Note: this was originally done by Teks and is mostly his work. I only ported it over here and made a few corrections.
Gaige’s Completely Empirical Class Mod Guide
A guide to Gaige’s Class Mods because why not?
##Preface
Almost none of the information here is my own. All I do is steal data and rewrite it. I was asked to write up something for Gaige’s class mods, and based off my work I can expect that I will never be asked to do something like this again.
My own opinion on Gaige’s class mods can be summed up as such: “what were they smoking when they made these mods?” I come to this question because most of the skills these mods boost just make no sense at all. This can make it awfully confusing for a Gaige player to pick the right mod. For this reason alone, this guide is probably a good idea…
I’m going to break these mods into 2 categories: legendary and non-legendary; however, because of the necromancer’s strength, it will be listed as a legendary as well, because I can. Much of the basic information was pulled from the wiki, which is not always accurate. The max stats listed are all for OP8 in UVHM, so it may not mirror the actual max stats attainable if you’re not at max level. The max stats should still help show the magnitude of the various innate bonuses/penalties these COMs have. If you want more detailed max stat info follow this link.
#Non-legendary Mods
##Anarchist AKA “The does absolutely nothing for an Anarchist Mod.”
###Bonuses
- +Weapon damage, -accuracy (max +53% damage, -52% accuracy)
- Death From Above
- Annoyed Android
- Fancy Mathematics
This mod…ugh. OK on paper it looks decent enough. Nice damage boost, but the skills are…What the hell…You would expect this mod to be boosting the perks of anarchy, so what is this annoyed android and fancy mathematics crap? The only skill which makes sense is Death from Above, and that skill is broken all to hell (before the latest hotfix). To make things worse, the gun damage is additive with the anarchy bonus, so it becomes insignificant very quickly.
Ask The Experts: jiandersonzer0 says “you can definitely put ‘do not use’ labels on quite a few of the COMs. I hate Anarchist and Roboteer personally.”
Best: Blue, Calculating, without DfA.
Pros: Damage add helps with low anarchy DPS, Fancy math is a decent skill to boost.
Cons: Boosts 2 useless skills, damage add is additive with anarchy, does zilch for a high anarchy build.
Prognosis: “The only thing Anarchist about this Mod is its development process. NEXT!”
##Catalyst AKA “The poor man’s Legendary Catalyst.”
###Bonuses
- +Team elemental damage (max +54%)
- Wires Don’t Talk
- Shock Storm
- Evil Enchantress
You see this Anarchist class mod? Look at this mod. This is what YOU should be. The Catalyst mod Boosts everything in LBT, and most importantly, it boosts Wires Don’t Talk, which is an amazing, multiplicative, DPS skill. This Mod does as advertised, and works best with a little OC because WDT multiplies the anarchy bonus. BFF will be unhappy because this mod does jack-o for DT. The direct benefit of this mod is pretty meh, but it does synergize with evil enchantress. The one problem with the skill set is shock storm. SS works ok in normal mod, but afterwards it drops into uselessness. It’s recommended that the skill be avoided.
Best: Blue Wired w/o Shock Storm
Pros: Great DPS boost to LBT tree, Great Synergy with Anarchy, only requires investment in one tree
Cons: Shock Storm is meh, no survivability or reload speed boost, No DT love.
Prognosis: “Electricity is fun!”
##Jill of all Trades AKA “What do you mean assault rifles suck?”
###Bonuses
- +Assault rifle damage, +Assault Rifle Magazine Size (max damage +48%, Mag Size +54%)
- Smaller, Lighter, Faster
- The Better Half
- More Pep
This is a cool mod. Its among the few non-legendary mods which I can actually recommend. Its a great boon to poor players stuck with non-unique weapons because it’ll really boost those vladoff spinguns and such, but its also great in the end game for users who have a hail, or an ogre. More pep is a crappy skill, but the other 2 skills are among the best skills Gaige can boost. More fire rate and reload speed from skills on top of a mod that inately boosts capacity and damage? This is a great combo. The only problem is that Assault rifles, well, they kinda suck. There are some exceptions, but generally there are better choices. Imagine if there was a shotgun version of this…
Best: Speedy w/o more pep
Pros: Ridiculously awesome boost to Assault rifles. Skills provide reload speed and Fire rate bonus to all weapons.
Cons: Assault Rifles Ridiculously Suck.
Prognosis: “Hail to the king (get it, because…you should use the hail…You guys suck.)”
##The Prodigy AKA “Giggity Giggity Goo.”
