T0p Gear f0r Zer0 - Videos being added; list complete

Zer0 has several playstyles that go from melee to sniper, passing through Cunning/B0re that makes use of several different types of guns. With so much variety to him I thought it was only fair we have our own thread dedicated to gear and what is best for him at end-game.
I’ll cover first the Cunning/B0re area of gear, finishing off with Sniper builds gear and melee build gear, since the last two are the ones that have “less” variety and options to it. So let’s get started. I will not put the lists in any specific order. I will give a minute explanation on the ones I feel are the best, but after that it’s up to your personal choice which one to use.
One final discloser: Zer0 requires you to play him without pants (or no pantsu in Poka’s language) for maximum effect and benefit. Don’t believe me? Just ask around the top players how they play him and see their responses. Still don’t believe us? Try it out for yourself. Be mindfull of your surroudings when doing that tough.
[SIZE=“16”]Usefull Links[/SIZE]

[SIZE=“16”]PISTOLS[/SIZE]

Ah pistols/revolvers, the memories these bring from BL1 and Gunslinger Mordecai. Salvador might be the best two-wielding pistol user, but Zer0 is the best one-wielding pistol user in the game, even though Zer0 doesn’t have pistol exclusive skills. Zer0 is fast, accurate and deadly when using the right guns, so here is the list:

Unkempt Harold: A pistol build essential, this Legendary Torgue pistol fires a spread of explosive giro-jets that spread in a line, hitting everything in its path. Add the Double Penetrating prefix and you have the most damaging pistol in the game and one of the most damaging guns in the game. There’s no going around: any Zer0 that does not use Snipers exclusively has this gun in a weapon slot or in the backpack for use at any given moment. It being explosive means there are only 2 or 3 enemies that are resistant to it; all the others fall to its mighty glory. Be advised: this gun consumes ammo fast, even more with the Double prefix…of course it also kills just as fast but still.
Elements: Explosive
Best parts: Torgue grip
Best prefix: Double Penetrating
Drops: Savage Lee and Torgue Vendors from Torgue DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/4x5JF9ABBXE

Vladof Anarchists: From blue to purple, these are the pistols that have the Vladof barrel and fast fire rate. The fire rate is key here: the faster you fire bullets, the faster Zer0 stacks Rising Sh0t and the faster he takes out his enemies. As such, a solid Anarchist in his hands will make Zer0 a bullet hose of death.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip
Best prefix: Vengeful or Righteous
Drops: Any loot source, Gem version from Butt Stalion in Tiny Tina’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/ju1T4fNFl_w?list=PLinreZCew3VanpvFuIB9Vxz6xc5NWWAI5

Stinger: Seraph version of the Anarchists, its added feature is ricocheting bullets. Thanks to B0re, the bullets can pass through enemies and ricochet off surfaces, allowing for some interesting B0re combnations like: shooting an enemy facing a wall, make the bullets ricochet of it and hit the same enemy again but now with B0re bonus. Has a (slight) lower bullet speed than the Anarchists.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip
Best prefix: Vengeful or Righteous
Drops: Dragons of Destruction, Tiny Tina’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/In54UjQmXuw?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Maggie: The masher, the shotgun that uses pistol ammo, this is a Legendary Jakobs revolver that fires x6 pellets for each bullet (x10 if using the Two fer prefix). Add to that the Jakobs manufacter characteristic of firing as fast as you pull the trigger and the added critical damage and you’re looking at a damage dealing monster in the hands of Zer0. Manage to hit all the pellets and even the biggest Ultimate Badass falls to Zer0 in seconds. It’s a great gun even at higher levels and the lack of elemental damage does not affect it by much. When talking about pistol builds, this is one of the essentials.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip
Best prefix: Gunstock, Dastardly or Trick Shot
Drops: Mick Zaford in the Dust (side with Hodunks in the Clan wars mission)
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/EHXsucWVXmQ?list=PLinreZCew3VanpvFuIB9Vxz6xc5NWWAI5

Rubi/Grog Nozzle: The Moxxie weapons, healing for 12%/65% of all damage dealt while holding them respectively, they are not melee builds exclusive, which is why I’m mentioning them here. The Grog is always slag element and the Ruby can come in all elements. Essential if you want fast on demand healing and at higher OP levels.
Elements: Rubi can come in all elements; Grog Nozzle is always slag
Best parts: Maliwan grip
Best prefix: Non melee can be any prefix; Melee is evisceration
Drops: Rubi is a quest reward from “Rakkaholic Anonymous” if you deliver to Moxxie; Grog Nozzle is a quest item from the mission “The Beard makes the man”, don’t deliver the mission

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mentions[/SIZE]
Lady Fist: Mission reward from T.K. Baha’s niece, this blue rarity Hyperion pistol packs a walloping +800% critical hit damage which, for Zer0, is great with his gun damage and critical hits bonuses. As it is a Hyperion gun, it get’s more accurate the more you fire, making the last shots pinpoint on the ever so necessary critical hit boxes. This gun can come in non-elemental or elemental. After some analysis I’ve changed this weapon from Top Gear to HM since weapons with large critical hit bonuses but lower base damage (compared to other weapons) aren’t very helpful to Zer0 since he can boost critical hit damage like no other character on BL2. With this said, he will have better performance with weapons with high base damage and normal critical hit damage compared to the other Vaul Hunters.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Hyperion or Bandit grip
Best prefix: Dynamic or Win-Win
Drops: Uncle Teddy mission, deliver to Una Baha
Gameplay video:http://youtu.be/Ja8fa3yKwfo

