Borderlands 2

[scienceguy8]

New DLC hits Nov. 20th.

More importantly, the Mac version will become available. Steamplay, too. If you own the Windows version, you own the Mac version, too.

[Triscuitable]

More importantly, the Mac version will become available. Steamplay, too. If you own the Windows version, you own the Mac version, too.

Two words that should never have been spoken in the same sentence.

[scienceguy8]

Two words that should never have been spoken in the same sentence.

Well, think of it this way: it is the ultimate proof that Gearbox are not evil. They could have waited a year and released a Mac version at full price, regardless of the Windows version price, without any DLC, and unable to play with Windows players (I'm looking at you, Black Ops). Instead, you get the Mac and Windows versions together for one price, and if you are not on a Mac, you at least get more people to play with.

[Wagadodo]

So what has been every ones favorite classes? So far I have enjoyed the mechromancer the most so far. I seem to enjoying the gunzerker a bit but have not leveled very far.

[ScrambledBrains]

So what has been every ones favorite classes? So far I have enjoyed the mechromancer the most so far. I seem to enjoying the gunzerker a bit but have not leveled very far.

My favorite class?/I have but one response./Kunai Barrage!

If it isn't obvious from the above, I love Zer0. Of course, I've played almost everyone to at least level 19, Salvador being my one exception...it's not that I don't like Sal, I just think his power is not my style. I like powers which distract my enemy, or disable them, which all of the others do. The only reason Zer0 is higher, is that he's the only one I have in TVHM.

[Valaqil]

I've played a few levels of each, but only Salvador and Zer0 past the first ten levels. (Already beat it with Zer0, soon to beat it with Salvador.)

I love sniping and stealth. It's my favorite playstyle and why I beat BL 2 with Zer0 first. However, sniping can be difficult against some enemies due to critical points being hard to hit for whatever reason. Still, when you score critical after critical and one-shot a room of enemies... glorious. Playing Zer0 is awesome for picking up friends while in stealth, fast kills, and being able to run past enemies you want to ignore. I loved playing Zer0 when it worked, but it can be a mess when you can't hit that crit, or you get swarmed while Decepti0n is on CD.

Salvador is consistently satisfying though. I focused on the middle tree for increasing my Gunzerking time. It's awesome to mow down a horde of enemies and continue the rampage on another group. It seems like the Gunzerking never stops. There's not a lot to say about flexibility with situations, unlike with Zer0. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Thankfully, it's a really big hammer. Lately, I use a good slag SMG in one hand, and a relevant element in the other. Paint the town purple! Oh, and the skill for throwing two grenades for the price of one while gunzerking? Ha! Choose a MIRV grenade and enjoy.

[Socratov]

my fav is (for now) Zer0: he has the accuracy I like. I like to be able to shoot a gun and hit, not spray and pray (that is why I hate SMG's in this version). I haven't downloaded the DLC yet, but that might just happen in the future. So far I have to admit that Slavador has the cooles sounding skills...

About Zer0: I rarily use his actionskill, but is this kunai barrage so good? it seems like you'd need to sacrifice a lot of gun damage and performance to get it...

[Wagadodo]

As we speak, I am downloading the lastest expansion. So far I have not really been disappointed with the downloads I have done in the game. I would like another expansion character. It would be fun to play something else again.

[A Rainy Knight]

So what has been every ones favorite classes? So far I have enjoyed the mechromancer the most so far. I seem to enjoying the gunzerker a bit but have not leveled very far.

I love my portable girlfriend. Or in other words, commando.

I was never that impressed with Roland in the first game, but Axton's turret can really swing a fight around in this one, and little features like reclaiming it early make it all the more convenient to use. Just being able to toss down a combination bubble shield/bullet sponge/autogun/rocket launcher with a 360 degee arc of fire in the middle of a fight is incredibly handy.

Oh, and I love being voiced by the same guy as the War Mage from Orcs Must Die!

[DiscipleofBob]

My favorite so far is definitely Axton. I just finished the main plot with him and am working on the DLC's. He definitely plays very different from Roland, and I love dual bubble turrets. I wasn't expecting to get so good at sniping with him. I'm using the scopeless Sniper Rifle and still getting crits left and right.

Some friends of ours just got Borderlands 2, so now we're doing a four player playthrough. They're playing as Salvador and Gaige, my wife doesn't want to try another class so she just made another Siren, which left Zer0 for me. The Sniping tree looks really good, and I might switch to it later, but I wanted to try the melee aspect so I'm trying to decide between Cunning and Bloodshed. Any thoughts on the two?