###Bonuses
- +Accuracy, +reload speed. (max +32% accuracy, +38% Reload speed)
- More Pep
- The Better Half
- Cooking up Trouble
If not for the wonder that is Poka, I would bash this mod and mock its existence. Now that I have taken a second look at the mod. This mod’s reload speed bonus is very, very nice, and its also boosting fire rate through The Better Half. The accuracy bonus is…ok. It promotes a low to mid anarchy level if a player wishes to see any benefit from that. This mod is ok in general for the inate reload speed bonus alone, but it has a real opportunity if one knows how to use it, especially in raids using moxxi weapons (cough, hail, cough).
This mod was one of Poka’s favourite raid mods. He used it with occasional discording and around 200ish stacks for his hail. The reload speed bonus reduces the window where he would be vulnerable between shots. When used in such a way a player can get the full benefits of everything this mod has to offer. At high stacks with investment into the middle tree the necromancer mod will beat this one out.
Best: Superior. To heck with more pep.
Pros: The largest reload speed bonus of all mods, great for raids, great with moxxi (not the drink. That stuff is NASTY!)
Cons: Accuracy bonus may be a lost cause with high anarchy, more pep is a wasted skill.
Prognosis: “Everybody do the poka!”
##Punk AKA “The Ashton Kutcher Mod (yeah I went there).”
###Bonuses
- +Fire rate, -clip Size (Max +30% fire rate, -30% clip size)
- The Better Half
- Annoyed Android
- Smaller, Lighter, Faster
I love this mod. I never used it (nor will I) but its just so funny I have to love it. Look at the boosts it has…Awesome fire rate bonus, reload speed bonus. No restrictions like the Jill of all trades, and then BAM. It hits you with this insane innate ammo capacity penalty out of nowhere. Fortunately the smaller, lighter, faster skill only decreases this penalty by another 4% max (bug), but together its a hard penalty to swallow. This mod isn’t useless, but every weapon used with this mod must be checked out to see how the clip size effects it, especially since this mod boosts the better half, because a gun that only fires one shot will not use the better half.
I don’t have much on the science of this (Bill Nye won’t return my calls), but the clip size penalty does round down. If a gun had 3 bullets, then it’d be down to 2 from SLF anyway. If the innate penalty doesn’t drop it down any further, then this mods penalty has been effectively ignored for that weapon.
Ask the Experts: Vycksta says “In my humble opinion, the Punk mod defines to me one of the best ways of playing Gaige; getting Anarchy and getting it quickly. Decreased magazine size and increased fire rate helps in depleting the magazine fast, then before you know it you’ve reloaded and you have another stack! Wash, rinse, repeat, OH MY GOD THERE’S 400 STACKS ALREADY! THANK YOU PUNK MOD FOR EXISTING.”
Best: Whatever one boosts Smaller, Lighter, Faster, and removes Annoyed android (speedy?)
Pros: FIRE RATE. Contains a boost to reload speed as well.
Cons: CLIP SIZE. It will leave you feeling inadequate.
Prognosis: “I like my guns to come with bullets in them, not wishes and dreams.”
##Roboteer AKA “I bet you thought this buffed DT. ROFL!”
###Bonuses
- +Cooldown Rate, +Gaige Melee Strength (+26%, +47%)
- Made of Sterner Stuff
- Potent as a Pony
- Strength of 5 Gorillas
No, I’m not doing this. I quit. Why would I describe a mod so poorly developed that its main ability wasn’t even implemented for DT? No words.
Ask The Experts: jiandersonzer0 says “you can definitely put ‘do not use’ labels on quite a few of the COMs. I hate Anarchist and Roboteer personally.”
Best: Best look elsewhere
Pros: Placebo Effect
Cons: Beta testing
Prognosis: “Do as the Gladiators and finish this. Thumbs Down!”
##SweetHeart AKA “Seriously, I have to cover all the mods? Can’t I just skip the crappy ones…”
###Bonuses
- +Team Max Health (max 246,833)
- Cooking up Trouble
- The Better Half
- More Pep
Drags his feet slowly to the podium.
Ok, this Mod is Maya’s nurse mod, except this is Gaige, so it doesn’t really work. At all. It’s not even a significant health boost. Additionally, I heard that picking up this mod removes badass points because it’s so lame.
Ask The Experts: GulfWulf says “The sweetheart COM is useful for playing with a health stacking Krieg player, but I do agree that it’s pretty lackluster all-around. (Note: I’ve only used it when taking on Hyperius using the Rapier to the knee tactic.)”
Best: Superior, w/o More Pep
Pros: The better half?
Cons: Everything else.
Prognosis: “Doesn’t even come with a skimpy nurse costume. NEXT!”