Fibber: Hyperion unique pistol, this is quite the complex weapon. Its card lies to you, hiding its true potential. The Fibber comes with 3 types of barrels and what you’ll want is the third barrel, with the ricocheting 9 bullets that have increased critical hit damage. Manage to learn the ricochet path and you got one powerful little pistol. Unfortunately to aim with the ricochet you’ll have to aim at the ground, making you lose sight of the battlefield and of your enemies, which on Zer0 can be deadly. Zer0 can also make use of the second barrel that fires a spread of 8-9 bullets much like a shotgun, with slow bullet speed, less fire-rate than the third barrel and slower reload speed. The damage between the 2 barrels is very similar but the difference in the other characteristics of the gun makes the third barrel the prefered one if you find it.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Slag; Shock
Best parts: Barrel 3 (richocheting 9 bullets spread)
Best prefix: Dynamic or Win-Win
Drops: Quest reward from “A Real Boy”

Greed: Unique Jakobs pistol dropped only once during the Pirate’s DLC from Scarlett, it’s a Jakobs with Fire elemental bullets and good headshot power. Does not slow down your movement speed while aiming down sights (ADS). Other than that there really isn’t much to say about it.
Elements: Always Fire
Best parts: Jakobs grip
Best prefix: Dastardly or Two fer
Drops: From Scarlet after defeating Roscoe; only once per playtrough; always drop

Unforgiven/Rex: I put these two together since they both work in the same way - they are Jakobs revolvers that have low fire rate, huge recoil, increased base damage and increased critical hit damage multiplier. On Zer0 they both can work as a Sniper, since the first shot will be on target and, with OSOK and Decepti0n bonuses, they can pop off an enemy head. They are not made for close quarters, fast paced gun battles. The Rex actually has a higher critical hit multiplier than the Unforgiven, making it slightly better than the pearlescent.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Hyperion or Jakobs scope
Best prefix: Gunstock
Drops: Legendary Loot Midgets, OMGWTHBBQ for Unforgiven; Bultoss in Hammerlock’s DLC for the Rex

Hornet/Tea-Pot: The Hornet is a Dahl Legendary pistol and one of the best corrosive guns in the game. Being Dahl it will have burst-fire properties when aiming downs sights with low recoil and a fast burst fire rate. If looking to kill loaders, this is one of the choices for it. The Teapot is a quest reward from the Tea Party mission for Tina and basically it’s a Hornet but with lower fire rate and burst size. In return it has better accuracy, enabling it to fire at much longer range than the Hornet, especially if the weapon spawns with a decent sight with enough zoom (Hyperion and Maliwan for example). The Hornet would be a Top Gear gun if not for being elemental locked to corrosive damage - if it were shock damage for example it could very well be top gear.
Elements: Always corrosive
Best parts: Dahl grip for Hornet/ Jakobs grip for Teapot
Best prefix: Loaded or Twin for Hornet/ Neutralizing for Teapot
Drops: Knuckledragger for Hornet/ Quest reward from “You are cordially invited” final mission for Teapot
Gameplay video for Hornet: http://youtu.be/q5ZQN4JTHz0?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Infinity: The Infinity is the Legendary Vladof pistol with low accuracy but that does not consume ammo and, on Zer0, it’s also a great MOBBING gun, benefiting from 0ne SH0t 0ne Kill skill being constantly active to increase its damage. Although it receives a lot of hate, it’s still a solid pistol for mobbing on Zer0, especially if you spec with the gun in mind and should not be made into what it’s not: the best gun ever or the worst gun ever. It is an HM on Zer0 since he is the best character to use this gun, even at OP8.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock
Best parts: Vladof grip
Best prefix: Righteous
Drops: Doc Mercy
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/ju1T4fNFl_w?list=PLinreZCew3VanpvFuIB9Vxz6xc5NWWAI5

[SIZE=“16”]SHOTGUNS[/SIZE]

Shotguns go hand in hand with most of the Cunning/B0re builds and can be Raid Boss killers. Zer0 can bring the damage from shotguns to a new level when you combine them with decepti0n bonus, slag, Death Bl0ss0m debuff with Death Mark, 0ne Sh0t 0ne Kill and B0re. The best shotguns to use with Zer0 are Jakobs, due to the high base damage and normally low ammo clip that functions pratically like a constant 0S0K, and Hyperion with their increased accuracy the longer you fire as well as 0S0K followed by Rising Sh0t, letting you hit critical hit spots accuratly and for a longer time than most other shotguns.

