Best Character To Choose When You Start Borderlands 2
If you are just starting your Vault hunting adventures on Pandora, you will be amazed at the amount of stuff this game has to offer. Experiencing everything is quite a task in Borderlands 2 and the game presents you with the hardest choice right out of the gate i.e. choosing the Class.
Since you’ll be committed for the rest of your run with the same class, you have to make an informed pick. Every class is excellent in its own right and thus the burden of selection is a heavy one. We will try to enlighten you about which character is great as a beginner, their respective skill trees, and their solo/co-op effectiveness.
If you are an experienced FPS player then choosing Maya as your first character in Borderlands 2 is a perfect choice. Salvador is the right guy for you if you are more of a spray-and-pray type of player. If you want to relieve yourself from extra effort then both Axton and Gaige will make fights easier for you. Krieg and Zer0 play very differently than the rest so only choose them if you are down with their playstyles.
Borderlands 2 has six classes or characters to choose from that have a wide variety of abilities. Some are good at melee or sniping while others specialize in specific weapon elements. We will try to focus on the best class for beginners in Borderlands 2.
Before we discuss the ins and outs of all the characters in Borderlands 2 it is important to mention that all the characters in Borderlands 2 are quite good for single-player or co-op play. There isn’t really a wrong or right choice when it comes to picking your character or class as all of them can be very effective when given the proper gear and a good build. This goes from the very beginning of the game all the way up to OP 8.
With that said, some characters or classes are simply easier to play than others while some characters are okay or pretty good early on, these same characters can struggle in later parts of the game. It also depends on how far you plan on going in this game, are you planning to just play through the first or second difficulty mode or do you intend on playing all the way into Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode?
Borderlands 2 has 6 starter classes, two of which are DLC classes. From the base game you have:
Axon the Commando
Maya the Siren
Zero the Assassin
Salvador the Gunzerker
As for the DLC characters you have:
Gaige the Mechromancer
Krieg the Psycho
Each of these specific characters has an Action Skill, a special ability that is unique to the character that provides some sort of offensive or defensive edge on the field. We will discuss each important skill in the respective class’s section.
Axton (Commando)
Action Skill – Sabre Turret: Deploys a turret that can be used to aggro enemies as well as deal some damage.
Axton’s Action skill is perfect for aggro or distracting enemies and this can be really useful throughout the game if you have trouble in single-player mode. Plus if you’re playing online with other people you can throw your turret as a means of supporting your team. The cooldown, however, is amongst the longest in the game so be wary of that.
Axton is probably best for beginners who have never really played a first-person shooter before. Axton is more of a defensive-based character and has much more survival potential. His Action skill requires little to no effort to be effective. The Sabre turret will usually just autotarget enemies
His skill tree can boost the effectiveness of his ability too. It’s essential to pick up skills like Sentry, which will increase the amount of time your turrets can stay active, and Scorched Earth will add rockets to the turret which will make short work of most enemies without you having to have a good aim.
Axton’s Survival tree has its advantages. Skill like Grit allows the player to simply ignore the damage that would otherwise put them into “fight for your life”. Preparation is nice for generating shields in between fights and Resourceful will decrease your Action Skill cooldown allowing you to redeploy your turrets faster.
Gemini, which is the Survival Trees capstone skill allows you to deploy two turrets that are excellent for crowd control.
Axton is probably the best character to choose if you go solo in Borderlands 2 because he doesn’t need to rely on the help of his teammates to survive. All of his abilities can be used all by himself.
Skill Trees
Guerrilla tree
Guerrilla tree – This is his first skill tree. It focuses on getting him into the fight quicker and improves Sabre Turret’s ability to make continuous high-damage attacks. There are 6 Tiers that the Guerrilla tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Sentry
1
5
+1 shot per burst and +2s duration for Sabre Turret per level.
Ready
1
5
+8% Reload Speed per level.
Laser Sight
2
5
+10% Turret Accuracy per level.
Willing
2
5
+15% Shield Recharge Rate and -12% Shield Recharge Delay per level.
Onslaught
3
5
Kill Skill. killing an enemy gives you +6% Gun Damage and +12% Movement Speed per level for a short time.
Able
3
5
Damaging an enemy regenerates 0.4% of your Maximum Health per second per level for 3 seconds.
Scorched Earth
3
1
Adds Multi-Rocket Pods to your Sabre Turret. 22 Rockets per Volley.
Grenadier
4
5
+1 Grenade Capacity per level.
Crisis Management
5
5
+7% Gun Damage and +6% Melee Damage per level when shields are depleted.
Double Up
6
1
Adds a second gun to the Sabre Turret and both guns fire Slag bullets.
Gunpowder tree
Gunpowder tree – This is his second skill tree. It focuses on medium-range explosives and weapon damage. It also aids in using the turret to distract enemies and helps increase his combat stats in the long-run. There are 6 Tiers that the Gunpowder tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Impact
1
5
+4% Gun Damage and +3% Melee Damage per level.
Expertise
1
5
+14% weapon swap and aim speed per level; +7% movement speed when aiming per level.
Overload
2
5
+10% Magazine Size for Assault Rifles.
Metal Storm
2
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives a +12% Fire Rate and +15% Recoil Reduction per level for a short time.
Steady
3
5
+8% Recoil Reduction, +5% Grenade Damage, and +4% Rocket Launcher damage per level.