##Technophile AKA “Technophobes be hatin, technophiles be slaggin”
###Bonuses
- Boost to Shield Capacity and Recharge Rate (max +211571 capacity, +47% recharge rate)
- Strength of 5 Gorillas
- Interspersed Outburst
- Fancy Mathematics
For a pre-UVHM class mod, this isn’t bad. Shrimpling found that IO becomes ridiculously awesome at ranks 10-11. Essentially, a player with this mod will slag nearly target they hit with 4-5 stacks of IO. This free slag is going to be a big boost to a player looking to avoid high anarchy stacks, and is very supportive of a more hang back and snipe targets style. The fancy math is also going to play nice with the innate recharge rate bonus providing a player with a very fast shield recharge when he needs it most.
One additional note. More pep boosts the slag chance a little more too. Its the one mod that could actually use some more pep, and its…nowhere to be found. Ah well.
Ask the Experts: Shrimpling further explains IO and technophile [here].
Best: purple or blue Manic (+5/+6 IO)
Pros: Free slag boosts DPS for low anarchy builds. decent buff to both DT and survivability further assists this play style.
Cons: Requires full LBT tree investment to use properly.
Prognosis: “Slagtastic!”
##Zapper AKA “Attack of the Catalyst Clones.”
###Bonuses
- +Chance to shock, + electrocute damage(DoT). (max +34% to both)
- Wires Don’t Talk
- Electrical Burn
- More Pep
Well, just like the catalyst, it boosts WDT, which is half the battle. In fact these mods are disturbingly similar. The catalyst has the better ability, but the zapper doesn’t waste points in shock storm, though more pep is only a minor improvement. I would also say EB > EE. Electrical Burn’s damage is based on the shock damage so this mod WILL boost the fire damage indirectly.
Best: Wired
Pros: Nice boosts to WDT, only requires a single tree
Cons: No survivability or DT related boosts. No reload or fire rate bonus. Eerily similar to the Catalyst.
Prognosis: “Finally a catalyst mod that doesn’t boost the team!”
#Legendary Mods
##Necromancer AKA “The Dakka Mod.”
###Bonuses
- Gun increases based on alignment of the mod. (Max +35%)
- Wires Don’t Talk
- Strength of 5 Gorillas
- Made of Sterner Stuff
Based on Neff’s testing, this mod can potentially offer some of the highest DPS Gaige is capable of, depending on the weapon. Chaotic good is my favourite with its hefty boost to both reload speed and fire rate, though clip size can be good too. Additionally, Wires Don’t Talk is a powerful DPS skill all on its own, though the other two skills aren’t particularly powerful. This is one of the few real high anarchy mods Gaige even has. The fire rate, reload speed, and WDT boost all favor high anarchy. When this mod is in action with the right weapons it can be a sight to behold.
Ask the Experts: Derch1981 explains alignments here (link not currently available).
Best: Chaotic Good: boosts WDT +6 (other skill is up to user, not really significant).
Pros: High DPS, great with anarchy
Cons: Doesn’t boost many skills. The DT boosts feel out of place.
Prognosis: “I’ll have my Tina DLC with a side of DAKKA please!”
##Legendary Anarchist AKA “The still not really an anarchist’s mod, but getting better.”
###Bonuses
- +Gun Damage -Accuracy (max +56% Damage, -42% accuracy)
- Myelin
- Unstoppable Force
- Strength of 5 Gorillas
- Smaller, Lighter, Faster
- Typecast Iconoclast
The legendary version of this mod is a vast improvement, but it still doesn’t do the one thing one would expect. Its still not really supporting high anarchy. On the plus side, it does boost one’s ability to get anarchy in the first place, and the damage boost continues to help Gaige players who find themselves low on anarchy.
Because of its boost to the rate a player gains anarchy, every player with at least 1 point in typecast iconoclast should seriously consider getting this mod. Outside of this, at high stacks, UF remains very strong. Even though the weapon damage is a drop of water compared to 400 stacks, the massive movement boost alone does wonders to make up for the loss.
Pros: Faster Stack Building, boosts for those with low stacks, Massive movement speed boost between kills
Cons: So5G is wicked out of place. Damage bonus doesn’t multiply anarchy. Doesn’t boost ROF.
Prognosis: “Finally a way to build anarchy stacks faster!”
##Legendary Catalyst AKA “For those who refuse to believe DoT sucks, we salute you.”