Twister: Jakobs unique, shock only. This shotgun fires a slow moving mass of shock pellets shaped as a mini tornado. What makes it so great and devastating on Zer0 is that the slow moving bullets and B0re work together so well that you can B0re through single targets, giving it even more massive damage besides it’s already large damage capacity. My personal go-to-gun for Hyperious killing.
Elements: Always shock
Best parts: Jakobs or Tediore grip; Torgue or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Rustler’s
Drops: Omnd-Omnd-Ohk, Hammerlock’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/ravyu3rlOSc?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Orphan Maker: Jakobs unique shotgun, it has very high damage but each time you fire a shot it will damage you. With Grim speced and since it has such high raw damag, it will one-shot most enemies even on OP8 and the damage taken will disappear once Grim kicks in. Still, consideration should be taken if you are surrounded by enemies and are taking damage from several sources.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Torgue or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Rustler’s
Drops: Quest reward from “Message in a bottle” in Oasis
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/PnrrvU1-t8U?list=UUPZYOveDXQQBe16JnOH0ZRQ

Jakobs Quads/Hydra: Both these shotguns are together since the way they work and are meant to be played by Zer0 is similar to each other. The Quad are Jakobs shotguns with the Torgue barrel and the Hydra is a unique from the Hammerlock DLC. They are shotguns with the Jakobs seal: high damage (especially the Hydra), non-elemental, fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. They are grouped together since they benefit from Zer0’s style of play, skills and Decepti0n more than the rest of the shotguns after these. Entering Decepti0n not only will let you get close to the enemy, since these shotguns have good accuracy, you will be able to hit consistently critical hit spots when exiting Decepti0n. Add in Death Bl0ss0m, 0S0K, slag and Zer0’s critical hit buffs and you will have a devastating shot as a starter for the battle and normally kill the enemy instantly. The Hydra requires some care since the weapon effect is to fire a spread of bullets in an horizontal plane that will spread throughout the field of view, making it viable up close and personal on enemies. Robot enemies with multiple critical hit spots (Loaders) will suffer with the Hydra since it can effectively hit several of them in one single shot.
Elements: none
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Torgue or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Rustler’s
Drops: Any loot source in the world for the Quads, Gem version from Butt Stalion in Tiny Tina’s DLC/ Rouge in Hammerlock’s DLC for the Hydra
Gameplay video for Quads: http://youtu.be/mHHQGQ0wjvo?list=UUPZYOveDXQQBe16JnOH0ZRQ
Gameplay video for Hydra: http://youtu.be/1ecUFIsiHu0?list=UUPZYOveDXQQBe16JnOH0ZRQ

Conference Call: Legendary Hyperion shotgun that can come in all elements, it will fire a hail of bullets that go across the map horizontally for the price of one. It’s a great shotgun on Zer0 due to a single skill: B0re!( what a surprise). Having a shotgun that practically fills the entire map with bullets makes for easier B0re shots and kills. Even though it’s fallen from grace since the Bee nerf, it’s still a great shotgun on Zer0’s hands and one of the best in the game.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Hyperion grip; Torgue stock
Best prefix: Practicable
Drops: The Warrior in the main game and the Handsome Sorcerer in Tiny Tina’s DLC

Butcher: A good Pearl finally. The Butcher is a Hyperion shotgun that has lower pellets than most other shotguns but has a high fire rate and the ability to randomly replenish your ammo reserves. Being Hyperion means the longer you fire the more accurate it is and, replenishing its ammo can make for long sessions of non-stop fire. And with all the critical hit damage boosts Zer0 has, this weapon is an excellent choice for main weapon on him. Can come in all elements.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Bandit or Hyperion grip; Torgue stock
Best prefix: Practicable
Drops: Legendary Loot Midgets; OMGWTHBBQ
Gameplay video:http://youtu.be/fZMW2jipGMI

Swordplosion: The Torgue shotgun that fires swords that explode into more swords that explode. Just this makes it awesome and if you’re not using it at this point, there is something wrong with you. Oh also, the swords can B0re through enemies. Get them all packed up and fire it to the middle and see them die right there and now. Oh have I mentioned it fires SWORDS!!!
Elements: Explosive
Best parts: Torgue grip; Torgue or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Casual
Drops: Quest reward from “Sword in the Stone” from Tiny Tina’s DLC

Blockhead: Tediore unique shotgun, always fire, this shotgun will fire for the price of one bullet a square made out of 11 blocks of ricocheting bullets that will spread depending on the distance. Zer0 can make the most out of this weapon with B0re and Precisi0n, keeping the spread tight and hitting several enemies at the same time. The added bonus is hitting several of the smaller blocks of bullets on the critical hit box of enemies, giving massive damage since each bullet as the base damage of the shotgun. Being fire means it’s great for flesh, not so great for everything else but the synergy it has with B0re makes it on the list.
Elements: Always Fire
Best parts: Tediore grip; Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Gentle
Drops: Badass Creepers on the Caustic Caverns
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/akub78RMx2o

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mentions[/SIZE]
Flakker: Legendary torgue shotgun, it will fire a wall of explosions that detonate a few feet in front of the player. This is a difficult gun: it has one of the highest damage potentials of all the guns in the game but its shot pattern makes it quite difficult to hit enemies. Blutfatal has made a guide on the Flakker and how to use it that I will later on add in the link. If learned how to use and aim it becomes quite devastating at taking out enemies. Also the explosions can proc B0re, making its damage potential on Zer0 even greater.
Elements: Explosive
Best parts: Torgue grip; Torgue or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Casual
Drops: The Warrior in the main game; Handsome sorcerer in Tiny Tina’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/DEub5UThwhE?list=PLpES3W9oQp8UIHE7nnDBDHcN8fQl-MV6W

