Gear Calculator Borderlands: How to Use It

This gear calculator for Borderlands works out the effective DPS (damage per second) of a weapon after you enter its base damage, fire rate, reload time, magazine size, and any elemental or critical hit bonuses. You get back a single number that represents sustained damage output, plus a separate burst DPS figure for comparison. The calculator uses the standard sustained-DPS formula and lets you adjust it for the specific Borderlands game you are playing, since stats like elemental damage scaling differ between titles.

Formula

The sustained DPS formula used here is the standard one for any shooter that has a reload mechanic:

Sustained DPS = (Damage per shot × Fire rate × Average critical multiplier) ÷ (1 + (Fire rate × Reload time) ÷ Magazine size)

Where:

• Damage per shot – the damage number shown on the weapon card, before any enemy-specific resistances (units: damage points).
• Fire rate – shots per second, also shown on the card (units: shots/sec).
• Average critical multiplier – 1 + (critical hit chance × critical hit bonus). The bonus is expressed as a decimal, so a 150% bonus becomes 1.5 in the formula.
• Reload time – seconds to fully reload from empty (units: sec).
• Magazine size – number of shots before a reload is needed (units: shots).

The denominator accounts for the fraction of time you spend reloading. If you never had to reload, the sustained DPS would equal the burst DPS (the second output). The burst DPS is simply damage × fire rate × critical multiplier, ignoring reload entirely.

Worked Example

Using the default values from the calculator:

• Damage per shot = 250
• Fire rate = 8 shots/sec
• Magazine size = 30
• Reload time = 2.2 sec
• Critical hit chance = 5% (0.05)
• Critical hit bonus = 150% (1.5)

Step 1: Compute the average critical multiplier.

1 + (0.05 × 1.5) = 1 + 0.075 = 1.075

Step 2: Compute the burst DPS.

250 × 8 × 1.075 = 2,150 damage per second

Step 3: Compute the reload fraction.

Fire rate × reload time = 8 × 2.2 = 17.6 shots worth of reload time.

Divide by magazine size: 17.6 ÷ 30 = 0.5867

Step 4: Compute the sustained DPS.

2,150 ÷ (1 + 0.5867) = 2,150 ÷ 1.5867 = 1,355.0 damage per second

The calculator rounds to one decimal, so it shows 1355.0. The burst DPS shows 2150.0, and the time to empty the magazine is 30 ÷ 8 = 3.75 seconds.

Why Use a Gear Calculator for Borderlands?

Borderlands is a looter-shooter where weapon cards show many stats, but the card does not tell you which gun actually kills faster. A gear calculator helps you compare two weapons that look similar but have different trade-offs. For example, a pistol with high damage but a tiny magazine and slow reload may have lower sustained DPS than a submachine gun with lower damage but a huge magazine and fast reload. The calculator removes the guesswork.

It is especially useful when you are choosing between a weapon with a high fire rate but low damage per shot versus a slow-firing shotgun. The sustained DPS number tells you which one will wear down a boss faster over a 30-second fight, assuming you land the same fraction of shots.

How to Choose the Right Inputs

To get a useful result, you need to enter values that match your actual gameplay. Here are the key considerations:

• Damage per shot – use the damage value on the weapon card, but be aware that some weapon parts (like a Jakobs barrel) add hidden damage. If you have a weapon mod that boosts damage, add that percentage to the card value.
• Fire rate – the card value is usually accurate, but some weapons have a “burstâ€� fire mode that changes the effective rate. For burst weapons, compute the average shots per second over the burst cycle.
• Magazine size – this is the number of shots before reload, not the number of pellets for a shotgun. For a shotgun with 10 pellets per shell and a magazine of 5 shells, the magazine size is 5.
• Reload time – use the time from the start of the reload animation to the moment you can fire again. Some skills or class mods reduce reload speed; adjust accordingly.
• Critical hit chance and bonus – if you are aiming at critical spots most of the time, enter a higher chance. The default 5% is for body shots only. A sniper rifle with a 200% critical bonus and a 50% chance to hit crit spots should use 50 for chance and 200 for bonus.

Remember that the calculator assumes you are always shooting. If you are moving, jumping, or dodging, your actual DPS will be lower. It also assumes you never miss, which is rarely true in practice.

Common Mistakes and Misconceptions

One of the most common mistakes is confusing burst DPS with sustained DPS. Burst DPS is the damage you deal while the magazine lasts, ignoring reload. Sustained DPS is the average over a long period including reloads. For a boss fight that lasts longer than one magazine, sustained DPS is the number that matters.

