Does anyone else REALLY enjoy the process of leveling?

Borderlands 2 BL2 General Discussion
#1

The reason I ask is because I have been leveling a Siren the past couple weeks and have been streaming a ton. I always get a bunch of people who come in wanting to power level me (happens quite frequently). To me part of the fun of this game is leveling up. You get to build your characters differently and every play through feels different due to RNG and how you get to level 72.

I do love getting to OP8 and the end game is quite fun in its own way, but it is much less diversified there due to the nature of how powerful and tacky everything is which requires the best gear which is pretty similar throughout each class (DPUH, Sandhawk, Bee etc). You get to really enjoy other good weapons that are just not quite up to snuff in the OP world.

So my question to you guys is do you enjoy the grind to level 72 then to OP8? Or would rather just get to the end as soon as possible and start doing end game festivities.

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#2

I only level up through game play. I keep it fresh by switching characters (all at different stages) and taking occasional breaks to do something else. Then again, I donā€™t have a single OP character - all level 72 maximum. I look at all the posts about OP levels and just go, ā€œNope.ā€

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#3

When I first played Zer0 it got to a point where I was stagnant. I had finished NVHM and a bunch of DLCs was toiling through TVHM. It became boring, I wanted Death Bl0ssom to make things more interesting. I needed 11 more levels. I had a dude I know power level me through the remainder of the story line.

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#4

I level through play, but endgame is my favorite. Iā€™m probably one of the few people who enjoy unlocking OP8 solo. The process is extremely fun for me.

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#5

Pretty much the same for me. Currently my characters range from 27 to OP1. (OP 1 is really easy, although I was lucky since I got out of FFYL by a fraction of a second killing the last assassin.) I had some help leveling my Gunzerker and my Zero to lvl 30ish. I didnā€™t enjoyed itā€¦ but hard to say no to an old friend who want to ā€œhelpā€ lol
I keep 10 lvl between them and stash good gears on mules. So itā€™s getting better and faster.

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#6

I have as much respect for people who eschew OP levels as I do people who get through to OP8. To me, thatā€™s healthy approach : not swaying to the assumption that one needs to be OP8. I really makes little difference in end game play - especially if playing solo (me). I balance fun and challenging. If itā€™s not challenging enough, itā€™s not fun ; if itā€™s too challenging, itā€™s not fun.

I agree 100%.

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#7

Thatā€™s one thing I do like about the fact that OP levels exist: if you got to level 72 and found the game still lacking in challenge, you can dial it up (and back down again) until you find your own ā€œsweet spotā€.

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#8

Yup. Iā€™m currently digging playing Maya at OP8 but prefer Axton and Krieg at lower levels.

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#9

Iā€™m ok with it.

Never had any interest in OP levels.

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#10

I enjoy leveling to a point. Going through NVHM, TVHM or UVHM to 72 is fun and I always level through gameplay, doing quests and just bouncing around not getting stuck doing one thing over and over.

Having said that after I switched platform I pushed 5 characters back to back to 72 and during that time I got really bored of NVHM and TVHM when all I wanted was to get to UVHM for the challenge.

Itā€™s been a while since I did that so I now have another character in the works at the end part of TVHM and itā€™s been fun again.

I enjoy end game a lot but I loathe the peak. Itā€™s not too fun for me being forced to run through the same(ish) long hoops to get to where I want to be. Itā€™s more fun in a team but Iā€™ve only ever played multiplayer peak twice in my life. I enjoy the farming of new gear for each OP level a lot more than the peak run to unlock the next one.

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#11

Itā€™s not always fun and thera have often been occasions where Iā€™ve wished to be 72 already, but I wouldnā€™t ever accept a powerlevel: I want to get there by myself.
The hardest part is always the first part of UVHM until level 60-65: with my last character I mostly spent that levels killing Tinder; itā€™s not that enemies are too strong but more the fact that I canā€™t have all the skills Iā€™d like.

I like the Peak challenge to unlock OP8, then I usually donā€™t go there a lot: if I feel like working hard I go for raid bosses; that said, all my level 72 characters are OP8, except the second Zer0 who unlocked OP3 minutes before my pc died.

