In terms of how the whole calculation works out it’s the same. It’s just a different description for the same thing. I just tried to describe it as easy as possible. If you call it stacking bonuses/additive bonuses or separate bonuses/multiplicative bonuses is pretty much irrelevant as long as we end up on the same level of understanding.
The state of the characters is an interesting point actually. I think that all 4 are in a good spot, but they aren’t on the same level. Amara can make almost everything work while Zane’s best skills all need some sort of setup to perform. Fl4k is squishy, but doesn’t have to be if you don’t want to and Moze can pretty much spec however she wants and can clear the takedowns that way.
It’s just that for example Moze outside of Iron Bear doesn’t feel too great in my opinion, but she’s workable. She kills things well enough, but I don’t think I would go down her Shield of Retribution tree if it wasn’t for Phalanx Doctrine and the Sabot Rounds. Her red tree seems the weakest in my opinion. That is easy to fix by adding a “shield gate” to her Tenacious Defense, but at this point I don’t think that’s a change we can expect.
Fl4ks skill trees all work well enough, but as a standalone tree I find only his red tree to be worth it. The other 2 are better off as complimentary trees. But that changes with the next patch as Dominance gets a major rework. It makes Fl4k the definition of a hive minds ruler.
Zane is pretty much unchanged since DLC1, which isn’t a good thing. The Seein’ Dead mod is still his best class mod by far, but at least he as a character works well. He has the damage, he has the tools, he has the survivability. And for base game only users the Techspert actually is a good class mod now, weaker than Seein’ Dead but still good to keep the Drone up. Otherwise the Executor is pretty solid by now. Still, I would love to see more changes to most of his coms, including the Techspert (that one just needs additional drone damage).
And Amara is as good as ever. She may not be a bullet witch anymore, but she is the best Vault Hunter overall, but not all her features are easy to access. Her best healing is at tier 5 still and relies on elemental damage. Not too hard of a task, but still not very friendly in terms of build diversity. Your best alternative is either knife drain or burst healing from your action skill. Far from ideal.
