Playing as Brick and using a Torgue Cobra is the most fun I have had in any of the Borderlands games, and this is my tribute to him. I managed to successfully complete the entire game, including all missions, without dying and this is why I call him Unstoppable Brick.
Level 5: Berserk
Early on this can be used to punch things to death, but I never bothered. The three uses I had for it were:
- Healing between battles or while taking cover.
- Reaching cover while the damage resistance and health regeneration is active.
- Making it easier to get right in front of an enemy’s face before letting him down you.
Level 6-10: Rapid Reload
The reload speed is beneficial right away at a time when weapon proficiencies are not yet playing a major role. It will not be as effective once weapon proficiencies are maxed out, but the bonus will always increase damage per second. The recoil reduction is bugged and actually increases recoil, but as recoil is not a major factor in this game it is still worth it.
Level 11-15: Revenge
A fantastic damage increase after a kill that makes it easier to sustain killing streaks. It only works with guns that fire bullets, but as I never found a use for carnage shotguns or rocket launchers it has no downside.
Level 16-20: Endowed
Around level 15 is typically when I would see explosive sniper rifles begin to appear. Anything with a x3 Multiplier fits in perfectly with how I preferred to approach Brick’s offensive skills. Combined with the first line of a Blast Master class mod the idea is to use the extremely powerful first shot to trigger kill skills, switch to a weapon with a high fire rate, and spray down the enemies.
Level 21-25: Master Blaster
The partner in crime to Revenge sees much better returns on weapons with high fire rates, perfectly complimenting the “Snipe and Swap” play style.
Level 26-30: Hardened
Berserk’s healing now returns more raw health, and shields offering quick health regeneration ensure it is much more difficult to get downed.
Level 31-35: Juggernaut
The damage reduction is outstanding and makes Brick much more durable when active, which is a lot with his damage increasing skills.
Level 36-40: Safeguard
The first of the three shield related skills, the increase in capacity is always useful and at higher levels will provide a larger raw return than any increase to health.
Level 41-45: Unbreakable
Essentially giving Brick a second shield perfectly caps off the Tank tree. If using a shield with a short recharge delay it can very easily keep itself reset and therefore make Brick almost invulnerable.
Level 46-50: Payback
Given it functions under the same circumstances as Unbreakable the damage increase is consistent, lasts a decent amount of time, and adds to his already very high damage output.
Level 51-55: Diehard
Increases the consistency of obtaining a Second Wind, making it easier to stay alive in the event of getting downed.
Level 56-60: Cast Iron
Enemy grenades can cause an incredible amount of damage, and so can their rocket launchers. This significantly reduces their effectiveness.
Level 61-65: Liquidate
In the times Berserk is used this goes a long way in ensuring it will be ready again soon, which makes maintaining full health trivial.
Level 66-69+1SP: Endless Rage
By increasing the duration of Berserk more total health is healed, which in turn makes every use more likely to result in a full heal regardless of circumstance.
+3SP: Bash
On the very rare occasion I am in an enemy’s face, I need to reload, and a generic melee attack is used to temporarily stun an enemy it now has a chance to add the daze effect on top of it. Marginally useful at best, but there is nothing better at this point.
Weapon Load-Out for General Play:
Slot 1: Maliwan Defiler Revolver Pistol
This is the enabler. Corroding targets receive increased damage, and given its effect occurs on every shot only a bullet or two will typically be fired before switching back to an explosive weapon.
Slot 2: Torgue Cobra Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle
This is my favorite weapon in the entire franchise, just because of the outstanding damage it is capable of with a single shot. The vast majority of enemies in the game cannot survive a full clip against it, and when a shot with a high elemental multiplier is fired just shooting the general vicinity of a target can kill.
Slot 3: Atlas Ogre Support Machine Gun
This is the DPS weapon of choice when it is available. Otherwise the Vladof Hammer and S&S Crux are very worthy replacements, albeit only effective at shorter ranges.
Slot 4: Maliwan Hellfire Submachine Gun
This is the utility weapon. Some enemies, such as Badass Elemental Lance, die much easier to elemental damage over time than any explosive weapon, and nothing stacks incendiary effects quite like this does.
Shield: Tediore Alacritous Panacea
Pangolin shields are a popular choice, but for me Tediore is simply the best. With the Alacritous body the recharge delay functions in tandem with Unbreakable and makes it very easy to maintain a full shield. The health regeneration covers whatever bleeds through before Unbreakable triggers, and even makes every use of Berserk a full heal once Endless Rage is acquired. The utility is simply too good when compared to other choices.
Grenade: Dahl Corrosive Bouncing Bettie
A second enabler for when enemies are grouped up or at shorter ranges than the Defiler excels at. If a group of enemies is suffering from corrosion, then it is easier to mow them down with the Ogre or Cobra.
Class Mod: Torgue Blast Master
I like the class mod to come with +4 to Revenge in order to get maximum damage out of each clip before having to reload, and to possess the fifth line increasing elemental effect chance.
Weapon Load-Out for Crawmerax (Only Differences Listed):
Slot 1: Maliwan Crux Assault Shotgun
With high DPS and a frequent corrosive effect this will handle the purple minions without interfering with the Masher’s ammunition pool.
Slot 2: Masher Revolver Pistol
Any manufacturer will do, but the key parts to look for will be Body 5, Barrel 5, Magazine 5. The rest matters little.
Slot 3: S&S Orion Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle
Due to the mandatory elemental effect the blue minions are very easy to kill. The small ammunition pool should not be a factor.
Grenade: Anshin Transfusion
The ability to heal without reliance on the shield’s regeneration or the action skill provides some utility.
Class Mod: Pangolin Titan
The ideal version will have +4 to Unbreakable and the fifth line that increases shield capacity. It becomes difficult to die against Crawmerax provided you stay on the move.
Tips:
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Before legendary equipment is acquired it is useful to keep an eye out for good explosive semi-automatic sniper rifles as they form the basis of the “Snipe and Swap” play style that works so well with Blast Master. The first bullet’s tremendously high power will typically obtain a kill, at which point switching to a high fire rate weapon with good damage will allow for a sustained killing streak.
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Explosive Submachine Guns can work when an Ogre, Hammer, or Crux has not been acquired yet.
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Revolvers make for good corrosive enablers, the Defiler just happens to be the ideal version of a corrosive revolver. Others will serve the purpose well.
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Always keep a fire weapon handy as some enemies are quite resistant to explosive damage while being very weak to incendiary effects.