My only problem with Zer0 is early guns aren't too spectacular, and my melee damage isn't quite enough to assassinate everything yet which means getting into a lot of troubles. My friend who's playing Salvador is exploiting the glitch that gets him infinite golden chest keys at the cost of never retaining his badass ranks. The good news is I got a purple sniper rifle from him that's about double what I have now. The bad news is it's Dahl and burst rifle sniper rifles are so friggin annoying. I might have to try shooting from the hip until I can find something better, preferably a Jakobs.

[ScrambledBrains]

my fav is (for now) Zer0: he has the accuracy I like. I like to be able to shoot a gun and hit, not spray and pray (that is why I hate SMG's in this version). I haven't downloaded the DLC yet, but that might just happen in the future. So far I have to admit that Slavador has the cooles sounding skills...

About Zer0: I rarily use his actionskill, but is this kunai barrage so good? it seems like you'd need to sacrifice a lot of gun damage and performance to get it...

Some friends of ours just got Borderlands 2, so now we're doing a four player playthrough. They're playing as Salvador and Gaige, my wife doesn't want to try another class so she just made another Siren, which left Zer0 for me. The Sniping tree looks really good, and I might switch to it later, but I wanted to try the melee aspect so I'm trying to decide between Cunning and Bloodshed. Any thoughts on the two?

My only problem with Zer0 is early guns aren't too spectacular, and my melee damage isn't quite enough to assassinate everything yet which means getting into a lot of troubles. My friend who's playing Salvador is exploiting the glitch that gets him infinite golden chest keys at the cost of never retaining his badass ranks. The good news is I got a purple sniper rifle from him that's about double what I have now. The bad news is it's Dahl and burst rifle sniper rifles are so friggin annoying. I might have to try shooting from the hip until I can find something better, preferably a Jakobs.

As someone who's played Zer0 up to level 39(I'm still early in TVHM though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.), early melee is not exactly difficult...what it is, is particular. You need very specific gear in order to make melee really shine(For Firearms, anything with +50% melee is good, the Law pistol is better, and if you have DLC one, Captain Blade's Rapier is best. For Shields, anything with Roid damage will do, but the Love Thumper and Order shields are best.), and this makes melee difficult for Playthrough One, as this gear won't scale from when you get it, while enemies and your own level will.(And even a Zer0 melee master will need to shoot from time to time.) It's more viable once you've beaten TVHM, and have all quest rewards scale to the level cap, allowing the gear to be good indefinetly.

As for the sniping tree, it's not bad...up to B0re. But once you've aquired B0re, you can, and should go to another tree. It's not that Kill C0nfirmed or At 0ne With The Gun are bad skills..., but maxing either of them precludes you from acquiring a capstone skill from either of the other trees, and I've heard the stacks from Critical Ascensi0n decay far too rapidly to be worth the investment.

Now, I will admit that for a long while I had wanted to be a melee Zer0, and even got down to Many Must Fall, the capstone. I enjoyed taking out whole swarms of trash mobs...but, on a lark, I decided to max Cunning instead after visiting a Skill Respec, and I haven't looked back. Cunning combines some melee boosts, some gun boosts, and most importantly, the only self-healing skill Zer0 possesses, Innervate. Further, the Death Blossom damage scales with your level, and can inflict multiple status ailments on your foes, making it perfect for both killing weak opponents, as well as setting up bosses and the like to be slagged, inflamed, shocked, or corroded. It's absolutely a kick to have some big hulking God-liath or such rushing you, only to fall to 5 sets of knife tosses into his chest. Plus, the Kunai add Death Mark, adding only more awesome bonus damage damage into the fray.

This has been my experiences, at least...anyone else wanna add anything?

[Sipex]

I'm going through my first playthrough with my fiancee and I was wondering if I could get some build advice from you guys.

I'm playing as Maya and my fiancee is playing as Salvadore who's current build involves a lot of health, regenerating health and essentially getting into the thick of things.

My current build had me go into one tree until the first capstone (I think that's what they're called) where my Phaselock now doubles as an auto rez which I've made extensive use out of since I picked it up. I've also got abilities from that tree which allow me to fire at allies to heal them (I don't really use this one that much unless you count the times when Salvadore is hit by collateral rocket damage) and heals allies if my phaselocked enemy dies (this has been fairly useful, but I don't bank on it).