Another mistake is entering the critical hit bonus as a decimal instead of a percentage. If the card says “+150% critical damage,� you should enter 150, not 1.5. The calculator multiplies by 100 internally, so entering 1.5 would give a multiplier of 1 + (0.05 × 0.015) = 1.00075, which is essentially no bonus.

A third issue is ignoring elemental damage. In Borderlands 2 and 3, elemental weapons (fire, shock, corrosive) deal bonus damage over time or against certain enemy types. The calculator does not include DoT (damage over time) because it varies by element and enemy. If you are comparing a fire weapon against an armored enemy, the fire DoT may add significant DPS that the calculator does not capture. Use the calculator for the base bullet damage, then mentally add the elemental effect based on the enemy type.

Borderlands 2 vs. Borderlands 3 Differences

The formula is the same across Borderlands games, but the numbers behave differently. In Borderlands 2, weapon damage scales with level and rarity, and there is a “slag� mechanic that doubles damage from other elements. In Borderlands 3, there is no slag, but there are anointments that add bonus damage under certain conditions. The calculator works for both, but you need to adjust the damage input to include any active anointment or slag bonus.

For example, in Borderlands 3, a weapon with a “+100% damage while action skill is active� anointment would double the damage per shot, so you would enter double the card value. In Borderlands 2, if an enemy is slagged, you would double the damage per shot (or multiply by 2.5 if you have the “Slag� skill that increases slag damage). The calculator does not know about these mechanics, so you have to apply them manually.

Limitations of the Calculator

This calculator is a simplification. It does not account for:

• Accuracy and spread – at long range, you may miss some pellets or shots, reducing real DPS.
• Elemental resistances – an enemy may be immune or resistant to a specific element, making the weapon far less effective than the number suggests.
• Weapon parts and hidden stats – some weapon parts change damage, fire rate, or reload speed beyond what the card shows.
• Skills and class mods – many Borderlands skills increase fire rate, reload speed, or damage. You must add those bonuses to the inputs manually.
• DoT and splash damage – the calculator only considers direct bullet damage.

Use the calculator as a comparative tool, not an absolute truth. If two weapons have sustained DPS within 10% of each other, the difference is small enough that other factors (accuracy, elemental effect, handling) should decide which one you take.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this calculator work for all Borderlands games?
Yes, the base formula is the same for Borderlands 1, 2, 3, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. However, you must manually adjust for game-specific mechanics like slag in BL2, anointments in BL3, or spell damage in Wonderlands.

What is the difference between burst DPS and sustained DPS?
Burst DPS is the damage you deal while firing continuously without reloading. Sustained DPS is the average damage over a longer period that includes reload time. For short fights or one-shot kills, burst matters more; for boss fights, sustained is the better metric.

Should I include critical hits in the calculator?
Yes, if you regularly aim for critical spots. The default 5% chance is for body shots only. If you are a sniper who hits crits 80% of the time, enter 80 for chance and the weapon’s critical bonus (often 150%–200%).

Why does my weapon card show a higher DPS than the calculator?
The weapon card in Borderlands shows a “damage per secondâ€� stat that is calculated differently – it usually uses a simple damage × fire rate formula without reload time. The calculator’s sustained DPS is lower because it includes reload time, which is more realistic for continuous fire.

Can I use this for comparing a shotgun to a sniper rifle?
Yes, but be careful with shotgun pellets. Enter the damage per shell (the total damage for all pellets) and the magazine size as the number of shells, not the number of pellets. For a sniper rifle, the damage per shot is the card value, and you may want to adjust the critical chance higher since you are likely aiming for crits.

Does the calculator account for elemental damage over time?
No. The calculator only computes direct bullet damage. Elemental DoT (like fire burning) is separate and depends on the enemy type and your character’s skills. You can compare two weapons with the same element, but for cross-element comparisons, you need to estimate the DoT manually.

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in dmg | Base damage per shot | - | 250 | 0
in rate | Fire rate (shots/sec) | - | 8 | 0
in mag | Magazine size | - | 30 | 0
in reload | Reload time (sec) | - | 2.2 | 0
in crit | Critical hit chance (%) | % | 5 | 0
in critdmg | Critical hit bonus (%) | % | 150 | 0
out dps | Sustained DPS | dmg/sec | (dmg * rate * (1 + crit/100 * critdmg/100)) / (1 + (rate * reload) / mag) | 1
out burst | Burst DPS (first magazine) | dmg/sec | dmg * rate * (1 + crit/100 * critdmg/100) | 1
out magtime | Time to empty magazine | sec | mag / rate | 2