Submachine Guns, also known as SMGs, are rapid-fire weapons. They tend to have high fire rates, low damage, easily exhausted magazines, and quick reload times. SMGs are also some of the most varied weapons in Borderlands.

Contents 1 General SMG Strategy 2 Special SMG Strategy 3 Class Info 4 Varieties 5 Trivia 6 See Also

General SMG StrategyEdit

SMGs are categorized by their typically high firing rate, average accuracy (with exceptions in either direction) and quick reloading time. They do roughly the same amount of damage as Machine Pistols per shot, and serve as the middle ground between Pistols and Combat Rifles. SMGs typically suffer from very poor recoil handling when fired from the hip and for this reason short, controlled bursts of fire tend to yield better results than a sustained spray. Aiming down the sight is always recommended.

SMGs tend to be the favored weapons of Bandits and intuitively enough, all Bandits except for Bruisers fall quickly in the face of SMGs when used at medium-close to close range. With their high rate of fire, they tend to cause flinching, interrupting enemy aim and pinning them down. SMGs are passable against Skags, Scythids, and Psychos.

When looking for a good SMG quite a few things have to be considered - firepower, accuracy, scope, and a toss-up between either reload speed or recoil reduction. Firepower is self explanatory, as is accuracy; one wants to hit hard and actually hit what is being targeted. Scopes should be considered essential because of the recoil handling SMGs suffer from when firing without aiming, and iron sights can be annoyingly inaccurate compared to a dot-sight. Iron sights make it more difficult to know when to pause between bursts, because even while aiming, recoil is still a factor, manifesting itself as an up-and-down sway of the target view. Reload speed is important for SMGs because a player is going to be reloading often due to the low damage rating and high rate of fire, and less time spent reloading is more time spent having a useful weapon. Recoil reduction isn't quite as important as reload speed, but its nice enough to have that it warrants watching for, as recoil reduction allows for longer, accurate bursts of fire.

Maliwan Incendiary, Shock, Corrosive and Explosive SMGs make for some of the better elemental weapons in the game, with their high rate of fire and trigger-pool potential. Otherwise, they are mediocre weapons to have elemental effects upon as most, if not all, elemental weapons suffer from a reduced baseline damage rating to balance out the elemental trigger potential.

Special SMG StrategyEdit

Thumper SMGs have a very slow fire rate and increased damage. They are also more accurate than normal SMGs, but unless actually specified in the item card, suffer from the same amount of poor recoil handling during sustained fire as normal SMGs, displaying a large spray-zone after about eight shots. Sighting a Thumper will eliminate this effect, and if a model can be found with a scope, then the weapon is essentially a light, slow-firing, ultimately accurate machinegun-style Combat Rifle. They should still be treated like regular SMGs in terms of what falls quickly in the face of a Thumper and what doesn't, with the exception of Spiderants, who can be disoriented and then quickly finished off by the comparatively heavy per-bullet strike delivered. Thumpers with recoil reduction, like those made by Dahl, do not suffer from the recoil handling problem even when fired from the hip, allowing for effective run-and-gun tactics. Thumpers can also be useful for conserving ammo, since they won't chew through ammo nearly as fast as other SMGs like the Anarchy.

The Anarchy SMG fires a spray of four projectiles per shot at the expense of two rounds from the magazine. This effect essentially turns the SMG into a high-speed Shotgun that is able to throw up a "wall of flak." The reduced accuracy is offset by incredible damage and critical potential when used at point blank range, but it's worth noting that even Anarchy SMGs benefit from short, controlled bursts and sighting the weapon. This concentrates the spread and increases the likelihood of critical hits. Because of the short bursts, an Anarchy should be treated like a Shotgun in terms of what to use it against. Even a relatively weak Anarchy can tear apart enemy defenses at close range and is a reliable gun in extended combat if used with a Support Gunner mod with Ammo regeneration, particularly if the gun reloads fast as Tediore tends to allow. Some Anarchy type SMGs of other manufacturers possess a high reload speed- an extremely important aspect for the typically ammo-guzzling weapon.

