S&S Munitions is associated with making weapons with an extremely large magazine capacity in the Borderlands franchise. While this foundation sounds promising, unfortunately, S&S’ dedication to offering weapons that feature larger-than-average magazines comes with the downside of their weapons having some of the slowest reload speeds. It’s generally believed that S&S was put out of business by the other weapon manufacturers in the Borderlands games, which explains why S&S weapons haven’t shown up in any Borderlands game since the original.

While S&S-brand weapons have only been available so far in the original Borderlands game, other weapon brands have stepped in to offer effective alternatives that replicate the signature features of S&S weapons in their absence. Specifically, the Bandit and Scav brands of weapons in Borderlands 2 and Borderlands the Pre-Sequel also offer exceptionally high magazine capacities alongside poor reload speeds. Aside from their coincidental similarities though, Bandit and Scav-brand weapons aren’t successors to S&S and are instead a generic label that denotes weapons that come from combinations of salvaged weapon parts.

S&S’ Strongest Weapons From the Original Borderlands Game

Ultimately, because S&S weapons prioritize a high capacity over any other performance traits, they are considered one of the worst options when comparing Borderlands’ different weapon manufacturers. Since S&S-brand weaponry has only appeared in the original Borderlands game, players can only get their hands on a small collection of these weapons. Regardless though, a few S&S weapons still deserve a little bit of praise.

Crux

This shotgun shoots in a unique pattern, similar to a “+” shape. Consequently, the Crux is highly effective against human targets since most of the bullets are likely to hit the target’s center mass. However, while the bullet spread is easy to predict with this weapon, it isn’t always the best choice for landing critical hits. The redeeming quality of the Crux is that it’s guaranteed to have Explosive damage, so at the end of the day, it’s a reliable gun for crowd control against close-range targets.

Draco

In general, combat rifles are some of the most versatile weapons in the original Borderlands, so the Draco’s exceptionally high capacity alone makes it a decent weapon. With such a high magazine capacity, this combat rifle is practically guaranteed to apply Fire damage to any target that can survive more than a handful of bullets. Still, players looking to use elemental weapons should instead look out for some of the best Maliwan weapons instead of anything S&S.

Orion

The Orion is a sniper rifle that deals Shock damage, and its projectiles will split into two bullets after ricocheting off of the environment. While Mordecai happens to specialize in sniper rifles and also bypassing enemy shields with weapons, in hindsight this weapon’s Shock element is a bit of a missed opportunity, given how much potential it could have with a different Elemental damage type. Ultimately, this sniper rifle is more of a fun weapon than a meta gun due to its nature of appealing to a trick-shot playstyle, incentivizing players to land the ricochet shots for extra damage. Still, if any S&S weapons should return for future Borderlands games, the Orion arguably takes top priority for its fun factor.

Thanatos

Of the two legendary pistols made by S&S, the Thanatos is arguably better than the burst-fire counterpart, the Genesis. Since repeater pistols generally have a larger reserve ammo capacity compared to other weapon types, the Thanatos is effectively the best weapon for showcasing what makes S&S weapons so unique. While it may not hold up to Borderlands’ Legendary Infinity pistol from the other games in the franchise, which quite literally has a bottomless magazine, the Thanatos is still an enjoyable weapon compared to the other repeater pistols from the original Borderlands.