Battlefront
3
5
+6% Gun, Melee, and Grenade damage per level while turret is deployed.
Longbow Turret
3
1
+10000% Turret Deploy Range, +110% Turret Health.
Duty Calls
4
5
+5% Gun Damage and +3% Fire Rate with non-elemental guns.
Do or Die
4
1
Allows you to throw grenades while in Fight for Your Life. +10% Grenade and Rocket Launcher damage.
Ranger
5
5
+1% Gun Damage, Accuracy, Critical Hit Damage, Fire Rate, Magazine Size, Reload Speed, and Maximum Health per level.
Nuke
6
1
Deploying your Sabre Turret sets off a small Nuclear Blast.
Survival tree
Survival tree – This is his third and final skill tree. It focuses on boosting his defenses and his main abilities and also aids in healing him in deficient health. It also helps make the Sabre Turret’s cooldown quicker so you can spawn it more often. There are 6 Tiers that the Survival tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Healthy
1
5
+6% Maximum Health per level.
Preparation
1
5
+3% shield capacity per level; regenerate 0.4% health per second per level when shields are full.
Last Ditch Effort
2
5
+8% Gun Damage and +14% Movement Speed per level during Fight For Your Life.
Pressure
2
5
Up to +14% Reload Speed and -12% Shield Recharge Delay per level depending on how low your health is.
Forbearance
3
5
-8% Status Effect duration on you and +1% Maximum Health per level.
Quick Charge
3
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy regenerates 1% of your shield per second per level for a short time.
Phalanx Shield
3
1
Your Sabre Turret projects a shield that attempts to block enemy ranged fire but lets friendly ranged attacks pass through.
Resourceful
4
5
+5% Action Skill Cooldown Rate per level.
Mag-Lock
4
1
Your Sabre Turret can be deployed on walls and ceilings.
Grit
5
5
You have a 4% chance per level to ignore damage that would otherwise kill you. In addition to not taking damage from the attack, you will also regain half your Maximum health.
Action Skill – Phaselock: This allows the player to temporarily suspend an enemy in the air for a short period of time making them an easy target to bring down.
As far as the lowest cooldown durations are concerned Maya wins in that particular area. Maya’s Phaselock has limitations though as some enemies in later difficulties can’t be phase-locked. However, these are usually just massive enemies as opposed to a large squad of normal enemies. This is not anything to be seriously worried about in this regard.
If you are an experienced FPS player then we would highly recommend that you play as Maya and this is because of one skill in particular called Cloud kill. Not only is it overpowered in normal mode but it’s effective in the game’s highest difficulties as well. The damage that Cloud Kill deals scales with the level of your character.
With proper skill point investment, you should be able to have Cloud Kill by level 16 and at this point in the game you’re going to start to encounter more and more armored or corrosive vulnerable enemies and since Cloud Kill primarily deals corrosive damage, one shot from your gun can pretty much annihilate the toughest Loaders. Cloud Kill costs only one skill point so it’s definitely worth having.
Maya has the advantage of having a really low Action Skill cooldown and skills like Ruin will auto-slag enemies for you. Combine Ruin with Cloud Kill and normal mode will almost begin to play itself.
Early on Phaselock is great for sniping as it holds enemies still so you can perfectly line up those headshots. For experienced FPS players, the combination of Cloud Kill along with an appropriately leveled Jakob sniper rifle can put the pain on enemies.
Maya is also a very good character to choose when playing solo just because her ability allows her to freeze enemies and control the mobs of enemies trying to kill her.
Skill Trees
Motion tree
Motion tree – This is her first skill tree. It focuses on improving her Phaselock ability for crowd control and defense and also lets her brainwash enemies into fighting with one another. There are 6 Tiers that the Motion tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Ward
1
5
+5% Shield Capacity and -8% Shield Recharge Delay per level.
Accelerate
1
5
+3% Gun Damage and +4% Bullet Speed per level.
Suspension
2
5
Increases the duration of Phaselock by 0.5s per level.
Kinetic Reflection
2
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy causes you to deflect bullets against nearby enemies, reducing damage to you by 10% and dealing 20% damage per level for a short time.
Fleet
3
5
Your Movement Speed increases by 10% per level while your shields are depleted.
Inertia
3
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy regenerates 0.8% of your Shield per second and increases your Reload Speed by 10% per level for a short time.
Converge
3
1
Your Phaselock ability now also pulls nearby enemies toward the original target.
Quicken
4
5
Increases the Cooldown Rate of your Phaselock’s Ability by 6% per level.
Sub-Sequence
5
5
When an enemy dies under the effects of Phaselock, there is a chance for your Phaselock to seek out and affect another target (20% chance per level).
Thoughtlock
6
1
Phaselock causes enemies to switch allegiance and fight amongst themselves. Additionally, Phaselock’s duration and cooldown are increased (3s and 4s respectively).
Harmony tree
Harmony tree – This is her second skill tree. It focuses on improving her healing abilities for her and her teammates and helping her damage per second go up. There are 6 Tiers that the Harmony tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Mind’s Eye
1
5
+5% Critical Hit Damage and +6% Melee Damage per level
Sweet Release
1
5
Killing an enemy who is currently Phaselocked creates 1 Life Orb per level which automatically seeks out and heals you and your friends. The healing is stronger when your or your friend’s health is low (up to 15% per Orb, does not increase with level).
