Big Alejandro

At a Glance

Big Alejandro is the highest sustained-DPS Exotic LMG in The Division 2 when paired with an out-of-cover playstyle, peaking around 12-15M DPS on a Strikers build with the talent active. It trades the safety net of cover for a flat +100% Total Weapon Damage modifier and a 25% bigger magazine, which is the largest single damage multiplier on any LMG in the game.

• Best for aggressive players who already run Strikers, Future Initiative, or Glass Cannon and don't camp behind walls.
• 100-round magazine (125 with the talent active) keeps the trigger held for the full 8-second damage window.
• Punishes legendary content if you don't have the survivability to stand exposed — pair with high armor regen.
• Falls behind status-effect LMGs (Iron Lung, Pestilence) for utility, but eats raw HP pools faster than anything in slot.

Full Stats

Weapon Talent

The Big Show — While out of cover, gain +100% Total Weapon Damage. Magazine size increased by 25%.

The talent is binary: you are either out of cover (full bonus) or you aren't (zero bonus). There's no ramp, no stack timer, no decay window. As soon as you vault out or step away from a wall, the +100% Total Weapon Damage applies and the magazine bumps from 100 to 125.

That "Total Weapon Damage" bucket is the same one Glass Cannon, Berserk, and Vigilance feed into, which is why this gun scales so hard with the right brand mix. With Strikers Battlegear at full stacks plus the talent active, peak DPS sits around 12-15M. Sustained DPS over a full shoot+reload cycle (8 seconds firing, 4.46 seconds reloading = 12.46s total) drops to roughly 7-9M, which is still ahead of every non-exotic LMG.

The 25% magazine bonus matters more than it looks. A standard LMG with 100 rounds at 750 RPM empties in 8 seconds. With 125 rounds you stretch that to 10 seconds before the reload, which keeps Strikers stacks alive longer and reduces the percentage of your cycle spent reloading from 36% down to 30%.

Top Builds

Big Alejandro × Strikers LMG (S-tier)

The default pairing. Strikers gives 6 stacks of +1% Weapon Damage per shot landed (max 100), and the LMG's 750 RPM rebuilds stacks fast after a reload. Out-of-cover bonus stacks multiplicatively on top, which is where the 12-15M peak comes from. Run Glass Cannon chest for an extra +25% damage taken/dealt — you're already exposed, lean into it.

→ Build details: /builds/big-alejandro-striker-lmg

Big Alejandro × Future Initiative

For players who want to stay aggressive without dying in legendary. Future Initiative converts skill tier into healing-on-skill-use for the team, and you can still hit ~7M sustained DPS while topping up armor every few seconds. Lower ceiling than Strikers, much higher floor.

→ Build details: /builds/big-alejandro-future-initiative

Big Alejandro × Glass Cannon

The pure-damage variant. Glass Cannon chest piece gives +25% damage dealt and +25% damage taken, which compounds with the talent for the highest theoretical numbers in the game on this gun. Only viable in directives or content where you control aggro — heroic or below, or with a dedicated tank running Sentry's.

PvE vs PvP

PvE. This is where Big Alejandro lives. Heroic and below, the +100% bonus is essentially a free uptime modifier — most engagements push you out of cover anyway, so you're not losing a defensive layer you'd actually use. Legendary is where the discussion starts: hunters, Black Tusk grenadiers, and Cleaners with flame turrets all punish standing still in the open. You need at least 1.2M armor and either Future Initiative healing or a Reviver Hive to make the talent's uptime worth the risk. Players running solo legendary should consider Iron Lung or Pestilence instead — the DPS gap closes when you're dead.

Raid content is mixed. Iron Horse boss rooms have predictable enemy lanes where you can post up out of cover behind a railing, and Big Alejandro shreds Lt. Boyd's HP pool. Dark Hours is rougher — the bullet density on heroic+ forces cover use, which kills the talent uptime.

PvP. Skip it. The 100-round magazine and slow reload don't fit Conflict's pace, and Dark Zone players will dodge into cover the second they see the muzzle flash. The talent's "out of cover" condition is too easy to deny when your opponent has full situational awareness.

