[Build] Juggernaut Schoolgirl, 72 OP8 Mechromancer

Enderborn1 · December 18, 2016, 1:30pm

#Who needs a Juggernaut Suit when you have Master Roshi’s Turtle Shell and a Schoolgirl skirt ?
Well, I was messing around with Gaige, and I figured out something : what if you used an incredibly thick Shield with all of Gaige’s Shield skills ? Then I tested it, with multiple Shields, Relics and Class Mods, and … I got like almost 7000000 Shield Capacity with the right gear and spec.

So, how exactly this build works ? It’s simple : you have your huge Shield, you deploy Deathtrap, you kill stuff and your huge shield instantly regenerates thanks to Blood Soaked Shields and Buck Up ! Skills like Fancy Mathematics, Unstoppable Force and Myelin will help you tank some more damage when you can’t kill an enemy and when Deathtrap isn’t up. And since you have very low Health and you put so many DoTs on your enemies thanks to Gaige’s LBT skills (with a Moxxi weapon in hand), you can abuse Health Gate and become nearly invincible.

It’s a damn shame that Gaige doesn’t have a Health Regeneration Class Mod, as it would’ve made this setup completely unstoppable.

So, here is the spec that I’m using, you can change things in function of your playstyle :
Juggernaut Schoolgirl OP8 build

Now, let me show you her recommended skills and skills to avoid with this build :

Blood Soaked Shields, 5/5 : This skill may be the main skill for this build. Since your shield is huge but recharges slowly AND the health loss is negligible, you basically keep your Shield up as long as you’re killing enemies. And killing enemies with Gaige’s awesome Damage output isn’t a big deal.
Myelin 5/5 : Very good skill to increase your shield capacity even more, and it gives you Shock Damage Resistance, allowing you to resist against your worst enemy : Shock Damage. Pick it up as it is an awesome skill.
Buck Up 1/1 : When Deathtrap is active, he just recharges 100% of your Shield. This can be awesome when you’re against a tough enemy and you need your Shields to recharge, spec into it as it is only 1 skill point that can save your life.
Fancy Mathematics 5/5 : Awesome skill when you aren’t killing an enemy, and since Turtle Shields are pretty slow, this skills is a huge helping hand, especially when boosted by a Class Mod.
Unstoppable Force 5/5 : This skill looks like it has been made for the Fabled Tortoise/Hoplite. Since these Shields have a huge capacity and slow you down, when Unstoppable Force is active you’re regenerating 4% of your shields (bye bye DoTs) and you move faster. This skill is a must have : spec into it.

[PLEASE NOTE : IF YOU ARE USING TURTLE SHIELDS THAT DROP YOUR HEALTH BELOW 0, HERE ARE THE THINGS TO AVOID] :

Potent as Pony 0/5 : Since this skill boost Health in a percentage-based way, you are getting less health.
Blood of the Ancients : Same thing here, it will decrease your Health instead of increasing it. If you want more ammo, just use a Stockpile Relic, it will increase your ammo by a larger amount and won’t harm you.

Now you’re telling me : why is the Health decreasing ? Here is your answer : since these Shields drop your base (unboosted) Health to less than 0, percentage-based boosts will multiply your actual amount of Health, and since you’re multiplying a negative number with a positive percentage, it results in an even lower number. For example, let’s say you equipped a Turtle Shield that put your base Health stat at -5000 and you’re using a Health Relic that boosts your Health stat by 50%. The math will be : -5000x50% = -5000x1,5 = -7500. As you can see, your Health is decreased.

The rest of your skills is up to you, now I’m moving to the gear :

#WEAPONS : every single weapon that is good on Gaige will work in this build (see : Gaige Top Gear)

But for the items, we’ll be using very specific things :

#CLASS MODS :

Slayer of Terramorphous : In my opinion, this is the best COM for this build as it is the Class Mod that increases Max Health by the largest amount (at least on Gaige). You also boost really good skills like Fancy Mathematics or even Preshrunk Cyberpunk if you want to go with true Overkill. The boosts to Fire Damage are very good when using the Blockhead Shotgun, since it has great synergy with Anarchy (being a Tediore weapon with a fixed spread pattern), it can ricochet off of surfaces and it only comes in Fire Element.
Sweetheart : Nice COM for co-op play and the boost in Better Half is very good with the Hail Assault Rifle. Cooking Up Trouble is not really needed since you’re using Moxxi weaponry with such low Health, so you might prefer using a blue version with +6 in Better Half and +5 in More Pep. But if you are not using Moxxi weapons, a Purple version will be decent.
Legendary Anarchist : WARNING : USE IT ONLY WITH THE TURTLE SHIELD, OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE AT 0 HEALTH.
Gaige’s best COM imo, use it if you want some nice Damage output.

