that past a certain level he becomes unstoppable and the game is stupidly easy with him
truth?
Sal + Grog + DPUH + Ahab + Pimpernel is the standard of mediocrity, yes! You can still go down if you get too cocky, but that combo is very much a one-man army. That said, you don’t have to chose broken gear and build combos - @DeputyChuck has a couple of interesting variations for Sal that require a little more skill to use, but provide a huge pay off. A few others use different variants as well. He can be great fun, just try and avoid the cliche gear-out.
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Grog Nozzle in one hand, [top shelf, high damage weapon] in the other. There are a few especially popular versions. This is a typical Grog + DPUH set up crushing BA Rex in well under a minute:
There are plenty of other ways to run Sal, though.
Sal is clearly best utilized as a Dahl Allegiance/Melee hybrid.
…
…
Oh, wait. That was just a nightmare I had.
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I need to try the Deputy Sal thing sometime. Both my Sals (one at OP8, one at 72) have defaulted to the usual DPUH/Grog thing… cliched yes, but it’s still great stress relief when I don’t want to think too much after a long day, ha. 
Sometimes I do like to mix it up a little, replacing the DPUH with an appropriate-element Lyuda, or that fire Stalker pistol I found once (a freaking fire hose, and not the type you put out fires with heh.)
I don’t use any Pimp exploit shenanigans with them though. I tried it once with a Pimp/derp Duuurp combo just to goof around and see what the fuss was about, and I thought “ok, that’s just too much!”
I just simply don’t use exploits. A fun game is a challenging one and I have no need to use shortcuts just so I can say I killed Vorac. I just don’t kill Vorac. My current Sal build at level 61 is actually weaker than any of my others were at that level ( Maya, Kreig, Gaige ) but is actually the most fun.
( disclaimer - in desperation I did the Flakker swap exploit on a Krieg Peak run ).
http://bl2skills.com/gunzerker.html#000000000005055000515000000000000
He’s pretty much unstoppable at this point with a Moxxi weapon and a Berserker class mod.
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What do you consider an exploit?
The Pimp/Ahab setup is particularly what I’m referring to - but really anything that buffs a weapon unduly ( i.e. Flakker swap ). I wouldn’t call Grog/Harold or even dual Lady Fists an exploit, but it’s not a setup that I’m interested in. I don’t consider the Dep build to be an exploit because it still requires some skill and precision.
I don’t have a problem with anyone else doing it, I just prefer to strike a balance that keeps things at a certain difficulty ( and I realize many arguments can be made against what I’ve just said, but that’s just the way I play ).
I shied away from Sal for 5 years for the same reasons that others do - until I broke down and started a new one. I settled into a dual Jakobs setup ( not strict allegiance : Jakobs guns, Rough Rider, Magic Missiles and alleg. relic ) that fits me perfectly : precision shots, no bullet-hosing or spamming.
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Some people like to Sal, some people don’t. All depends on the type of player you are, and how you like to play. Very much each to their own, and so forth.
I have a Sal yes. It actually took me a long time to level him, albeit in fits and bursts as he is definitely not my kind of fun, but I got there. As such he is a valued member of the crew, and my trusted workhorse. My go to man for the jobs I want done quickly, without having to think too much about character strats and loadouts etc.
I’ll say this though; a lot of people and I mean too many, acquire a nice shiny freshly power leveled Sal, alongside some equipment of a very dubious nature, and just run around thrashing the bollocks off everything that moves. Then swagger on that their own level of play is sooooo gawdlike, and that Sal is an unstoppable beast in the right hands. Dickheads! 
Lol, but that’s a topic for another thread!
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I can safely say that with crap weapons and not much Sal playtime , mine is very stoppable.
I’ve been deliberately avoiding the easy mode gear though , so I can learn the full scope of his skills.
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When it comes to off hand weapon I don’t think any of what’s been discovered was ever intended. Sal breaks the game in a lot of different ways with dual wielding. Does it make any sense that Money Shot transfers to off hand based on main hand mag size or that Lay Waste applies critical hit damage but not fire rate buff to off hand? Not to me and it doesn’t bother me really which advantage is gained because of it.
