I started playing as Axton. Got to level 9, and although I still miss playing as Roland, Axton is doing a bang-up job so far. At least I have personal health regen at this point in the Survival Tree. My wife is playing Zer0 and is still trying to get use to using the Decepti0n ability effectively since she's used to sniping with Mordecai, but she's learning.
The plan for us is to go through a regular blind playthrough with Axton and Zer0 and then maybe later do a full playthrough and try to find all the hidden goodies with Salvador and Maya.
Which means if I play with others online, I'll probably be using either Maya or Zer0.
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I thought phaselock on Maya was going to be crap, but I've been pleasantly surprised. The cooldown more than makes up for it, 13 seconds now instead of nearly a minute for invisibility. Shame it doesn't work on bosses though last I heard.
Damnit Torchlight 2, why do you have to come out so soon, too many games!
I've started as Zer0 and Salvadore, but have not gotten very far with either. (Zer0 is level 6 and Salvadore is 4.) I had intended to start Maya and Axton tonight, but got caught up in playing Zer0. I am in love with the sniper rifle. I also really like Deception on Zer0, though I'm still getting the hang of it.
Borderlands 2 seems harder than 1. Of course, it's been so long since I started a brand new character in 1 that I could be misremembering how it was.
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Thank you, Diabhan, for the avatar. :)
Me: Having defeated the evil necromancer queen with your homosexuality, you gain 750 experience. Now kindly die in a hole.
-- Fiendish_Dire_Moose
Went to the midnight release and got my game box signed by David Eddings, Anthony Burch, and a bunch of other devs. My life is complete.
I was torn between Zer0 and Maya for my first character, but had to go with Zer0 after finding out that he sometimes (quite often so far, in fact) says "You've just set off my trap card!" when activating Decepti0n. My cousin who I'm playing through the game with went straight for Salvador (he loves him some dakka) and we make a pretty good team so far. I'm leaning towards the Bloodshed tree right now and I'm pretty sure he's going for Brawn, so I see many backstabs in my future.
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Revan avatar by kaptainkrutch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrylius
That's how wizards beta test their new animals. If it survives Australia, it's a go. Which in hindsight explains a LOT about Australia.
Maya - Maliwan guns are already sexy. She just makes them even more effective.
Salvador - MOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAR DAAAAAAAAKKKAAAAAAAA
Zer0 - Stealthily using your elemental guns to zap an enemy is very satisfying.
Axton - He doesn't really take advantage of elements beyond kabooms and such. I mean, explosions are fun, but fire bullets! C'mon!
Gaige - I don't even know what she does yet.
Lots of bullets?
Salvador and Jakobs/Vladof - Vladof guns only shoot faster as you fire. Jakobs fire faster as you mash the fire button. Gunzerk both, and it's quite chaotic.
Axton with double turrets - Dude, double turrets. No more needs to be said.
Gaige - Deathtrap must be able to do something gun-related.
Zer0 and Maya - They can shoot things, but bullet output isn't their specialty.
Flashy Skills?
Maya - Phaselock is quite the attention getter. It's a big, glowing orb of "haha, you can't move". Upgrades make it explode with fire and heal people!
Gaige - It's called the Deathtrap.
Axton - You know you want to quote the Engineer when you drop his turret.
Salvador - While awesome to the player, it just doesn't stand out among Phaselocks and rocket sentries.
Decepti0n - Spawn a Halo: Reach style hologram to distract foes and cloak for a few seconds to deal big damage safely. The fact that it's not flashy is the purpose.
Funny Characters?
Salvador - He's vocal, he's in a roid-rage, he cracks a lot of morbid(-ly hilarious) jokes, and one of his skills is "Sexual Tyrannosaurus".
Zer0 - He may not appear to be... Anything, but he's certainly got a lot of fun haikus to drop when using Decepti0n.
Axton - As far as I'm concerned, he talks more than Maya.
Maya - She's rather uninteresting, with bland skill names and more stubborn-than-funny taunts.
Gaige - This I can't even throw out a guess for.
