********BORDERLANDS discussion thread*******

[Aikouka]

Anarchies will certainly eat up some ammo, but I don't use them that often. I still prefer the Malevolent/Stingers whatever with greater accuracy and lower spread. anarchies deal amazing damage, of course, but it's not very concentrated damage. I like criticals as often as I can get them, and the more accurate SMGs give you a higher percentage of those, somewhat negating the difference in damage while preserving your ammo.

I think the reason why I tend to favor Anarchies more is because they aren't as reliant upon scopes as other weapons are. I tend to get quite a lot of criticals with Anarchies even when I'm not trying to, and I don't really have to aim precisely at all... just in the enemy's general direction. I have a lot of precise SMGs as well, but the worst problem is when you get one with no zoom or a pitifully low zoom (< 2.5x). I liked my older Combustion Hellfire better because it has a 3.9x zoom (I think that's right) compared to my newer one which has slightly better accuracy, but much worse of a scope (< 2x).

Zooming of course does have a benefit with Anarchies too as it reduces the spread of the bullets, but it's not really that necessary.

is it a 3 or 4x explosive revolver?

I just loaded my hunter the other day-he's level 52 in PT 2 (a bit over-leveled for where he is--just finished Baron Flynt), and I still have a level ~10 revolver equipped that I picked up as an award from that very first Arena quest that you get (the one with 3 rounds of skaags).

When I first started playing Borderlands, I was initially put off by elemental weapons, and now that I understand the game a lot more, it's easy to see why. Most of the elemental weapons you find are complete junk. This isn't to say that all elemental weapons are bad... some of the most powerful weapons in the game are elemental. The issue is that elemental weapons are typically only strong when they proc.

The proc chance is affected by two factors: the tech pool and the pool regen rate. If I remember correctly, the tech pool is defined by the tech level and the elemental multiplier. The tech level isn't easy to understand without using outside tools (such as the gear builder), but just consider that fancier items (such as purples or oranges) typically have higher tech levels. The pool is like an energy level, and whenever a proc occurs, it drains a bit of your energy. If there isn't enough energy for a proc, you cannot get a proc regardless of your luck.

With all that... these crummy blue/green weapons with a 1x multiplier will not get many procs and have small tech pools. Most elemental add-ons (what provide the proc) also reduce base damage of the gun, which is why a proc is almost necessary to deal good damage.

There are a few guns that are excellent in this manner and have been mentioned in the thread such as the Defiler (yellow/orange caustic revolver) and the Hellfire (yellow/orange incendiary SMG). Both have insane proc rates with large tech pools.

as Aikouka mentioned, some of the mods are extremely helpful with this game--increasing the bag limit, to me, just saves a lot of time and boredom. the game allows a theoretical maximum of 72? slots, which is from all fo the claptrap missions in PT1 and PT2. the problem is, while the PT1 missions guarantee a bag mod, they are a rare reward when you do them again in PT2.

WillowTree is the name of the program that allows you to edit your save files. It's also required to add in the custom teleport map that Zin is referring to in here. It sounds a little daunting at first, but it's all pretty easy to do.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Woohoo!

Yesterday at level 25 (first playthrough ever), my Siren got a SMG with ammo regeneration, so far my only weapon to have that.

It was on my way to kill Krom, and besides regen it also has x3 fire and a scope!

:wub: Yay!! :wub:

It's so nice to be able to just use SMG + sniper now instead of using other gun types during a long mission because my SMG ammo is low. Now it's blast away and watch them burn!

 

[dust]

Is there a Dahl Penetrator with ammo regen?, Those things burn through ammo like nothing and the best I could find was a purple color. Anyone found an orange one?

 

[n7]

Is there a Dahl Penetrator with ammo regen?, Those things burn through ammo like nothing and the best I could find was a purple color. Anyone found an orange one?

Penetrators are glitched legendaries.

They should be orange, but instead they show up as purple, blue, or green.

Ammo regen is only availble on specific Tediore Legendary weapons.

You can gets COMs with ammo regen though, like Specter (siren's sniper ammo regen), or Sniper (hunter's sniper ammo regen), or Support Gunner (soldier's everything ammo regen).

 

[Jules]

If anyone is up for some coop Pm me

 

[DaveSimmons]

Is there a Dahl Penetrator with ammo regen?, Those things burn through ammo like nothing and the best I could find was a purple color. Anyone found an orange one?

I'm sure you realize this, but you can always switch to the gun with regen in between firefights, assuming you don't run empty during a single really long one.

 

[Aikouka]

Is there a Dahl Penetrator with ammo regen?, Those things burn through ammo like nothing and the best I could find was a purple color. Anyone found an orange one?

I'm pretty certain the Tediore Savior SMG is the only SMG with built-in ammo regeneration:

http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Savior

If you're playing a Siren, chances are you'll want to use a Mercenary COM to help combat the high bullet usage. If you're a Soldier, I do recommend the Support Gunner COM. While it's not as good compared to other COMs for the talent bonuses, it's decent and provides ammo regen. You can also switch on the fly when you need more ammo, but that may not be as wise unless you're using a slower firing gun like a revolver.