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It’s simply a matter of degrees: if things die too fast, I nerf ; if things die too slowly, I buff.
That tipping point is determined by the individual and in my case might tend towards nerfing more than others.
I’m also in no way saying that anyone should play Sal or any other character a certain way ; just that one can decide to play Sal in a mode that is not OP.
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Early game Salvador has it rough until a slag Rubi is acquired or a Grog Nozzle is obtained, after which point he becomes very hard to kill even with a mediocre weapon in the other hand. So long as he has one of the two Moxxi pistols in hand Salvador can pretty much steamroll through just about anything he comes across.
Salvador however has some glaring weaknesses: his Brawn tree and gear dependence, though both tend to go hand in hand. Salvador simply has THE worst survival tree to date in the Borderlands franchise which requires him to be borderline dead before he gains some serious health regeneration. At best, a skilled Salvador player heavily invested in Brawn might be able to poke and prod at enemies in UVHM, possibly OP8, with the occasional ‘rush in’ but they cannot compete with a Moxxi weapon totting Salvador. If Gearbox were to up and remove Moxxi weapons from Borderlands 2 tonight Salvador would become mediocre in a heartbeat.
Despite such flaws his gear dependence only requires the most basic of knowledge to overcome and once he gets his hands on a Rubi he does not need to replace it until getting the Grog Nozzle.
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As my experience is limited to my current Sal - level 61 - my input is weak compared with most others. I can however say that I’m using no Moxxi except in the densest maps ( i.e. Southpaw ).
With a Rough Rider and moderate investment into Brawn ( barely into Sexy T-Rex ), I’m able to stay upright quite well to my considerable surprise - so long as I play defensively. I’m quite certain this will remain so until 72 - possibly even without Come at Me - but surely no further.
This build has yet to be proven outside of story line - and is hands down the slowest Warrior kill I’ve ever done - but it’s still a completely valid example of a no-Moxxi setup. My Sal is substantially weaker than most others would run but it is still awesome.
Only if the rest of his gear is decent-ish. My Sal has become easily stoppable in the level 39-40 range because that’s a major gear gap for me. I’ve got fantastic stuff at 30-35, and reasonably good stuff from 43ish-50 (weighted towards the high end of that range for obvious reasons). Literally the only good items in between are a purple level 39 Practicable Development and a level 40 Bonus Package.
As a result Sal is constantly dropping into FFYL, and dying when the yo-yo of second winds and taking another knee reaches the point where he no longer gets a FFYL timer. Very reminiscent of Axton in early UVHM.
Pretty sure most of the problem is with the shield. I’ve got nothing between a level 35 Impaler and a level 41 Aequitas. And I don’t think either of those are considered good to begin with.
Anyway, the idea that Sal with the perma-zerk skill setup and a Rubi is unstoppable is very, very wrong.
In TVHM , it was much harder to keep my health up. I only used transfusions ; but when I hit 50, I inherited Magic Missiles and farmed a Rough Rider. I’m still using those same MM’s and I refarm the RR ( literally no other shield seems to work for me for some reason ).
I believe because I’m using the L Ber COM which gives me 10/5 in Hard to Kill and the health boost from the RR, the health regen from Ain’t Got Time ( at 5/5 ) is extremely effective.
When I’m getting mobbed though I have a very tough time - I should probably use that Sham but I keep forgetting I have it.
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I love using Sally. I don’t use a Grog.
In TVHM, you’re probably better off using Brawn and the 2 most powerful guns you can find than relying on a Rubi or Grog. The damage enemies deal is consistent with the kind of health regen Brawn gives and freeing your off hand for a more powerful gun will give you the DPS you need.
At level 39-40, I would go like this:
http://bl2skills.com/gunzerker.html#000000000005405010415055000000000
…And I would start putting points into Ain’t got time to bleed, then Bus, then T-rex
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