50 ways to keep Zer0 alive in UVHM

Borderlands 2 Zer0 the Assassin
#21

Updated.

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#22

For gun Zer0s: when not using singularity grenades to set up B0re shots, transfusion grenades - especially slag ones - are a valuable survival tool.

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#23

For Sniper Zer0s make sure you have a gun that you can roll with up close as well. I made the mistake many times of not getting a better shotty/pistol while levelig in UVHM and it can be a pain. I prefer Hyperion and Jakob’s Shotguns/Vladoff Pistols (for non legendaries/uniques obviously).

Also have a Bee shield but do not fall in love with it.

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#24

Update with a few additions.

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#25

May I post some ideas ?

  • Learn the Battlefield. Melee Zer0 should know everything about the field he’s going throught… Every wall, rocks, any obstacles that could make the difference between a successful Execute and a FFYL…

  • Watch out Elemental Barrels ! Any bullet flying around you could make them explode and put you in FFYL, even if you’re in Decepti0n.

  • Never throw Kunais then do an Execute immediatly after… You should be surprised by your Kunai’s ability to take you down yourself !

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#26

I just see all of 30 tips in this post. So, where are the remaining 20 tips? But anyway, such the tips are still very helpful to read. Cheers!

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#27

That’s because we haven’t made it to 50 yet. :dukesad:

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#28

There is a known little trick for Deception that a lot of the experienced Zer0 players use. I though I share it because it does help out in a pinch, and relevant to his survival in UVHM.

Quick Deception: Quick deception is going into Deception without having to wait for Zero’s arm swing animation to finish. You can do this while in aim down the sight, saving you that precious second and getting you into safely that much faster. It may not sound like much on paper but in practice it makes a pretty big difference on his gamesplay. It is a very useful method to dodge big incoming attacks at the very last second.

TIP: In gameplay settings set your aim down the sight to “hold” instead of “toggle”. The reason being that you have to be in ads before you enter deception, but you will still be in ads unless you right click out again when it is set to “toggle”— with “hold” you can simply just release–thus taking one less input from the player.

Some players do this so fast that it can be hard to miss on videos. Do people ever wonder why in a lot of these cool Zer0 videos, players are going into deception so fast? This is the reason.

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Melee Zer0....You Still 0ut There?
#29

So if I understand correctly, (assuming XBox controller) be ADS on left-trigger hold, release trigger and immediately hit left-bumper to trigger deception? (I already have ADS set to hold instead of toggle; crouch is always toggle though.)

Another thing I ended up doing is remapping my controls to put melee on right-bumper and grenade on B; much easier to melee as Zer0 that way.

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#30

Here’s another suggestion: Know how the critical hit bonuses stack, and choose your weapons accordingly.

Incidentally, as someone who only just started using B0re, is it B0re that gives you that crunching sound effect when you manage to hit overlapping boxes?

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#31

So, this is a lot easier on mouse and keyboard for me. I plugged in a Shield controller to see what it would be as it has similar layout to the Xbox controllers. LT is my ADS and LB is my action skill. So it works but I am not as fast with it as I would be with a mouse and keyboard. What you are doing is correct, but you might be able to do it better than me since I really don’t use my controller for shooters.

Yes.

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#32

Thanks for the clarifications! I’ll have to practice that and see how it works out.

On topic for the thread: another tip I picked up from another regular is to throw homing grenades (e.g. Magic Missle) before entering deception: the enemies don’t get aggro’d straight away, so it gives you more time to move, line up, and take the shot when they do get slagged. I used that trick extensively through Opportunity during the body double mission, and it worked really well.

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Early UVHM builds/gear?
#33

Updated. Special thanks to @Adrion54 and @Abvex for some excellent tips.