Restoration
2
5
+3% Maximum Health and attack allies to heal them for 6% of the attack damage per level.
Wreck
2
5
+10% Fire Rate and +6% Damage with guns per level while you have an enemy Phaselocked.
Elated
3
5
You and your friends regenerate 1% health per second per level while you have an enemy Phaselocked.
Recompense
3
5
Taking Health damage has a 10% chance per level of dealing an equal amount of damage to your attacker.
Res
3
1
You can instantly revive a friend in Fight for Your Life by using Phaselock on him/her.
Sustenance
4
5
Regenerate 0.4% of your missing Health per second per level.
Life Tap
5
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives you 1.2% Life Steal per level for a short while.
Scorn
6
1
Melee Override. Press [Melee] to throw an Orb of Slag that constantly damages enemies near it. This ability has an 18-second cooldown. Pressing [melee] when Scorn is on cooldown will perform a regular melee attack.
Cataclysm tree
Cataclysm tree – This is her third and final skill tree. It focuses on all her elemental effects, like fire, acid, slag, and electrocution.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Flicker
1
5
+6% Elemental Effect Chance per level.
Foresight
1
5
Increases Magazine Size and Reload Speed with all weapon types. +4% Magazine Size and +5% Reload Speed per level.
Immolate
2
5
Adds +10% Damage per level as Fire Damage to all shots fired when in Fight For Your Life.
Helios
2
5
Phaselocking an enemy causes a fiery explosion, damaging all nearby enemies. +1 Helios Damage Rank per level.
Chain Reaction
3
5
While you have an enemy Phaselocked all of your bullets that hit enemies have an 8% chance per level to ricochet and hit another nearby enemy.
Backdraft
3
5
Your melee attacks deal additional Fire Damage. Also, when your shields become depleted you create a fiery explosion, damaging nearby enemies. Your shields must fully recharge between explosions. +1 Backdraft Damage Rank per level.
Cloud Kill
3
1
Shooting an enemy creates a lingering Acid Cloud, which lasts for 5 seconds, dealing constant Corrosive Damage to enemies who touch it. Only one Acid Cloud can be active at a time.
Reaper
4
5
You deal +8% increased Gun Damage per level to any enemy who has more than 50% of his health remaining.
Blight Phoenix
5
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy causes you to deal constant Fire and Corrosive Damage to nearby enemies for a short time. The damage is based on your Level and the Level of the Blight Phoenix.
Ruin
6
1
Action Skill Augmentation. Phaselock now slags, corrodes and electrocutes all nearby enemies.
Action Skill – Gunzerking: Allows him to dual-wield weapons while simultaneously regenerating ammo.
Salvador’s Action Skill, Gunzerking, scales the best out of the bunch as you play through the game. The ability to dual-wield weapons gives Salvador some crazy advantages much later on once you acquire higher quality weapons.
Salvador can greatly benefit from passive weapon effects which allow him to both heal and deal ridiculous amounts of damage. If you ever plan on doing any raid boss kills, Salvador the Gunzerker is probably the best choice for this reason.
Salvador has the best Action Skill of all the characters since his dual-wielding ability allows him to share passive weapon effects between weapons. Now it generally depends but dual-wielding with Salvador can yield a superior damage boost while also allowing you to take advantage of the benefits that dual-wielding two weapons would provide.
As a general rule, it’s a good idea to mix different weapon types together and if you can find some Hyperion shotguns on Salvador as they tend to work quite well and you’ll also like Moxie weapons too it’s. Salvador is the only character in the game with the ability to regenerate ammo he can do this both while he is Gunzerking and provided he has a hoarder class mod equipped.
Salvador can regenerate all ammo types except rocket launcher ammo. He also has one of the most overpowered skills in the game and the Money Shot skill allows the final shot in a weapon’s magazine to deal greatly increased damage.
When combined with the Roughrider shield and his Inconceivable skill, it is possible to chain Money Shots for ludicrous damage output. All of these aforementioned combinations can basically make Salvador an almost unstoppable force in the game.
He is not suitable for solo players at all because he only has the Gunzerking ability. The best thing the ability does is help a teammate if they need saving. That makes him the perfect character if you want to play with friends.
Skill Trees
Gunlust tree
Gunlust tree – This is his first skill tree. It focuses on the ability to swap to and from certain guns and aids in reloading. It also gives him various gun abilities. There are 6 Tiers that the Gun Lust tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Locked and Loaded
1
5
Reloading your gun gives you a +5% Fire Rate per level for a short time.
Quick Draw
1
5
+7% Weapon Swap Speed and +2% Critical Hit Damage per level.
I’m Your Huckleberry
2
5
+3% Damage and Reload Speed per level with pistols.
All I Need is One
2
5
Swapping weapons causes your next shot fired to deal +8% damage per level.
Divergent Likeness
3
5
+6% Damage when Gunzerking with two of the same type of guns, +6% Accuracy when Gunzerking with two different types of guns per level.
Money Shot
3
5
The last bullet fired from any gun does +8% damage per level per magazine size, up to +80% damage per level.
Auto-Loader
3
1
Killing an enemy Instantly Reloads all of the guns that you have equipped that are not currently in your hands. Swapping guns after Auto-Load has reloaded a gun triggers Locked & Loaded.