Interfacer: Seraph Hyperion shotgun, can come in all elements. It’s the highest damage shotgun in the game, period. The bullet spread separates into three at the beginning and converge to the center after some time in the air, repeating the process again. This means that hitting an enemy at the critical hit box in the point where all bullets converge = dead. Only problem: Precisi0n and Vel0city will alter the bullet spread, making it one the most difficult weapons to use to its fullest in the game. Also it consumes added ammo for each shot, making it easy to chew through your ammo reserves. Like the Greed pistol, does not slow down your movement speed while ADS.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Hyperion grip, Torgue stock
Best prefix: Practicable
Drops: Voracidious in Hammerlock’s DLC

Heartbraker: Unique Hyperion Moxxie shotgun, always fire. It will heal for 2% of all damage done and has a 50% critical hit damage bonus. It also fires in a heart pattern. Not as damaging as the ones above but the healing properties and being elemental makes it a good choice for flesh enemies. It has a higher critical hit damage multiplier than regular Hyperion shotguns.
Elements: Always Fire
Best parts: Hyperion grip; Torgue stock
Best prefix: Practicable
Drops: Quest reward from “Safe and Sound”, deliver to Moxxie
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/JHNquBIGW-8

Ravagers: Torgue shotguns with the Torgue barrel, always explosive. High damage, high splash damage, almost no one resistant to them and B0re. Go up close, fire it, and see enemies fall to they’re might. Be careful, the bullet speed is quite low and it has lower fire rate than Jakobs or Hyperion shotguns. It’s a close quarter shotgun.
Elements: Explosive
Best parts: Torgue grip; Torgue or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Casual
Drops: Any loot source in the world

Jolly Roger: Bandit unique shotgun, this shotgun is probably the best Bandit weapon you can get for Zer0. It fires in a skull-shape pattern, hence the name, which makes aiming with it easier than the rest of the Bandit weapons since accuracy isn’t exactly their department. When using this shotgun you will use it the same way as a Jakobs Quad or Hydra: slag - deception - kunai - in your face - face full of buckshot. It’s basically the same for both of them. Only advantage (and disadvantage mind you) of the Jolly Roger is it can come with elements.
Elements: None; Fire; Shock; Corrosive; Slag
Best parts: Bandit grip; Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Critikal hit
Drops:Quest reward from “Just Desserts For Desert Deserters” in Scarllet DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/wxA8u6D72fM?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Omen: Seraph Tediore, shoots a circle of about 8 bullets that travel in an in-out pattern until hitting a surface or an enemy. The spread of the weapon and the bullets pattern makes this a great gun for B0re several enemies. Only downside is it’s fire rate (even with Tw0 Fang), which can make it lose some ground to faster fire rate shotguns (CC and Butcher come to my mind). Besides fire rate, it has pretty good damage and with B0re it can destroy packed groups of mobs.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag; None
Best parts: Tediore grip; Hyperion stock
Best prefix: New and Improved or Royal
Drops: Dragons of Destruction in Tiny Tina’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/1ZgC7L76W9s?list=PLinreZCew3VanpvFuIB9Vxz6xc5NWWAI5

[SIZE=“16”]SMG’s[/SIZE]

Zer0 is not the best SMG user by far. Other weapons deal much more damage and are much more effective for him. Still, there are some SMG’s that even Zer0 can use:

SandHawk: This unique Dahl SMG fires a burst of 8 pellets for the cost of 3 bullets in a swaying motion, imitating a bird flying. Since the pellets aren’t listed in the weapon description, each pellet will receive full damage and full amp damage. What does this mean? Major destruction when combined with a Bee shield and good management from the player.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Dahl grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Flying
Drops: Quest reward from “Oops” mission in Captain Scarlet’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/GxUBZGE-Zcc?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mentions[/SIZE]
Florentine: Seraph Maliwan SMG that can slag AND shock its targets. It’s great for slagging and stripping shields all in one go, leaving Zer0 with weapon slots to put his high damaging weapons.
Elements: Slag and Shock always
Best parts: Maliwan grip
Best prefix: Impetuous or Consummate
Drops: Seraph vendor in Tiny Tina’s DLC

Bitch: Hyperion Legendary SMG, it has high accuracy and fast accuracy gain and increased critical hit damage. Once you start firing it won’t take long for the sight to aim down almost perfectly on enemies and will enable you to hit the critical hit spots, boosting its damage considerably since Zer0’s skills boost critical hit damage.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Hyperion grip
Best prefix: Rightsizing
Drops: BNK3R

Slagga: Legendary Bandit SMG, it fires a set of 3 pellets for the price of one, always slag elemental. Each bullet doesn’t have a very high slagging chance but combined with the fast fire rate of SMG’s and its large magazine size characteristic of Bandit weapons and you got a solid slagging weapon for use at any level.
Elements: Slag always
Best parts: Bandit grip
Best prefix: Bulets go Fasterifed
Drops: Hodunks (side with Zafords)

[SIZE=“16”]ASSAULT RIFLES[/SIZE]

Yes, they exist in this game. No, Zer0 has no need for them but there are some AR that are good enough to be mentioned here on the Top Gear list starting with:

