Borderlands 4: All Ordnance weapon types, explained

Borderlands 4 players, in addition to their Vault Hunter powers, and various guns, also have access to Ordinance. Ordinance is a series of secondary weapon types that have long-since expanded outside of just using Grenades. They come in a few flavors, and each one has its own variations and potential augments. What you pick is entirely up to you, but each one functions differently and offers its own uses in battle.

Whether you want the precision of a thrown knife, ]the pure havoc of grenades that track, explode, split into smaller grenades, or a giant laser beam, there are tons of potential great pick-ups when it comes to Borderlands 4’s Ordinance weapons. This guide will go over the primary options, and what they mean for you.

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All types of Ordinance weapons available in Borderlands 4

Ordinance options in BL4

• Grenades
• Heavy Weapons

Throughout your time in Borderlands 4, you’re going to pick up a wide assortment of Ordinance weapons. The main types are seen above: Grenades and Heavy Weapons. Each of these have potential other sub categories, and special effects, based on the weapons manufacturer.

Whether Heavy Weapons or Grenades, Ordinance is a blast to use (Image via 2K Games)

You can also have other Augments, which are a series of other passive effects that trigger when you use the item. For example, I primarily use a Booming Spaghettifying Throwing Knife (Jakobs). This is a type of Grenade Ordinance. It has Singularity Payload which pulls enemies in, Gnawing Augment which deals 90 damage a second, and Explosive, which enhances Grenade Damage.

Instead of using ammo, like they did in the past, these now have Cooldowns, and occasionally, charges. Combining Grenades, Knives, and Heavy Weapons into one cooldown is a much better decision. You can use these weapons anytime, unless you’re in Fight For Your Life.

Sometimes one grenade quickly becomes several! (Image via 2K Games)

Once you reach level 25+, your Ordinance in Borderlands 4 can also drop with Firmware, which are essentially set bonuses like you’d see in World of Warcraft or Diablo 2.

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1) Grenades

Grenades are the standard Ordinance in Borderlands 4, and what you’ll probably see before anything else. It’s simple: you lob the grenade at enemies, and they explode! They often have wild special effects and augments, as well.

Do you prefer grenades that seek and destroy? I sure do (Image via 2K Games)

Sometimes they’ll trigger bullets that fire everywhere, greater damage radius, or they can bounce around extra times before exploding. Grenades are often very useful, and depending on which manufacturer, have specific effects, in addition to the various Augments/mods they can receive.

Manufacturer bonuses

• Daedalus (Frag Grenade): Grenades cook while held, and explode after a set Duration.
• Jakobs (Throwing Knife): Grenades deal Critical Damage when hitting Weak Points.
• Maliwan (Plasma Grenade): Grenade sticks to enemies and any that land on the ground will Propel themselves at the nearest incoming enemy.
• Order (Seeker): Grenade homes in on nearby enemies.
• Ripper (Reaver Grenade): Grenade teleports instantly to the location and explodes.
• Tediore (Satchel Charge): Double-tap to remotely detonate thrown Grenades.
• Torque (Exploder): Grenade bounces and explodes on impact with an enemy.
• Vladof (Impact Grenade): Grenade explodes on impact.

There are so many different kinds of grenades, so pick the type you prefer, and go with it. They can feature a huge wealth of different affixes/mods, so take a good look at what you find. You might even find, for example, the Penetrator Augment on a Throwing Knife to set up Vex’s Infinite Damage build.

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3) Heavy Weapons

Heavy Weapon Ordinance comes in a few flavors in Borderlands 4: Light Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, and Plasma Cannon. These weapon types come with a specific amount of ammo when you use them, and a cooldown so you can use them again when that runs out.

Sometimes you just need really really big guns (Image via 2K Games)

Unlike Grenades, these guns don’t receive specific bonus affixes/abilities based on the Manufacturer. Instead, it adjusts their stats. Each Heavy Ordinance weapon can come with a variety of mods to take advantage of.

For example, I have a Heavy Weapon Ordinance that comes with Additional Barrels to increase Fire Rate, and Two Shot, which fires both barrels simultaneously. When you use a Heavy Weapon Ordinance in Borderlands 4, you swap to that gun, with the activation button, and then fire it with the normal weapon fire button.

You can swap out before it runs out of ammo, but it still triggers the cooldown, so be aware of that. When the cooldown wears off though, it fully restores the ammo, so you never have to worry about running out. There are plenty of variations on these weapon types too, so there are plenty of damage types and special effects you can get for them.

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Check out our other Borderlands 4 guides and features

• All Weapon Manufacturers in Borderlands 4
• Who is the villain of Borderlands 4?
• What are Enhancements in Borderlands 4?
• Does Borderlands 4 have co-op and crossplay?

Edited by Jason Parker