#SHIELDS :

Fabled Tortoise : Awesome Turtle Shield with the highest capacity in the game. Unfortunately, you cannot use it on OP8, as it will grant you 0 or 1 health. To be able to Health Gate, you must have at least 3 points of Health. This is why we’re using an OP7 variant with specific parts :
This one is OP7, and it has a Pangolin Body, an Anshin Battery and Anshin Capacitor. It is the maximum capacity that you can get if you’re using the Slayer of Terramorphous COM. If you’re using the Sweetheart COM, get an OP7 Fabled Tortoise with only Anshin parts (Body, Battery and Capacitor). Make sure to avoid using other part combinations, as you will get less results and/or you won’t have enough Health.
The ability to quickly gtfo when the Shield is down is golden, since you can just pull out a Moxxi weapon and kill everything in sight with crazy Movement Speed.
Hoplite : This Shield may be less useful in Solo, but with 4 Juggernaut Schoolgirls in co-op (meaning more Shield Capacity thanks to its special effect AND 4 Deathtraps with Buck Up), you become unstoppable. In order to be used in solo, you will have to get this form :

OP5, Pangolin Body, Anshin Battery, Anshin Capacitor. You’re getting less effectiveness than the Fabled Tortoise, but you are more effective in co-op.
Turtle Shield : This one is the most flexible of the three Shields for this build, allowing you to move faster and having less health decrease. You’re losing a lot of Shield Capacity, but you can equip COMs like the Legendary Anarchist and deal more damage. The more damage you deal, the faster you’re allowing Blood Soaked Shields to proc. It is also less painful to farm and you can get Maliwan Capactitors with Elemental Resistance on them. I imagine the Grounded version of the Turtle Shield would be really cool. Here are the best parts for it :

Full Pangolin parts, OP8.

#RELICS :

Skin of the Ancients : Really awesome Relic when paired with Pangolin Shields, giving you some extra Shield Capacity and Resistance to different types of Damage.
Damage Resistances are up to you, but make sure to get the Shield Capacity boost, as the Shield Recharge Rate boost is not that useful. I like to have Fire, Shock and Non-Elemental resistance, but if you like maps like Southpaw Steam & Power, you might want Fire, Explosive and Non-Elemental Resistance on your Relic.
Bone of the Ancients : If you want more Damage, you can always use the good ol’ Bones.
Resistance Relic : You don’t get the Shield Capacity boosts, but you get one extra Damage Resistance type. It’s less painful to farm and you can greatly benefit from it.
Blood of Terramorphous : Really good Relic when paired with a Sweetheart COM that boosts Cooking Up Trouble. If you are not using Moxxi weaponry, this Relic will allow you to regenerate Health while your Shields are up, and the actual Health Regeneration can be very intense when coupled with Discord and possibly a Nurse Maya.

#GRENADE MODS :

Chain Lightning : Great Grenade to use with the Grog Nozzle for Life Steal and Health Gate abuse. If you’re specced into Shock, it’ll be even more powerful. In addition, equipping this Grenade Mod will give you a slow Grenade regen. It is also pretty easy to farm.
Storm Front : Another great Shock only Grenade. This one will not auto-target enemies, but if they are in the AoE and you have the Grog in hand, consider yourself invincible. Sticky Longbow variant with 0.0 Fuse Time recommended.
Transfusion : Of course, one of the best Slag and healing tool for every single character. Sticky Longbow variant with 0.0 Fuse Time recommended.

Well, that’s it for the build, I hope you’ll enjoy it ! If you have advises and improvement to possibly make this build better, feel free !

Gameplay video will be coming soon.

Adabiviak · December 18, 2016, 3:35pm

[quote=“Enderborn1, post:1, topic:1552452”]Buck Up 1/1[/quote]Have you used this extensively in combat without Deathtrap betraying you?

[quote=“Enderborn1, post:1, topic:1552452”]this skill decreases your health when using a Pangolin Shield[/quote]Weird, as is the relic behavior: I tested this out (with some OP2 Turtle shield I found in a vending machine), and neither panned out? With a turtle shield on and no skill points spent, I went down to Potent as a Pony, added a point, and my health volume went up. I left Cooking Up Trouble unappointed, equipped a Blood of Terramorphous relic, and it filled the health vacancy created by those points in Potent as a Pony. A Blood of the Seraphs did the same (both for volume increase and refill).

[quote=“Enderborn1, post:1, topic:1552452”]this Relic annihilates the Health penalty from Blood Soaked Shields[/quote]It should, but doesn’t for me? The one I have restores like 6%, so it should overcompensate a little for Blood Soaked Shields (which eats 5% at five points). In combat, it’s doing less than this by a little (Blood Soaked Shields takes off less than 5%, but it still takes off a little). I’m still not sure why. Is yours (or anyone else’s) completely negating this?