Bekah: Jakbos pearlescent weapon. That’s right, a Jakobs assault rifle on the top gear. This weapon fires a 1st bullet followed by a slower 2nd bullet that after some time in the air will split into 3 bullets on a horizontal plane. At the right distance and aiming at critical spots this gun will drop most enemies on Pandora fast. It synergizes with B0re if you can nail the right distance at which the 2nd bullet splits, increasing even more the already impressive damage. One of the few weapons than can kill consistently on OP8 without the need to use slag. The recoil from this weapon isn’t too large to make it unusable and you can compensate for it.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Boss
Drops: Chubby enemies
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/1vlfi3gqYdM?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Kitten: Unique Vladoff Moxxie weapon. This rifle fires in a smile pattern. Why mention this one? Healing plus high B0re chance. Also the large bullet spread makes this a devastating weapon to use close range and, with healing, makes it somewhat safe to use close quarters.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Ferocious
Drops: Quest reward from “Everyone wants to be wanted” in Torgue’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/XvW_XnkOuc4?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Hail: Vladof unique Moxxie weapon, has bonus critical damage but has a catch: it fires in a grenade launcher pattern with arcing bullets that divide into two after some time in the air. This makes it necessary to have a learning curve to use it effectively. Manage to learn how to fire and you got a very solid and damaging AR.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Ferocious
Drops: Quest reward from Bandit Slaughter arena, round 5
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/7x9PtGdF3zo?list=UUPZYOveDXQQBe16JnOH0ZRQ

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mentions[/SIZE]
Hammer Buster: Jakobs Legendary assault rifle, it packs high damage and fires as fast as you can pull the trigger. It doesn’t have other special characteristics besides firing like a regular Jakobs rifle, with increased base damage compared to it’s non-unique counterparts. And Zer0 loves weapons with high base damage, even more with Jakobs special critical hit multiplier. This weapon does pack a punch if you hit enemies critical hit spots but be mindful of it’s recoil before giving use to your trigger finger. It’s the stand-in Jakobs AR until you find the Bekah.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Horse
Drops: McNally in The Dust

Lead Storm: Vladof Seraph weapon, it fires bullets in an arc just like the Hail, only this time they separate into 3 bullets instead of 2. This weapon is more suited for large enemies or enemies with multiple critical hit boxes so you can take advantage of the separating bullets hitting for critical hits. Smaller enemies or fast moving enemies aren’t for this gun since you need to get into a certain distance to get the damage boost.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Bes parts: Vladof grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Ferocious
Drops: Seraph Vendor in Hammerlock’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/h1GGvr1strM?list=PLinreZCew3VanpvFuIB9Vxz6xc5NWWAI5

[SIZE=“16”]ROCKET LAUNCHERS[/SIZE]

Zer0’s need of rocket launchers are more for a FFYL situation or other specific scenarios. Other than that Zer0 builds using rocket lauchers as the main weapon are almost non-existent.

Norfleet: Legendary Maliwan rocket laucher. At this point in game is there anything left for me to say regarding this weapon? No, don’t think so. It blows **** up and that’s all you need really.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Maliwan grip, Tediore/Vladof sight, Torgue/Vladof/Maliwan exhaust
Best prefix: Prudential or Puissant
Drops: Vermiverous or Hyperion

Other choices:
Topneaas: Vladof e-tech rocket launchers with high fire rate, fast reload speed and reduced ammo consumption. This makes for a really powerful rocket launcher since it can downpour a heavy barrage of rockets on the enemies without you having to reload. This effect actually allows the Topneaas to rival the Norfleet in terms of DPS, not single shot damage, making it an extremly efficient RL.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip, Tediore/Vladof sight, Vladof/Maliwan exhaust
Best prefix: Turbulent/Partisan/Ruthless
Drops: Any loot source in the world
Badaboom: Bandit Legendary, fires 6 rockets in a vertical pattern for the price of one and has high damage and a large magazine size. The Bandit grip also comes with a blade attachment, which can be made very useful on Zer0 and his melee skills (namely Killing Bl0w + Execute). A very viable option for your Get Out of Jail card or even for normal gameplay when an enemy his in Killing Bl0w range.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag; Explosive
Best parts: Bandit grip, Tediore/Vladof sight, Vladof/Maliwan exhaust
Best prefix: Rappid or Big
Drops: King Mong in Eridium Blight

[SIZE=“16”] SNIPER RIFLES[/SIZE]

Here we are, the dedicated skill tree and the dedicated build type. Zer0 is the best sniper in the game, hands down. No other class can come close to the level of damage Zer0 can dish out as a sniper. There are many options here and several snipers Zer0 can use depending on the Manufacturer. I will first mention the 2 best sniper rifles for Zer0 and then explain a bit how each manufacturer performs with Zer0.