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#34

I believe that should be “… to hold instead of (from) toggle…”

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#35

OK, just tried this out on XBox 360 with wireless MS controller, and it turns out to be a bit easier: You can hit your action skill (LB) while holding ADS (LT), which triggers without the animation and leaves you still ADS. This is easiest to accomplish if you use two fingers - 1st (index) for action skill and second for trigger. Obviously, if you need to move fast you want to be releasing ADS as soon as possible. That said, it’s possible to do this while sprinting; the action skill kicks you out of sprint, but you can still start slipping sideways while you come out of ADS OR you can take advantage of being ADS and instantly fire off a B0re shot. All kinda cool!

Edit to add: I wonder if this would work as well on a One? I suspect that this may be one of the rare instances where the lower frame rate of older consoles can actually play to your advantage.

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#36

Oops, good catch.

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#37

I’m a new Zer0 player and just started UVHM. Love this thread!

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#38

Hey @Zer0_X1. Welcome to the forum.

The thread still needs some work, and it was almost wholly coalesced in to the;

Thread.

We were meaning to sticky this once it hit 100, but never got around to it. Usually threads that are inactive for a year get locked after necros, but the purpose of this thread is to perpetually update (even if a year apart).

We’d love your help at getting to 50, if you have any suggestions.

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#39

EDIT Aaah, this automatic formatting is killing me by removing all the numbers I mentioned in the first part… fixing…
EDIT2: It also removed my numbering for my own suggestions but that’s not so important. Sometimes this forum software really gets under my skin.

  • 20 & 26 are the same thing.

  • 27 I’d probably phrase somewhere along the lines of “Shooting from the hip is an important skill for snipers. Sometimes you need stay mobile in combat or the enemy is too close for scopes”. It sounds a bit wonky now as there is nothing Jacobs specific going on with the advice.

  • 28 I’m not really sure what the part about not alerting others to your presence is? If you aggro a mob, you aggro a mob. I think it would be clearer and also offer some extra advice if it said something like “Mind where you throw Decepti0n. Throwing it behind obstacles can be used to manipulate enemy movement. Throwing it next to an enemy will cause them to try to melee it constantly.”

  • 30 Instead of talking about tanks and hate like this is an MMO I’d like to just phrase this as “Ambush is constantly active against enemies that are targetting someone else, be it your decoy or another player”.

  • 33 LOL :sweat_smile:

  • 35 I didn’t even ever know that you can change ADS to a toggle. The tip sounds like toggle is default. Not that it matters but it caught my eye.

I’d add

  1. Know your “ammo drop weight spot”. Having less than 40 % of your current maximum ammo gives you a lot higher chance to get ammo from crates (open them all up before picking any up!). Especially important for snipers due to low ammo pool.

  2. Depending on your positioning you don’t have to circle behind the enemy to backstab them: if you are close enough throw your decoy behind them and they’ll turn for you.

  3. Execute can be used for more than just hitting your enemies with. Use it to dash towards a distant enemy to get out of a position you don’t want to be in when your Decepti0n ends.

  4. You don’t have to hit someone when you activate Many must fall. If situation looks hairy just spend your extra Decepti0n time to reposition somewhere safe and replan your next action.

  5. Enemies directly above you can be meleed, no matter how far they are. You can hit skyhigh surveyors right above you!

  6. Execute dash goes towards the enemy, where ever they are. You can execute that pesky surveyor out of the sky if you notice they stopped flying around for one reason or another (this is also very awesome and this flying ability can even be used to recover from being thrown off a cliff!).

  7. You often want to throw the decoy to your side in mid to long distances. Placing it in front or behind you means you’re still likely going to get shot by the enemies.

  8. If you realize you’re in a pinch you might want to start softening up a target for a second wind or if you already have a weak enemy around stop shooting at them until you are in the clear.

I’m sure we can easily wrap up 2-3 more. I never realized this topic was here before it was necroed.

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#40

I like your point number 2 - hadn’t thought of that, but it’s an easier strategy to use if you’re in tight quarters anyway. Perfect for dealing with those shield-toting nomad types.

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