###Bonuses
- +Team elemental effect damage (Max +57%)
- More Pep
- Evil Enchantress
- Wires Don’t Talk
- Electrical Burn
- Interspersed Outburst
This combines the zapper and the Catalyst, and adds some IO to boot. While the middle tree takes a big hit in UVHM & OP, this mod is practically the only mod that has every skill in the exact right place. Complete focus on the middle tree without bothering with the really useless skills. Since WDT multiplies anarchy and there are no DT skills, OC is probably the best tree to compliment this with.
As I mentioned before, 10/5 IO is a great slag chance, and this time we have more pep to boost it even further. The free slagging will really help those DoTs wear enemies down.
Ask the Experts: ItsTwister says "The Cata com is not only for people who want DOT, it’s perfect for LBT/OC do [sic] to it having IO and WDT which increases the burst damage majorly[sic]. "
Pros: Complete focus on LBT with all its best skills. DoTs become useful, team boost rewards multiple gaiges playing the same way. Good slag option.
Cons: No boost to reload speed or fire rate. No boost to DT.
Prognosis: “WDT marches on!”
##Legendary Roboteer AKA “Second times a charm! Oh, wait, it’s still broken? Sigh…”
###Bonuses
- +Cooldown Rate +GAIGE’S melee strength (Max +29% cooldown, +47% melee)
- Strength of 5 Gorillas
- Potent as a Pony
- Made of Sterner Stuff
- 20% Cooler
- Annoyed Android
Imagine, if you would, what it would be like if this mod actually boosted DT’s melee strength. Man, this would actually be a good mod…if that was so.
I skipped the roboteer for good reason, I suppose its ascension to legendary status obliges me to write something. The melee damage is supposed to buff DT, but it doesn’t. Buffing Gaige’s melee strength is…■■■■■■■■. This mod requires deep investment in all 3 trees which is barely even possible, and all, 100%, of the skills are meh. Potent as a pony is worse then meh. + health is bad. Just writing this description depressed me into drinking.
Pros: Legendary Placebo
Cons: Learning Curve
Prognosis: “Suck has achieved Legendary Status!”
##Legendary Mechromancer AKA “The Gaige of all trades (ok, that was corny).”
###Bonuses
- +Cooldown Rate (max +47%)
- Strength of 5 Gorillas
- Cooking up Trouble
- The Better Half
- More Pep
- 20% Cooler
- Smaller, Lighter, Faster
Since the developers couldn’t really think of a unique ability to add to the Legendary Mechromancer, they gave ours a 6th skill, which isn’t too bad. What this class mod has is a great assortment of strong early skill boosts that don’t just focus on DT. All of the +DT melee skills are rather weak compared to SiC and MiS (capstone skills), but the increased cooldown rate means Gaige can have DT out much more often. This mod not only has an innate cooldown rate bonus, but also boosts 20% cooler as well for a very hefty combined bonus.
The combination of Smaller, Lighter, Faster with The Better half provides a strong DPS boost that can rival any mod. It is a shame some of the wasted skills, like more pep, weren’t replaced with some of Gaige’s awesome shield skills. For the most part this is a tough mod not to like.
Ask The Experts: Neff_wp says “It has very good balance on DPS (on DPS, maybe better than LegCatalyst and Leg Anarist) and DT. Safe choice.”
Pros: Boosts both DT and Gaige’s DPS significantly. Boosts 6 skills in total.
Cons: No boosts to shield skills.
Prognosis: “Roboteer, eat your heart out.”
##Slayer of Terramorphous AKA “More anarchy, more more more MORE!”
###Bonuses
- +Burn Damage, +Burn Chance, +Max Health
- Interspersed Outburst
- Evil Enchantress
- Made of Sterner Stuff
- Fancy Mathematics
- Preshrunk Cyberpunk
This mod is famous for its boost to Gaige’s max anarchy. With this a player can achieve a whopping 600 anarchy. Beyond this perk, the mod doesn’t really offer much else. The skills it boosts appear to have been picked by a random number generator, and the innate burn and health bonuses aren’t particularly useful either.
Use this mod for cheese, use it to hear more Gaige dialog, use it in raids, but don’t go mobbing with it. Even on op8 Gaige can pretty much annihilate everything with 400 stacks, 600 is just a heartache waiting to happen. IO boost is nice for free slag, and fancy math can be useful. The other skills just don’t make sense.
Ask The Experts: jiandersonzer0 says "The Legendary Slayer is nice for Norfleeting when you really need the extra stacks. I’ve played with it in the past with various guns and really it made you feel ****** because you either didn’t hit anything or overkilled. It’s a terrible mobbing COM and only really works with area of effect weaponry. Which makes it extremely specific. "
Pros: 600 stacks!!!
Cons: Doesn’t offer much outside of the 600 stacks.
Prognosis: “I don’t even remember what accuracy means anymore!”