Lay Waste
4
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives a +8% Fire Rate and +5% Critical Hit Damage with Guns per level for a short time.
Down Not Out
4
1
You can Gunzerk while in Fight for Your Life.
Keep It Piping Hot
5
5
While Gunzerking is in the process of cooling down you gain +5% Gun Damage, +6% Melee Damage, and +5% Grenade Damage per level.
No Kill Like Overkill
6
1
When you kill an enemy you gain a bonus to Gun Damage equal to the amount of excess damage you dealt to the enemy you just killed.
Rampage tree
Rampage tree – This is his second skill tree. It focuses on adding extra ammunition to his weapons and helps increase the Gunzerking ability’s stats. It also lowers the cooldown rates for specific abilities. There are 6 Tiers that the Rampage tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Inconceivable
1
5
Up to a 10% chance per level for shots not to consume ammo depending on how low your health and shields are.
Filled to the Brim
1
5
+5% Magazine Capacity and +3% Ammunition Capacity per level for all weapon types.
All in the Reflexes
2
5
+5% Reload Speed and +4% Melee Damage per level.
Last Longer
2
5
+3 seconds Gunzerking duration per level.
I’m Ready Already
3
5
+5% Gunzerking Cooldown Rate.
5 Shots or 6
3
5
Grants a 5% chance per level to add an extra round of ammunition when firing instead of expending ammunition.
Steady as She Goes
3
1
+80% Recoil Reduction and 30% chance to improve Accuracy on hit when Gunzerking.
Yippee Ki Yay
4
5
Increases the duration of Gunzerking by 0.6s per level every time an enemy is killed while Gunzerking.
Double Your Fun
4
1
Throwing a grenade while Gunzerking throws two grenades instead of one. The second grenade doesn’t cost ammo.
Get Some
5
5
Shooting an enemy decreases Gunzerking cooldown by 0.6 seconds per level. Has a cooldown of 3 seconds.
Keep Firing…
6
1
While Gunzerking, you gain up to +88% Fire Rate and +25% Reload Speed depending on how long you hold down the trigger.
Brawn tree
Brawn tree – This is his third and final skill tree. It focuses on the physical damage absorption for him and his teammates and helps in his health regeneration. It also gives him some physical abilities to use in battle. There are 6 Tiers that the Brawn tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Hard to Kill
1
5
+4% Maximum Health and regenerate 0.1% of your Maximum Health per second per level.
Incite
1
5
Taking damage gives +6% Movement Speed and +5% Reload Speed for a few seconds.
Asbestos
2
5
-8% Negative Status Effect Duration per level.
I’m the Juggernaut
2
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives a +4% Damage Reduction for a short time.
Ain’t Got Time to Bleed
3
5
While Gunzerking you regenerate up to 0.8% of your Maximum Health per second per level depending on how low your health is.
Out of Bubblegum
3
5
+7% Fire Rate per level when the shield is depleted.
Fistful of Hurt
3
1
Melee Override. Throw a heavy punch dealing massive damage and knockback. Has a cooldown of 15 seconds.
Bus That Can’t Slow Down
4
5
+10% Movement Speed per level while Gunzerking.
Just Got Real
4
5
Up to +8% Gun Damage per level depending on how low your health is.
Sexual Tyrannosaurus
5
5
Taking damage gives +0.4% Health Regeneration per level for 5 seconds. This effect does not stack.
Come At Me Bro
6
1
While Gunzerking, you can press [Action Skill] to taunt your enemies into attacking you. You instantly heal to Full Health and gain massive damage reduction for a few seconds.
Action Skill – Decepti0n: Allows him to turn invisible for a short period to either run away or flank enemies.
His unique ability, called Decepti0n, grants him the ability to put down a holographic decoy of himself to distract enemies. While this decoy is deployed, he turns invisible, and that makes a means to escape danger. During his time while invisible, his damage is boosted and helps to take out more challenging enemies.
Zero’s turning invisible ability is always going to be useful in a wide variety of situations. From escaping near-death scenarios to moving into an advantageous position in the middle of the battle. The ability can also scale well in the late game.
Zero’s problem is that he tends to be fairly squishy when compared to some of the other characters in the game. With that said, he is an extremely interesting character to play both early and later on and this is because Zero is great at melee and he’s great at sniping.
He’s also a really good generic gun-type character as well. I’d recommend that you pick up Zeros B0re skill as it’s quite useful for dealing damage to enemies in clustered groups or up against some bosses. If you can also try to obtain a Singularity Grenade and a high projectile count shotgun, you can get the most out of this particular skill.
He is not a good character for solo players because his ability to turn invisible is very useful to help aid a friend who is down or in trouble. I highly recommend using Zer0 with friends because he is not very good when you lone wolf with him.
Skill Trees
Sniping tree
Sniping tree – This is his first skill tree. It focuses on weapons like sniper rifles to do more damage if an enemy is shot in the head or a critical spot. It also helps in doing more damage to critical hits on enemies. There are 6 Tiers that the Sniping tree has, and each of them adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Headsh0t
1
5
+4% Critical Hit Damage per level.
0ptics
1
5
+3% Zoom and +12% Aim Steadiness (reduces aim disruption when taking damage) per level.
Killer
2
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives you +10% Critical Hit Damage and +15% Reload Speed per level for a few seconds.