 

[dust]

^The Penetrator is actually a automatic sniper rifle.

 

[Edge1]

I've got a Mordecai Sniper Hunter dude and I'm enjoying it a lot. Sniping like crazy, which I enjoy most of all. Worried I might be overleveled a bit. I'm at 20 and still finishing up the last of the Arid Badlands/Bounty Board missions. I did just kill Sledge and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Shock grenades, Bloodwing, and a nasty revolver took him out after a bit. I did die twice before I finished him off though. Mordecai is not the greatest in close quarters.

 

[Firsttime]

Me and a buddy tried to kill Sledge last night, we didn't quite make it there, we were level 14 and most of the mobs were 17-18 so we may be a bit underleveled haha. We died a lot, could have done it, but it was taking forever. If you ever think you're getting overleveled just start running through the game without doing side missions, you'll find you're underleveled pretty fast.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I've got a Mordecai Sniper Hunter dude and I'm enjoying it a lot. Sniping like crazy, which I enjoy most of all. Worried I might be overleveled a bit. I'm at 20 and still finishing up the last of the Arid Badlands/Bounty Board missions. I did just kill Sledge and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Shock grenades, Bloodwing, and a nasty revolver took him out after a bit. I did die twice before I finished him off though. Mordecai is not the greatest in close quarters.

Mordecai can be awesome in close quarters, if you give him pistols.

 

[Edge1]

Yeah, I need to pump more points into pistols. Focused on sniping before, but am now realizing he's a demon with pistols. Also using Bloodwing more.

 

[coldmeat]

I couldn't do sniping in this game. I tried and got to about lvl 16 with mordecai, and quit. The crosshairs moved on a grid, sometimes making it impossible to line up a headshot if I was far enough away.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I couldn't do sniping in this game. I tried and got to about lvl 16 with mordecai, and quit. The crosshairs moved on a grid, sometimes making it impossible to line up a headshot if I was far enough away.

You have to turn off smoothing and aim assist. Problem with easy mode is that you don’t get fine control.

 

[dust]

Mordecai can be awesome in close quarters, if you give him pistols.

I actually started using pistols a lot during my last playthrough and I have to say I prefer them to sniper rifles. They make short stuff of anything and they're amazing in arenas/close areas. I found myself using them throughout Old Haven, West and East Commons, Jakobs Cove and lately in Knoxx almost exclusively. The proficiency level for the sniper rifle is 12 levels below the revolver's.

I have been missing a lot during my previous plays, as I was using repeaters/smgs for close encounters.

 

[Hopeless]

I'm pretty certain the Tediore Savior SMG is the only SMG with built-in ammo regeneration:

http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Savior

If you're playing a Siren, chances are you'll want to use a Mercenary COM to help combat the high bullet usage. If you're a Soldier, I do recommend the Support Gunner COM. While it's not as good compared to other COMs for the talent bonuses, it's decent and provides ammo regen. You can also switch on the fly when you need more ammo, but that may not be as wise unless you're using a slower firing gun like a revolver.

Support gunner is good, I used one for most of the time I played my soldier. If you're focusing on combat rifles though keep your eyes out for the rifleman mod. The first bonus is +combat rifle damage and it can have ammo regen as the second bonus. It seems in my playthroughs that the ammo regen part is fairly rare but it's worth keeping an eye on them.

 

[Hopeless]

Yeah, I need to pump more points into pistols. Focused on sniping before, but am now realizing he's a demon with pistols. Also using Bloodwing more.

Even if changing focus to pistols, be sure to keep at least enough points in the sniper tree for Trespass, it works with all gun types. Although if you use elem guns just the bullet damage goes straight to health but any DoT damage still goes to shields.

 

[Aikouka]

Support gunner is good, I used one for most of the time I played my soldier. If you're focusing on combat rifles though keep your eyes out for the rifleman mod. The first bonus is +combat rifle damage and it can have ammo regen as the second bonus. It seems in my playthroughs that the ammo regen part is fairly rare but it's worth keeping an eye on them.

Yeah, I re-read what I said and it doesn't seem clear that I'm referring to keeping a Support Gunner COM on you in case you start using another weapon. I typically switch between the two (along with different weapon types), and of course... that makes me wish we could create weapon sets that we switch between instead. :\

I actually got a Rifleman COM (with ammo regen) way back at level 19.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Playthrough 1 is finished, and I've started playthough 2. Having all the enemies now level 32-35 in the arid wasteland does keep it interesting and challenging, though the first few tutorial missions were pretty easy now that I have some idea of how to play the games.

For non-boss encounters I'm trying to use other guns than the SMG with my siren, so the skill level moves up a bit -- SMG is way, way higher. I didn't use the 0101010 cannon at all in the first playthrough.