Since then I've started dipping into the elemental path to pick up extra elemental effect chance with guns (which I now use primarily), Helios (who doesn't like exploding fire?) and Toxic Cloud since I wanted something to enhance my offense.

My Siren is currently level 27. Any suggestions on what might be worth looking at/changing/avoiding?

[ScrambledBrains]

I'm going through my first playthrough with my fiancee and I was wondering if I could get some build advice from you guys.

I'm playing as Maya and my fiancee is playing as Salvadore who's current build involves a lot of health, regenerating health and essentially getting into the thick of things.

My current build had me go into one tree until the first capstone (I think that's what they're called) where my Phaselock now doubles as an auto rez which I've made extensive use out of since I picked it up. I've also got abilities from that tree which allow me to fire at allies to heal them (I don't really use this one that much unless you count the times when Salvadore is hit by collateral rocket damage) and heals allies if my phaselocked enemy dies (this has been fairly useful, but I don't bank on it).

Since then I've started dipping into the elemental path to pick up extra elemental effect chance with guns (which I now use primarily), Helios (who doesn't like exploding fire?) and Toxic Cloud since I wanted something to enhance my offense.

My Siren is currently level 27. Any suggestions on what might be worth looking at/changing/avoiding?

Before I offer build advice, I have two questions.

Are you currently satisfied with Maya's damage output?

And are you currently satisfied with her surviability?

[Sipex]

I would have to say I'm still itching for better Damage Output. Part of the reason I started dipping into elemental stuff.

However, while Maya is fairly vulnerable on her own, I'm playing this character exclusively alongside my fiancee, so I always have her Gunzerker to bank off of and he does an amazing job of keeping the focus away from me.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

The Res on your phaselock is a good co-op ability. Particularly when you are doing bonus bosses or have reckless buddies. You can go into the Cataclysm tree for Ruin which is a powerful capstone. You could also pick up Motion tree for more survivability and general phaselock bonuses.

However I personally prefer the Ruin/Converge (17/2/26) build. I put 1 point into the tier 1 skills on the middle tree just for my Slayer of Terramorphous class mod.

[ScrambledBrains]

I would have to say I'm still itching for better Damage Output. Part of the reason I started dipping into elemental stuff.

However, while Maya is fairly vulnerable on her own, I'm playing this character exclusively alongside my fiancee, so I always have her Gunzerker to bank off of and he does an amazing job of keeping the focus away from me.

This should satisfy most of your needs for pure damage. You'll probably want a good cooldown mod to go with it, as your biggest damage source is Ruin on this build, but as long as you keep competent elemental guns/grenades on hand, you'll be fine.

[Sipex]

Awesome, thank you! I'm naturally an optimizer, but when it comes to games like this, I tend to spread my points too thin (especially on my first go) and end up with something which barely works.

[ScrambledBrains]

Awesome, thank you! I'm naturally an optimizer, but when it comes to games like this, I tend to spread my points too thin (especially on my first go) and end up with something which barely works.

You are welcome!

[Triscuitable]

It's an excellent build, but if you use Ruin, then Converge is also an important skill- the splash damage from Ruin will affect everyone near the bubble.

This is my build. Using the SoT Class Mod, it means I can Phaselock any enemy, kill them, get full health, and move onto the next. It's incredibly powerful, and when you're at my late game, Ruin really isn't necessary; the guns do all the work.

EDIT: There are four skill points left to do as you please. I believe I put them into some Motion or Cataclysm skills; after all, just killing a Locked enemy will put you back to full health.

[ScrambledBrains]

It's an excellent build, but if you use Ruin, then Converge is also an important skill- the splash damage from Ruin will affect everyone near the bubble.

This is my build. Using the SoT Class Mod, it means I can Phaselock any enemy, kill them, get full health, and move onto the next. It's incredibly powerful, and when you're at my late game, Ruin really isn't necessary; the guns do all the work.

EDIT: There are four skill points left to do as you please. I believe I put them into some Motion or Cataclysm skills; after all, just killing a Locked enemy will put you back to full health.

Triscuitable speaks the truth, Converge is a good skill with Ruin...

That said, picking up Converge AND Ruin stops you from picking up Res, so it's best to determine what you wish to do on your own.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

Yes, but Ruin also adds slag which increases damage from all sources. Plus the initial burst of damage is great for stripping shields of a pack of trash so your corrosive and fire guns can do the heavy work. Thanks for the site. My build is now linkable

[Triscuitable]

Triscuitable speaks the truth, Converge is a good skill with Ruin...

