Which character shines in which role? Which are your favourite ones?

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel BL:TPS Discussion
#1

(Is the thread title grammatically correct?)

Hey there,

I wonder which character is best in which roles/setups in your opinion or which one do you like the most. Which item setups for each character seem to be the most efficient? Which skills are mandatory for you?

  • Athena as a pure melee brawler? Or more like an elemental godess? Or a hybrid setup?
  • Wilhelm as a a guy with all sorts of lasers? Or more of a sniper? Close-range or long-range? Or just a pet master who tries to keep his companions buffed up?
  • Nisha as a gunslinger, sniper or shotgun close-quarter-combatant?
  • Claptrap as Claptrap, Fragtrap or a mistake?
  • Jack/Timothy as a [insert megalomaniac-sounding term here]

I love/enjoy (and therefore they are the most effictive ones IMO :smiley:) the following setups for my characters:

  • Athena: my beloved Fridgia or Excalibastard in combination with a melee-gun hybrid build and some shocking results (2:2:1 skill tree setup)
  • Wilhelm: Cryo sniper with standard sniper rifles and railgun lasers (2:1:2 skill tree setup)
  • Nisha: Cryo godess for some insane freeze and crit combos (1:2:2 skill tree setup)
  • Claptrap: Cryo & explosive specialist with some Torgue and Tediore equipment (2:2:1 skill tree setup)
  • Jack/Timothy: donā€™t know because I havenā€™t played him yet
#2
  • Athena: Trying to go as much melee as possible, but she does require some gunplay - I am using her as a tank/healer in co-op, she is perfect for setting things up nice so others can knock em down. Bladed weapons, currently a cryo Sledgeā€™s Shotty is wrecking things.
  • Wilhelm: Canā€™t seem to enjoy him, his summons are particularly annoying, at least with Axton and Roland I could strategically place the turret to draw aggro/set up flanking, etc.
  • Nisha: Answer by Proxy - (Wife Plays) - Total DPS monster, no preference for a particular weapon or element FTH/RW combo, the seemingly haphazard spending of skill points (as opposed to specializing in a tree) has created a balanced beast with good survivability and a screen clearing showdown.
  • Claptrap: He is actually kind of fun, good survivability in solo - it is early in my playthrough with him, I keep respeccing between BT and ILYG depending on the Class Mods I find. Subroutines seem like too much to manage, but I do find the point in Safety First to be game-changing.
  • Jack/Timothy: donā€™t know, didnā€™t buy him.
#3
  • Athena as a quick dashing killer assassin. Bloodrush just takes enemies by surprise knocks them back and finishes them. Hybrid all the way for me.
  • Timmothy as Mr Torgue Flexington, no ones blows ā– ā– ā– ā–  up like Tim does, Kriegā€™s nova spam is a joke next to Tim. But really he can do anything and use anything unlike any vault hunter before him.
#4
  • Athena is a great hybrid character that can shine in multiple roles. I prefer to play her much more as an elemental tank but really, really enjoy Xiphosā€™ mechanics as well. Definitely my siren of TPS.
  • Claptrap I prefer to play as pure support but with the quirkiness of Fragmented Fragtrap versus Boomtrap. Having to constantly adapt to his unpredictable nature is really a unique experience. I Love You Guys and Brotrap class mod makes him a great teammate.
  • Tim, I havenā€™t maxed out yet but Iā€™ve built him towards Badass Jacks so more of a pet class. I definitely need to open up a bit more with his skill trees.
  • Wilhelm is my lowest level character but Iā€™m envisioning a shotgun build with him.
  • Havenā€™t played Nisha but really looking forward to her DPS.
#5

I call Wilhelm my ā€œQuiet Killerā€ ā€“ my first & main character, picked because, well, he just does his job as unobtrusively as possible.

Claptrapā€™s my comic relief character ā€“ a reminder, in the heat of battle, that itā€™s really all just a game after all. More LOL moments with him than any BL character.