Precisi0n
2
5
+5% Accuracy per level.
0ne Sh0t 0ne Kill
3
5
The first shot from a fully loaded magazine deals +12% Damage per level.
Vel0city
3
5
+20% Bullet Speed, +3% Critical Hit Damage, and +2% Gun Damage per level.
B0re
3
1
Shots pierce through enemies, gaining +100% damage per enemy pierced. Enemy crit locations are highlighted in Decepti0n.
Kill C0nfirmed
4
5
Up to +8% Critical Hit Damage per level depending on how long you aim down the sights.
At 0ne with the Gun
5
5
+25% Hip-Shot accuracy, +10% Reload Speed, and +1 Magazine Size with Sniper Rifles per level.
Critical Ascensi0n
6
1
Scoring a Critical Hit with a sniper rifle gives you +6% Critical Hit Damage and +5% Damage with sniper rifles. Can stack up to 999 times. Stacks begin to decay if you haven’t scored a critical hit after a couple of seconds.
Cunning tree
Cunning tree – This is his second skill tree. It focuses on improving his central ability and the abilities that aid in ranged and melee combat. It also helps in reload speed for weapons. There are 6 Tiers that the Cunning tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Fast Hands
1
5
+5% Reload Speed and +10% Weapon Swap Speed per level.
C0unter Strike
1
5
After getting hit, your next melee attack has a chance to deal +50% damage per level.
Fearless
2
5
+5% Fire Rate and +3% Gun Damage per level when your shield is depleted.
Ambush
2
5
+4% damage per level when attacking enemies from behind or when attacking an enemy who is targeting someone other than you.
Rising Sh0t
3
5
Each successful ranged or melee attack gives you +2% Gun Damage and +1.8% Melee Damage per level for a short time. This bonus can stack up to 5 times. Faster weapons can gain stacks more quickly, but slower weapons retain stacks for a longer period.
Unf0rseen
3
5
Your holographic decoy explodes when you become visible again, causing shock damage to nearby enemies. Damage increases per level.
Deathmark
3
1
Dealing melee damage marks a target for 8 seconds. Marked targets take 20% additional damage from all sources.
Innervate
4
5
While Decepti0n is active you gain +2% Gun Damage, +7% Movement Speed, and regenerate 0.8% of your Maximum Health per second per level.
Tw0 Fang
5
5
Every time you fire you have a 6% chance per level to fire twice.
Death Bl0ss0m
6
1
Action Skill Augment. Throws a handful of Kunai knives. Has a random elemental effect. Does not take character out of Decepti0n. Can be used five times per cooldown. Can apply Death Mark.
Bloodshed tree
Bloodshed tree – This is his third and final tree. It focuses mainly on melee weapons and stealth. This tree is definitely not for the run-and-gun kind of people. It also aids in the regeneration of your shield to help your health stay up. There are 6 Tiers that the Bloodshed tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Killing Bl0w
1
5
+100% Melee Damage per level against enemies with low health.
Ir0n Hand
1
5
+3% Melee Damage and Maximum Health per level.
Grim
2
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy regenerates 0.7% of your shield per second and gives +1.5% Action Skill cooldown rate per level for a few seconds.
Be Like Water
2
5
Shooting an enemy gives +6% damage per level to your next melee attack. Melee Attacks give +4% damage per level to your next gun attack.
F0ll0wthr0ugh
3
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives +8% Movement Speed, +6% Gun Damage, and +8% Melee Damage per level for a few seconds.
Backstab
3
5
Your melee attacks deal +8% damage per level when hitting an enemy in the back.
Execute
3
1
Melee Override Skill. While Decepti0n is active and a target is under your crosshairs, melee to dash forward a short distance and perform a special melee attack, dealing massive damage. Has a range of 3 meters.
Resurgence
4
5
Killing an enemy with a melee attack restores up to 4% of your health per level depending on how low your health is.
Like The Wind
5
5
+3% Gun and Melee Damage per level when moving.
Many Must Fall
6
1
Killing an enemy with a Melee Attack during Decepti0n deploys an additional holographic decoy and extends the duration of Decepti0n instead of ending it.
Action Skill – Deathtrap: A deployable robot companion which acts as an agro source and can deal damage to enemies.
The companion robot will regularly divert attention off of you which is quite a big deal if you are a newcomer to the game, playing solo, or new to FPS in general. Deathtrap will also support your co-op teammates.
Gaige is more of an offensive-based character at higher skill levels and she has higher damage potential. The convenience of Deathtrap doing anything on his own will free you to rain down punishment on the enemies.
The right combination of skills will make her even more potent. Close Enough skill allows some of your shots to hit enemies regardless of where you aim. Buck Up allows Deathtrap to restore your shield or a friend’s shield in co-op. Upshot Robot can increase the amount of time that Deathtrap remains active provided that you’re scoring kills.
Gaige tends to fare a little bit better later on in the game thanks to her Ordered Chaos Tree. Anarchy is a skill or a mechanic that allows the player to gain stacks of Anarchy which increases damage while decreasing accuracy and magazine size however if you reload you lose all your stacks.
Skills like Blood Soaked Shields are far superior to skills like Buck Up or Fancy Mathematics. When Blood Soaked Shield is maxed out, you are gaining 100% shield capacity upon killing an enemy at the expense of a little health. Other skills like The Nth Degree works really well when combined with Close Enough on shotguns as you’re almost guaranteed to hit enemies even with high Anarchy.