Pros & Cons

Comparison

Big Alejandro vs Iron Lung. Alejandro wins on raw single-target DPS, Iron Lung wins on group fights and status-driven builds. If your team runs hazard protection or status effect amplification, Iron Lung is the team-fit choice. Solo? Alejandro every time.

Big Alejandro vs Bullet King. Bullet King's infinite magazine means zero downtime — its sustained DPS is technically uncapped over long fights. But Alejandro's peak burst and Strikers synergy beats Bullet King's flat output by 30-40% during the shoot window. For boss DPS phases, Alejandro. For long sustained add-clear (Summit floors, Countdown), Bullet King is less stressful.

Big Alejandro vs Pestilence. Different roles. Pestilence is a DoT spreader for crowd content — its damage tick stacks across enemies and chips through groups. Alejandro is a single-target executioner. Don't pick between them; carry one based on the activity.

FAQ

Is Big Alejandro still good in TU22?

Yes — it remains the top-tier exotic LMG for raw DPS in TU22.1, with no nerfs since release. The Strikers pairing is the strongest LMG build in the current meta, and the only LMGs that compete are Bullet King (for infinite mag) and Pestilence (for DoT). For any content where you can stand out of cover safely, Big Alejandro is the answer.

Where do I farm Big Alejandro?

Big Alejandro drops as a guaranteed reward from the Iron Horse raid weekly completion on the boss Lt. Boyd, with a low-percentage chance from each boss in the raid otherwise. There's no targeted loot pool for it outside the raid — Countdown and Summit do not drop it. Run Iron Horse weekly with a discovery group if you don't have a static team.

Big Alejandro vs Bullet King — which is better?

Big Alejandro wins on peak DPS, Bullet King wins on uptime. If you're doing boss damage phases or burst windows, Alejandro's +100% Total Weapon Damage talent puts it 30-40% ahead during the shoot window. For long add-clear sessions where reloading is annoying, Bullet King's infinite magazine makes life easier. Most meta players carry Alejandro and swap to Bullet King for Summit grinding.

Does The Big Show talent stack with Glass Cannon?

Yes, and it's the standard min-max pairing. The talent's +100% Total Weapon Damage and Glass Cannon's +25% damage dealt feed into different multiplicative buckets, so they compound rather than overlap. The catch is Glass Cannon's +25% damage taken — combined with being out of cover, you're squishy. Run a Future Initiative or Reviver Hive backup.

How risky is the out-of-cover playstyle in legendary?

Risky enough that you need to plan around it. Legendary enemies can two-shot a non-armored player from outside your optimal range, so you need at least 1.2M armor, armor regen rolls, and ideally a healing Hive or Future Initiative SHD watch. Players who run hybrid or red builds without survivability will die before the talent's bonus pays off. The Strikers build linked above includes the survivability balance most groups run.

Does the talent work with skills?

No — The Big Show only affects weapon damage from Big Alejandro itself. Skill damage, grenades, and signature weapons are not boosted. This is why pure skill-build players skip it; it's a weapon-build exotic.

Is the 25% magazine bonus worth a Mag Size mod?

Yes, but you don't need to double-roll. The base 100 + 25% talent bonus puts you at 125, which is enough to keep the firing window above 10 seconds. Adding an Extended Mag attachment pushes it further but costs you damage attributes elsewhere — most builds prefer Optimized or Headhunter mods over more rounds.

Can I use Big Alejandro for solo legendary?

You can, but only with the right build. Solo legendary requires you to control aggro, which means peeking out of cover constantly anyway — the talent uptime is naturally high. Pair with Future Initiative for self-healing, run Strikers for stack DPS, and use a Reviver Hive as your insurance. It's not the easiest exotic LMG to solo with (Iron Lung's status uptime is more forgiving), but it kills bosses faster than anything else.

Verified vs In-Game

Last reviewed: 2026-04-25 · TU22.1 · Verified vs in-game All DPS numbers calculated by divcalc.xyz — open in calculator to test custom builds.