Borderlands 2

[Balmas]

So, I've had Borderlands 2 for almost a year now, just languishing in my Steam library, and only just now rediscovered it about a week ago. Since then, I've spent most of a few days enjoying being a ninja sniper assassin. Only just rescued Roland yesterday, now level 15.

My question for you all is this: Which of all the DLC is the best? Is the season pass worth it?

[Geno9999]

My question for you all is this: Which of all the DLC is the best? Is the season pass worth it?

Torgue and Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep are the best out of the DLCs, and the Season Pass is worth it, since it also comes with Ultimate Vault Hunter pack 1.

However, all the DLCs take place after the main story, so spoilers left and right if you haven't completed the game. This is especially the case with Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep.

[Balmas]

Torgue and Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep are the best out of the DLCs, and the Season Pass is worth it, since it also comes with Ultimate Vault Hunter pack 1.

However, all the DLCs take place after the main story, so spoilers left and right if you haven't completed the game. This is especially the case with Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep.

Ah. Thank you!

Does the game end when you kill Jack, or can you continue?

[Geno9999]

Ah. Thank you!

Does the game end when you kill Jack, or can you continue?

Short answer: yes, you can continue.

Long answer: Well, yeah you can continue after you kill Jack, how else are you supposed to get to level 72+ when Normal mode you can maybe reach level 36? Beating the Story in Normal Mode will give you access to True Vault Hunter Mode, which is just New Game+ where everything is scaled to lvl 35-50, and then beating True Vault Hunter Mode gives you access to Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, provided you have the UVHM DLC. In UVHM, all the enemies, loot, and quests scale to your current level. Because of this, it's recommended you hop over to UVHM before or when you reach lvl 50, otherwise you're in for a rougher ride than Ultimate normally is.
Word of warning though: UVHM is where lots of builds and gear that might have worked in Normal or even TVHM fail. Slag is almost mandatory when you're playing through UVHM.

[Seatbelt]

Delete the word almost from that sentence for an accurate statement. You need to have a viable slag weapon in your arsenal to be able to take down Badass anythings unless you're running a particularly broken build.

[Balmas]

Of course. The day after I go and buy the season pass, the daily sale kicks in, to make the Game of the Year edition cheaper than what I paid for the season pass.

[Geno9999]

Oh, and don't forget to have this page bookmarked. It has a list of Golden Keys/Customization codes that you can redeem. Be sure to check there often, as Randy Pitchford and the Borderlands 2 Facebook page often gives away Golden keys.
Golden Keys is only useful for getting Purple quality gear, and scales to your level when you open the Golden Chest with it. It's good for when you're leveling up your character, and you haven't found any good weapons for a while. However, it ONLY gives out Purple gear (and Blue rarity Relics,) and it can't give out Unique or Legendary gear, no matter how many keys you use.

[Balmas]

Sooo... I actually have a question for y'all.

It's not a spoiler that Handsome Jack wants to kill you. Heck, that's established before your hand ever touches the controls. Welcome to the game. Here's the introductory scene. Here's the lovely attempt on your life with high explosives. Now you may begin playing.

With that said, why does he keep you alive?

Think about it. Jack is the president of the Hyperion corporation. The New-U stations, the things that serve as the in-game respawn system for you, are Hyperion technology. Heck, you respawn there when you die, while Hyperion agents like combat engineers either respawn somewhere safe or not at all.

My first thought was that it was a matter of money. Heck, there are even cut voice lines for Handsome Jack, taunting the player about how much money he's making money off the player. Except... When you die with no money, you get reformed for free.

What does Jack have to gain from bringing you back when he out-and-out wants to kill you?

[Forrestfire]

There's a fun theory that got posted back on page 41 that made itself my headcanon:

Hyperion could be an inefficient cluster**** of a corporation--it could just be that bureaucracy and miles of red tape make it difficult to revoke New-U privileges.
After Roland started the resistance against Jack, Jack probably found out they had New-U access, and started filing the appropriate forms; a few years later, shortly before the beginning of Borderlands 2, they finally are cleared and the original Vault Hunters lose the ability to respawn. He submitted your forms after you defeated Wilhelm, as well, but they never got through because he forgot to fill out box 4 on the second page and failed to submit them notarized and in triplicate.
The Bureaucracy yields for no man, not even Handsome Jack.

