Hey,
Been ages since I played BL2 but recently my girlfriend took an interest so I’m gonna play it through again with her
Last time I was a huge Maya fanboy, read tons of posts, did tons of research, spoke to people on forums, eventually I ended up making my own build based on many others I’ve seen and lots of advice.
I like to have a build in mind when I start playing because it gives me something to aim for. This time I wanna play Gaige and I’ve been looking at builds but I’m a bit lost and need a bit of a hand. I know there are a million posts like this already, trust me, I’m reading them. But I feel like I could do with more direct help.
My Maya build focused on getting the best out of her ultimate. I think that, based on the fact that DT is a separate AI, I’d like to find a balance for Gaige. I definitely want to utilise her ultimate, I’ve seen builds that don’t really use it but I definitely want to use it. But I don’t want DT overpowerd and Gaige underpowered, I want a good balance.
I also don’t like builds that revolve around lots of weapon swapping, rely totally on grenades, or rely totally on melee.
Honestly, I’d just have fun learning the character through Normal and not worry too much about builds till you have at least points for one full tree. You can experiment with Anarchy to see if you like that aspect of her char, though it’s easier to use with Discord. If you look up PoeticNova’s and Chuck80’s posts, they’ve got a lot on Gaige builds.
I know you say you want a balance between the two but some folks hate the OC tree while others love it- the same with the LBT tree (especially in UVHM/OP levels). As was suggested, just play her in normal to decide what you like to get a better idea of what you like. My original Gaige started with the LBT/BFF trees before switching to a OC/BFF build- just play to have fun and see what you like. BTW, an article in the electronic version of Game Informer listed BL2 as a great way for long distance couples to stay involved with each other- if nothing else BL2 certainly beats playing a dating sim…
Just throwing in my opinion here. Maya’s my go to toon but recently been playing Gaige (first time since release) and she’s insanely fun. While Maya’s a precision tool Gaige is a wrecking ball ( can be played precision as well but where’s the fun in that). Gaige is the only toon that doesn’t need or require her capstones or her unique skill (death trap) to thrive. Her recent LBT buffs make her viable and fun in all play throughs. Her only caveat is getting used to anarchy and having to restack to get her back up to speed if you quit a session or die. Can play without anarchy or low anarchy but she’s just too much fun with high anarchy especially when you can work down LBT at higher levels. As the others have pointed out just play her and you’ll figure out what you do and don’t like about her just bear in mind she’s chaotic and that’s the fun.
@ChemicalConundrum Ohh I will haha. But I like to have a rough idea on how I’m specing otherwise I end up getting frustrated and starting a different character
@Chuck80 Thanks Ill do that
@Carlton_Slayer Thanks, yeah I’ll experiment but like I said I like having a rough idea of what to aim for. Haha, it certainly does beat playing a dating sim
My first impulse in this answer is like everyone else: play Gaige and see how you like to play. Then that will help make the decision. She can be played a lot of ways. The best thing for you to do is ask yourself how you usually play shooters.
Would you rather play a shooter where you use cover often, and have another party member to help distract enemies? If so, then try a build based around Deathtrap utilizing thre BFF and LBT trees.
Do you enjoy playing shooters like DOOM and Quake where you are constantly moving and getting in the face of enemies? Then definitely give the Ordered Chaos tree and Aanarchy a shot.
Gaige really is a double sided coin. She can be the easiest character to pick up and play (just start down the BFF tree and let DT do a lot of the work), and she also has the highest ceiling to master (at least to me). Master her though, and she is a chaotic bomb wrecking everything in front of her with a legless torso of pure awesomeness fighting right beside her.
Regardless of how you begin to develop her I would suggest that at level 16 you take a moment respec her, and try out the Anarchy mechanic. It will let you know if that is the style of play for you or not. Just put your point in Anarchy, the 4 in Smaller Lighter Faster, 5 in Blood Soaked Shields, and your last point in Discord. Then take it out and give it a spin. That is the base of many Anarchy builds. It gives you Anarchy, the best shield skill in the game (BSS), and a great buff and accidental reload protection (Discord).
I hope you enjoy playing Gaige as she is, IMHO, the best character in Borderlands.
The only thing about BSS is that I wouldn’t take it unless you have a way to quickly regain health, either by taking Cooking Up Trouble or via a Moxxie weapon, as the loss of health at lower levels can be significant if you run into a large mob- sure, you’ll get the kills to get your shield back but it will eat into your health with a quickness (not sure if Gaige has class mods that regenerate her health)…
IMO everyone should get Cooking Up Trouble anyway (I like Close Enough but I still prioritize CuT over it).
You can never have enough self-healing ability, and since Gaige only has 3 healing skills and all of them are situational, you should grab at least two of them in every build (With Claws is somewhat a different matter, being a capstone means it’s hard to fit it into non-OC-heavy builds).
Try this build if you want the best of both worlds with Gaige. Well if you can get all the way up to level 72 anyway. A Leg. Anarchist COM works best with this build as you’ll be speced into everything the COM adds points too, and who doesn’t like more gun damage?
I’ve just started a new Gaige (named her Queen Scream) and am leaning towards this when I hit level 72. As is the purpose with my new characters on the XBox One I’m starting in a different tree than I did with my first Gaige, so for me this means I start with the OC tree, get Cooking Up Trouble, Close Enough and Upshot Robot and then move towards the LBT tree. http://bl2skills.com/mechromancer.html#550000100000150055150501415150151050
Ooo lots of replies! Thanks everyone who commented, I’m taking it all in whilst playing.
I think ultimately I’m going to need something with plenty of DPS and also utilise DT to draw a bit of attention from time to time (mostly whilst I revive my gf) … my girlfriend isn’t exactly experience in FPS games and I seem to be doing most of the work anyway bless her haha
More pep helps more than just shock. Yes 5/5 in annoyed android because without it deathtrap is slow af. Discord is pointless because the only time I ever reload is when my weapon runs out of ammo (and who the fuck reloads prematurely while running anarchy anyway?). Your shield regenerates fast enough on its own as is because of some of Gaige’s other skills that you’re going to be speced into with this build. You’re already speced into close enough, so Nth degree is pointless, and you can take a point out of unstoppable force, and drop it into robot rampage since unstoppable force will still be at 8/5 because of the Leg. Anarchist COM.
If I might offer my own thoughts: Not knowing the platform you’re using but there is always the chance that you might reload when opening containers (on the XBox the X button both reloads and opens containers IIRC), unless you go into your inventory and swap weapons. BSS really isn’t needed- I didn’t spec into it with my first Gaige until I started doing Peak runs- but I did have both Fancy Mathematics and Unstoppable Force maxed. The Nth Degree works well with Close Enough as it does give you added chances of causing more damage, which is always a plus. And More Pep is good at one point when boosted by a com- the other 4 points can be used elsewhere…
I’m on Ps3, and the square button for me does the same as the X button for you. As far as reloading goes, I always make sure that my magazine is full via shooting whatever is left after I’m done dispatching whatever enemies I may be fighting, so inadvertently reloading while picking up ammo, and other drops isn’t a problem for me (usually anyway I’m not gonna act like it hasn’t happened because I’m pretty sure it’s happened to anyone who’s ever played Gaige). I never switch COMS, so having a point in More Pep will be pointless if it’s not maxed.
I reworked my build. Here it is. What do you think? Note: My Leg. Anarchist COM boosts Unstoppable Force, and Typecast Iconoclast putting them at 7/5, and 8/5 respectively.
