What did you do in your most recent session, PT2!

Adabiviak · September 18, 2018, 5:01am

Yeah… my poor Maliwan Mechromancer doesn’t throw a lot of crit damage, and she can’t melee without a bladed weapon (and her build doesn’t include With Claws either). She mixes it up with a Good/Bad Touch, a bladed Chere Amie, and a lot of patience.

Do you own the Halloween DLC? There are some souped-up versions of Skeleton Mages in there… I might even go so far as to say if we were talking about Skags, these would be the rabid version. The saving grace is that they’re rare (where I have encountered over five rabid Skags at once many times, I have only seen these critters solo).

Torgue Commando went to End of the Line and did the map challenges. Wilhelm isn’t a rough fight once you get his attack patterns down (which is fine… he’s an early boss (and we’re generally unprepared for it by the time we get there, so it’s hard enough)). Still… I forgot that the first challenge was to drop him without any of the Surveyors, and the Flakker did not do this.
Still - it was satisfying crunching him up in the sweet spot.
flak

For this Loader set, I played King of the Hill here on the end of this railcar. I dropped everyone with my powered-up Evil Smasher except for one lone EXP Loader, leaping at me here. He’s the last guy with justa sliver of life left, but I have one (powerful) shot left. Does Adabiviak get the kill and keep the hill, or does the EXP Loader pop in front of me and knock me off? I do enjoy this sort of thing.

kawashiultimate · September 18, 2018, 5:03am

Legendary Grenadier? Wut?

Adabiviak · September 18, 2018, 8:22am

UCP

edit - Bandit Mechromancer picked up Shielded Favors and Hyperion Contract #873. I wasn’t after the side missions, so I just went on a rampage to get to 100 kills as fast as possible. I rarely (if ever) play this aggressively… I was getting enough Anarchy to run Discord the entire time (my health was low often).

A LLM came out of the dumpster in there and caught me off guard. A Contraband Skyrocket confined in that space tore him up (with some help from Deathtrap):

Apparently any damage to the Powder Monkey barrels is critical? There’s no way this grenade is capable of critting, but that seems weird. I realize the gun is lacking bullets, but I promise those aren’t from me firing.

There’s a scalable, invisible wall here (if you first make your way up the building behind me and grenade jump over here - the invisible wall will “catch” you, and you can make your way onto this invisible platform). Here’s hoping Gearbox takes the time to make these rooftops accessible to foot traffic and only uses these walls as barriers to keep us out of ravines.

I love how the game occasionally sets you up for a barrel shot like this.

Unloading on a Skag… I think the guy behind him had a Grog Nozzle.

zer0blivion · September 18, 2018, 4:35pm

I do…

Well, not sure I want to meet these fellows. I didn’t have too hard a time with the regular mages, but I also didn’t stick around to play with them if I could help it. If I remember there was an early side mission that involved a number of them, and after trying it for a couple minutes I thought better of it. If you liken them to rabids, well we’ve heard me whining about rabids enough to know I’m not a fan (I have gotten much better at dispatching em tho!)

Anywho, on my last session:
Zero decided to do some LLM farming at WEP since the UVHM reset. On my last playthrough I only ever got 3 midgets due to picking up an ECHO. I learned not to long press my pickup button for the chest next to the ECHOs as it also picks up the ECHO. Had to dashboard a couple times to keep this from sticking.

I was really after a couple BoTA with a bit better specs but ultimately came up dry. All the OP2 bones had worse specs than my 70-72 bones. My fire bone is the one I really would like to upgrade as it only has a 39% cooldown. The others are 40 and 43.

I’ve also found that OP2 Coms are rarely any better than 70-72. As a matter of fact every single one I’ve found since OP2 has had worse specs. I guess it’s not really worth farming such items until later OP levels.

I did get a Rolling Thunder and a Guiless Hellfire. Both items I’ll probably never use. The Hellfire is fun, but I just rarely use SMGs.

My next plan of attack is Sawtooth, then likely another Peak attempt.

Carlton_Slayer · September 18, 2018, 8:30pm

There are more than a few coms and relics that have better numbers at lower levels than higher- heck, I had a level 28 Sheriff’s Badge that lasted me well into the high OP levels. For certain coms and relics a higher level doesn’t necessarily mean better numbers…

Psymonkee · September 18, 2018, 9:01pm

Forgot to say I finished up NVHM last night and did away with the Warrior (no orange lewt! ) and sold up when back in Sanctuary for 367k towards the cool 1M

Jefe · September 18, 2018, 11:14pm

On the mental checklist : testing COM stats for best possible and worst possible at any given level. This might be around somewhere but this is something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time. I might throw relics in there too.

paulothead · September 19, 2018, 2:08am

Last couple of days I took half-hearted shots at OP8 with Maytastrophe. Failed, couldn’t screw up the gumption for repeated attempts, so went back to AxTNT in TVHM. Currently parked at 46 or 47 getting ready for Toil and Trouble. Of note, I got a B¡tch from the BNK3R, of course on a character that isn’t trying to use it, but decided to keep it (does anyone sell them? For all the pain of farming the BNK3R it would seem to be an affront to the randomly generated glory of RNGsus.) for Bee delivery when I get to the Warrior.

Lootfein4sure · September 19, 2018, 2:37am

Loot midget hunted at WEP. So far a bearcat(Shock, tourge grip), but my best two finds actually came from the red chest in that room, a corrosive invader( jacobs grip) and a purple rarity longbow slag bouncing betty(.7 fuse). Yup,real happy with that last one.

kawashiultimate · September 19, 2018, 4:47am

So between getting back to Sanctuary in one piece, and dinging 17, I’ve managed to get my perfect layout. Dual wielding Bandit ARs AND SMGs at one time is pretty badass.

Though having that did get me second-guessing my direction for Salvador. I have that pair of Rogers and a Dog still in the safe from Gaigetrap’s trek through TVHM. Looking at that Reverend Sal and the impressive workings within the Brawn tree I can easily be swayed to go the Gunzerker Forever route, mostly because in that hypothetical direction, Last Longer + Yippee Ki Yay + Bus That Can’t Slow Down + Ain’t Got Time to Bleed sounds ridiculous.

This honestly may just be a playthrough where I very well may not have a clue as to what I’m doing until UVHM so it may be best to just roll with the punches until then – literally the same approach with Gaigetrap before going from Bandit Allegiance to Roboteer style.

Adabiviak · September 19, 2018, 5:07am

Vladof Zer0 went blade first through the Bloodshot Stronghold/Ramparts to find the one set of keys he missed earlier.

Grim is just barely keeping my shield up - not sure how many other people melee with Grim (and no Grog Nozzle), but DoT that gets through the shield will destroy me (and Innervate has a pretty decent UCP buff too):

Loot Midget - C0unter Strike (from a slap he gave me when he spawned), Like The Wind (from an airborne Execute) and a critical hit dropped him in one shot:

Mad Mike - went after this map in such a way just so I could finish him with melee. He even autographed the weapon on a legendary drop.

This last dude here wouldn’t come down, and he had some wicked Vladof E-Tech assault rifle, so I dropped Hail on him from cover:

Carlton_Slayer · September 19, 2018, 7:53am

Hey, you’ve been here at least a year so Happy Forum Anniversary Day!

FailyFailracer · September 19, 2018, 10:15am

Excuse me — may I ask you why does your Vladof Zer0 wear the Legendary Ninja? Iirc, this classmod is manufactured by Maliwan. And iirc again, he has Vladof class mods such as Stalker which should couple excellently with some Vladof pistols such as Anarchist.

VaultHunter101 · September 19, 2018, 11:06am

Different folks have different approaches to allegiance builds: some go all in, while some restrict it to weapons (and possibly shields). The limited selection of relics and COMs compared to guns can be a bit of a problem.

Adabiviak · September 19, 2018, 2:04pm

Yeah, the Class Mods have only a marginal alignment with anything related to their manufacturer (where weapons, shields, and grenades all have some theme that they follow per manufacturer), so I don’t care what manufacturer the COMs are… all they bring to the table is a name (and if I cared about that, I’d have to skip using any relics as well).

The COM (and relic for that matter) allow me to expand on how I use the narrow scope of any given weapon/grenade/shield allegiance… variety is what I’m after here, and these allegiance builds (along with some other arcane rules about weapon instances) “force” me to use all the gear types in the game (for better or worse), and I get a richer experience of the manufacturer “lifestyle”.

In the interest of being able to use everything, since Anshin and Pangolin only make shields, they’re an option that I let anyone use (otherwise I’d be missing out on all the combat tactics that these two manufacturers’ gimmicks bring to the table).

In specific answer to your question, my Vladof Assassin does pack a Stalker COM, but I honestly can’t remember the last time he used it. Because he’s playing allegiance, he only gets to use pistols, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and assault rifles, so I tend to put one of each in his four weapon slots. A Stalker COM would then be less optimal than some other COM, since some of its enhancements only touch the pistol. Vladof fire rates are already quite high, and their reload speeds are fine (and Killer makes them almost instant), so I’m not sweating their magazine size. Since the pistols otherwise largely take care of themselves, I’ll choose some other COM that hits a different skill set/damage combo.

If I wasn’t playing allegiance, I would still find the Stalker iffy? If I was packing Maliwan or Torgue pistols, I’d be all over the Stalker (both enjoy a bigger mag size and fire rate). Hyperion and Tediore pistols have a fire rate that I’m okay with, though they enjoy a bigger magazine size (so half of the COM is used). Bandit and Dahl have a magazine size that I’m okay with, though they enjoy a higher fire rate (so the other half of the COM is used). Vladof and Jakobs are already good enough in both of those areas for me.

zer0blivion · September 19, 2018, 4:56pm

Sent Zer0 to do some standard farming runs. Tubbies, Maggies and Lyudas. None really need upgraded but I’ll take em if they give em to me.

I was going to run the beginning of the Peak just to test some ideas I had floating around in my skull and ended up progressing further than my last run. I wish I had consulted the guide here before hand. I totally forgot about Bonehead and unfortunately he was my demise. But as I said, I made it further than my last attempt and I wasn’t really aiming to finish it from the get-go anyway…so…it was progress.

The upgraded Transformer makes all the difference. The surveyors are more of an annoyance than anything.

I’ve got some ideas of things to work toward for the Peak but I may be hanging in OP2 longer than originally planned.

kawashiultimate · September 19, 2018, 5:35pm

It’s this precisely why I find the rule that Absolute Allegiance requires the use of a Class Mod of that same make (Relics too) pretty flawed. It’s like saying for example that I am not allowed to use the Legendary Sniper on Hyperion Zer0 simply because the Mod is Jakobs made. That rule ignores the fact that of all of the manufacturers with sniper rifles, Hyperion Sniper Rifles gain the most having the lowest base damage (someone feel free to correct me if I’m incorrect here), so for me that’s even more incentive to use the Legendary Sniper as opposed to the Legendary Killer in spite of its universal critical damage bonuses.

Another example: Gaigetrap up until UVHM had some form or another of a Punk Mod, when she was using a Casual Bandit Allegiance style. I’m not using the Mod just because it’s Bandit, I’m using it for the fire rate bonuses that Bandit weapons could benefit from, at the cost of some magazine size – a risk I’m willing to take given that with the right skill boosts, the Punk buffs three DPS- and Anarchy-centered attributes: Reload Speed, Fire Rate, and Magazine Size decrease which is comptensated for the ability to accumulate stacks faster. The thing about that is, though, that the Legendary Anarchist Mod will far and away trump the benefits of the Punk, even with the re-allocation of the Magazine Size.

My definition of Absolute Allegiance includes weapons, grenades, and shields. Class Mods and Relics need not apply because you don’t actively use them in combat, you merely use their passive buffs as you play.

Edit: I’m aware of Allegiance Relics that can make weapons more efficient in certain areas, and depending on the build I won’t oppose using them, but even they shouldn’t dictate whether the allegiance is absolute or casual.

Psymonkee · September 19, 2018, 9:05pm

Utter disaster tonight as MillionBuckMan lost what I can only describe as an assload of money! Nearly 200k down on where I was (497k!) after trying to take him through SPS&P as a sniper only to be bitch slapped by Rouf!

That was hard work! I finally finished him off by trapping him in a corner, going into FFYL, 3 sniper headshots and finally Killing Bl0w 5 times finally killing him as FFYL ran out!

OUCH!

kawashiultimate · September 19, 2018, 11:08pm

Forgot to mention, as for my project about Shieldtanking with Gaige, I’ve found that with the Blockade, I really like using it with Fancy Maths as opposed to Blood Soaked Shields. It’s probably more beneficial with FM because while BSS keeps the shield full on kill, I’m not sure I want to keep getting health dings, even if it is just a mere 5%.

I also don’t like using BSS with Turtle Shields for similar reasons. I would rather have the full bonus of FM on low health than take health dings from BSS just to fill the shield. This would not be an issue if:

A) The health losses eventually add up as you accumulate kills (and don’t have Moxxi weapons to offset it-- ironic on my part considering I have a pair of Hails, wielding the Incendiary one and storing a Corrosive one), and
B) On top of Gaige not being meaty to start with, even with Potent as a Pony stretched out to 10/5, the max health reduction does not help matters.

Amp Shields - specifically The Bee - definitely are better with BSS, mostly to circumvent the long recharge delay. FM technically works as the lower the health, the bigger the recharge delay bonus and the more instantaneous it can refill, but I don’t find it really worth it to hope you survive a mob onslaught waiting on a shield that is hopelessly fragile to refill.

paulothead · September 20, 2018, 12:59am

AxTNT finished TVHM. Again no orange from the Warrior (I thought that was guaranteed from the moonshot, even if it is an Impaler). Started UVHM, cleaned up the Berg, and then headed over to Gingerton. Got a cot from Marcus and waiting there to open the farm tomorrow.