[First of all, very huge thanks to @shadowevil1996 for the Unofficial Community Patch, because this is probably the best thing that happened to the BL2 community since the Gearbox events.]
So, with this patch, a lot of items have been reworked and/or buffed. Some skills were tweaked to be better as well. And when it comes to Axton, the Specialist COM that once boosted SMG Accuracy, Ready , Duty Calls and Forbearance was tweaked. Now, this COM boosts Shotgun Damage, Shotgun Accuracy, and now boosts Onslaught instead of Forbearance.
Duty Calls was tweaked as well, it used to boost Gun Damage (5% per level) and Fire Rate (3% per level) for Non-Elemental guns, now it boosts Gun Damage (10% per level) and Critical Hit Damage (3% per level).
So Axton has a COM that boosts Shotgun efficiency and Non-Elemental Gun Damage and Critical Hit Damage. And which weapons benefit greatly from both Shotgun Damage, Critical Hit Damage and Non-Elemental Damage ? Jakobs Shotguns.
Even better : what got added with the Unofficial Community Patch ? The Flayer Shotgun !
Of course, the Flayer isnāt the only option when you need a good Jakobs Shotgun. Iāll go around every Jakobs Shotguns and every pieces of gear that I recommend for this kind of build.
Axton now has great synergies with Jakobs Shotguns, and thanks to its other abilites in combat, we can build an awesome āDeputyā character. This is the Return of Deputy Axton.
First of all, weāre gonna talk about the recommended skills for this build :
Here is my spec for this build, you can change things based on your playstyle and preference. If you have suggestions, please give me your feedback !
SKILL ADVISES :
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Ready [8/5] : Obviously, reload speed with Jakobs Shotguns is very important since youāre reloading a lot with them.
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Onslaught [9/5] : With the boost from the Specialist COM, this skill really helps you putting more Damage down range when itās active. The boost to Movement Speed helps you getting at good range, and range is very important with Shotguns.
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Double Up [1/1] : Slag control is really good for this build since chain-killing enemies is better when you donāt have to swap out or use grenades to Slag enemies.
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Impact [5/5] : This may sound obvious to the Axton experts, but with the UCP it boosts Accuracy instead of Melee Damage, which is way better obviously.
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Metal Storm [4/5] : Even if the Fire Rate boost is not that great when using a Weapon that fires as fast as you can pull the trigger, the Recoil Reduction is very good when using a Jaboks Shotgun because it helps you stay on the crit spot of an enemy, especially when you have a Weapon that fires as fast as you can pull the trigger.
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Duty Calls [10/5] : The UCP really made that skill very good. It went from a very underwhelming skill to a really awesome skill. If you have 11/5 on this skill, you get +110% Weapon Damage and +33% Critical Hit Damage ! This skill is really insane and it really boosts Non-Elemental gunsā Damage by a large mile.
WEAPONS :
JAKOBS SHOTGUNS :
- Flayer : The Coach Gun on steroids. This weapon is awesome, really. You get 9 shots out of the magazine size, you have a nice accuracy and 2 extra pellets. This is probably my second favourite weapon in the Borderlands franchise. Critical Hit accessory recommended.
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Coach Gun : Use it if you donāt have the Flayer. It still is a great weapon, but it is definitely not as great as the Flayer. Gemstone Citrine skin with a Vertical Grip or a Critical Hit accessory recommended.
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Quad : It consumes more ammo and is less accurate than the Flayer, but it deals more damage. Gemstone Citrine skin with the Critical Hit accessory is recommended.
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Striker : the most accurate Shotgun in the lot. It has a better Critical Hit modifier and it consumes one ammo per shot. It is a great weapon for ranged combat, even for a Shotgun.
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Orphan Maker : supporting really high Damage, awesome Accuracy and decent ammo efficiency, this weapon is really good. The only drawback is its curse effect, but you can manage it just fine.
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Hydra : this is the highest damaging Jakobs Shotgun on card in the game. It is tricky to use due to its weird firing pattern, but at close range it really takes enemies down, especially versus loaders.
NON-JAKOBS SHOTGUNS :
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Interfacer / Conference Call / Butcher : while the Butcher got buffed, the Conference Call and the Interfacer are awesome guns. The Hyperion brothers are always great options as a Shotgun in every build. For the Interfacer, I recommend the Practicable prefix but for the Butcher I recommend the Critical prefix since the Butcher got buffed and got 2 more pellets. For the Conference Call, itās as you wish.
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Jolly Roger : this is a great Shotgun with decent Damage and really good Accuracy thanks to its fixes spread pattern. Critical Hit accessory recommended.
