Theorycraft - Maliwan Pistol build

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Nisha the Lawbringer
#1

I’m bored at work, so I’m keeping myself occupied by trying to come up with a Maliwan pistol build. I’m creating this thread partly to see what I’m missing, and partly to trigger discussion about a build that isn’t really looked at.

Why Maliwan? Several reasons.

  1. Revolver style firing helps keep ammo consumption in check.

  2. Elements get damage bonuses against certain defenses, which become more potent in higher difficulties.

  3. Maliwan pistols deal 50% splash damage, so a direct hit (which Nisha has no problem getting) deals 50%more damage.

  4. I like Maliwan.

The Skill Point distribution I’m thinking of is this:

It’s nothing special, really.

Weapons would be pretty basic: the best Fire, Shock, and Corrosive Maliwan pistols I can get. I’m iffy on the Cryo, since the splash damage can’t crit, and I’m not using explosive or melee. I can’t remember any Legendary Maliwan pistols, and the only Unique I remember is the Probe, so as far as I’m aware, I’m stuck with purples.

My fourth slot would probably be a Hyperion pistol for FFYL. Rocket Launchers are for chumps. :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m not sure if I want to go full Maliwan, or just the weapons. However, even if I do, Maliwan doesn’t make any Oz kits or COMS for Nisha that I’m aware of. I’d therefore be using the Chronicler of Elpis COM and a Tranquility Oz Kit.

That’s…pretty much it. I’m debating whether or not to play the build, and if I do, whether or not to start a new character from scratch or not. However, I am sufficiently intrigued by the idea at this point to want a decent build ready if I do decide to run it.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Criticism?

#2

Maliwan pistols don’t have 50% splash, they have 80%.

Next to Jakobs and Torgue, Maliwan pistols are probably the best choice for Nisha. If they only consumed one bullet per shot they would be right up there with them.

Cryo would still be the among the best for several reasons… If they even existed. There is some kind of bug in the drop rate which makes them almost never drop.

There is no legendary Maliwan pistol, but the hard reboot is an excellent starting point. Still, being “stuck” with purple is not as bad as it used to: you have access to glitches now. I guess the Loop glitch would be quite good, so would the Overload one. I guess they would all be positive anyway. Best parts are Maliwan or Jakobs grip IMO. Accessory should be potent (damage) binary would be garbage in this case: we’re trying to save ammo here.

But since their only upside compared to Jakobs and Torgue is element matching, you will need several of them, leaving little room for other gear.

I would suggest you try with either Sheriff or Desperado COM to maximize each bullet’s potential.

It’s a pretty fun build that I ran for a while back in level 50 cap, and it probably still works just fine now. Keep us updated :slight_smile:

1 Like
#3

Splash damage: either they changed the numbers in TPS, or I’m remembering the numbers from BL2 wrong. Probably the latter. Thanks for the heads up.

Double: I actually consider any Pistol with the Double accessory ruined. DPS increases are nice, but not at the cost of 30% of the total damage I can inflict over my entire ammo pool.

Anyway, all my characters have been put on hold. It looks like my television isn’t recieving any input at all. The display and menu works, but anything I connect just won’t display. I don’t know what is going on, but at the moment, I can’t play.

#4

Maliwan snipers had 50%, pistols always had 80%, even in BL2.

We’re on the same page when it comes to double accessory. It always increases DPS, but only a select few guns are actually better with it. The price you pay for it is too high.

#5

What’s your favorite purple Maliwan pistol? I’m not sure which would be the best out of the Phobia (Hyperion barrel), Torment (Jakobs barrel) or Umbrage (Vladof barrel)

#6

Personally, I’d go with the Torment. High damage means high splash damage, and Nisha gets plenty of Fire Rate buffs to offset the reduced fire rate of the weapon.

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#7

Aegis

Always Aegis

Matching Barrel has increased damage. And the Maliwan barrel is pretty good on it’s own.
Runner up is the … I don’t remember, but the one with the Vladof Barrel…

2 Likes
#8

Umberage=vladof barrel
Glitched Aegis(any code) always agree, no second choice😉
Potent prefix, glitched O4L4M4A4
Mali grip for higher dot chance and matching grip bonus.
Jakobs grip for more damage, about 5% gun damage but lower dot chance, fire rate, reload and mag.

2 Likes
#9

Personally, I’m not usually patient enough to let DoT do it’s work, so DoT chance isn’t as important to me. DoT is a bonus, not my main source of damage. I’m more interested in the basic elemental multiplier. While I don’t doubt that an Aegis or an Umbrage is good, to me, this means a Torment or an Animosity (Torgue barrel). After all, I was given the advice to make every shot as strong as I could make it, and Torments and Animosities fit that advice to a T.

Though I do agree with the matching grip. Not for the DoT chance, but for the increased mag size and reload speed.