Enderborn1 · December 18, 2016, 3:45pm

Of course, and I always felt stupid xD
Actually, this is not “essential” to the build. Blood Soaked Shields already do the work. It’s just a nice feature for the cost of only 1 spec point.

I know right mate, I was very surprised when it happened while I was doing some testing, it litterally decreased my Health. I’ll try this method with the Blood of Terramorphous, it would allow Gaige to equip an OP8 Fabled Tortoise.

To be honest, I didn’t test it, I expected it to annihilate the health loss, it just looked obvious to me …
I think I know why it doesn’t work : the Relic heals you before Blood Soaked Shields harms you. So in fact if you are at Max Health, it won’t work since you’re already full. I’ll test this right now.

Enderborn1 · December 18, 2016, 5:03pm

Here is some feedback. Thanks for the adjustments, i’m changing this now.

The Otto Idol doesn’t seem to cancel Blood Soaked Shields’ Health drain, this piece of gear will be removed.
I tried your technique with Health Regeneration and speccing points into Potent as Pony, and it didn’t work (with an OP7 Fabled Tortoise that reduced my health by 768896 points).

I think I’ve understood why it reduces Health instead of increasing it :

Since you are using a COM to boost your health by a fix amount, your base Health (without the COM boost) is still negative. What the Relic/Skill does is that it increases your base Health, but since it is negative, it actually decreases it (by increasing the negative Health value, like for example -5000x50% = -7500), so you’re getting less Health. If your Shield puts you below 0 Health, perecentage-based Health boosts will decrease Health, but if you are above 0 they will increase it, it’s just simple math ^^

Adabiviak · December 18, 2016, 5:42pm

[quote=“Enderborn1, post:4, topic:1552452”]I think I’ve understood why it reduces Health instead of increasing it[/quote]Interesting. If this is the case, and you really wanted to use Potent as a Pony, you could find a Fabled Tortoise at the right level to keep your health from going into the negative? Also, the relics that regenerate health should still work fine if health regeneration is what you’re after.

[quote=“Enderborn1, post:4, topic:1552452”]The Otto Idol doesn’t seem to cancel Blood Soaked Shields’ Health drain, this piece of gear will be removed[/quote]It doesn’t cancel it entirely, but does make it much more manageable. When I play a run-and-gun style with Gaige, and I won’t be pausing much between kills for Cooking Up Trouble to proc, this really helps.

Enderborn1 · December 18, 2016, 5:49pm

Of course, but since you have such little Health and you’re applying DoTs to enemies, swapping to the Grog will immediately put you at Max Health, so it’s kind of useless actually ^^

Exactly, and instead of using a Fabled Tortoise, you could just use a Purple Turtle Shield, allowing you to move at full speed, increase your max Health even more and also equip the Legendary Anarchist, giving you more Damage (meaning more Blood Soaked Shields procs).
Health Regeneration can be effective in this build, it can put you above Health gate while your Shield is protecting your Health bar. This can prove useful if you aren’t using Moxxi weaponry. I’m adding the Blood of the Seraphs and Blood of Terramorphous to the loadout, thanks

the_bat_turtle · December 18, 2016, 11:01pm

I’ll have to try this build out, but I would prefer a suit of explosive ordinance disposal armour

Enderborn1 · December 18, 2016, 11:04pm

Yeah, kinda like Bulldozers in PAYDAY 2 if you’ve played this game.

the_bat_turtle · December 19, 2016, 1:13am

Yeah. I just ried it out. I enjoy being tanky as Gaige. She’s my favourite VH but I’ve always seen her as being squishier than Axton or Maya, though this build suits my playstyle better than my old one, so thanks

Enderborn1 · December 19, 2016, 1:15am

No problem, i’m always happy to help out

cioran · December 20, 2016, 12:01pm

Hmm. Common setup during certain raids, can’t say I’ve tried mobbing with it much.

That may partly be Bake’s fault (I think it was him?) - he cleared the OP8 BA round in Murderlin’s with a Fabled Tortoise build I dubbed ‘Gaige the Lumbering Ogre-ette’ or something.
It was interesting but looked pretty painful, the movement speed penalty was off the charts.

I generally prefer health-stacking for mobs, but unlike you I haven’t paid much attention to min/maxing around a purple Pangolin. Will try it

(Also, who da heck is Master Roshi?)

Enderborn1 · December 20, 2016, 12:21pm

Health stacking is great, but I think Gaige is way more proficient with Shield stacking, since she has access to many Shield-focused skills. Never saw the OP8 Murderlin’s gameplay tbh.

Master Roshi ? he’s the ultimate Juggernaut that also invented the Kamehameha.

