In Borderlands 4, a Grenade is a type of throwable weapon that deals explosive or elemental damage to enemies. What's the strongest grenade? In this Borderlands 4 grenade tier list, we ranked the best grenades.

Borderlands 4 Grenade Tier List - Best Grenades Ranked in BL4

Unlike guns, grenades don’t rely on ammo from your inventory — they recharge over time or regenerate through special effects. Each grenade mod changes how the grenade behaves — for example, some split into multiple projectiles, home in on targets, stick to enemies, or create elemental clouds like fire, shock, or corrosive damage. You need a good grenade in Borderlands 4 because grenades are a powerful and versatile part of your overall damage and utility. Without further ado, let's dive into Borderlands 4 best grenades.

S Tier

Chaumurky 

The Chaumurky grenade is considered the top-tier best Borderlands 4 item right now. It combines tracking, stacking debuffs, and explosive scaling into one package. When thrown, it seeks out enemies and applies cumulative status effects before detonating in a massive burst. It excels in both bossing and mobbing, with unmatched consistency and damage per charge. It synergizes perfectly with Aean’s passive multipliers and cooldown reduction skills. The Chaumurky defines the current meta — high burst, easy to use, and universally strong in all content.

Waterfall 

The Waterfall grenade is currently one of the top-performing grenades in Borderlands 4. It behaves like the classic Porcelain Pipe Bomb from Borderlands 3 — detonating in a cascade of powerful explosions that stack immense burst damage. It’s excellent for both mobbing and bossing, shredding enemies with reliable consistency. Against bosses like Radix, it deals massive sustained damage when properly timed with buffs. Its only downsides are that it drops from Bio Bulkhead (a difficult boss to farm) and may require a strong build to maximize output. Still, its high impact, fast detonation, and broad AoE coverage make it S Tier — arguably the best all-around grenade.

Blockbuster 

The Blockbuster grenade is functionally similar to the Waterfall, splitting into multiple MIRV explosives on detonation. Each fragment deals powerful splash damage, making it extremely effective for crowd clearing and bossing alike. While it sometimes struggles to stay within a boss’s hitbox — reducing its total explosion count — the potential damage remains enormous when positioned correctly. It’s also farmable from Violtor, making it slightly easier to acquire than some endgame grenades. The Blockbuster shares Waterfall’s tier due to its strong multi-target scaling and adaptability. Another S-tier powerhouse for high-level play.

Slippy 

The Slippy (a returning version of Borderlands 3’s Fish Slap) is a melee grenade that scales entirely with melee damage. For melee builds, it’s absolutely devastating — one of the strongest grenades in the entire game. Even on non-melee builds, it can deal impressive burst damage because it bypasses traditional grenade scaling. Against both mobs and bosses, it simply deletes enemies, especially when paired with melee-oriented gear or skills. The only drawbacks are that it’s hard to farm — requiring fishing or Shadow Pelt drops — and completely useless on ranged builds. But for those who can use it, it’s a top-three grenade, easily earning S-tier for sheer raw power and simplicity.

Firepot 

The Firepot is currently one of the most brokenly strong grenades in Borderlands 4. It launches Torgue-style sticky projectiles that adhere to enemies and can be detonated manually by switching weapon modes. These stickies benefit from weapon damage bonuses, allowing hybrid builds (especially gun builds) to scale grenade damage far beyond normal limits. Its bossing damage is absurd — capable of deleting even high-HP targets like Phase 2 Timekeeper with ease. While it can be slightly inconsistent if you miss stickies, the payoff is so extreme that the inconsistency barely matters. It dominates both bossing and high-end mobbing, making it a clear S-tier grenade — one of the most powerful in the entire game.

A Tier

Swarm  

The Swarm is a multi-drone grenade that releases a cluster of smaller tracking projectiles. Each mini-drone independently targets enemies, making it exceptional for mobbing and bossing alike. It maintains consistent DPS and excellent area coverage. With elemental augments or damage scaling builds, it can melt bosses while cleaning up adds simultaneously. Its only drawback is that it consumes charges quickly and may lag performance in dense fights. Otherwise, it’s one of the best overall grenades in the current patch.

Recursive

The Recursive is a ricocheting energy grenade that chains between enemies and surfaces, amplifying damage per bounce. It’s devastating in tight arenas or clustered mobs and can one-cycle many bosses when built around properly. The chaining mechanic allows near-infinite scaling under certain buffs. It’s a staple for endgame Aean builds that rely on burst AoE. The only limitation is that it needs multiple targets or walls to reach peak performance. Still, it’s one of the most powerful bossing grenades in the game.

Jelly 

The Jelly grenade is a bouncing explosive that ricochets off surfaces before detonating. It’s a versatile and fun grenade that excels in early- to mid-game mobbing, though it can be frustratingly inconsistent due to its unpredictable bounce path. On the plus side, it’s one of the earliest strong grenades players can obtain (from Splash Zone), making it a go-to for new characters and early leveling. The Jelly’s strength lies in its ease of use and broad accessibility — not raw damage. Because of that, it sits solidly in A Tier, offering reliable utility for newer players but falling off compared to S-tier endgame grenades like Waterfall and Blockbuster.

