SMGs?
Well, Florentine and a full assortment of Sandhawks are the must-haves. Slagga is great to have on hand if you’re not speccing into Scorn. Since you don’t have the TTAoDK DLC, Magic Missile grenades are out, so you’ll probably want to have either Slagga or Florentine. Or MAYBE just get a really good slag grenade. Crossfire is SUPER for slag, and the Seraph vendor in Torgue DLC sells it.
For a FIRE SMG, I love the Good Touch. Not the hardest-hitting fire SMG out there, but that Moxxxi healing is a big help. Hellfire is ripper. B1tch or Emperor in fire is also a great deal (seems few people like Emperor, but I’ve had absolutely great experiences with it). Really, those two work in any element. Avenger is the shizz, but that’s tough to come by.
Corrosive? If you haven’t already, pick up a Bad Touch. If you have, then I’m sorry. The two legos also come in this flavor, so there’s that. (Emperor is an easy farm, BTW, so it’s kind of a no-brainer to go for it.)
Shock? FLO. Florentine, that is. Also, the two legos in shock do just fine. Crit is available, but there’s that slippery-when-wet thing. Florentine is still a better deal, despite taking two ammo per shot.
Slag? Slagga. Flo. B1tch. Seems that’s the only flavor of B1tch that BNK3R wants to give me anyway, so I tend to have extras laying around.
Failing the big bad legendaries and uniques and whatnot, here’s what else I’d recommend…
PURE DPS, I favor Bandit SMGs. I’ve had good luck getting nice ones to fall from BNK3R. Corrosive SMG is usually a purple Bandit one with Maliwan barrel. Preferably a Barfy (alternate Bandit SMG specific to corrosive, IIRC). They’re good enough in any element. In UVHM, it’s less about applying DoT and the DoT damage amount, and more about just matching the damage type to the target. And for corrosive, you’ve got Cloud Kill anyway. Bandit SMGs don’t always have the highest card damage or fire rate, but the HUGE magazine sizes make up for that in the DPS contest. I’ve had Bandit SMGs upward of 91.0 accuracy, so they’re not awful on that front either. With the right parts and high quality, they’re wicked.
ACCURACY, it’s Hyperion every time. Initial few rounds may fall short, but once that reverse recoil gimmick kicks in they’re more accurate than some sniper rifles. No, REALLY. They’re TOO accurate for spray-and-pray tactics, and most well suited to mid-range engagements. Slower reloads tend to hold 'em back a little, IMO, but they still rock out at higher quality levels. Also, B1tch is awesome. Actualizer (Seraph Hyperion SMG, available in all elements IIRC) is an exception, in that the accuracy ain’t all that. But the card damage is HUGE. Might actually be the highest per-pellet damage of any SMG, but I’m not 100% positive of that. Call it 99.9%. Things are STOOPID, but accuracy is in the 80s and reloads are slow.
ELEMENTAL PWNAGE, you want Maliwan. Higher elemental effect chance and decent (second-place, I think) accuracy. And they just look sweet as all get-out. Not the greatest card damage, and no non-elemental options if you’re so inclined, but possibly the best overall SMG manufacturer. Again, higher quality leads to some really good performance.
Like, uh, whatever? That’s Dahl and Tediore. Nothing wrong with 'em, but nothing particularly special about 'em. Tediore would at least compete for higher DPS if they had larger magazines to begin with, or if the card damage were higher. But they don’t and it isn’t, and the super-quick reloads are really only useful when you put yourself in a bad situation. The using-my-reload-as-a-free-grenade thing can be fun, but then that’s more of an Axton thing to do well. Or Krieg, I guess. Not Maya, though, to be sure. Dahl? Good at everything, not great at anything. Not my first choice, but I’ll take 'em.
SADLY, we lack SMGs from Jakobs and Vladof and Torgue. I KNOW at least Torgue made SMGs in the first Borderlands, and they were SO good. I’ve got a Torgue Double Anarchy on EVERY character there just for mobbing up spiderants. But this is a tale of two games, and things have changed. Imagine it, though? Torgue SMGs would do wicked high explosive damage, but have slow projectiles. It could work for the mid-range stuff I do with SMGs. Vladof? Less accurate, but bigger magazines and high fire rates? Yup. All about that. Jakobs? High damage, high accuracy, never elemental (except when it is), but what’s an old-fashioned SMG look like? What’s that? A ‘Tommy Gun’?
SOLD!
Anyhow, get Florentine and Good Touch and a purple Bandit corrosive (Crudy Barfy, ideally), as well as a set of Sandhawks (minus slag), and maybe a Slagga for slagging when you’re running a little low on SMG ammo. Substitute Emperor or B1tch for any element where you need an alternative. Hyperion for accuracy, Bandit for never-reloading-again-in-this-lifetime, Maliwan for literally melting faces, and let’s keep our hopes up for BL3.