Source

[Triscuitable]

There's a fun theory that got posted back on page 41 that made itself my headcanon:

Despite the fact that Pitchford has debunked any theories on this. "It's a gameplay aspect; they have nothing to do with the actual story." Paul Hellquist also stated the mission where Jack pays you to kill yourself was a joke and shouldn't have been included.

In the words of MST3K, it's just a game. You should really just relax.

[Togath]

Any tips for someone starting out?
At the moment I'm using the.. Zero? The assassin-guy.
Is he decent for soloing? Or does he do better in the multi-player game mode?
In a similar note.. What sorts of weapons should I aim for? Do any types stand out in general?

[Triscuitable]

Zer0, I'd argue, is the second-worst for soloing, just behind Gaige, as they both are extremely squishy characters. The best is hands down, Salvador. Give him a Rubi or Grog Nozzle and any other gun, and he's unbeatable. Behind him are Axton followed by Krieg. Maya sits squarely in the middle as the "support that is not needed but does a damn fine job clumping enemies together".

[ryuplaneswalker]

There's a fun theory that got posted back on page 41 that made itself my headcanon:



Source

They left out the inevitable conclusion of all of this.

Hyperion is not run by Handsome Jack, he is just a figurehead all of the true power lies within the masters of the Beauocracy.

The Vogons!

[factotum]

Despite the fact that Pitchford has debunked any theories on this. "It's a gameplay aspect; they have nothing to do with the actual story." Paul Hellquist also stated the mission where Jack pays you to kill yourself was a joke and shouldn't have been included.

I always think that's kind of a cop-out, though. The New-U stations are clearly part of the game world and thus should be included in any explanation of it--if they didn't want them to be that way, they should have chosen a different method of resurrecting the players. I suppose they were limited by the fact they introduced the new-U in the original game, where it didn't matter who ran them. Still, even with that, I don't think it would have been *that* much of an effort for them to come up with a justification why the New-U works for you (and doesn't work for certain other people who shall remain nameless, for fear of spoilers)...the fact they didn't smacks of laziness.

[Triscuitable]

It's a gameplay mechanic. The Vault Hunters never died in their exploits. It's just like when Revolver Ocelot explains to you how to resist the torture in Metal Gear Solid; he obviously never actually told Snake how to resist torture (and DEFINITELY did not know what the "square" and "circle" buttons were), but for gameplay reasons, it was a clever way to explain how to play the minigame.

[Geno9999]

If New U-stations wasn't a thing in the game, the game would basically be hard as all heck, even in Normal Mode. Don't believe me? Just watch #1Life2Live twitch streams.

Coincidentally, how many people here would watch me try a Hardcore run of BL2, just to see how fast I die?

[Balmas]

Coincidentally, how many people here would watch me try a Hardcore run of BL2, just to see how fast I die?

I cannot shout "ME!" quickly enough.

[NeoVid]

Zer0, I'd argue, is the second-worst for soloing, just behind Gaige, as they both are extremely squishy characters. The best is hands down, Salvador. Give him a Rubi or Grog Nozzle and any other gun, and he's unbeatable. Behind him are Axton followed by Krieg. Maya sits squarely in the middle as the "support that is not needed but does a damn fine job clumping enemies together".

Gaige can be easy to solo with, as she's rarely solo. Having a floating murderbot doing most of the work for you really does make things easier. She also has health and shield refilling skills.

I actually had the hardest time staying alive with Krieg, until I was high enough level to get him one of his capstone abilities.

[Triscuitable]

I actually had the hardest time staying alive with Krieg, until I was high enough level to get him one of his capstone abilities.

Like Salvador, he's very gear specific. There's a shield in Big Game Hunt that gives you 0 shields and a ton of resistance bonuses, which syncs perfectly with Krieg's "kill crush maim destroy" playstyle that gives him bonuses when his shields are down. Since you can't get those bonuses without a shield, it works out perfectly.

Coincidentally, how many people here would watch me try a Hardcore run of BL2, just to see how fast I die?