Sho Kunai 

The Sho Kunai is a utility-based grenade designed to grant movement speed rather than deal damage. Each consecutive hit increases your speed up to +70%, stacking with each throw. It doesn’t kill enemies, but for mobility-focused builds — especially during exploration or speedruns — it’s excellent. Its only downside is that you need to throw it multiple times (about seven) to reach max effect, which can feel tedious or impractical in combat-heavy encounters. Still, it’s perfect for players who prioritize agility or fast repositioning. For pure function and reliability within its purpose, the Sho Kunai earns a solid A-tier placement as a top-tier utility grenade.

B Tier

UAV 

The UAV grenade acts like a tracking drone that hovers and seeks out targets. It automatically attacks enemies within range, applying light elemental or ballistic damage over time. This makes it strong for mobbing, especially when enemies are spread out. It’s also semi-useful in boss fights since it maintains damage uptime while you reposition. However, its individual hits are weak, and its lifespan is limited. UAV is a solid utility pick — great for passive DPS, weak for burst.

Transmitter

The Transmitter is a remote-detonated grenade, allowing you to trigger it at will after throwing. It’s versatile for timing explosions, setting traps, or combining with skill-based amplifiers. In bossing, it can line up high-damage bursts at the right moment. It rewards precision and planning, which fits Aean’s playstyle well. However, since it requires manual detonation, it’s not ideal for fast mobbing or chaotic fights. It’s reliable, tactical, and a favorite for players who like control over their ordinance.

Fuse 

The Fuse grenade is a bit of a mystery — it doesn’t seem to have any distinct or unique effect other than combining two augments on a single grenade. Despite that simplicity, it performs surprisingly well in both mobbing and bossing scenarios. It delivers consistent, straightforward explosive damage without requiring setup or precision, making it feel clean and effective to use. While not flashy or top-tier in burst potential, it’s reliable and easy to fit into most builds. Because it lacks any standout mechanic or scaling bonus, it doesn’t quite reach A tier — but its solid all-around performance earns it a B-tier ranking. Think of it as a dependable “jack-of-all-trades” grenade.

C Tier

Faulty Detonator 

The Faulty Detonator creates Combo Orbs (sometimes called “Tier Orbs”) upon detonation. These orbs can chain explosions or provide stacking damage interactions depending on your build. It’s a situational grenade — not great raw damage, but it offers utility for combo setups and AoE clearing. It’s a mid-tier option for hybrid builds that want extra crowd control or synergy with elemental reactions. Still, it’s inconsistent and lacks direct bossing power, keeping it around C Tier.

Skully 

The Skully grenade is a homing skull drone that automatically seeks enemies and fires at them — effectively a stronger, more advanced version of the Transmitter grenade. Initially, it suffered from level-scaling bugs, but after the fix, it became a decent mobbing tool. It’s still mediocre in boss fights due to low burst potential and lack of scaling against single targets. The Skully performs best in wide-open arenas where multiple enemies spawn, making it a C-tier utility grenade — decent for mobbing, but underwhelming for endgame boss encounters. Its limited availability (event-only) also hurts its viability.

Buzzaxe 

The Buzzaxe is a throwing melee-style ordinance that should, in theory, deal melee damage — but it doesn’t. This design flaw kills much of its potential. It functions more like a projectile that just looks like a melee weapon. In mobbing, it does moderate damage and can clear small enemies decently, but for bossing it’s almost useless, as its hits don’t scale with melee bonuses or abilities. Most of its visible damage tends to come from secondary effects like “Blackout” or “Tail of the Comet,” not the grenade itself. The Buzzaxe feels unfinished and conceptually confused — C-tier for potential, but ultimately disappointing without true melee scaling.

D Tier

Buoy Grenade

The Buoy Grenade is widely considered the weakest grenade in Borderlands 4. It functions as a stationary proximity mine, detonating when an enemy steps near it. The main issue is practicality — enemies rarely walk directly into it, and the trigger radius is extremely small. It has very low base damage, limited charges, and poor detection range, making it useless in both bossing and mobbing. No amount of damage buffing can fix its core flaw: enemies don’t stay still. It’s fundamentally an outdated, clunky design that doesn’t fit the game’s fast-paced combat.

Spinning Blade

The Spinning Blade is a returning throwing knife-type grenade that rewards skillful play — but is plagued by inconsistency. When thrown, it bounces back to the player; if caught, you regain the charge and can throw it again. However, if you miss the catch, the blade goes on cooldown. Worse, the bounce trajectory is unreliable, sometimes flying off at random angles. While it can deal decent mobbing damage with certain augment synergies (especially when paired with Blackout effects), the damage doesn’t come from the blade itself. Against bosses, it’s nearly useless due to slow returns and poor DPS uptime.

Disco

The Disco grenade looks flashy but performs poorly in actual combat. Its gimmick is that it acts like a floating disco ball, emitting a light beam or DOT (damage-over-time) effect as it moves. However, it does not home in on enemies or linger on targets — it simply drifts and deals weak incidental damage as it passes through foes. It also fails to lock onto or sustain DPS against bosses, and its hit registration feels inconsistent. While visually fun, it’s mechanically shallow and unreliable, ranking it near the bottom of the list in D tier. It’s essentially a novelty item rather than a serious ordinance choice.