Athena serves very well as sort of a nurse class plus, with the Aspis absorb thing she can give as much as (or more than) she takes.

Jack, while a bit too talky, is a better vault hunter than I thought heā€™d be; heā€™s my tester for Hyperion gear. Jackā€™s double gave me no end of trouble when I first encountered him in BL2 so I think itā€™s appropriate that heā€™s actually rather good here.

My Nishaā€™s a poor shadow of many Iā€™ve seen ā€“ canā€™t seem to get the hang of her. Thatā€™s probably because I havenā€™t got the hang of Jakobā€™s weapons. Whenever I want to check out Jakobā€™s again I bring her out. I see the potential but I havenā€™t reached it with her.

#6

Nisha is pretty good at that whole ā€œkilling thingsā€ thing. She can clear rooms without even trying.

#7

Is it an objective fact that optimism/potential/just compensation > bloodsplosion? Because some say bloodsplosion was too OP and it could hit some pretty mind boggling numbers. Not to mention it effortlessly dispatched entire mobs in pyro peteā€™s bar on uvhm.

#8

Derch is most likely referring to Kriegā€™s perma FotF (Flame of the Firehawk) nova spam.

#9

Ah, missed that. If only fotf returned, it would synergize great with jackā€™s ā€˜you have my shieldā€™

#10

Well, the way things are right now is faceroll enough IMO. :smile:

#11
  • Athena: Hybrid guns/melee and I love it. Sheā€™s my go to character when I feel like rampaging and charging in to the fight and just slaughtering the ā– ā– ā– ā–  out of everything. I get up close and personal with every bad guy with melee then finish them off with a quick blast from a shock shottie. If they ever survive that combo another swing of the sword and theyā€™re exploding in a mist of blood. I guess it helps that I havenā€™t died playing as Athena since TVHM and thatā€™s with playing the BA round in the Holodome with two other players in UVHM on two separate occasions. She really is godlike.
  • Tim: Man this guy right here, so much dimension in a DLC character, heā€™s probably my second favorite character in the entire franchise. Having a BA digijack destroy everything in seconds doesnā€™t hurt and a massive bonus just for using some of my favorite hyperion gear, yes please.
  • Wilhelm: Iā€™m a level 56 Wilhelm and Iā€™ve got to say, this guy does so well with Wolf and Saint but he doesnā€™t need them to do well. Iā€™ve enjoyed getting him this far and heā€™s probably the most well rounded of the Vault Hunters, heā€™s not weak but heā€™s not Invincible. Plus his dialogue is golden. :smiley:
  • Nisha: I canā€™t complain about anything on Nisha, she can clear a room and can take a lot of punishment if specced right, sheā€™s just a monster with a jackobs shottie.
  • Pooptrap: I dunno, Iā€™ve got him at level 8 so I canā€™t really form an opinion yet but he looks like he can faceroll with explosions at higher levels. Iā€™ll have to get back to you on this one.
#12

Great threadā€¦

Iā€™ve maxed out Nisha and Jack so far and the were both awesome , Jack because itā€™s pretty easy with the digi jacks taking the heat off.

Nisha 'cause she is just a hard ass and can take whatever is trrown at her and return it in spades.

Willhelm is a lot like Jackā€¦ Not done UVHM yet with him but I suspect it will be easyā€¦

Claptrapā€¦ Absolutely loving the little freak, up to level 24 and nothing in the past 250 hours+ of game play has given me so much fun. Mixing cryo weapons with his novas and explosions is just pure funā€¦

#13

I like to restrict each character to a single element according to the colors of their intro screen, like I did with BL1. Itā€™s definitely not the most effective way to play them, especially with the elemental multipliers, but itā€™s how I like to play them, and Iā€™ve done relatively well with this style so far.

  • Athena: Fire only. Not as versatile as shock is but Iā€™ve managed to get through by smiting enemiesā€™ shields, although I havenā€™t started UVHM with her yet so I donā€™t know how well that strategy will work then. Relatively standard CS/Phalanx build.
  • Wilhelm: Corrosive only. Arguably the hardest, since Iā€™m using the weakest element overall with arguably the least damaging character. I did get through TVHM without too much trouble though so thatā€™s something. Started off using HK but right now Iā€™m running full CC with a mix of the other two (and although I should probably go for Afterburner I go for Venom Bolts instead because corrosive).
  • Nisha: Shock only. Not so much trouble here due to shockā€™s versatility and well, Nisha. L&O/FTH build.
  • Claptrap: Explosive only (doy). My main, and the only one Iā€™ve actually done a substantial amount of UVHM with. I like to play him like melee Krieg only instead of a buzz axe I use a Flakker, Ravager etc. and Killbot my way through mobs. Did TVHM with a Boomtrap/ILYG build but right now Iā€™m doing Boomtrap/FF and Iā€™m enjoying it more.
  • Jack/Not-Jack/Timothy/Jimothy/etc.: Non-elemental (this usually ends up translating to Jakobs). Havenā€™t gotten too far with him but heā€™s pretty fun, action skill is very similar to Axtonā€™s imo so adapting to his playstyle is pretty easy for me. Going down Greater Good right now but Iā€™ll probably go down Free Enterprise after that so I can experience the amazingness that that tree has to offer.
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#14

I like your approach. I tend to do something similar. Most of my chars are more or less locked to one element (except for skills and possible grenade, shield or oz-kit). Except explosive. I canā€™t stand most of the explosive weapons (Torgue). Shock was my favourite element until TPS. Since TPS and especially since Holodome cryo is my new favourite element. Itā€™s awesome because I love to go for criticals and the shatter effect is hilarious especially if you cut frozen enemies in halves with a beam laser or melee. Sometimes I use multiple elements but specialize in a gun (type).
Corrosive Wilhelm is on my list of future builds/characters, because itā€™s different, less effective (with optimized endgame gear most of the content is a cakewalk) and the dying animation is hilarious. :smiling_imp:

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#15

Iā€™ve only really played Wilhelm extensively and concentrated on the Dreadnought path which makes him near unkillable. With Saint and Wolf being boosted for greater support.

Iā€™ve struggled a bit with the others but have found Athena as a Phalanx build shaping up to be pretty good too.

#16

I play all of them as hybrids, I mix up the skills in different ways until I find a setup that works, because I do not like to rely on only one play style. Favorite character at the moment would have to be my Lady Hammerlock, but they are all fun. I feel like she is one of the best characters for killing mobs, she is a little weak when it comes to harder bosses but it is still manageable. If you use the 3dd1.E Oz kit with a Tediore quick shield and a class mod with high shield cap or the health regen and 5 points into Bitter Riposte her shields regen so fast your constantly shooting out freeze darts and then you have just a bunch of frozen enemies to deal with.

#17

With 10 MORE skill points on the wayā€¦

But alasā€¦thatā€™s another storyā€¦

#18

athena: elemental
Wilhelm: lasers
Claptrap: not even sure what the thee options you had meant, so a thing that blows up everything.
nisha: a magical combo of sniper, gunslinger and shotgun user through the magic of the maggie/skullmasher.
jack: sniping schmucks with a ravager/quad.
aurelia: sitting back and watching claptrap blow up the frozen idiots.

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#19

I didnā€™t think my Athena could get any more BA but with 10 more points itā€™s just going to be horrible for anything that stands in her way. The same goes for my Nisha, things will die before I even know that I shot them. D:

#20

Claptrap: exploding DPS machine
Athena: Elemental DPS machine on revive duty
Nisha: Glasscannon DPS machine
Jack: All-round DPS machine
Aurelia: long range or short range DPS machine
Wilhelm: ā€¦ slightly more survivability than Nisha with far worse DPS

Thatā€™s from my lvl 60s