IIRC, that's a mode that was planned but cut out. It's why the graveyard glitch appeared; people were playing with others who enabled the broken hardcore mode, which "infected" (i.e., enabled broken hardcore) their saves. When they died, they lost all their progress.

[Togath]

Trying a run of Axton now.. The starting areas are a heck of a lot easier than they were with Zer0.
Among other things, I have decent medium range now.. Rather than having to either snipe from too far away to be hit by enemies, or rush them in melee and hope I survive long enough to kill them.
Any tips for what to spend skill points on?

[wiimanclassic]

Like Salvador, he's very gear specific. There's a shield in Big Game Hunt that gives you 0 shields and a ton of resistance bonuses, which syncs perfectly with Krieg's "kill crush maim destroy" playstyle that gives him bonuses when his shields are down. Since you can't get those bonuses without a shield, it works out perfectly.



IIRC, that's a mode that was planned but cut out. It's why the graveyard glitch appeared; people were playing with others who enabled the broken hardcore mode, which "infected" (i.e., enabled broken hardcore) their saves. When they died, they lost all their progress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMnHqxoVgE
Eh, Krieg starts gear dependent till he picks up a cap skill where he becomes much less gear dependent depending on which one you get, then he eventually becomes that video and gear means nothing.

Also Krieg has Raving Retribution and the rants it causes are the best thing.

[Triscuitable]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMnHqxoVgE
Eh, Krieg starts gear dependent till he picks up a cap skill where he becomes much less gear dependent depending on which one you get, then he eventually becomes that video and gear means nothing.

Also Krieg has Raving Retribution and the rants it causes are the best thing.

Well, duh. If Salvador had release the beast, it'd be nerfed, without a doubt.

[Geno9999]

Trying a run of Axton now.. The starting areas are a heck of a lot easier than they were with Zer0.
Among other things, I have decent medium range now.. Rather than having to either snipe from too far away to be hit by enemies, or rush them in melee and hope I survive long enough to kill them.
Any tips for what to spend skill points on?

Alright, to answer you question, I need to ask you a question: what's your play style like?
This is important for all characters. As you've noted, Zer0 can either be a Melee Master Ninja, a terrifying Sniper. Axton focuses on his Turrets, being crazy awesome with Torgue weapons, or survival.

[Triscuitable]

Alright, to answer you question, I need to ask you a question: what's your play style like?
This is important for all characters. As you've noted, Zer0 can either be a Melee Master Ninja, a terrifying Sniper. Axton focuses on his Turrets, being crazy awesome with Torgue weapons, or survival.

You want turrets and survival.

[Seatbelt]

You want turrets and survival.

To expound upon this if you avoid getting the "your turret shoots rockets" skill you are deliberately nerfing yourself. My turret remained the single most important offensive piece of gear I owned even through my UVM playthrough. I had a hard time killing things. They could clear whole areas by themselves.

[Triscuitable]

To expound upon this if you avoid getting the "your turret shoots rockets" skill you are deliberately nerfing yourself. My turret remained the single most important offensive piece of gear I owned even through my UVM playthrough. I had a hard time killing things. They could clear whole areas by themselves.

And definitely be the one slagging things. They've got the firepower. Your turrets are the real Vault Hunter, and you're just the turret. Support them. Got it?

[Seatbelt]

And definitely be the one slagging things. They've got the firepower. Your turrets are the real Vault Hunter, and you're just the turret. Support them. Got it?

That's more or less how I played. Although I did go for the double turret double slag route. On UVM its nice that everything is slagged all the time once they hit the field.

[Demolator]

I ended up neglecting the survival tree for the most part and I love my Axton, though he could stand to be a bit less dependent on that turret. That goes for all the characters and their skills though.

[Triscuitable]

I ended up neglecting the survival tree for the most part and I love my Axton, though he could stand to be a bit less dependent on that turret. That goes for all the characters and their skills though.

They wouldn't be their characters without their skills. They'd be "Blank the Adventurer" with slight stat alterations.

[Togath]

With regards to combat style, I'd been mainly sniping, and moving in with a "increases accuracy as you fire" pistol afterwards.. Though now that I'm remembering the turret more, I'm having a much easier time =D