Pimpernel: Unique Maliwan sniper. The BEST sniper in the game and probably the best weapon in the entire game, it fires a bullet that will spread in a flower pattern from point of impact on the vertical plane; after a short distance in the air the inital bullet will create child pellets that spreading horizontally to the inital shot in a set manner, independently from where you shot. Each of the child pellets carry the same damage as the first shot. Zer0 is ungodly deadly with this sniper due to B0re: when the child pellets are created, if that happens to be inside the enemy hit box, it will count as B0re procing and will increase the damage exponentially. Make all of them hit the critical hit box and you one-shot Ultimate Badasses easily even without slag. Like I said: ungodly deadly.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Jakobs or Maliwan grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Barking or Banbury for mobbing; Banbury if using CA-stacking or raids
Drops: Quest reward from “Don’t copy that floppy” in Scarlet’s DLC
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/UU6Gz5s6FK0?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Lyuuda/White Death: Vladof Legendary sniper and Zer0’s 2nd best sniper, it has increased critical hit damage (125%). Add to that excelent base damage, fast fire rate, good accuracy and low recoil and you have a great sniper for Zer0. Add in Critical Ascension stacks and you can one-shot regular enemies and dispatch raid bosses fairly easy. It looses to the Pimpernel mostly due to ammo efficiency, since this weapon synergizes very well with CA.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip and stock
Best prefix: Skorry or Bolshy
Drops: Gettle in the Dust
Gameplay video:http://youtu.be/f9mF7vvUV6Q?list=UUKXbcKP8XRr-wwy4JPkn6vA

[SIZE=“16”]MALIWAN[/SIZE]
Maliwan seems to have the best synergy with Zer0 in regards to Snipers: good damage, good accuracy, good reload speed, good fire rate, always elemental and added in splash damage from the element. This allows the weapon to be used to great effect alongside CA, be either mobbing or raiding, pre-stacking or not.

Snider: Zer0’s 3rd best sniper, probably 2nd best when mobbing but loosing to the Lyuuda when raiding, it’s the Maliwan non-unique sniper with the Maliwan barrel. It has all the good things mentioned above for Maliwan snipers, with the added bonus of extra elemental effect chance. The slag version of this sniper is the 2nd highest slag chance weapon on the game (with the first spot being occupied by the Pimpernel). If you haven’t tried it out, you probably should right now.
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Maliwan grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock; Maliwan barrel
Best prefix: Banbury
Drops: Any loot source in the world

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable Mentions[/SIZE]
Chere-amie: Maliwan unique Moxxie sniper, unlike the other Moxxie weapons, it will heal you for direct damage only if you hit a critical hit spot, with the splash damage characteristic of Maliwan snipers substituted for transfusion healing dots; other sources of damage (like elemental dot or grenades) will heal you the same way any Moxxie weapon heals you. For Sniper-only Zer0’s it becomes one of the essentials for health regen. CA will of course work on this weapon as well, making its health gain pretty much impressive with enough CA stacks (and it doesn’t take many to make it’s healing properties great).
Elements: Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Maliwan grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Banbury
Drops: Quest reward from the Hyperion Circle of Slaughter, round 5
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/31CYtMagYCc

[SIZE=“16”]VLADOF[/SIZE]
Vladof snipers are known for having fast fire rate and decent recoil and accuracy. They work wonderfully with CA, letting you gain stacks very fast. They also come with very decent base damage, which has all to gain from CA. No wonder the Lyuuda is Zer0’s second best sniper rifle in the game.

Droog: Vladof non-unique sniper with the Vladof barrel. If you can’t find the Lyuuda then this can work as a substitute without any loss to it after factoring in CA. In the hands of Zer0 it works just like the Lyuuda, with less base damage and critical hit damage multiplier. As the same problem as it’s Legendary counter-part: ammo efficiency. The only reason I didn’t put the Droog with the Lyuuda is that Vladof deserved a mention as a manufacturer as a whole and putting it there would mess a bit with the organization of this section.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Vladof grip and stock
Best prefix: Skorry or Bolshy
Drops: any loot source in the world; gem version from Butt Stalion in Tiny Tina’s DLC.

[SIZE=“16”]JAKOBS[/SIZE]
Jakobs snipers we’re designed with 0ne Sh0t 0ne Kill synergy in the first place, as snipers that would kill enemies in 1-2 shots. As the level cap increased and UVHM was added to the game, they lost some of their power in the process but there are some of them that retain these abilities even at OP8. Be carefull when firing fast (they, like almost all Jakobs weapons, fire as fast as you pull the trigger), since they have the biggest recoil in the sniper section.

Skullmasher: Powerful Legendary Jakobs sniper, it fires 5 pellets for the price of one bullet. Unfortunately it has low accuracy and high recoil, making hitting all 6 pellets on the enemies difficult unless you are close to them or have high Precisi0n. It has a fast fire rate, making it work more as a shotgun rather than a sniper. If you equip a Shot class mod when handling this weapon then it’s spread tightens enough to be able to be used at long range, with the added benefit of easier critical hit’s due to the existance of the spread in the first place. It can work with CA, boosting it’s damage considerably.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Skookum
Drops: Son of Mothrakk in Wildlife Exploitation Preserve
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/Ht8Z8dQsHOw?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

Muckamuck: Jakobs sniper with the Jakobs barrel, these snipers have some of the highest base damage when regarding snipers and, being Jakobs, have the characteristic of having bonus critical hit damage. The downside is it has low fire rate and high recoil, making it difficult to shoot fast at the same spot in enemies. It’s a sniper made more for one shot kills and does not work as well with CA as faster fire rate snipers do. Still, they are pretty good and can work with CA if the player is precise when aiming.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip: Dahl stock
Best prefix: Skookum
Drops: Any loot source in the world; gem version from Butt Stalion in Tiny Tina’s DLC

