Between UCP and finally finishing Magic Slaughter 5 I returned to Borderlands, but my joy of finishing Slaughter 5 was quickly dashed by discovering that Badass Round has one more wave to go through. With the amount of struggle for wave 5, I think I don’t have enough survivability to tackle last round for Ogre and start breaking into raids and OP levels.
Spec: http://bl2skills.com/commando.html#45550150015305415015155000100000 (in the hindsight onslaught is better than laser)
My frequently used gear:
Tediore Fire and Shock Maliwan Plasma Casters
NE Baby Maker (also have NE Avenger but yet to test it in actual battle, just chucking at unaware mobs)
Hard Harold
Casual SWORDSPLOSION
Slag Topneaa
Slag Snider
Magic Missile
Leg Soldier
Neogenator
Explosive Relic and Bones
Honorable mentions: Hornet, Blockhead, Nukem (feels like Topneaa beats it), Grog, Flakker, Thunderball Fists (wondeful for stalkers), Bee, Impact/Expert Grenadiers, Leg. Ranger and Chaotic Neutral Ranger.
Pretty much all good shields are locked behind bosses, Sham and Bee are too specific, so I’m left with Neogeo. Now I forgot about that Leg.Ranger COM in the bank, so that would be first step towards beating Badass Round, but I guess for raiding there’s a bit different setup.
Perhaps some investment into the Survival skill tree might help you out in the Badass round. Have you considered it?
Is it really worth it without Pointman? I know Last Ditch Effort is nice for getting out of FFYL (though it’s more for movement speed boost and if I recall right it’s gone in UCP), but it’s tier 2.
Higher up we have Quick Charge and Forbearance for DoTs, Crisis Management which is quite specific, since Axton has Willing, Grit (nice, but so high and 20% is kind of small, when losing damage might as well give you more FFYL moments), Gemini (good). With addition of CM and Pointman being the Survival COM, tree looks like HP focused one.
Is damage reduction from CM and Forbearance significant? I’m under impression that if you go for DR, you need to stack it (so Rough Rider).
Laser Sight is a waste of points and I also don’t think you need Ranger and Nuke if you’re looking for more survivability. Grit is very much a game changer skill for Axton. You’d be surprised by how often it can proc and keep you alive when you have it at 5/5. Gemini also helps with crowd control and strategy, specially in areas with heavy mobs. Have you considered a classic 26-15-26 build? It’s been tried, tested and proven to be one of the most reliable and balanced “non-specialized” specs for Axton. Here’s the one I use with a Leg. Soldier COM: http://bl2skills.com/commando.html#54055150015104014000005050055051. Give it a shot.
I’d also try a couple of non-unique shields if you can’t get yourself something like a Blockade. Try one of those really fast Tediore shields (but play less aggressively if you do) or a purple Turtle shield with a shorter delay if you can find one. Axton is a great shield user, so most of his survivability comes from that rather than health stacking.
Oh, and forget about using the Avenger for mobbing. Its true power only comes through against raid bosses. Stick with the Baby Maker for general mobbing.
Two turrets can help you with the distraction. UCP also buffed turret shields and now it reverted Last Ditch Effort. Grit is amazing. Use cookie cutter build, I guess.
Yeah, Gemini is quite a gamechanger for crowdcontrol, but most of the time I get my turret out, I actually can survive. There’s rare times like leaving UB Skeleton who lasers turret down. I guess to get most out of Pressure, I should take Turtle? Do you take Crisis Management in UCP, since link shows Resourceful?
Thanks for help, in the end I’ll try my build again, but with Leg.Ranger, some adjustments for it and a purple Turtle. Will try Grit some time, probably on Digi Peak.
My newest Axton is also trying to beat the Badass Round of Magic Slaughter but he has the help of friends 
http://bl2skills.com/commando.html#51053100005305515010115050044151
Shield- Blockade (farmed by Sal)
Com- Expert Grenadier
Relic- Explosive +31%
Grenade- MMx4
Weapons- DPUH, Stabbing Ogre (farmed by Sal), Casual Swordsplosion and Elegant Rubi
One of the things I picked up from using Sal is the fact that the Slow Hand ignores the actual shields of shield carrying enemies since it’s 100% splash damage- equip a shock Slow Hand with a The Transformer shield and watch it recharge itself when the Slow Hand is used in close quarters…
I’m sorry, I missed the part about using the community patch. My bad. I don’t play on PC, so I don’t know what to suggest based on those changes to his skill tree. My suggestions are based on the unaltered skill tree, but if you’re looking for more survivability, I’d still tell you to invest on Pressure, Quick Charge and Grit and focus more on improving shields rather than stacking health.
http://bl2skills.com/commando.html#55054150015503015015105050140000
This is what I’m going to try with Leg.Ranger on next Slaughter attempt, once I get myself a Turtle. On UCP Nuke gives a bit of cooldown and Ranger is twice as effective (2% per point instead of one). Should be a similar DPS with quite a boost to survivability (9 point QC, COM boosts, Pressure).
Or maybe Transformer/WTF (it doesn’t shock you now)/Fabled Tortoise (it slows less now)? Sorry for teasing, lol. Anyone with experience from UCP?
Took a day to get myself a shield. Blue did not help with Turtle, neither did a single tubby I found (for WTF), but loot train gave me a Quick Charge purple Tediore and legendary Deadly Bloom.
For comparison:
Neogeo - 214k cap, 58k charge and 2.13 base delay
Tediore - 305k cap, 390k charge and 1.6 delay
Deadly Bloom - 513k cap, 190k charge, 4 sec delay, 952k nova
Decided to take Deadly Bloom. Bonuses push it to 700k, Quick Charge (the skill) is best used on highest cap and with explosive relic and bonus from Scorched Earth nova should deal respectable damage.
Made one attempt at slaughter that ended with a jumpdown into pit. Did not notice nova, but capacity is really nice and it still has respectable charge rate compared to Neogeo. Guess I’ll need raiding tips soon (Avenger+Gunerang FTW?). Opinion on WTF/Tortoise still would be nice.