapon Swap Speed), or fiddle de (Projectile Speed) Prefix
Error Code O4L4M0A0 or O4L4M4A4
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Berrigan 94
The Berrigan is quite similar to the Badaboom. The Berrigan shoots a three round burst, each containing two rockets, for a single rocket Ammo. Its higher Fire Rate allows it to have higher upfront DPS, but its lower Damage and Mag Size ultimately makes the Badaboom the better choice for longer fights.
Elements: :boom: :zap: :snowflake: :fire:
Best Parts:
Vladof Grip
Torgue or Maliwan Exhaust
Tediore or Maliwan Sight
Rugged (Damage) Prefix
Obtaining:
Holodome (Random Badass Round Reward)
Grinder
Grenades
Note: Assume the preferred Fuse Time for all Grenades to be 0.0s, and the preferred Delivery method to be Longbow/Sticky Longbow.
Cryo 418
A Vladof Cloud Grenade that deals constant Cryo Damage to any enemy in its Area of Effect. This is a great way to freeze multiple enemies at once, setting them up for Explosive Damage and/or Crits! If you don’t want to use a Cryo weapon, grab one of these instead.
Elements: Only :snowflake:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Quasar 154
Always Shock Singularity Grenade. Reduced Damage but increased Blast Radius (larger Singularity pull and Tesla effect). Enemies pulled within the Blast Radius suffer Shock DoT until the explosion occurs. Great Grenade for battlefield control, as well as stripping Shields.
Elements: Only :zap:
Obtaining:
Drops from Felicity in The Holodome and Titan Robot Production Plant
Grinder/World Drop
Storm Front 103
Deploys as a Tesla Grenade, then launches multiple smaller range, lower Damage child Tesla Grenades in an even distribution around the deployment point. Child Grenades can stick to walls and other non-horizontal surfaces. Works great as a Shield stripper, as well as freeze tool with Cold War. You can also use the Storm Front on yourself to proc Emergency Response and Vengeance Cannon.
Elements: Only :zap:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Transfusion 64
The Transfusion Grenades are manufactured by Maliwan, and return Health to you after they Damage an enemy. Both the initial explosion and the child Grenades deal Damage and can proc Elemental Effects. Especially useful in Cryo.
Elements: :snowflake: :zap: :fire: :boom:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Data Scrubber 114
The Data Scrubber is basically a Transfusion Grenade, but instead of Health, it restores Shields. It offers a different avenue of tanking when coupled with large Capacity Shields with characteristically low Recharge stats. It also regenerates Grenades like the “Magic” Grenades from BL2 did. If you can get over the fact that it has a dumpy Delivery mechanism or the fact that it only comes in Shock, it’s a very solid pick, especially for quickly restoring Shields for Emergency Response.
Elements: Only :zap:
Obtaining:
Mission Reward from “Chip’s Data Mining Adventure”, when turned in to Chip
Shields
Prismatic Bulwark 596
This Shield absorbs Laser Ammo and boosts Laser Damage and Resistance. A lot of enemies on Elpis use Lasers, so the defensive capabilities of the Bulwark are actually pretty useful. This Shield coupled with an 3DD1.e is the go-to combination for any Laser-based build.
Best Parts:
Maliwan Body
Maliwan Battery
Hyperion Capacitor
Obtaining:
Drops from Zarpedon in Eye of Helios and The Empyrean Sentinel in Eleseer
Grinder/World Drop
Haymaker 363
Adaptive Shields provide bonus Health and Elemental Damage Resistance, and are great for all purposes.The Haymaker is an interesting Adaptive Shield manufactured by Dahl, as it comes with the ability to robo-punch your DoTs away. More importantly: it comes with the highest Health boost out of all Adaptive Shields, which helps with Wilhelm’s percent Health skills, such as Energize and Fortify. Alternatively, you could use an Adaptive Shield 110, if your build is more focused on Shield Capacity than Health.
Best Parts:
Maliwan Body
Maliwan Battery
Hyperion Capacitor
Obtaining:
Mission Reward from “DAHL Combat Training: Round 5”
Shield of Ages 166
The Shield of Ages has the largest Capacity of all Turtle Shields (~200k at Level 70) at a comparably small Health penalty (~20k at Level 70). The catch is that it has fairly poor Recharge stats. However, Energize and Heatsinks can compensate for this downside. Also, this is the best Shield to combo with Divert Power, as the Health Reduction makes it proc sooner and it will regen the most Shield due to its large Capacity.
Best Parts: Fixed Parts
Obtaining:
Mission Reward from “The Temple of Boom”, when turned in to Gladstone
Shield 131
Tediore Shields have low Capacity, high Recharge Rate, and a low Recharge Delay. Because of this, they’re usually back up as soon as they go down, especially with Heatsinks and Divert Power. It’s also useful for constantly proc’ing Emergency Response and Vengeance Cannon. It must be noted that since Divert Power, Wilhelm’s primary defensive skill, is generally going to be wasted on a low Capacity Shield, that you will be very easy to kill with this Shield.
Best Parts:
Dahl Body
Hyperion Battery
Maliwan (Incendiary or Shock Immunity) or Hyperion Capacitor
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Reogenator 241
A wierd hybrid between a Tediore and an Adaptive. Very low Capacity, but extremely high Health Boost coupled with fairly good Recharge stats. The Reogenator also features a slow passive Health Regeneration that gets stronger the lower the Shield is. Wilhelm likes this Shield as an offensive Adaptive variant, designed to have a constant Emergency Response buff, while still having a decent Health Pool to sustain in combat and benefit from Wilhelm’s percent Health skills like Energize and Fortify. It should be noted that the Recharge stats are not as good as a Tediore Shield, so you’re basically only reliant on Health for survival.
Best Parts:
Maliwan Body
Maliwan Battery
Hyperion Capacitor
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Class Mods
Celestial Enforcer 473
+35% Gun Damage / +19428 Shield Capacity
Afterburner / Fire Support / Man and Machine / Targeting Scope / Auxiliary Tanks / Energize
10% Movement Speed during Action Skill
This is the best all-purpose COM for Wilhelm, as it boosts some of Wilhelm’s best offensive and defensive skills while also providing great offensive and defensive utility.
Obtaining:
Drops from The Empyrean Sentinel in Eleseer
Grinder/World Drop
Cronicler of Elpis 208
+49% Freeze Chance / +49% Cryo Damage / +14895 Shield Capacity
Rolling Thunder / Escalation / Emergency Response / Divert Power / Hazmat Containment System
Great all-purpose COM that boosts a bunch of useful high tier skills, letting you 5/5 some one point wonders such as Rolling Thunder and Hazmat Containment System, allowing you to diversify your point distribution. Almost mandatory for heavily Cryo-based builds, but works amazingly even in non-Cryo builds due to its amazing point distribution.
Obtaining:
Holodome (Guaranteed in Round 3)
Grinder
Blaster 125
+23% Laser Fire Rate / +33% Laser Accuracy
Venom Bolts / Laser Focus / Welcome to the Gun Show
One of Wilhelm’s best DPS choices for non-Cryo Laser builds, as well as some Tediore Lasers. It should be noted that this COM offers no defensive capabilities, making it less versatile than a Celestial Enforcer.
Best Parts:
High-Tech (+6 LF, +5 WtGS) Prefix
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Howitzer 78
+49% Explosive Damage / +43% Critical Damage
Fire Support / First to Fight / Targeting Scope
An amazing choice for any Explosive weapons, especially Torgue Shotguns. Other Shotguns are better served by a Celestial COM.
Best Parts:
Siege (+5 TS, +4 FS, +4 FtF) Prefix
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
High-Tech Projector 78
+23% Laser Fire Rate / +49% Slam Damage
Emergency Response / Divert Power / Heatsinks
This COM features a heavy Shield focus, while also boosting offensive capabilities. More useful in an Overcharge build focused on abusing the doubled effectiveness of Heatsinks, as it can heavily boost the effectiveness of higher Capacity Shields.
Best Parts:
(+5 Heatsinks, +4 Divert Power, +4 Emergency Response) Variant
Obtaining:
Holodome (Guaranteed in Round 4)
Oz Kits
3DD1.E 617
In addition to its Laser Damage and Shield Capacity boosts, in combat, there is a random chance for Shields and Health to rapidly regenerate. When damaged, there is a random chance to Shock nearby enemies. When killing an enemy, there is a random chance to release a care package, which provides Health, Ammunition and/or Money drops. This is a great all-around Oz Kit based solely on the utility it provides, and is practically mandatory for Laser builds.
Elements: Only :boom:
Obtaining:
Drops from CL4P-L3K in Veins of Helios. If left alone during the mission “Eradicate!”, you can come back later to farm it.
Grinder/World Drop
Tranquility 279
No friends? Don’t worry, because the Tranquility Oz Kit is just as good, providing a Damage Boost that is only marginally smaller than a full Support Relay, without forcing you to have a full Co-Op with the same Oz Kit. The Damage boost is almost always at its maximum in Atmosphere, and can be easily kept high in Vacuum.
Elements: :snowflake: :boom: :zap: :fire:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Duality 123
All Gun based Duality Oz Kits boost Gun Damage and Recoil Reduction in Atmosphere and Fire Rate and Reload Speed in a Vacuum, which are both highly useful to non-Laser weaponry. The Element based variants offer Shield Recharge boosts in Atmosphere and Elemental Damage and Effect Chance in a Vacuum. If you’re not going with a Laser build, these kits can be a good, sometimes better, alternative to the Tranquility.
Elements: :snowflake: :boom: :zap: :fire:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Bomber 61
Boosts Grenade Damage, which is highly beneficial to most Tediore, Torgue and Maliwan weaponry. Throwing Grenades midair also comes with a 59% chance to not consume Grenade Ammo.
Elements: :snowflake: :boom: :zap: :fire:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Systems Purge 95
This Oz Kit uses some of your Oxygen in order to deal a Non-Elemental Nova on hit that can shatter air masks. Also replenishes Oxygen on kill. All in all, it’s a fairly consistent boost to DPS, especially in Atmosphere.
Elements: :snowflake: :boom: :zap: :fire:
Obtaining:
Grinder/World Drop
Credits
Thanks To:
@Exotek for the banner.
@Ha_Na for helping me with testing and formatting.
@Charrisx for his amazing work in adding picture links for all of the TG
@Blutfatal for his efforts in maintaining the previous TG
@Sljm for his custom corrosive emoticon (And the original idea for Top Gears)