Gaige is another excellent choice for solo players because Deathtrap lasts for a whole minute. Because her ability lasts for a long time, it makes her an excellent choice to use when being overrun by enemies.
Skill Trees
Best Friends Forever tree
Best Friends Forever tree – This is her first skill tree. It focuses on survival and the damage and defense increase for Deathtrap. It also boosts if you have a full magazine in your weapon. There are 6 Tiers that the Best Friends Forever tree has, and each of them adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Close Enough
1
5
Your bullets that hit walls or other objects have a 10% chance per level to ricochet toward a nearby enemy dealing 50% of its usual damage
Cooking Up Trouble
1
5
While your gun’s magazine is full you regenerate 0.4% of your Maximum health per second per level
Fancy Mathematics
2
5
Improves shield recharge delay by 14% and shield recharge rate by 12% per level based on how low your health is. The lower your health the greater the bonuses.
Buck Up
2
1
Deathtrap Ability. Deathtrap restores 30% shields of one ally.
The Better Half
2
5
When your magazine is half empty you gain a 12% fire rate bonus per level.
Potent as a Pony
3
5
+4% Maximum Health for you and +2% Maximum Health for Deathtrap per level.
Upshot Robot
3
1
While Deathtrap is active, if you or Deathtrap kill an enemy it increases Deathtrap’s duration by 5s and grants both of you a stackable +4% melee damage bonus. Bonuses are lost when Deathtrap goes away.
Unstoppable Force
3
5
Killing an enemy grants you 7% bonus movement speed per level and causes your shield to regenerate 0.8% per second per level for a short while.
Explosive Clap
4
1
Deathtrap Ability. Deathtrap causes an explosion in front of him, dealing explosive damage to all nearby enemies.
Made of Sterner Stuff
4
5
You and Deathtrap gain 1% damage reduction per level against all damage types. Deathtrap gains +4% bonus melee damage per level.
20% Cooler
5
5
Increases the cooldown rate of your action skill by 6% each level.
Sharing is Caring
6
1
Grants a copy of your shield to Deathtrap.
Little Big Trouble tree
Little Big Trouble tree – This is her second skill tree. It focuses on you and Deathtrap’s elemental effects and gives Deathtrap a new type of weapon called heat beams. It also allows Deathtrap to mimic any element he comes in contact with. There are 6 Tiers that the Little Big Trouble tree has, and each of them adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
More Pep
1
5
Increases your chances of applying elemental Status Effects by 2% per level; 4% per level for Electrocute.
Myelin
1
5
Grants you 6% Resistance to Shock Damage per level. Also increases your Shield Capacity by 3% per level.
Shock Storm
2
5
Killing an enemy with a Critical Hit causes an Electric Storm, dealing Electrocute Damage to nearby enemies. Electrical Storms are also caused by Deathtrap whenever he kills an enemy.
The Stare
2
1
Deathtrap Ability. Deathtrap fires a laser beam and sweeps it across the battlefield, dealing Burn Damage and possibly Igniting enemies.
Strength of Five Gorillas
2
5
Increases Melee Damage for you and Deathtrap by 3% per level.
Electrical Burn
3
5
When your Electrocute Status Effects deal damage to enemies, there is a 4% chance per level they will burst into flames and take Burn Damage. The amount of Burn Damage is based on the Electrocute damage dealt.
Shock and “AAAGGGGHHH!”
3
1
Reloading your gun causes an Electrical Explosion, damaging nearby enemies.
Evil Enchantress
3
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy increases the Damage that your Burn, Electrocute, and Corrode status effects deal by 6% per level for a short period of time.
One Two Boom
4
1
Deathtrap Ability. Deathtrap shoots out an orb of energy at an enemy. If you shoot the orb it will explode, dealing massive Shock Damage to nearby enemies.
Wires Don’t Talk
4
5
Increases all Shock and Electrocute Damage that you inflict by 3% per level.
Interspersed Outburst
5
5
Not shooting an enemy for a short time grants you a stack of Interspersed Outburst. The next time you shoot an enemy, all stacks of Interspersed Outburst are consumed and you deal Slag Damage. The more stacks are consumed, the greater the chance of slagging the target.
Make it Sparkle
6
1
Shooting Deathtrap with an elemental weapon charges him with that element, causing his melee attacks to deal additional damage of that element.
Ordered Chaos tree
Ordered Chaos tree – This is her third and final skill tree. It focuses on an ability called Anarchy, which increases the damage of all weapons but also drops the accuracy over time. It also helps reload your weapon faster. There are 6 Tiers that the Ordered Chaos tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Smaller, Lighter, Faster
1
4
Increases your reload speed by 6% per level but decreases your magazine size by 1% per level.
Anarchy
1
1
Killing an enemy or fully emptying your gun’s magazine while in combat grants you a stack of Anarchy. For every stack of Anarchy you have, you gain bonus gun damage, but your accuracy is decreased. Prematurely reloading your guns removes all stacks of Anarchy. Anarchy stacks are quickly lost while in “Fight for Your Life.”Note: To count towards an Anarchy stack during reloading, it is necessary that at least one bullet strike an enemy or the destructible object (Barrels, Cash Crystals, Bones Trash Pile, Etc.)
