Norfleet GUIDE

BORDERLANDS 2

The NORFLEET

The Norfleet is a Legendary Maliwan rocket launcher that’s valued for its incredibly high burst damage, and it’s potentially the strongest weapon in its category due to its multi-shot capabilities.

Farming specific versions of this weapon is painstakingly hard, but it’s worth it for the immense power spike. So, let’s first talk about why it’s so powerful.

What Makes the NORFLEET Strong

The multi-shot itself isn’t what makes the Norfleet special, but rather its enormous explosion radius and ability to ignore terrain by being a Maliwan e-tech launcher. It’s almost mandatory to pair it with The Sham, as it’s very easy to down yourself with this weapon.

Each of its projectiles has an unpredictable trajectory, which often leads to it hitting practically every mob in the general direction you fired at.

TIPS

  • Be mindful of firing it in tight spaces
  • Try to get a shock version of the Norfleet so that it’s effective against almost every enemy
  • If you don’t have The Sham, try to use any other absorb shield to mitigate self-damage

Advantages

  • Possibly the highest damage weapon in the game if all projectiles hit
  • Guaranteed to come in either Shock, Fire, Corrosive, or Slag
  • The best gun for guaranteeing second winds

Disadvantages

  • Runs out of ammo quickly
  • Self-damage is devastating without mitigation

How to Get the NORFLEET

To get the Norfleet, you must kill either Vermivorous the Invincible or Hyperius the Invincible. Both are raid bosses with a relatively low chance of dropping it, so it takes considerable time and effort to actually get one.

Despite having a drop rate of around 1%, Hyperius is the ideal choice as it can take hours (or even days) to see a single Vermivorous. However, Hyperius requires Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty DLC.

Best Farming Method

  1. The quest
    • Go to Shade, in Oasis and take the “Hyperius the Invincible” quest (available once you completed the DLC’s main story)
    • Kill Hyperius one time
    • Turn in the quest
  2. Return to Hyperius’ arena
    • Kill him once more
    • Check if the Norfleet dropped
    • Leave the arena
  3. Re-enter and repeat until it drops
    • Hyperius repeatedly respawns if you’ve completed the quest
    • You must run until around the vending machines to trigger his respawn
    • If he doesn’t spawn, reload your game or try to pull the lever at the gate

Best Prefix for the NORFLEET

  • Puissant is the best prefix for the Norfleet as it further increases its already ridiculously high base damage.
  • Predacious is a decent alternative until you can roll a Puissant variant.
  • Prudential is also viable if that’s all you have, because bonus reload speed on a rocket launcher is still pretty strong.

Best Builds for the NORFLEET

While most characters use it as a backup weapon for Second Wind, it becomes especially powerful in builds that can sustain its heavy rocket ammo consumption and fully benefit from its massive splash damage, turning it into one of the strongest burst damage tools in the game.

SALVADOR

The Norfleet is amazing on Salvador in general, especially if you have two of them (ideally shock and slag). Since his best builds revolve around Gunzerking, you’ll obliterate everything from mobs to bosses, just don’t forget to equip an absorb shield for insurance. You can also pair it with a Grog Nozzle for insane heals. Read the Salvador Build.

GAIGE

Gaige is one of the strongest users of the Norfleet paired with The Sham, as her Anarchy stacks pump up the launcher’s damage even more while also mostly protecting her from self-damage. With a low level Logan’s Gun, you can even shoot your feet with it to generate more rocket ammo. Read the Gaige build.

MAYA

Maya can make great use of the Norfleet thanks to her ability to control enemies and create safe openings for high-damage shots. Phaselock lets her hold targets in place, making it easier to land the Norfleet’s projectiles, while pairing it with The Bee significantly boosts its damage. Read the Maya build.

When the NORFLEET is NOT Ideal

Despite its strengths, the Norfleet is not the best choice in every situation:

  • Close-range playstyles: its large splash radius makes it risky to use at very close range, especially without ways to mitigate self-damage.
  • Single-target bossing: designed for massive splash damage rather than focused DPS, which makes it less effective against tanky bosses. Weapons like the Pimpernel or the Sand Hawk + The Bee setup are usually better for consistent boss damage.
  • Ammo-restricted builds: consumes a large amount of rocket ammo per shot, making it hard to use as a primary weapon unless your build can sustain it. In these cases, more ammo-efficient weapons are a better fit.

Compared to other Weapons

Norfleet vs World Burn

In terms of raw damage and radius, the Norfleet is far superior than the World Burn. The only instance where the World Burn can be better is against single-target bosses, particularly those susceptible to fire damage.

Funnily enough, it’s one of the weapons of choice for quickly farming Hyperius the Invincible for Norfleets. This is done as Salvador, because Gunzerking with a Pimpernel and World Burn will lead to extremely fast kills due to a damage calculation glitch. (See an example of a glitched build)

Norfleet vs Nukem

While the Norfleet is one of, if not the best AOE weapon in the game, the Nukem is a more accessible rocket launcher that can fill that niche. Its downside is that it’s a slower weapon with an awkward trajectory, and it’s incredibly ammo-hungry for a weapon that only fires one rocket at a time.