Is Axton worth playing?

Borderlands 2 Axton the Commando
#1

As the title of the topic says, I wanna know if he’s good. Some people I talked to say he’s slow at first, though he gets better as you trail on. Others say his turrets are useless in UVHM and that they can barelu be up for mere seconds. Is he good with solo-ing raid bosses?
Does his turret get a higher rate of fire later on? Don’t seem like such a baddass when a psycho can throw 5 buzz axes in the same amount of time it takes the turret to fire acouple bullets…

#2

he’s alright, tediore/explosive axton can kill things with ease, turret is mainly used for slag at higher levels, but nonetheless, he’s alright

#3

I don’t know about UVHM, but I’ve been making runs with all characters I haven’t played with yet recently and what I like the most about Axton the most is his movement speed increase after killing enemy, which enhances his speed a lot. Currencly at lvl40*, working towards slag turrets. Another good thing for him is that he was rather easy to play with on NVHM, turrets doing a lot of work for him, so I think that there is value in playing with him even if you end up not taking him through UVHM.

p.s. He’s great with Veruc, because increased movement speed after killing helps to get within range of next enemy besides of his assault rifle boosts.

#4

I think he is the least enjoyable character to use. I think most of the characters are pretty slow to start.

The problem I have with Axton is he doesn’t have much abilities that appeal to me and he is definitely the slowest character to develop in terms of power.

He is actually the only character I haven’t got to at least level 50 with.

#5

Sal is the slowest. Axton is alright.

#6

Yes, he’s a lot of fun to play. I actually enjoy the fact that he has no absolutely game-changing abilities (like Bloodsplosion, B0re or Money Shot) because that makes for a more challenging play style. There are also a lot more weapons that he can use in addition to the main staples of Tediore chucking, grenade spamming and explosions.

Some people think he’s under-powered/useless/boring, and that makes me wonder how far these people have taken their Axtons in the game. What gives me a good chuckle every now and then are the ones who say that he sucks, yet they either haven’t played as him before or they haven’t reached the higher levels with him (at least L72 so that a person could have as many skill points as possible).

@fmiller38 The only way for the turret to fire faster is to equip a Gunner Com. In addition to increasing the fire rate of your weapons, it also causes the turret to fire faster.

In terms of solo raiding, he can certainly do it, but it will most likely take more time to do than the other characters (and it will likely be more difficult as well).

As for the turret, it’s more resilient than people would have you believe. While it’s true that it’ll get pummeled by attacks such as rockets, it actually holds up well for the most part. Something to always keep in mind is that good turret placement doesn’t amount to just plopping it down right in front of an enemy. They will most likely tear it up a lot quicker than if you had strategically put it elsewhere. This aspect makes it a good idea to get to know the lay of each level so that you can identify the areas that are ideal for setting up the turret so that it can take less heat from enemy attacks.

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#7

Axton is my favorite character. He doesn’t have a crazy damage skill like bore, bloodsplosion, or money shot but if you like explosive stuff he’s you man. Very easy to use with good survivability to boot

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#8

Axton doesn’t have a game breaking offensive skill or synergy like Money Shot + Inconceivable, B0re, etc, so he won’t kill everything for you. You can’t face tank Invincibles with him like you can with Sal.

If you want a win button, look elsewhere. If you want to win because you played well, Axton is perfect. He has great shield and regen skills, so he can either ramp up offense with a Bee shield, or get super tanky with an Antagonist or Blockade. The turrets are actually better than advertised. I run Double Up + Gemini for two turrets, and frequently run through OP8 Peak without FFYL, largely because they are so good for digging enemies out from behind cover, and drawing attention away from me. Two sources of auto slag is also obviously a big asset.

As far as solo vs Invincibles goes…

You can use twin turrets to create a kind of fence/corral to jam up Pete, which makes that fight even easier. The turret can block Hyperius’ novas, and just about guarantee a win when he starts jumping-- he stays slagged, and jumps at the turrets. Against Invincible Son of Craw, I use two turrets to hold him still and maintain slag through phase 1, and use them to manage ads and Craw during 2-4.

If you look around a little, you’ll find that some folks who consider him sub par will also turn around and say it’s easy to do everything with him.

…and we haven’t even talked about Shamfleeting or Tediore chucking…

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#9

This video is perfect for the OP

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#10

Other folks have already spoken up for Axton, so I’ll just respond to this bit:

Well, that depends on where you put them. Stick them directly in front of a raid boss and sure, they’re going to take a pounding real fast. General play and mobs though, no problem.

Bottom line is the same for all characters though: you either like them or you don’t. If you haven’t tried Axton, he’s worth investing some play-time in. If you decide he’s really not for you, that’s fine too.

FTR, Axton was my first character through the entire game. Personally, I prefer him to Roland from BL1, and I’ll play about equal time between Axton and Maya. Different is good!

#11

Axton works fine at Op8 and his turrets are better at OP8 than they are at 72.
Honestly every character is worth playing, but we can’t answer if it’s worth it to you.

Actually you can, everyone but Gaige can.

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#12

You can face tank Vora, Terra, Dragons, Dexi, and Vermi with Axton? As in, stand and trade damage, rather than swap to a Moxxi weapon for burst heals? What shield and skill set are you using to be able to shrug off their damage without supplemental healing?

#13

white turtle shield and a leg pointman at specific levels.
Dragons is the hard one because of all the dots.

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#14

Axton has some of the fastest raid boss kills (at least at 72, don’t know about OP8), one of the easiest to gear, versatile, simple to learn, not too difficult to master. His max output is about mid tier, but his survivability can tie Maya depending on the build.

All in all, I’d say go for it, at least until you get to 50. If he isn’t your cup of tea then, it isn’t meant to be.

#15

In my opinion, he’s fairly consistent throughout all playthroughs. Of course he gets a little better as you go, but that could be said about every single class. He’s one of the most well balanced characters in the game and one of the easiest to learn. He’s very good at survival and he’s got decent damage potential. He’s good both at the beginning and at endgame. Some say he’s one of the easiest to clear Digistruct Peak with.

Those people are wrong and probably don’t know how to use the turrets properly. The turrets could definitely use a little buff in damage and health, but they’re far from being useless and they certainly don’t get destroyed that easily (at least not by common mobs). Some people exaggerate the turret’s shortcomings quite a bit.

With the right gear and build, yes. Very good, actually.

In a way, yes. His first turret skill, Sentry, increases it a bit by squeezing in one extra shot per burst per point. Then Scorched Earth adds rockets. Then Double-Up doubles the shots in each burst and adds slag to the bullets. Then Gemini allows you to deploy two turrets at the same time. You’d need to get all of those skills and make a turret focused build to really see the difference, though.

Apples and oranges, man. Completely different playstyles. Actually, at later levels, the turrets are to be used more as support and distraction than to kill things. Most of Axton’s damage output comes from his skills and favored gear, not the turrets. The turrets are there to draw aggro away from you and weaken the enemies so you can kill them with your weapons. The turret is more of a strategy/crowd control tool than a killing tool. And in that, they’re VERY useful.

Axton was my first character, the one I played the most and still a favorite. My advice to you would be to try out the character without worrying too much about his damage potential in comparison to other characters. All the characters are “good enough” to take on UVHM and the OP Levels. It all comes down to a matter of preference of playstyle in the end. Take Axton out for a few more levels and see if his playstyle suits you. You can really build him up as a tough and powerful SOB if you take the time to learn what he can do, but you need to be having fun with him to get to that.

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#16

Explosive/Torguemando Axton is one of my favorites. Spec into his grenade/RL skills, give him an explosive relic and load him up with good Torgue weapons and he blows everything up.

His turret won’t clear the battlefield in UVHM like it can in normal and TVHM, but it actually can kill a chump or three, left to its own devices (if you’ve given it Double Up and Scorched Earth). Better used as a distraction and support (and for activating Battlefront). Nuke could use a buff in UVHM, but it can still deliver heavy damage, and sometimes instakill some forms of trash, if they’re slagged first. (I love to paint a crowd purple, toss in a nuke turret to damage/kill and knock the baddies in a specific direction, and then hose down the remaining crowd with a Kerblaster as they attack the turret.)

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#17

He’s a solid character. Pretty laid back gameplay wise in normal and TVHM. Get’s the job done just fine in UVHM.

Give him a try, if you don’t like him then switch to another character.

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#18

God, all the different opinions! :3 I love it! I always thought one character could only be good at one specific situation due to their skills, though now that I actually take how many playstyles I could have with just a single character into thought, I know I’m fonna be busy in the Borderlands ALOT longer.

Thanks for all the opinions, guys! :3 Hope I see you all in BL3. Cx

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#19

Axton is the jack of all trades character, he isn’t the worst at anything but he isnt the best at anything.

Every character is a difference play style.

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#20

I have no real experience with Axton beyond lvl50.

But I have to say one thing:
Pet classes (Gaige and Axton) carry the stygma of being bad because their AS supposedly get oneshotted, or are atleast considered useless because they supposedly can do nothing but die within a few seconds. Which is absolute bull.

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