ofc, diablo can be more complex than borderlands
diablo 2 and even diablo 3 had at least “more” affixes
my point is, the legendary effects are, what makes weapons special in borderlands
not the +splash damage, +fire rate, +weapon damage
the fact that a weapon shoots swords, a weapon shoots a beam that is connected between two slow projectiles, a bullet impacts and explodes 3 times
that can be compared to legendary effects and that is the reason, weapons are used
ofc it always comes down to pure dps/survivability
but these weapons dont need a wall of affixes to be special or good
they are designed that way