Is the Orphan Maker the most powerful shotgun in Borderlands 2?

[charwo]

Normally I'm a Hyperion Woman when it comes to shotguns. I like the accuracy, and the capacity is good. However, then I get the Orphan Maker and I'm stunned: 850% added damage? With already tremendous boom?

I know in a weapon level system (always a bad idea), a level 16 orphan maker is going to get outclassed by most moderate shotguns at level 35. But let's take level out, let's just focus on rarity and unique/legenadaries. Pound for pound is the Orphan Maker the hardest hitter around in the shotgun territory?

[kitsch]

prefer a high clip shotgun myself like the butcher, never really used the orphan maker but after a quick look at it...looks handy for taking out badasses or reviving yourself

[-creid]

If you can hit the sweet spot with the Interfacer for crits, you'll outdamage every shotgun out there. But for ease of use, The Butcher and Conference Call are incredibly good. Maybe even the Twister could be up there with them.

The Orphan Maker is really good and fun to use for a 1-2 punch though, particularly as Salvador, its the only build I have fun with him anymore. Its definitely gonna hit like a truck regardless of which Vault Hunter you use though, just gotta figure out a way to offset the self-damage on it.

[charwo]

That's what shields and cover are for.

BTW, How accurate can I get with this, considering it's functionally an elephant gun? I got it when playing Gaige and well, Anarchy....but Close Enough...

[-creid]

Once you start taking it into UVHM+OP levels, once it gets through your shields it'll start ripping through your unscaled health relatively quickly especially under sustained fire. The reason why it works well with Salvador is because you can take advantage of the healing effects of the various Moxxi weapons, to offset the self-damage, as well as getting Money Shot bonuses with the larger mag sizes of his primary weapons while using the Orphan Maker as an offhand.

I'd say its one of the more accurate shotguns outside of the Hyperion types. The recoil can take a bit to get used to but around mid-close range, crits with it are very devastating. I wouldn't personally use it for Gaige though. Twister and Conference Call works better for her, IMO.