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Sledgeās Shotgun : the ultimate tribute to Borderlands 1. It is a great Shotgun with decent Accuracy, decent Damage and an awesome Fire Rate.
UTILITY :
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Slagga : an awesome Slag tool, especially with Axton and Metal Storm. Maliwan grip and Dahl stock recommended.
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Grog Nozzle : this thing has its place on every builds, the best utility weapon in the game.
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Chulainn : with the UCP, this became an awesome tool for stripping shields and slagging enemies. It is way better than what it used to be.
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Pimpernel : one of the best Slag tools in the game that Slags at all ranges.
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Any decent Rocket Launcher : always keep a loaded Launcher into your loadout to get out of loud situations in FFYL. Norfleet, Badaboom, Creamer and others are good options to fill this role.
ITEMS :
SHIELDS :
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The Sham : one of the best options for survivability in this game, especially with Axton and Quick Charge. It will restock your shotgun ammo decently quickly and keep you out of trouble in most situations. Keep an eye on enemies with Torgue weaponry, because the splash damage will damage you.
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Blockade : this shield will keep you out of trouble in every situation since it has respectable capacity and built-in damage resistance. With Quick Charge and Willing this shield becomes really good. Bandit parts recommended
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Naught : this now replaces the awful Cradle shield. Coming with 0.00 Recharge Delay, this shield is absolutely great for Axton. It syngergises very well with the Orphan Maker since the shield is always recharging, meaning the Curse effect will cause no trouble at all. Pangolin Body, Pangolin Battery and Bandit Capacitor or only Bandit Parts recommended.
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Cracked Sash : this shield got a huge Capacity boost from the UCP. It is now among the best Shields in the game with the second lowest Recharge Delay at 0.98 and the highest Recharge Rate at over 900K/sec. Parts are up to you, but Hyperion parts with a Maliwan Fire Resistance capacitor is great.
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Antagonist : of course, the Jack-of-all-Trades within shields. This is probably the best shield in the game, so use it, itās really great (when it doesnāt Slag you).
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Evolution / Neogenator : if you like Health Stacking, use these shields because theyāre really good for it. The Elemental Resistance coupled with Axtonās survivability skills are really nice to keep you out of trouble.
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Hoplite : with the UCP, this shield became very good. It now has less movement penalty (which synergises well with this build since Onslaught boosts Movement Speed by a large mile) and less Health penalty as well. Quick Charge also helps this shield since it has a huge capacity. Fabled Tortoise is not recommended since it reduces your health too much, making percentage-based Health boosts from Relics and Skills worthless since they have diminishing returns.
COMs :
- Military Specialist : the purple version of this COM is imo the best because it has everything that a Jakobs Shotgun needs. The Military prefix makes Duty Calls the primary boost for this shield at +5. Ready and Onslaught are boosted at +4.
- Military Specialist : if you donāt care about Reload Speed, just use the blue version. Make sure it boosts Onslaught instead of Ready. Itās the most damaging COM between the two.
RELICS :
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Deputyās Badge : Deputy Axton isnāt āDeputyā Axton for nothing. This relic works well with this build increasing DPS by a good amount through Weapon Damage and Reload Speed boosts.
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Aggression Relic / Heart of the Ancients : this relic is great for increasing Non-Elemental Damage. They are a good choice for this build.
- Jakobs Allegiance : very good relic for flexibility and ergonomy with your Jakobs Shotguns. Youāre losing direct DPS, but youāre gaining lots of indirect DPS since this relic will help you spam the Shotgun on an enemyās crit spot, meaning youāll deal more DPS by making your aiming easier. Mag Size, Accuracy Recovery and Recoil are all nice, so make your choice !
GRENADES :
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Magic Missile : one of the best options for Slagging with Axton, supporting homing projectiles, high radius, Grenade regeneration and high Slag chance.
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O-Negative : The UCP made this Grenade completely stomp the basic Transfusion since it now has 0.0 Fuse Time. Itās great for both Slagging and healing, and is definitely my most recommended Grenade for most builds.
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Chain Lightning / Storm Front / Quasar : the trio Shock grenades are back. While the Chain Lightning is better for life steal with the Grog Nozzle and the Quasar is better for crowd control, the Storm Front is good on almost all builds, for life steal, crowd control and shield stripping.
TESTING :
So, there are the maximum numbers (without Onslaught) that I got with this build. Iām using an Aggression Relic : and a blue Military Specialist, and I have Battlefront active. Keep in mind I only have [4/5] points on Battlefront.
Flayer :
Quad :
Striker :
Orphan Maker :
Hydra :
GAMEPLAY :
(coming soon)
CONCLUSION :
So, thatās it for the build. I hope you enjoyed it ! Please give me some feedback and ways to improve it. Thanks for reading 
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