That said, picking up Converge AND Ruin stops you from picking up Res, so it's best to determine what you wish to do on your own.

Thing is, my build allows you to Res regardless. It abandons Ruin, but when your entire inventory is just orange guns, it's a worthy sacrifice.

[mangosta71]

My Zer0 is level currently level 32, so I guess I'm pretty close to the end of my first playthrough. I started as cunning, switched to sniping when I got a class mod that supported it, and then switched to bloodshed when I found a class mod that buffed melee damage and gave me extra Resurgence points. With Law and Order, Execute, and Many Must Fall, I'm pretty much an unstoppable god of death (unless I end up leaping off a cliff chasing a buzzard down with execute ). I haven't been taken down by enemy fire since I switched specs.

As much as I love the Bloodshed tree, I wouldn't recommend it for solo play until you're high enough level to get the capstone. Sniper Zer0 is a glass cannon, which doesn't matter most of the time because your target is dead before it can shoot back, but it does make for some rough spots. If you're playing in a group, you can sit back and blow heads off while your buddies keep the bad guys' attention, but if you're soloing you can expect to spend a fair amount of time running away until the bad guys reset.

I'd say that Cunning is probably the best for soloing, until level 31 at the very least. Since I haven't played with kunai barrages I can't say how it compares, but from what people here have said I assume it's still a good spec beyond that level.

[ScrambledBrains]

Thing is, my build allows you to Res regardless. It abandons Ruin, but when your entire inventory is just orange guns, it's a worthy sacrifice.

Be honest, who has an all orange gun inventory...like ever? I have no oranges on my Zer0, and I severely doubt I'll get any easily. I prefer a build that those of us who don't have time to invest in acquiring orange gear, through whatever means, will still find viable.

[Sipex]

I appreciate the variances, but I think for the time being I'm going to keep Res. With Phaselock already sporting a short cool down combined with a mod which reduces that cool down even more and a buddy who's hit box is pretty easy to target from afar (unless he's being mobbed, then fire a rocket first) it's an invaluable skill at this time.

If it turns out my mileage with Res starts to slow down with time I'll consider swapping it up for one of the variant builds suggested.

Thanks again!

[Triscuitable]

I've actually been wanting a challenge in Borderlands 2, so I went with Bloodshed Zer0. It's been going pretty well, too.

[Reynard]

Be honest, who has an all orange gun inventory...like ever? I have no oranges on my Zer0, and I severely doubt I'll get any easily. I prefer a build that those of us who don't have time to invest in acquiring orange gear, through whatever means, will still find viable.

I don't have an all-orange inventory yet, but I've got 7 of the things, and everything else is red/pink-texted weapons/shields/GMods/CMods.

I hate to say it, but the Cataclysm tree really doesn't pull any weight for me at level 50, even with rank 11 strength Helios.

[Terry576]

Alright, so I've been playing BL2, and I run Gaige and Maya.

My current problem is, is that at lower levels (like, ~20) Maya is... not that good. She lacks the DPS and survivability of Gaige, I guess, or maybe it's because I haven't mastered Phaselocking yet.

OH WELL TIME TO GO MURDER THINGS

[Reynard]

Alright, so I've been playing BL2, and I run Gaige and Maya.

My current problem is, is that at lower levels (like, ~20) Maya is... not that good. She lacks the DPS and survivability of Gaige, I guess, or maybe it's because I haven't mastered Phaselocking yet.

OH WELL TIME TO GO MURDER THINGS

As a Siren, I only really had trouble against bosses, because you can't lock up most of them damn things, you just do damage to them with your phaselock instead. Though I was Motion-focused, which really helps when dealing with large groups of things that hate you, as do Singularity grenades.

[Socratov]

Well, yesterday evening I finally tried out the kunai.

My mind has been blown. it's almost like easy mode. bosses/ kunai to the face, wait few secs, shoot, run away until skill up again.

Mobs? make a line in the ground where they stand and shotgun.

(even on TVHM - 1st run)

apparently the Sniper tree doesn't add as much damage as I'd like (though that may be remedied later when better weapons become available)


right now going Kunai with bloodshed tree for a bit more survivability.

I also rushed through the normal mode and ony last night I discovered the assassinate the assassins quest. wow, it's exactly straight up Zer0's alley.