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mentions[/SIZE]
Godfinger: Pearl Jakobs, the initial bullet will separate into several additional bullets the longer it travels through the air. Good for taking enemies from far away but at closer distance not so much.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Dahl stock; Hyperion sight
Best prefix: Skookum
Drops: Chubby enemies
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/R3MHtM8-yg8?list=PLinreZCew3VanpvFuIB9Vxz6xc5NWWAI5
Trespasser: Jakobs unique, has the ability to pass through shields, mimicking Mordecai’s top skill in his sniper tree. It has a pretty low fire rate, so it’s mainly used for Pyro Pete to take out his helmet and allow critical hit damage and during the Vorac fight to kill the chief while he has his shield equipped.
Elements: None
Best parts: Jakobs grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Skookum
Drops: Quest reward from “Animal rights”
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/BqtAM4ec32U

[SIZE=“16”]DAHL[/SIZE]
Dahl snipers, like every other Dahl weapon, have burst fire when aiming down sights. This allows their snipers to gain stacks of CA fast. They aren’t very regularly used by Zer0 since, in terms of CA stacking, Vladof are ususally faster and their base damage is similar between the two manufacturers. Still, there is one Dahl sniper that deserves it’s place on this list. The burst effect will have varying recoil depending on the weapon itself, so some management is necessary to hit the last bullets from the burst on target.

Sloth: Dahl unique, it’s one of the most damaging snipers in the game. It has slow bullet speed but with Vel0city, Zer0 can counter this feature and make it extremely effective on his hands. Being Dahl, aiming down sights will make it burst fire, allowing for fast burst rates. Works well with CA or even without but with increasing stacks, the burst fire will effectively mean wasted ammo, with the enemy dead with the first bullet fired from the burst.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Dahl grip; Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Pacifying
Drops: Quest reward from “Rakkoholics Anonymous”, deliver to Mordecai
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/xcFFTsWb7CM?list=PL-b4MOo-IKkOvQteL-Lk1N_brjcKh1a7U

[SIZE=“16”]HYPERION[/SIZE]
Hyperion snipers have the reverse recoil characteristic of all Hyperion weapons. On snipers it means that, the longer you fire, the more precise and accurate the weapon will be with almost no recoil at all. The main problems Hyperion snipers have is a lower fire rate than the other manufacturers, which can be countered with a Neutral Rogue class mod.

Invader: Legendary Hyperion sniper, when aiming down sights it will fire in burst mode similar to Dahl weapons. Due to being Hyperion, its accuracy will increase with the burst as well as recoil being close to none. It’s a good weapon for both CA stacking AND CA main killer, making it able to dispatch maps of enemies provided you pay attention to your ammo reserves.
Elemenst: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Hyperion grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Auditing
Drops: Saturn
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/B9LEgFKdxGg?list=UUPZYOveDXQQBe16JnOH0ZRQ

Longbow: Legendary Hyperion sniper, it has no scope and it’s always fire. Shots pixilated arrows (reference to Minecraft) and it has increased critical hit damage, making it an excellent choice for flesh targets.
Elements: Fire only
Best parts: Hyperion grip; Dahl stock
Best prefix: Auditing
Drops: Badass Creeper on Caustic Caverns
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/ryDwGqbWWBA?list=PLpES3W9oQp8UIHE7nnDBDHcN8fQl-MV6W

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mentions[/SIZE]
Morning Star: Hyperion unique sniper, this weapon has a hidden special effect of increasing critical hit damage every two critical hits, four times(60% for each stack). A stack can decay before another stack is achieved. Due to this feature the weapon is actually better than it appears on paper.
Elements: None; Fire; Corrosive; Shock; Slag
Best parts: Hyperion grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Auditing
Drops: Quest reward from “Hyperion contract #873
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/081fVxBtRI0?list=UUPZYOveDXQQBe16JnOH0ZRQ
Fremington's Edge: Another Hyperion unique sniper, this weapon has increase critical hit multiplier and it has the largest zoom of any other sniper in the game. Being Hyperion means it’s recoil it’s close to nothing, leaving you room to use other weapon parts has opposed to other entries in the list. Main drawbacks are the large zoom (which is impractical at medium to close range) and fire rate. Fortunately Tw0 Fang can help out with the fire rate as well as removing the recoil.
Best parts: Hyperion or Jakobs grip; Dahl or Hyperion stock
Best prefix: Auditing
Drops: Assassin Reeth on Southpaw Steam and Power
Gameplay video: http://youtu.be/4DCcjifRdws

[SIZE=“16”]Critmachines[/SIZE]
Taken from the master himself:

[QUOTE=aether seraph]…

crit machine… get 2.

for the vladof one get a droog (vladof barrel) with the bolshy accessory (mag size) +vladof stock;

for the dhal crit machine get a strike (hyperion barrel) with the liquid accessory (stability) a dhal grip and hyperion stock. (do not get a dhal stock on this gun because it adds a round to the burst, which in this case you don’t want)

if you can only get one get the droog. the dhal crit machine is the mob runner, the vladof works too but the dhal one upkeeps your stack in a way that prevents you having to make a stack dummy in the field. the droog works in both situations but the strike doesnt boss stack effectively. the strike is a much better mob crit machine than the droog tho because you don’t need to dump 50 bullets at a time into ca once your running a zone.
…[/QUOTE]

A bit more of information on crit machines as stated by Dotanuki:

[QUOTE=dotanuki]Ok, on critmachines
The Strike, Liquid prefix/Stability accessory (the foregrip). Suppressive does not make much sense since fire rate does not affect burst fire.