__________________ Steam: The Scot's Ire
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I'm now level 10 with Zer0. I'm starting to get the hang of prioritizing with Decepti0n. It'll be way better, I think, when I get the Crit box highlighting skill, 'cause sniping can be a pain against blue blobs.
I think my only gripe is the removal of weapon proficiencies. I think the badass tokens are interesting, but a semi-random gain at a diminishing rate doesn't compare to a steady rise in your chosen gun. I really have no need, other than player preference, to combo sniper rifle with revolver, because I'll get more tokens if I vary my type usage regularly.
I do, however, love the difficulty increase. Enemies are faster, smarter and sneakier. I had a fire fight with three moola who had me fairly well pinned for a while, because the gave each other cover fire while reloading and advancing. That's some cut-throat AI. Maybe a fluke, but still a great fight.
In summation, my first 6 hours were spent on the edge of my sofa. This game is solid. Full of humor and challenge, and just so gosh darn beautiful.
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Spoiler
I am the Burley, formerly known as Burley Warlock. I got my name changed. Please remember me...
Yay! Installed, ready to play after dinner. Shiney new t-shirt, too.
Edit: Grr. My preorder bonuses haven't appeared. There's not even a Premier Club appearing in the DLC menu. Anyone know what to do? Google is not being a help.
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Thanks to Veera for the avatar.
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClericofPhwarrr
Dhavaer, your ideas are like candy from the sky, sprinkled lightly with cinnamon.
About to got to work. Finally gonna get to play without a bed time later. So far I've been rocking Axton and Zer0. Axton more, though. I haven't even put a whole lot of points into the turret yet and I already love it a LOT more than Rolands.
Zer0's only level 7. He's the one I've been playing when my friends aren't on. Haven't really got any strong opinions about him yet.
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Awesome avatar by Kurien.
Good Decisions come from Experience. Experience comes from Bad Decisions. Bad Decisions come from Tequila.
I'm at level 15 with my gunzerker and, although I'm having a fun time, I noticed a far steeper difficulty curve relative to the first game. Maybe it's that Salvador is entirely weapon dependent, maybe I had more rust than I thought, or maybe the game is objectively harder, but until I started landing some nice E-weapons and purples, I was dying with regularity. While that is only mildly annoying, what made dying so frequently frustrating was the fact that some enemy models and munitions fired don't mesh well.
For example, I had found two nice Jakobs assault rifles: one that shoots grenades that bounce once then explode and another that just fired explosive bullets. You can shoot directly at a target where the bounce is negated and the damage is just dealt for every mob type save for those that use the Nomad model. The bullets of either gun would bounce through or simply pass through the model without causing damage, regardless of shooting from the hip or down the sights. Whenever I tried any other gun I had no problems but my best guns were assault rifles, which brought me to frustration.
Thankfully I found better guns, which include a purple Jakobs assault rifle (the bouncy grenade one) mentioned above only it pumps out 175 per hit. And I found an obscenely powerful E-weapon SMG that mulches those mobs.
__________________ Demonlobster.com because we both know that you know that I know that you like fun!
I'm at level 15 with my gunzerker and, although I'm having a fun time, I noticed a far steeper difficulty curve relative to the first game. Maybe it's that Salvador is entirely weapon dependent, maybe I had more rust than I thought, or maybe the game is objectively harder, but until I started landing some nice E-weapons and purples, I was dying with regularity. While that is only mildly annoying, what made dying so frequently frustrating was the fact that some enemy models and munitions fired don't mesh well.
For example, I had found two nice Jakobs assault rifles: one that shoots grenades that bounce once then explode and another that just fired explosive bullets. You can shoot directly at a target where the bounce is negated and the damage is just dealt for every mob type save for those that use the Nomad model. The bullets of either gun would bounce through or simply pass through the model without causing damage, regardless of shooting from the hip or down the sights. Whenever I tried any other gun I had no problems but my best guns were assault rifles, which brought me to frustration.
Thankfully I found better guns, which include a purple Jakobs assault rifle (the bouncy grenade one) mentioned above only it pumps out 175 per hit. And I found an obscenely powerful E-weapon SMG that mulches those mobs.