1 Like
#10

Fair enough. Go for an Animosity then :smile:

Compared to the torment, it has slower reload, but faster fire rate (so that sorta evens out)
it has higher damage (slightly) and lower accuracy (but it’s still in the 90s, so imperceptible)

#11

Cool. Thanks for the info.

I don’t think I’ll go Maliwan on the gear. Transfusion grenades are nice, but I prefer Tesla grenades. As for shields, I’m not sure what to go with. Nothing really strikes me as a must-have. I suppose I’ll go with a Vladof, on the grounds that damage negation is better than damage mitigation. Does TPS have the Sham still? That should protect me from everything except melee and lasers, and if something is close enough for me to melee, they’re close enough to get a Showdown to the face without any risk of missing. Or to be hit by a Tesla. At the very least, I can’t think of anything better.

#12

The Sham drops from RK5 iirc

#13

Well fair enough. Try them all if you have a chance. Torment should be better than animosity though both have strong recoil.
I have tried them, aegis is best not only for elem but application or handling.
With nisha trick shot this point is moot though.

#14

Sham is not nearly as good as it was in BL2. Nisha thrives more on big capacity shields than fast charging ones, especially if you want to stack a bit of Order.

Animosity should be better than Torment. The difference in accuracy is negligible, the Animosity has higher damage and fire rate. The recoil of both is comparable, but it’s not that much of an issue here. The only place where the Torment has the upper hand is reload speed…one of Nisha’s forte.

It’s true that the Aegis handles better. I would have picked one for that build without questioning it. But I think OP is totally right here to go with higher damage. I had assumed the matching barrel bonus would push the Aegis above the 2 others in damage, was wrong.

Another interesting thing: if you don’t find a good glitch version, may I suggest you try and get a shield bypass luneshine for your fire one: biggest knick against fire is that it sucks against shields, and with OFEOY, that 30% becomes 60% chance, meaning you just might kill things outright without having to even touch the shield.

#15

But don’t animosity feel a bit torguist and lumpy and torment jakobist and stylist. :grin:

#16

To me, it looks like you have this mostly figured out, but I wnated to mention that you said that you didn’t want to use melee in the OP and if you want to stick with that, I’m going to recomend that you spec out of Thunder Crackdown.
I would recomend something like this spec instead.
I realise that Rarin to go is one of her best damage skills, but you are spending an aweful lot of points to get it, and if you are skipping Thunder crackdown, you are losing significant damage from Rarin to go as well, and, In my opinion, you would be better off putting your points elsewhere. That said, if you change your mind, and decide that Melee is fine, I strongly recomend that you stick with the build in the OP.

#17

I’m taking Thunder Crackdown because of the extra 5 Order stacks, not because of the melee boost. For a single point, I get:

+6% heal chance
-7.5% Shield Recharge Delay
+10% Reload Speed
+15% Gun Damage
+7.5% Melee Damage

And that’s just with the 5 stack from Thunder Crackdown; it doesn’t account for the other 25 stacks I already have.

As for wasting the points to get Thunder Crackdown, the only real option for where to put them is Trick Shot, and while that’s an excellent skill, it’s not one I’m particularly fond of. Personal preference.

#18

I feel like people under rate unchained… Its a really good skill, that said, I’m not super experienced with maliwan pistols, so it might not be as good with them as it is with other weapons

#19

Between Hell’s, quick shot and the FR bonus from showdown, you can empty their mag in less than 2 seconds even without unchained.

#20

Your suggesting a build that would overall be much weaker in terms of dps, your asking the OP to give up 65% gun damage and 60% reload speed with 30 stacks in favor of trick shot (which the OP has said he doesn’t care for) and for ruthless, which is essentially useless without being paired with high noon, and still, I feel that Rarin’ to go is better than that combo. Having thunder crackdown doesn’t make your build a melee build, it increases your gun damage and reload speed. And gives you a cool looking melee attack that does more damage at the same time yes, but like he was saying, its mainly for the additional 5 stacks, which helps many things, including more survivability for Order.

I of course love trick shot, and feel its a great tool to have for many builds, including this one, but not having it will not make this build worse, it will just make the player have to be that much more accurate with their shots, instead of being lazy like me with trick shot, purposly aiming at the ground or the enemies feet :wink: lol

And while were throwing suggestions around to help the build, I feel like Crack Shot is mostly wasted on this build because of the mag size of the guns? Probably be better to just stick those 5 points into Unchained, so that when your outside of showdown, your still getting a good fire rate bonus of 105% (when its at 21 stacks). I see more benefit there than the 50% gun damage on the first bullet of your mag with having double the fire rate outside of showdown when you have all the Unchained stacks. And i would personally move that extra point in Wanted to Jurisdiction, just more HP Regen but that’s just my personal preference!

Anyways though, looks like a fun build :smile: