Only character worth using assault rifles with

Borderlands 2 Axton the Commando
#1

I would say generally assault rifles are worse weapons in the game

they’re only really worth using with Axton where his skills and class mods elevate them into decent weapons
it seems to me that Gearbox maybe did this by design?

#2

Salvador running Hoarder build is easily the best with ARs.

1 Like
#3

?? didn’t know that

to me Sal is a beast with pistols

#4

Yeah Sal is incredible with ARs. Hoarder is ideal because of the infinite magazine and fire rate bonuses that Sal has through his skills that he can rip through enemies nonstop while Gunzerking.

Lead Storm and Hail are two of the best because of the projectile splitting for awesome DPS. They just take some practice to get used to the arc. I prefer Lead Storm and have used it a lot while mobbing and against bosses with adds like Cramerax Jr.

Sal does great with pretty much any Vladof or Torgue AR really. Kitten (Moxxi healing), Ogre, Kerblaster, Etech Blasters, purple legendary such as Spitters and Vladof ARs all work really well.

Kill an enemy activate 5 Shots or 6 and Lay Waste and literally hold down the right trigger for infinite ammo and just watch enemies melt.

It is one of my favorite ways of playing Sal.

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#5

hmm

wouldn’t you say SMGs were better in that case? To me SMG > AR usually

#6

How does Kreig’s Bloody Revival scale? The AR boost in FFYL looks good as a concept, but I’ve not looked at the math or how that scales into UVHM.

Axton’s Overload is another skill that looks good in concept, and there are relics etc. that boost AR damage, but most are going to be running something else in UVHM/OP levels. Probably a good NVHM/TVHM thing though.

#7

You would think because that’s the common argument with a lot of other players. Not with Sal though.

#8

Any VH can use AR’s wel. Maybe some specifics in certain cases, but point stands.

Gaige has a dedicated COM for the weapon class (Jill of all Trades) but she does fine even without said COM.
Krieg is getting tons of mileage out of a Sawbar aswel for example.

2 Likes
#9

1 of only 2 truly terrible skills in Krieg’s skill trees, in my opinion. The other being Hellfire Halitosis.

#10

Gaige with the Sawbar is amazing. The Madhous! is funny, thou.
Hail and Kitten can work basically with all VH because of Moxxi healing plus good fire rate.

There is also the Bekah.

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#11

I’m glad someone mentioned it…lol

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#12

Specifically for Axton, the Hail and the Ogre are 2 of my top 10. Sawbar is close in there too. Krieg - Kerblaster and Hail are top gear.

There are ( almost ) no red text ARs I don’t use with every character.

#13

Both Gaige and Krieg can use the Ogre and Hail to great effect- or give a Bekah to Zero or Maya and watch the crits go thru the roof…

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#14

I have tons of fun with the Bekah on a Mechro using the legendary Anarchist. 17 mill on the sweetspot makes slag very redudnant on OP8. lol

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#15

More importantly, there’s the Hammer Buster. The Bekah is so rare as to hardly be worth mentioning. But the Hammer Buster is a trivial farm, available at most levels throughout the game, and is extremely effective. It was my Maya’s main weapon from 57-61 and 64-72 (61-64 were Godfinger levels :slight_smile: ).

Most minigun barreled ARs are good on any VH - Vladof and Dahl (except on Sal) Miniguns or Jakobs Gatling Guns.

Any thread based on a premise of “[gun type] is only good on [single VH]” is at best extremely suspect… :rolling_eyes:

4 Likes
#16

Dunno about ‘extremely’, it’s a very common misconception which frequently gets perpetuated by people with more followers than they actually deserve.
@Derch made a video called ‘Assault Rifles don’t suck, you do’, but the intentional provocation of that title is perhaps more than this thread calls for and addresses certain arguments on Youtube rather than these forums, else I’d link it.

There are already several excellent suggestions above for the OP’s consideration, to which I’ll add the Seraphim on Maya, Gaige and Krieg. Mainly.
There’s also Spunky’s Kitten build specifically for Sal, if that’s of interest.

For general purposes, the Hail with its ridiculous crit bonus plus splash and grenade damage bonuses really is a go-to for every Vault Hunter out there though.
It doesn’t really play to the strengths of a Zer0 with high Velocity on a Killer build, but you can’t please everyone.
Besides, he’s already killed everything in sight with his Bekah so there isn’t really a problem.

Since seeing is believing I’d urge the OP to take these weapons for a spin and possibly consider reconsidering :acmwink:

3 Likes
#17

Axton only has one COM for ARs, that hardly makes him an AR character, or else Gauge would be too.

As a general rule of thumb, ARs and shotguns as a whole are great with everyone. Sal has far higher single shot potential, and maybe DPS, with shotguns than pistols. As for ARs, they’re the most diverse weapon group in the game. The hail is nothing like the kerblaster. Any attempt to say “ARs are best on this char” doesn’t take that diversity into account, and is standing on a shaky foundation as a result.

2 Likes
#18

Thanks for your replies guys.

I saw that guy’s ‘ARs don’t suck’ video, it was good. But wtf he was using ARs with Maya? Seriously?? SMGs are CLEARLY better with her!

I gotta maintain my position, ARs only good with Axton. Pistols with Sal. SMGs with Maya and probably Zero and Krieg too I guess; Gaige is the only character in this game I haven’t even looked at.

Maybe it’s the way I play? It could be, also I’m not one of those guys that goes looking for and uses the legendary weapons.

#19

Nope. SMGs are great with Maya if she’s using the Legendary Cat COM, which is a niche boss-killing COM. In most situations she uses either a Legendary Binder or Legendary Siren, with which SMGs are no better with her than with any other VH. While leveling, she’s using whatever she has, generally a blue COM of some kind (Binder or Trickster, typically). Usually not a Cat since it has the same down side of the legendary version (no defensive skill boosts) with much less offensive punch to make up for it.

Like I said above, I used the Hammer Buster as my Maya’s primary weapon while leveling through UVHM. She also carried a Good Touch, but the HB saw far more use. And since Axton has a much harder time staying alive than Maya, he uses the Good Touch more than she does. :slight_smile:

If you don’t use legendaries, consider a purple Jakobs Rifle instead; same idea, somewhat lower stats.

Use the best gun for the job, rather than getting this weird hangup that one weapon type is for this VH, another weapon type is for that VH, etc. Every VH can and should use every weapon type as circumstances and availability demand.

7 Likes
#20

Don’t forget if you have a healthy stash of Rid Rock you can go pay Buttstallion a visit as the gemstone AR’s are more than acceptable kit for leveling a toon of any class :smiley: