Thoughts/advice on debuff gear?

Borderlands 3 Borderlands 3 General Discussion
#1

There are quite a few items in the game that debuff enemies, and I’m wondering which, if any, I should use. I’d love to hear your thoughts about which are the most effective and which stack well with each other. I’ve been playing around with a few of them and have got a sense of which seem ok, but I find it hard to figure out how the math actually stacks up. Between all the different elements my Amara deals and all the M2.0 particle effects, it’s nigh impossible to actually see many of the numbers that pop out of enemies. Here’s what I know and/or assume already:

Needlgun XXL: Not bad but I don’t believe it stacks at all with other weapons (ie. it increases damage vulnerability to the Needlegun XXL only). I’m confused about what its discarded throw does. It appears to do very little for me, though I read someone somewhere say that they were seeing it occasionally do 1M damage.

S3RV-80S-EXECUTE: seems pretty good. Debuff lasts 12 secs I believe, so you can do several in quick succession then switch to another gun and reap the benefits

It’s Piss: 20% debuff for 6 seconds I believe. Not bad. It’s a short duration, but since you can throw and shoot simultaneously, it’s easily the most convenient piece of debuff gear to use. And since grenades barely do any damage of their own anymore, it seems a good choice. I’d love to find one with a “weapon, action skill etc. damage increases 25% on grenade thrown” annointment, as that would basically be doubling (and some) its effectiveness. Can anyone confirm this?

Zheitsev’s Eruption: I haven’t got this so can’t test it. Is it worth farming for? Does its debuff stack with S3rv-80s-execute and/or It’s Piss?

Any others I’ve missed?

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#2

Piss, Execute, and Eruption all stack with each other.

The way the Eruption works is that when you reload it will launch 10 little rockets. These rockets debuff enemies by 20% each for a total 200% debuff.

The highest I’ve heard the Execute can stack its debuff up to is 300%, requiring you to empty the mag 6 times over 12 seconds.

If you’re looking to get the max debuff ASAP, Eruption+Piss is the way to go. You can shoot the Eruption until it hits the reload animation, then swap away. Anytime you swap back it will shoot the rockets out again. Utilizing this tech with the piss grenade you can debuff an enemy by 240% in a second or 2.

If you want the most practical one for mobbing, the Execute is best imo. A single reload is a 50% debuff, while you would need 3 Eruption rockets to hit the same enemy to surpass it. In crowded areas the debuff will spread out a lot. For single beefy target in mobs, Execute wins for me.

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#3

If you care about debuffing youre better running its. Piss and then launchering.

#4

only piss is viable the rest are clunky to use , these VH arent axton , u cant really switch all that efficiently to make use of debuff guh

#5

debuffs are yikes in power fantasy but gbx would never learn

#6

I think they are interesting in concept, main issue to me is they don’t last long enough, and there doesn’t seem to be any real way to visually tell that the effect is still on them and not worn off already.

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#7

Well, I’ve acquired myself an Eruption, and I’m now using it in conjunction with Piss and Execute. Wow!! These things are great.

Yes, they’re a little too clunky to use all the time. So you just use them for tanky enemies - and man does it tear through them. A pop with the Eruption, a throw of the Execute, a toss of the It’s Piss, and Annointed Goliaths and Hardened Tinks disappear like Skag pups.

#8

Be nice if debuffs were visible. Cool concept

What u mean?

#9

i mean what i say debuffs are bad mechanic to have in a looter shooter slag is a good example, same for cryo tbh i hated it with passion in tps and still hate it makes game too easy for no effort. there are only two ways to do debuff either they are insignificant and no one uses it or they are significant and become mandatory for hard content. the only reason people do not use them now in current meta is because there is no need for it within the power curve of all vault hunters and it is also more inconvenient than slag

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#10

You haven’t really managed to convincingly explain why you particularly don’t like debuffs, because your statement applies equally well to just about anything:

either [anointments] are insignificant and no one uses it or they are significant and become mandatory for hard content.

either [class mods] are insignificant and no one uses it or they are significant and become mandatory for hard content.

#11

If you’re do not see a difference between doing damage and shooting gun nade or using whole as to debuff and then switching to actually doing dmg i don even know my man.

Look at said anointed gear powerful ones are used all the time and rest is never touched right? Same is with debuffs except if they are strong they become crutch and now u spend time into debuffing instead of actually dealing damage to get faster ttk post debuff and sacrificing whole weapon grenade or as slot for it. It is not a very fun thing to do in a bl game and then devs have to account for its existence while making end game pretty much making them crutch or ignore it have those debufs weak and clunky so nobody ever uses it.just a bad design regardless how you approach it might as well just make guns nades and as that actually do damage and is fun to use actually adding to fun options for players.i could talk hours on end about tps cryo and bl2 slag but that’s a yikes for me.