I think it is harder, and that it's particularly harder with an undergeared gunzerker. I also play Sal (and also am level 15), and I got thwomped with unpleasant regularity.
Then I found out that how the game keeps track of how many golden keys your account has is a mere number in a simple text file on the PC version. Unlimited access to as many purples as you care to sort through makes Salvatore a whole heck of a lot of fun because, as you said, he's particularly gear dependent.
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Ah, yes. "Art", an abstract term capable of turning products corrupted by laziness and arrogance into masterpieces that are not merely immutable, but inherently justified.
The game does seem a bit harder then the first. But I also wasn't sure if it was a case of comparing a low level character with no skills and poor gear to one with a lot of specialization in skills and gear.
Also since I was playing in multiplayer games I could see a decent amount of, what seemed like, lag related issues with hitting and damaging in some situations.
The raiders are better at dodging and taking cover and they don't seem to charge in as straightforwardly as they did before.
But I'm only level 7 (8 maybe) so far, so there is a lot more to see before I get a good feel for it.
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Steampunk Farseer thanks to The Randomizer
Another bee in my bonnet I have is world layout. Maybe I'm not recalling things correctly but it seems to me that Borderlands was far more open and less cluttered than Borderlands 2. I end up in corners surprisingly often, corners created by random world debris, and it's my fault for not noticing. However a question comes to mind that I feel should be asked: what were the developers thinking about how the player was going to move in this game?
Borderlands, at least the first, was predicated on shooting on the move almost all of the time. For almost all characters and builds, you were strafing or kiting everything. Rarely was it effective or desirable to stay in one place for too long. In Borderlands 2 that doesn't seem to be the case. The landscape has a lot of stuff in it: rocks, boxes, random junk, etc. It adds some flavor and gives you some cover when needed. The issue is that Borderlands isn't a cover shooter. There is no developed mechanic to accommodate combat while in a static position. The player is still supposed to keep moving and that is by design, from the enemies to the skill trees. For example, when a Badass melee monster is charging me, I'm not supposed to stay behind the crate and fire from cover. I'm supposed to shoot, move out of his way, and keep shooting as I avoid his attacks.
So it seems like Gearbox tried to have it both ways. The game plays as though combat and movement are made to be very dynamic but the landscapes say otherwise, that the player is meant to remain in some places to avoid fire. It feels like we have half of both and the sum of that doesn't equal the whole of either. This doesn't make for a broken or bad game or gaming experience. It's just an odd mix of implications about how the player should play.
Just some thoughts. I'm going to play this game to hell and back since it is very fun.
__________________ Demonlobster.com because we both know that you know that I know that you like fun!
Another bee in my bonnet I have is world layout. Maybe I'm not recalling things correctly but it seems to me that Borderlands was far more open and less cluttered than Borderlands 2. I end up in corners surprisingly often, corners created by random world debris, and it's my fault for not noticing. However a question comes to mind that I feel should be asked: what were the developers thinking about how the player was going to move in this game?
Borderlands, at least the first, was predicated on shooting on the move almost all of the time. For almost all characters and builds, you were strafing or kiting everything. Rarely was it effective or desirable to stay in one place for too long. In Borderlands 2 that doesn't seem to be the case. The landscape has a lot of stuff in it: rocks, boxes, random junk, etc. It adds some flavor and gives you some cover when needed. The issue is that Borderlands isn't a cover shooter. There is no developed mechanic to accommodate combat while in a static position. The player is still supposed to keep moving and that is by design, from the enemies to the skill trees. For example, when a Badass melee monster is charging me, I'm not supposed to stay behind the crate and fire from cover. I'm supposed to shoot, move out of his way, and keep shooting as I avoid his attacks.
So it seems like Gearbox tried to have it both ways. The game plays as though combat and movement are made to be very dynamic but the landscapes say otherwise, that the player is meant to remain in some places to avoid fire. It feels like we have half of both and the sum of that doesn't equal the whole of either. This doesn't make for a broken or bad game or gaming experience. It's just an odd mix of implications about how the player should play.
Just some thoughts. I'm going to play this game to hell and back since it is very fun.