Maliwan Hellfires are arguably the best elemental weapons in the game. Combining this weapon with a decent Firefly mod can be an extremely effective and deadly combo. Their high fire rate combined with the extremely high igniting chance can quickly stack up the elemental effect, which can be devastating against almost any enemy. This ability to hose down enemies with fire makes for a superb weapon to use against Skags, nearly every form of bandit, all Badass Bandits, every stripe of Crimson Lance including the Badasses (save for the occasional Lance Pyro), and Rakk. Hellfires should not be used against an enemy with heavy shields like Guardians and Gatling Turrets, or enemies that are resistant to Incendiary damage such as Spiderants, Scythid, or any of the fire elemental Badass creatures.

Class InfoEdit

• Lilith, while being the elemental specialist, has class mods specifically tailored to make the most use out of SMGs of any class, providing extreme damage and either elemental trigger chance or excessively high ammo regeneration. In addition, other class mods and skills for the Siren can increase elemental baseline damage, elemental trigger damage, elemental trigger chance, regular damage, accuracy, critical strike damage, and even bullet speed. Strangely, Sirens might not find much use if they equip a Hellfire, as the weapon already has a powerful 100% trigger chance, though it has been proven that the Hellfire SMG has a chance to trigger for significantly more damage, thus a Siren Hellfire user will still benefit from a plus % to trigger class mods.
• Roland, being the general gun specialist, can make extremely effective use out of the SMG in all its forms with skills and class mods that increase damage, recoil reduction, rate of fire, magazine size, and ammo regeneration. Soldiers can also make brutal use out of Maliwan Shock SMGs, turning these otherwise mediocre weapons into some of the more entertaining weapons in the game. He will also find them useful in his role as the group medic, as the usually high rate of fire, combined with the Cauterize ability, allows for quick healing of teammates.
• Brick is all about Explosive weapons. If it goes boom, then he'll make it go boom bigger and Maliwan Explosive SMGs are some of the best popguns in the game. He can increase the chance for a triggered blast, increase the baseline damage of explosive SMGs, and cause the limited area-of-effect thrown out by a triggered explosion to do more damage. The Berserker can also increase some general stats like damage, and most importantly reload speed and recoil reduction together.
• Mordecai can make some good use out of SMGs, especially Maliwan Corrosive SMGs with his Assassin Class Mod. His skills and other class mods can increase accuracy, critical strike damage, allow SMGs to bypass shields, and can even decrease the amount of time needed between bursts to regain lost accuracy to recoil.

VarietiesEdit

Common:

• Anarchy - 4 bullets per shot, uses 2 ammo, low accuracy.
• Bruiser - Increased damage at the cost of slightly slower fire rate.
• SMG - Balanced.
• Stinger - Increased fire rate.
• Thumper - Greatly increased damage but a very slow fire rate.

Unique Drops and Rewards:

• Bone Shredder "The lead wind blows" - Unique drop from Bone Head and Chaz. Fires 2 bullets per shot at the cost of 2 ammo.
• The Spy "I spy with my little eye..." - Unique quest reward from King Tossing. Large zoom and +35% Critical Hit damage.
• Typhoon "Phooon!" - Unique drop from Typhon. Bullets travel in waves and split into two at a set distance and ricochet. The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC only.

Legendary:

• Dahl Wildcat "The ultimate close quarters feline." - Very large magazine, low accuracy.
• Hyperion Bitch "Smack 'em." - Increased accuracy during sustained fire. Prefixes cause amusing names.
• Maliwan Hellfire "We don't need no water..." - High chance to ignite enemies.
• Tediore Savior "Hallelujah" - Ammo regeneration.
• Torgue Gasher "Tear it up" - 300% Burst Fire.

Pearlescent:

• Maliwan Tsunami "Flee the wave" - Bullets travel in waves, ricochet and deal either Shock or Corrosive damage.

TriviaEdit

• All SMGs in Borderlands have a design similar to or based on a FN P90.

See AlsoEdit

v • d • e Submachine Guns Common Anarchy • Bruiser • SMG • Stinger • Thumper Unique Bone Shredder • The Spy • Typhoon Legendary Dahl Wildcat • Hyperion Bitch • Maliwan Hellfire • Tediore Savior • Torgue Gasher Pearlescent Maliwan Tsunami