I have been running Axton now a bit with the Community Patch, new skills and different weapon combinations and I have some observations.
Now these are MY observations based on MY playstyle so they may not apply to you at all so take them with a grain of salt.
Axton…with the Patch is now “better”…there is absolutely no doubt to this. He can now solo the Dragons with about a 1 in 5 chance of success whereas before…it was next to impossible for us normal, mortal players. Amd FINALLY, Assault Rifles are actually quite good on him…especially ones that get the grenade damage boost like the Bearcat. Yep…you read that right…the BEARCAT!!
Buuuut…and here is a BIG but…
This additional firepower and defensive skill set can lull you much quicker into stupid mistakes. While before…at places like Digistruct Peak. Axton had to play totally DEFENSIVE and set up choke points and let his turret block and aggro while he wailed away. Now, with the Patch, Axton can play aggressively in an offensive manner and the problem is you get overconfident and TOO AGGRESSIVE. Even with the patch additions, Axton does NOT HAVE the burst DPS of a Character like Zer0. So you can quickly find yourself in a jam by using your new offensive capabilities too aggressively.
AND…while experimenting…I have found that he now has some VERY viable weapons that heretofore pretty much just took up space in his backpack at the game’s highest levels.
Bearcat
Cobra
Railers
Molokos
Hellfire
Volcano
Storm
Vladof Blasters
Invaders
Shreddifiers
Butchers
Tunguska
Flakker
Seraphim
Patriot
WTF
etc…etc…the list is huge thanks to Shadow’s work.
Buuuuut…while they are great and totally viable and give a TON more choice.
Axton still kills more quickly with a standard explosive package…DPUH…Swordsplosion
And while the Legendary Grenadier is wonderful…
The old stand bys of the Legendary Soldier and Chaotic Neutral Ranger are enhanced as well and EQUALLY as wonderful!
So TL;DR
Axton is better…but don’t get cocky…don’t get lazy…switch to explosive and the old standby’s when it gets dicey. You can now play rather aggressively…but don’t be foolish.