Preshrunk Cyberpunk
2
5
Increases the maximum number of Anarchy stacks you can have by 50 per level.
Robot Rampage
2
1
Deathtrap Ability. Deathtrap lashes out with a flurry of attacks.
Blood Soaked Shields
2
5
Killing an enemy immediately restores 20% of your shields per level, but you lose 1% of your health per level.
Annoyed Android
3
5
Increases the movement speed of Deathtrap by 7% per level.
Discord
3
1
Prematurely reloading activates Discord granting you +65% accuracy, +25% fire rate, and 3% per second health regeneration. You constantly lose Anarchy stacks while Discord is active. Discord can be shut off by prematurely reloading again.
Typecast Iconoclast
3
5
Whenever you get a stack of Anarchy there is a 6% chance per level you get an additional stack.
Rational Anarchist
4
1
If you have 0 stacks of Anarchy, then the next time you would gain an Anarchy stack you instead gain 25.
Death From Above
4
5
Shooting an enemy while in mid-air consumes stacks of Anarchy and causes a Digi-Splosion, damaging nearby enemies.
The Nth Degree
5
5
Every Nth bullet that hits an enemy will ricochet toward another nearby enemy.
With Claws
6
1
Melee Override Skill. While you have a stack of Anarchy, melee to digistruct claws and swipe twice at an enemy, dealing damage based on the number of Anarchy stacks you currently have (+0.6% per stack) and restoring health. The lower your health the more health you gain. This attack consumes an Anarchy stack.
Action Skill – Buzz Axe Rampage: This greatly boosts melee damage and allows you to regain all of your health upon scoring a kill.
Krieg’s Buzz Axe Rampage can be quite powerful throughout all stages of the game provided you have the proper build and gear to go along with it.
As a side tangent, it is possible to play through the game with Krieg without using any weapons. Granted certain sections of the game will be kind of hard because you have to hit things from a distance but it’s possible to do and because of the way his Action Skill works it’s actually quite effective and it’s a fun challenge if you ever want to try it.
However, Krieg is not an easy character to play early on. He tends to get better as you level him up hence he is more of a late-game type character. Krieg is probably the least gear-dependent character out of all of them.
Krieg is a really good character and he plays far differently than the other Vault hunters. One of Krieg’s advantages is that he was added to the game after the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode was released so he is far better balanced for that difficulty than some of the other characters in the game.
Krieg also has some skills that overhaul his Action Skill like Buzz Axe Bombardier which adds dynamite to your thrown axes. Light the Fuse which changes his “fight for your life” to where he moves really fast and throws sticks of dynamite and when the timer runs out he will explode and if the explosion kills an enemy you’ll basically come back and get a second wind.
He is the worst choice for using solo just because he can die very quickly. His skill trees are very high risk/reward, so if you have friends to help you, I would recommend using him.
Skill Trees
Bloodlust tree
Bloodlust tree – This is his first skill tree. It focuses on ranged combat with guns and improves his skills, like melee damage and health. It also gives boosts for getting kills with weapons. There are 6 Tiers that the Bloodlust tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Blood Twitch
1
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives +0.3% Weapon Swap speed per Bloodlust stack per level. Dealing damage to an enemy adds a stack of Bloodlust. Stacks decay after a few seconds if you haven’t dealt damage.
Blood-Filled Guns
1
5
+0.5% Magazine Size per Bloodlust stack per level. Dealing damage to an enemy adds a stack of Bloodlust. Stacks decay after a few seconds if you haven’t dealt damage.
Blood Overdrive
2
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy with a bullet gives +0.5% Melee Damage and -0.005s Grenade Fuse Time per Bloodlust stack per level for a short time.
Bloody Revival
2
5
+0.3% Assault Rifle damage during Fight For Your Life per Bloodlust stack per level.
Taste of Blood
2
5
+0.1% damage reduction during Buzz Axe Rampage per Bloodlust stack per level. +10 Bloodlust stacks per kill (+5 per level) during Buzz Axe Rampage.
Blood Bath
3
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy with a grenade or explosion gives +0.5% weapon damage per Bloodlust stack per level for a short time. Enemies killed this way have a 15% chance per level of dropping Grenade ammunition.
Buzz Axe Bombardier
3
1
When thrown, your buzz axe now has Dynamite attached to it which explodes on impact.
Fuel the Blood
3
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy with a melee attack gives +0.2% Grenade Damage per Bloodlust stack per level for a short time and adds +2 Bloodlust stacks per level.
Boiling Blood
4
5
Increases the time before Bloodlust stacks start to decay by 0.5 seconds per level.
Blood Trance
4
5
Increases the duration of Buzz Axe Rampage by 0.05 seconds per Bloodlust stack (at time of activation) per level.
Nervous Blood
5
5
Kill Skill. Killing an enemy gives +0.3% Reload Speed per Bloodlust stack per level for a short time.
Bloodsplosion
6
1
Killing an enemy causes them to explode with an Elemental Nova matching the element of the damage that killed it (Non-elemental damage will cause an explosive nova). Overkill damage is added to this damage. Each Bloodlust stacks increases this damage by 5%.
Mania tree
Mania tree – This is his second skill tree. It focuses on melee combat damage and improvements. This is a high-risk/high-reward skill tree because you must take damage from enemies for your Buzz Axe Rampage to regenerate faster. There are 6 Tiers that the Mania tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Empty the Rage
1
5
+4% Melee Damage per level; additional +10% per level when shields or magazine is empty.
Pull the Pin
1
1
When you die, you drop a free grenade. If you kill an enemy with it, you get double XP.
Feed the Meat
1
5
+10% Max Health and +0.5 sec Shield Recharge Delay per level.
Fuel the Rampage
2
5
+20% Buzz Axe Rampage cooldown from taking damage per level; additional +20% per level from Health damage. You can now be damaged by teammates; friendly fire damage is 50% – 5% per level.
Embrace the Pain
2
5
+7% Fire Rate per level when shields are down. +1 sec Shield Recharge Delay per level.
Thrill of the Kill
3
5
Up to 10% per level of overkill damage (damage that is over and above what was needed to kill the enemy) is returned to you as Health, depending on how low your health is.
Light the Fuse
3
1
Fight For Your Life is replaced with Light the Fuse. During Light the Fuse you pull out a live bundle of dynamite and can move normally. The bundle detonates when the timer runs out. If you kill someone you are revived.
Getting a revive with the bundle explosion gives you bonus Movement Speed for the remainder of the time that was left in Light the Fuse. Throw Dynamite sticks with Fire. Detonate bundle by holding the reload button.
Strip the Flesh
3
5
+3% Explosive damage per level; additional +3% per level in Fight For Your Life.
Redeem the Soul
4
1
You can instantly Revive teammates at the cost of downing yourself. You may revive in this way only once each time Buzz axe Rampage is on cooldown. +50% Fight For Your Life time.
Salt the Wound
4
5
Taking damage from an enemy while your shield is down adds a stack of Salt the Wound to a maximum of 20. +1.5% Melee Damage and +1% Shotgun damage per stack per level.
Silence the Voices
5
5
+50% Melee Damage per level. 12% chance to attack yourself with melee attacks.
Release the Beast
6
1
Activating the Buzz Axe Rampage when at or below 33% of your max health remaining (i.e., when the ! is showing) instantly refills your health and transforms you into a Badass Psycho Mutant with +100% Melee Damage and +50% Damage Reduction. Buzz Axe Rampage is instantly recharged afterward.
Hellborn tree
Hellborn tree – This is his third and final tree. It focuses on elemental effects like fire. With this skill tree, you basically set yourself on fire to deal more damage to enemies. It also helps increase weapon and melee damage and can be a very good skill tree to go down. There are 6 Tiers that the Hellborn tree has, and each adds at least one upgrade slot that can fit a couple of upgrade points in each.
Skill
Tier
Levels
Effect
Burn, Baby, Burn
1
5
+7%, +15% burn damage per level. 7% chance (+7% per level) per fire attack to set self on fire.
Fuel the Fire
1
5
Kill Skill. 7% chance (+7% per level) per fire attack to set self on fire. Killing an enemy gives +40% Elemental Effect Chance (+40% per level) for a short time.
Pain is Power
2
5
+5%, +10% Weapon and Melee Damage per level (except for Sniper Rifles). -5% Critical Hit Damage (-5% per level)
Numbed Nerves
2
5
+10% damage reduction per level when on fire.
Elemental Elation
3
5
When Elemental Status Effect Damage is being done to enemies you gain stacks of Elemental Elation up to a maximum of 20. Each stack gives +1.0% Fire Rate and Magazine Size per level. Stacks will not decay while you are on fire.
Delusional Damage
3
1
All Elemental Status Effects you cause have a chance to light yourself on fire. Ignite chances are determined by those accumulated from Burn, Baby, Burn and Fuel the Fire.
Fire Fiend
3
5
Melee Attacks have a 10% per level chance to Ignite enemies. +10% Weapon Accuracy and +7% Reload Speed when on fire.
Hellfire Halitosis
4
1
Melee Override Skill. Pressing Melee causes you to breathe fire in a cone in front of you. Cooldown is 15 seconds.
Flame Flare
4
5
+20% Burn Duration on you per level. 15% chance per level for your Burn effects to apply another Burn effect.
Elemental Empathy
5
5
A percentage (5% per level) of Elemental Status Effect Damage done to enemies heals you.
Raving Retribution
6
1
While you are on fire, taking damage from enemies will spawn homing balls of fire that seek out the attacker and explode on impact. Fireballs only trigger once per second.
Recommended Starter Class for Beginners
If we had to pick one particular class in Borderlands 2 for new people to play that are familiar with FPS games it would have to be Maya and the main reason being her Cloud Kill skill which just utterly eviscerates enemies in normal mode.
Maya also makes great use of SMGs provided she is equipped with a Cat class mod SMG. Borderlands 2 has some very unique and legendary SMGs which she can take advantage of.
If you just picked up Borderlands 2 for the first time and you want a good character to play then go ahead and try Maya and remember to spec for Cloud Kill once you hit level 16 or so. You can always try other characters on new slots but as a first choice, this chick is mighty powerful.
Borderlands 2 is a vast game; it takes some sacrifice to try and play through the whole thing. That is why it is crucial to understand what character you should use. All 6 characters you can choose from have their own stories to tell and dialogue you can listen to. So if you ever beat the game with one character, try it again with another because it changes the gameplay in a significant way.