Unfortunately, here he doesn’t have his shell on the back

cioran · December 20, 2016, 8:21pm

It was posted on the old forums, if memory serves. Sadly, a great many things didn’t make it here and are very hard to search out due to how the old forums were archived.

WRT shield stacking, Gaige is of course stellar for it. I’ve just gotten used to healthgate-abuse setups from raids and then complacent about the apparently complicated but certainly effective damage reduction from the Blockade. I’ve yet to boot a game today, but I’ll gladly try to break some old habits.

OK. And the Kamehameha would be…?
(I’m gonna regret asking, aren’t I?)

Enderborn1 · December 20, 2016, 8:27pm

Goku’s huge beam attack, you know, Son Goku, in Dragon Ball ?

cioran · December 20, 2016, 11:03pm

I just watched an episode. Suddenly I feel very old.

I’ll just…gear up and do that run. Yes. And then get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow the years won’t weigh quite so heavily

cioran · December 21, 2016, 6:55pm

That’s better. Good as new.
Nothing very interesting to report apart from what you, @Adabiviak and others have covered. I tweaked the build a bit to suit my taste (y no Upshot Robot?) but kept the tanking aspects.
Personally I find the movement speed penalty from the Fabled Tortoise intolerable. Even with Unstoppable Force active I’m moving at a snail’s pace, and not a healthy snail at that.

Dropping it down to a purple Pangolin works fine, but that’s roughly half the capacity. At 3 or 3.5 mil it’s not uncommon for it to break, which isn’t a problem in itself but leaves me wanting the possibly bugged damage reduction from the Blockade. Failing that, I frequently run the Hide, which makes enemies (briefly) very sorry they were uncouth enough to break my shield in the first place.

A bonus problem with the Fabled Tortoise is that DT doesn’t enjoy the benefits of BSS, UF etc. and his shield is almost constantly down. Again, with a Hide or FotFH that wouldn’t bother him, but as it stands he’s getting torn up and I’m lumbering gamely but much too slowly in his direction to provide support.

Adding to my woes: after checking out that Dragon Ball episode, Youtube greeted me with a fresh recommendation today: Top 10 most EPIC Anime Fights Of ALL TIME.

Dammit.

Enderborn1 · December 21, 2016, 9:37pm

To be honest, I find the movement speed penalty to be no big trouble, it doesn’t bother me that much. The only situation where this would really be bad is with suicide-type enemies (EXP Loaders, Suicide Psychos …), but even, since you’re so tanky, the explosion from them takes off 2/3 of your shields that you can recover by simply killing an enemy.

That’s unfortunate, and the only ways to avoid this problem is to use a Turtle Shield that doesn’t lower your health to less than 0. In addition to that, a good option to max out Deathtrap support would be the Legendary Roboteer COM (with a Purple Turtle Shield, that is very important). You’re sacrificing damage, but Deathtrap will enjoy.
Another way to avoid this is to simply avoid speccing into Sharing is Caring. Since his shields are constantly down, the difference is that he won’t have the speed + health penalty.

Also, I don’t know if I should add the Blockade to the possible loadout, since I find the Damage Reduction to be absolutely outstanding on every character, and especially for Gaige with Blood Soaked Shields.

rip
(quick advise : if you want to avoid these weeb suggestions, just don’t watch anime on YouTube )

cioran · December 22, 2016, 12:13am

Oh sure. That’s just a matter of taste, but personally I find mobility to be crucial. I always max out Unstoppable Force for 10/5 with the Leg Anarchist, partly because of the shield regen but mostly because of the movement speed boost. Once I got used to it years ago I couldn’t look back.

Even if the health penalty transfers (not sure it does) it’s too small to make a difference for DT - pretty much the same for movement speed. He has ridiculous amounts of both.
Lacking the bonuses from SiC will make his survivability much worse, however - I usually just give him the defense inherent in a good offense, so to speak. Hence the Hide, for instance.
Some people don’t like swapping shields after summon and I can sympathize with that, but I’m so used to it I usually don’t even notice doing it.
WRT the Leg Roboteer I can’t get past the design of it, whether that’s a massive developer fail or intentional. Several of those skills are are available in my go-to COMs anyway, including MoSS in the Necro COMs where the CGN is arguably one of Gaige’s best DPS COMs.

WRT the Blockade, I agree its fame is well deserved - to the point where I’m tired of it - but if you’re after the highest numbers for a tank build…welp, your call Given how it works it could be argued that there’s two variants of tanking.

I know, but I wanted to remedy my ignorance about Son Goku, the Kamehameha and why on earth an old man would wear a shell. It’ll reset after I block a couple of vids, but till then I’m making the most of the opportunity to blame you for this