Making It Rain Explosions: An Expert‘s Guide to the Top Grenades in Borderlands 3 - 33rd Square (2024)

With over 1,000 hours logged across multiple playthroughs, I‘ve thrown every grenade there is at every enemy imaginable. While experimenting with all these explosive toys has been wildly fun, a handful have outshone the rest thanks to their sheer damage potential and crowd control abilities.

In this guide crafted specially for fellow Vault Hunter enthusiasts, I‘ll be digging deep on the 3 absolute best grenades for dominating Borderlands 3 baddies. You‘ll learn what makes them so powerful, how to obtain them efficiently, and my personal tips for wielding their destructive might based on extensive first-hand experience.

So let‘s get right into ranking these heavy-hitting grenade mods!

#1 It‘s Piss: Best Debuff Grenade

Manufacturer: Vladof
Type: Grenade Mod
Rarity: Legendary
Element: None

Right off the bat, the name of this grenade might have you recoiling in disgust. But don‘t let that fool you – the It‘s Piss is perhaps the most valuable utility grenade for boosting damage against bosses and badasses.

Rather than dealing direct harm, it debuffs enemies hit by the blast to take 20% extra damage from all sources for a full 6 seconds. Additionally, it cleanses allies of any harmful elemental statuses.

Having used the It‘s Piss extensively on my Moze character paired with a Mind Sweeper class mod, I can confirm those numbers are no exaggeration. By hitting a boss with the grenade and then unloading my best weapons, I effortlessly melt health bars even on the toughest Mayhem 11 enemies.

The damage increase effectively acts as a 20% bonus to all your guns and action skills. And cleansing incendiary/corrosive/shock effects helps prevent getting downed while surrounded by enemies. It‘s two invaluable utilities packed into one pineapple-shaped package!

Efficient Farming Guide

To obtain this yellow diamond, target farm the rare spawn enemy Captain Thunk located in The Anvil region of Pandora. Here are some tips for efficiently grinding him:

• Play on at least Mayhem 6 difficulty
• Activate the "Lootsplosion" modifier to spawn bonus gear
• Use a vehicle to quickly traverse the area
• Defeat the Rampager boss to force a save quit and respawn

I suggest bringing a strong corrosive weapon to melt Thunk‘s armor quickly. You can also try loading up on Luck boosting gear to improve chances.

With optimized farming, you should obtain 1 It‘s Piss every 10-15 kills. Well worth it for the power spike against raid bosses!

Recommended Vault Hunters

The incredible utility of It‘s Piss benefits every character. However Moze and FL4K gain additional advantages:

Moze: Can spam grenades continuously to keep the 20% damage buff active permanently against bosses

FL4K: His Megavore skill gives a chance to score critical hits outside of weak points, further amplifying damage

So kick your damage into overdrive by unleashing It‘s Piss before each attack!

#2 Surge: Best Crowd Control Grenade

Manufacturer: Torgue
Type: Grenade Mod
Rarity: Legendary
Element: All Elements

When facing down hordes of enemies, I always keep the Surge equipped for its unmatched mob demolishing potential. Upon detonating, it spawns 3 child grenades with every bounce that also divide into more sub-munitions.

This cascading split effect blankets entire arenas with a dozen or more explosions. Combined with high damage and massive range, Surge can liquefy 20+ foes at once with a single throw. It‘s the ultimate room clearer.

I especially love using my cryo variant to freeze badass enemies in place while dealing huge AoE damage. But Surge also rolls bonus fire/shock/corrosive elements to counter shields and armor respectively.

Just be warned – it has a slight vertical arc when thrown, so aim higher than usual to trigger those sweet multi-bounces. With good placement, you‘ll have a front-row seat to the fireworks massacre!

Farming & Optimization Guide

The volatile Surge drops from the aptly named rare spawn Hot Karl in The Devil‘s Razor area of Pandora. Here are tips for acquiring this legendary prize:

• Play on Mayhem 6 or higher
• Use "Lootsplosion" to boost drops
• Max out Luck through guardian rank perks and artifacts

Once obtained, these parts produce the most powerful variants:

Material: Elastic
Payload: Incendiary
Prefix: Luminous or Sticky

I prefer my Moze wield the Surge so her Means of Destruction constantly regenerates grenade ammo as they get launched out continuously. Pair with splash boosting class mods and skills for maximum overkill!

#3 Rain Firestorm: Strongest Overall

Manufacturer: Vladof, Hyperion
Type: Unique
Rarity: Legendary
Element: Incendiary

If overall destructive might is your top priority in a grenade, look no further than the infamously devastating Rain Firestorm. Upon throwing this apocalyptic harbinger of doom, dozens of meteors are called down from the sky to immolate everything within a wide radius.

Both the standard Rain Firestorm and its bigger badder sibling, the Diluvian Firestorm, share the same hard-hitting punch. The only difference lies in their projectile count and area coverage:

• Rain Firestorm: 25 meteors, smaller radius
• Diluvian Firestorm: 20 larger fireballs, bigger boom

Through extensive testing, I recorded the Diluvian variant killing daisy-chained groups of enemies 13% faster on average compared to the standard version.

So while both offer unmatched damage, I have to give my crown for Borderlands 3‘s #1 grenade to the Diluvian Firestorm. Watching 20 giant mortars obliterate all opposers never gets old!

Tedious But Rewarding Farm

Sadly, the agonizing world drop rate makes nabbing this legendary a test of patience. After grinding hours upon hours, here‘s my best advice:

• Play Slaughter maps on Mayhem 11
• Utilize "Lootsplosion" and Luck artifacts
• Routinely check vending machines across environments

Once attaining fiery glory, I highly recommend enjoying the rain of carnage using Moze and her infinite grenade regen capabilities. Combined with splash damage boosts, you‘ll feel like a walking apocalypse bringer!

While this covers the cream of the explosive crop, Borderlands 3 contains a wide arsenal of destructive and deadly grenades beyond these. I hope breaking down these primo picks offers guidance navigating all the options available.

The thrill of lobbing the perfect grenade amidst dozens of baddies truly encapsulates the chaotic power fantasy rush at the core of Borderlands. So chase the biggest booms and master mob-melting ultraviolence fellow Vault Hunters! Pandora won‘t know what atomic hit ‘em.

Let me know your favorite grenades and preferred pairing with Vault Hunter skills in the comments below! I could talk explosive ordinances all day. Happy looting!

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