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#12

I love leveling up characters. Iā€™ve leveled up all 6 characters thru each of the three playthroughs in BL2 and TPS. But usually thatā€™s it. After 18 playthroughs in each game I get burnt out, and then I resort to other methods to get multiple endgame characters.

Then a year or 2 after the gameā€™s release I get the urge to level up a character using all the knowledge Iā€™ve accrued to make me a God level 1-70/OP8.

TL;DR My rule is to beat UVHM legit on all six characters. After that Iā€™m free to get as many pre-leveled endgame characters as I want. Then a year or 2 later I usually level 1 or 2 more.

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#13

All six on TPS to 70 with no power leveling? You have the stamina and patience of gods, my man. I gave up on the idea of leveling multiple characters to 70 after I got my first one there. Leveling up in UVHM in that game is sooooo slooooow.

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#14

There was a decent bit of rubberband farming the Guardian Hunter mission whenever I got bored of killing Iwajira, Red Belly, or the Dark Siders. But I did it all solo.

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#15

I love levelling characters! Running through NVHM is actually what I find the the most fun as you really have to make do with world drops as you canā€™t just farm for perfect gear :slight_smile:

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#16

I liked leveling until UVHM which at first felt like a kicking and screaming experience until I learned more about the game and how to counter the more powerful enemies.

For the longest time I shied away from the OP levels up until about a year ago. I took my Jakobs Maya up to OP6 before having to switch over to non-Jakobs firearms to finish it off, after which point I scrounged around for the Jakobs equipment I preferred and went on my way.

Depending on the equipment you use OP8 feels slightly tougher than OP0 once you get the same optimal gear that you used at OP0. I still use the Unforgiven and other non top tier Jakobs weaponry on Maya and do just fine.

That being said I will never level another character again if I can help it. Iā€™d rather go through with one of my maxed out characters with the gear I had already spent quite a bit of time and energy collecting that go through the process of finding it all again.

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#17

Your comment in the OP about homogeneity in OP8 gear is something I consider a lot. I still use the top tier gear that everyone uses but tire of using them and tire of seeing them used. But when you need a SandHawk, Harold, Norfleet you just need it. ( I still refuse to use a Norfleet )

Thereā€™s always Adabiviak 's method of nerfing/buffing gear by playing OP3 - which makes weak (but fun) gear ( at OP8 ) usable - like Chere Ami or whatever.

One of my best lightbulb moments in my recent playthrough (w/ Krieg) was discovering how unbelievably good the Loganā€™s Gun is. It just isnā€™t so good in OP.

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#18

When I frist started playing BL2 (about a year after it came out) I- unsurprisingly- got obssesed with all the different characters, places, skills, guns- everything. I took all 6 characters (my Original Six) up thru OP8, and then did a complete OP8 play thru once they got there. With my new crew, I PL them on my 360 to level 35 and then transferred them to the XBox One- even though I love the game, doing normal all over again with each character was just a bit mind numbing. The New Crew are all level 72 and might just stay there- at least until I finish all the dlc and get most of the quests out of the way. Since the point of the New Crew was to try different builds and gear than the O6, a DP run would be entirely refreshingā€¦

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#19

If I didnā€™t enjoy leveling, I wouldnā€™t have taken all six to OP8. I admit I did use the digistruct cheese for the first few, but thatā€™s because digistruct didnā€™t have the steady progression of leveling and I wasnā€™t as good at the game then. Powerleveling is useful I found if you have a friend or group of friends already into the game a bit and you want to catch up with them, but otherwise I donā€™t see the point. Iā€™m glad it exists though because it does give people choice and those who hate leveling but love playing BL2 on higher levels get what they want as well.

I also would not be as good at many of the chars without the work done while leveling, and some char builds Iā€™m not that good with, like melee Zero, or grenade Axton, are because I didnā€™t use those builds while leveling.

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#20

To 72, yes. Those moments when you respec because you hit the magic level 31 or 57, having to rifle through loot drops to find decent gear and shuffle what you have equipped if you do, that feeling when a legendary drops. 1-72 is great fun, but 72-OP8 can be a nightmare with the random spawns, mini-boss after mini-boss, and having to farm high-tier gear because youā€™re grossly underleveled. I love running DigiPeak at OP8, but getting there is a pain.

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