Play it either way depending on what's appropriate. I've had time when I'll stay crouched behind cover popping up to take scoped sniper shots, and other times when I'm dancing around an enemy with an SMG throwing in melee strikes when I can. I actually like the fact that you can really play pretty much how you want.
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I think my only gripe is the removal of weapon proficiencies. I think the badass tokens are interesting, but a semi-random gain at a diminishing rate doesn't compare to a steady rise in your chosen gun. I really have no need, other than player preference, to combo sniper rifle with revolver, because I'll get more tokens if I vary my type usage regularly.
I heartily disagree. Weapon proficiencies effectively penalized you for using multiple types of guns, since proficiency gained toward one gun type doesn't apply towards other gun types: you end up lower overall, and/or one of the types seriously lags behind in performance. I think player preference should be the primary reason behind your choice of weaponry. Plus, now you can more directly compare weapons of different types, instead of having to remember/calculate how proficiencies affect them.
My biggest gripe thus far...is that if there is some way to replay ECHO messages you've received, I haven't been able to find it. Granted, calling the replay menu in Borderlands "disorganized" is an understatement, but I miss the ability. Particularly when one message gets cut off by another one starting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by polity4life
Borderlands, at least the first, was predicated on shooting on the move almost all of the time. For almost all characters and builds, you were strafing or kiting everything. Rarely was it effective or desirable to stay in one place for too long. In Borderlands 2 that doesn't seem to be the case. The landscape has a lot of stuff in it: rocks, boxes, random junk, etc. It adds some flavor and gives you some cover when needed. The issue is that Borderlands isn't a cover shooter. There is no developed mechanic to accommodate combat while in a static position. The player is still supposed to keep moving and that is by design, from the enemies to the skill trees. For example, when a Badass melee monster is charging me, I'm not supposed to stay behind the crate and fire from cover. I'm supposed to shoot, move out of his way, and keep shooting as I avoid his attacks.
There's one key mechanic that supports cover: Shield recharge delay. You have a good point about a Badass melee charging at you, but a Badass Bruiser? It's slow, and can fill you full of bullets/rockets if you try falling back (I gained much experience in this ). And in Borderlands 2, you can move (albeit slowly) while crippled, so getting downed behind cover doesn't outright prevent you from gaining a second wind like it used to.
I like the idea of double turrets, plus a bonus to my own damage for having multiple turrets out. Also, is the Commando able to obtain/use sniper rifles?
I like the idea of double turrets, plus a bonus to my own damage for having multiple turrets out. Also, is the Commando able to obtain/use sniper rifles?
Everyone is able to use all types of weapons. There are a lot of weapons that are better for certain classes, but it all comes down to skills, and probably class mods (which I haven't seen yet, but I assume they are like in 1) might have bonuses to certain types of weapons. I also haven't seen a lot of elemental weapons yet, but at least in the first one they were more common on SMGs and pistols so skills that increased elemental damage or chance of procing, would be more often useful for the weapon types that more often have elemental damage. In the case of elemental it also had to do a lot with ROF, a sniper rifle might have a 30% chance of elemental proc, and an SMG might only have a 18% chance of proc but the SMG is going to shoot 5-10 bullets in the time the sniper rifle fires twice.
Ammo regen abilities also favor the higher ROF weapons because something that fires slowly isn't nearly as likely to run out of ammo anyway but an SMG or assault rifle can probably burn through your ammo in short order.
Also, I assume the purchased ammo increases are gone? I didn't notice them at the vendors, is it part of the badass-o-meter? I haven't looked into that too closely but that would seem like the most likely place for it to be.
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Also, I assume the purchased ammo increases are gone? I didn't notice them at the vendors, is it part of the badass-o-meter? I haven't looked into that too closely but that would seem like the most likely place for it to be.
I haven't gotten far enough in the game to see for myself, but what I've read elsewhere is that there's a black market in Sanctuary that sells ammo and backpack SDUs (and also general high-end gear), and its prices are all in a special substance called Eridium that is a somewhat uncommon loot drop.
I haven't gotten far enough in the game to see for myself, but what I've read elsewhere is that there's a black market in Sanctuary that sells ammo and backpack SDUs (and also general high-end gear), and its prices are all in a special substance called Eridium that is a somewhat uncommon loot drop.
Crazy Earl has a black market shop that only takes Eridium and deals ammo upgrades and storage upgrades for increasing amounts of Eridium. You find him as a part of the quest line that introduces you to Sanctuary.
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I haven't gotten far enough in the game to see for myself, but what I've read elsewhere is that there's a black market in Sanctuary that sells ammo and backpack SDUs (and also general high-end gear), and its prices are all in a special substance called Eridium that is a somewhat uncommon loot drop.
That is correct. You just have to spend Eridium, a rare currency, to buy them at Sanctuary. The cost increases by 4 for each rank. Eridium is easily gotten through the slot machines if you have the money, luck, and patience, but it's also dropped by bosses after about level 13.
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Ah, yes. "Art", an abstract term capable of turning products corrupted by laziness and arrogance into masterpieces that are not merely immutable, but inherently justified.
Finally (if waiting one day can be considered "finally") got to put in some real time into BL2 yesterday, and managed to get to Sanctuary. I'm finding it harder to look at loot and have a feel for whether or not it's good without comparing it to my current stuff, but that will probably change as I get more familiar with the game. I do wish it told you sniper rifle zoom level though.
On the plus side, with my brother and myself both sniping-focused Zer0s, the areas seem more open than the original, at least as far as I remember. The first few bandit "towns" on the ice, for example.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhavaer
Edit: Grr. My preorder bonuses haven't appeared. There's not even a Premier Club appearing in the DLC menu. Anyone know what to do? Google is not being a help.
Apologies if these are dumb questions, but: (assuming this is PC) where did you order the game from? You should have codes somewhere (either a receipt or e-mail, generally); did you activate those codes on steam?
I heartily disagree. Weapon proficiencies effectively penalized you for using multiple types of guns, since proficiency gained toward one gun type doesn't apply towards other gun types: you end up lower overall, and/or one of the types seriously lags behind in performance.
This. I found myself at a disadvantage (and struggling) at the final boss of 1, simply because I had not been using rocket launchers, and the weapons I had been using (mostly shotguns) did not have the range to get to the creature. I broke out a rocket launcher and used it anyway, but the battle would have been a lot shorter if I had leveled up that skill more.
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Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
Proud member of the "I Love Anyway" Club
Thank you, Diabhan, for the avatar. :)
Me: Having defeated the evil necromancer queen with your homosexuality, you gain 750 experience. Now kindly die in a hole.
-- Fiendish_Dire_Moose
Apologies if these are dumb questions, but: (assuming this is PC) where did you order the game from? You should have codes somewhere (either a receipt or e-mail, generally); did you activate those codes on steam?
It was ordered from Electronics Boutique and came with two leaflets, one for the premium club and one for the arena. According to the instructions on the leaflets the DLC is linked to the main code on back of the manual. The leaflets do have their own codes, but they aren't compatible with Steam (too many characters).
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Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClericofPhwarrr
Dhavaer, your ideas are like candy from the sky, sprinkled lightly with cinnamon.
This. I found myself at a disadvantage (and struggling) at the final boss of 1, simply because I had not been using rocket launchers, and the weapons I had been using (mostly shotguns) did not have the range to get to the creature. I broke out a rocket launcher and used it anyway, but the battle would have been a lot shorter if I had leveled up that skill more.
Rocket Launchers are terrible in the original Borderlands.
You should have been able to down the last boss with a decent shotty, it's not ideal for the job, but unless you're using one of the super low accuracy ones you should land most of your shots in the eye.
Rocket Launchers are terrible in the original Borderlands.
Pretty much. A triple/spread corrosive launcher can work well for repeatedly coating areas (or large vehicles) in acid so you can clear them faster with your other weapons, but other than that they simply don't have enough output to be worthwhile. And even then, you could probably get better results with a corrosive revolver instead.
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Re: Borderlands 2
Anyway" Club
). And in Borderlands 2, you can move (albeit slowly) while crippled, so getting downed behind cover doesn't outright prevent you from gaining a second wind like it used to.