 

[zinfamous]

Playthrough 1 is finished, and I've started playthough 2. Having all the enemies now level 32-35 in the arid wasteland does keep it interesting and challenging, though the first few tutorial missions were pretty easy now that I have some idea of how to play the games.

For non-boss encounters I'm trying to use other guns than the SMG with my siren, so the skill level moves up a bit -- SMG is way, way higher. I didn't use the 0101010 cannon at all in the first playthrough.

yeah, just ignore Eridian weapons. I think one of them has some use, but it takes a lot of leveling to get those effective (well, I assume so--I've never gotten that skill above level 1 on my 3 characters--only ever touched them with my siren)

Remember that weapon skill levels upon death. so, if you're patient, you can whittle them down quickly with your SMG, then swtich to pistol or whatever for the kill shot, and pistol gets all of the XP. But, if you stick with the untrained weapons, it is another way to add a little challenge.

There is a quest that you can unlock near the end of the Knoxx DLC (from the good midget) that makes weapon leveling easy. The second mission is for a boss that he wants you to kill, and who spawns--and respawns--just outside of the main starting region for that DLC. I was farming him for his ridiculously hilarious rare drop--The CHOPPA! (a combat rifle that unloads the entire ammo cache by pulling the trigger once), and ended up leveling my off-hand skills by about 3 to 7 spots on each kill. These were starting at ~20, and I got them up to 45 or so.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I finished up playthrough 2 and moved on to General Knoxx, skipping Moxie except for the bank for now, it just wasn't fun for me solo.

yeah, just ignore Eridian weapons. I think one of them has some use, but it takes a lot of leveling to get those effective (well, I assume so--I've never gotten that skill above level 1 on my 3 characters--only ever touched them with my siren)

I'm finding the Eridani weapons useful in Knoxx, at least for a bit of variety. I have the sniper, shotgun and rocket launcher equivalents, along with a machine gun-like one that fires seeker bullets. It's handy that all of them level up the same skills, though the magazine size is way too small for all of them.

Mostly it's my caustic, static and fire SMGs though. All are scoped with x3 or x4 elemental, though the fire one is only 39 damage and from my first playthrough. I have an x4 Hellfire with 3 times the damage but no scope, making it almost useless for medium range .

It would be nice in Borderlands 2 if there were component add-ons for scopes, extended magazines, etc. but I suppose part of the fun is hoping you'll luck out on a weapon drop and get one that does everything you want.

Otherwise I'm having fun, besides the major pain of no New-U points besides the main one. I made it half-way across the area, saved and exited the game, then came back the next day to find myself right back at the starting point :| . So I get to spend a half-hour driving, fighting through the same roadblocks again, etc., sigh.

 

[Aikouka]

Borderlands 2 will use weapon modifications. My only guess is that it will be kind of like gems + sockets in normal RPGs.

Otherwise I'm having fun, besides the major pain of no New-U points besides the main one. I made it half-way across the area, saved and exited the game, then came back the next day to find myself right back at the starting point :| . So I get to spend a half-hour driving, fighting through the same roadblocks again, etc., sigh.

You should install the Oasis mod that provides teleport points for each area.

 

[darkswordsman17]

yeah, just ignore Eridian weapons. I think one of them has some use, but it takes a lot of leveling to get those effective (well, I assume so--I've never gotten that skill above level 1 on my 3 characters--only ever touched them with my siren)

Remember that weapon skill levels upon death. so, if you're patient, you can whittle them down quickly with your SMG, then swtich to pistol or whatever for the kill shot, and pistol gets all of the XP. But, if you stick with the untrained weapons, it is another way to add a little challenge.

There is a quest that you can unlock near the end of the Knoxx DLC (from the good midget) that makes weapon leveling easy. The second mission is for a boss that he wants you to kill, and who spawns--and respawns--just outside of the main starting region for that DLC. I was farming him for his ridiculously hilarious rare drop--The CHOPPA! (a combat rifle that unloads the entire ammo cache by pulling the trigger once), and ended up leveling my off-hand skills by about 3 to 7 spots on each kill. These were starting at ~20, and I got them up to 45 or so.

Yeah Motorhead is good for farming XP, but I think Crawmerax is better. Even if you can't quite kill him, you can get XP out the wazoo by killing the little creatures around him. If you go to the "dead spot", kill them, then pop out for just a moment and more should spawn.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah Motorhead is good for farming XP, but I think Crawmerax is better. Even if you can't quite kill him, you can get XP out the wazoo by killing the little creatures around him. If you go to the "dead spot", kill them, then pop out for just a moment and more should spawn.

but death by Crawmerax gets reaaaaally expensive, no?

and Dave--you really need to grab that Oasis mod and add fast travel for the DLC. it is essential.

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ yeah, almost every mission seems to be far, far away from t-bone and I don't want to wait until the weekend where I can play for hours straight.