The Droog, Bolshy prefix/Mag size accessory and/or Skorry prefix/Fire rate accessory. With a 91% sniper ammo relic, Bolshy will drain full ammo faster because it gets one less reload over Skorry. But for the ammo you get when you kill yourself you only get one reload either way, so Skorry is faster. So when boss stacking, ideally, Bolshy for the entire pool, and then swap to Skorry when you kill yourself for ammo. But for stacking in the field, Skorry is better/faster.[/QUOTE]

As I mentioned above, the Invader can also work as a CA stacking sniper, as well as CA main killer weapon.
What you basically want in a Critmachine is a low level (normally level 8 - minimum level for snipers to drop from loot chests) sniper with fast fire-rate and low recoil as possible so you can fire into the critical hit spots of enemies as accurate and as fast as possible so you can stack CA and then switch to a more powerfull sniper and start killing enemies. With this in mind, both the Droog and the Strike fall into this category and are the preferred snipers for this job.
Best parts: All Vladof for the Droog; Dahl grip/Hyperion stock for the Strike
Best prefix: Skorry or Bolshy for Droog; Liquid for Strike
Drops: Best place to farm them is on the Southern Shelf map, Normal mode

[SIZE=“16”]SHIELDS[/SIZE]

Oh thank God, I though the gun section wouldn’t end…oh wait shields? Damnit, this massive wall of text hasn’t ended yet…ok guys, just a little more (after this only class mods, grenades, relics and melee are left …yeah that’s still a lot).

Antagonist: Seraph Maliwan shield, it has the ability to reflect bullets from enemies to give back up to 880% damage and will launch slag homing spheres for each successful attack on it. It has excelent capacity (boosted by it’s reflection hability), recharge rate and recharge delay, making it a solid choice for almost any situation in the game. The bullets reflected from the shield can B0re if you have the skill speced in your build.
Best parts: All Hyperion = reflected bullets damage is 880%.
Drops: Seraph Vendor in Tiny Tina’s DLC

Blockade: Seraph Anshin shield, it has a 37.5% damage reduction which works with an active shield (not mistaken for full shield); also, it has a chance to negate completely the full damage of an incoming attack. Unlike the rest of the shields from this manufacturer, it does not boost health but in return has high capacity, making it more of a turtle shield than the typical resistance shields they produce. It’s another great shield, especially with Zer0 and Grim, which starts shield recharge after each kill, getting you that damage reduction as soon as it kicks in.
Best parts: Body Vladof; Battery Hyperion; Capacitor Dahl
Drops: Dragons of Destruction, Tiny Tina’s DLC

Sham: Chance to absorb bullets of 94%…yeah, if you’re fighting enemies that use guns, then use this shield.
Best type: 94% absorb chance
Drops: BNK3R

Turtle shields: other rarity Pangolin shields, they still carry huge capacity and a health penalty, but will be lower than the Legendary and Seraph versions and they don’t have the movement speed penalties. Since DP it was found that these shields health penalty would put the players HP below 0…a few days later the synergy between this penalty and the Survivor com was found, giving birth to the Glass Tank strategy, alloying Zer0 to constantly health gate and regenerate life above health gate thanks to the com. This strategy only works for OP leveled gear, at 72 they will work normally.
Best parts: Body Bandit; Body Torgue; Capacitor Bandit
Drops: Any loot source in the world

Bee: Legendary Hyperion Amp shield, it has high amp damage and no cost for the amp bonuses: at full capacity every shot fired with this shield will have the amp bonus. There is a love/hate relationship between the forum and this shield, my advice? Try it out, see if it works for you and if you have fun and use it if you want.
Best parts: All Maliwan
Drops: Hunter Hellquist in the normal game and Treeants in Tiny Tina’s DLC

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable Mention[/SIZE]
Hoplite/Fabled Tortoise: Seraph and Legendary Pangolin turtle shields, huge capacity (the highest in the game) but with a large health and movement speed penalty. They are used since they’re huge capacity and Zer0’s killing capabilities go hand in hand with survivability. At OP levels they loose out to they’re non-unique versions since they don’t carry the movement speed penalty but you can use them in the same manner you use the others and the bigger shield capacity can come in handy for raid fights.
Best parts: Body Bandit; Body Torgue; Capacitor Bandit
Drops: Pyro Pete for the Hoplite; Blue in Caustic Caverns for Fabled Tortoise

Rough Rider: the only Jakobs shield in the game, it has 0 capacity, some damage resistance and a huge health bonus. This shield is very used by gunzerkers, but Zer0 can also use it for activation of Fearless, gaining fire rate and damage bonuses. Only problem: zero capacity, so be careful not to go down and bring some gear for healing. Only usefull on OP0 or situational for gun-Zer0’s, at OP8 it’s damage reduction bonus will be to little compared to the damage done and the extra-health can be detrimental for health-gating.
Best parts: Body Maliwan; Battery Maliwan; Capacitor Hyperion
Drops: Bulwark in Hammerlock’s DLC

[SIZE=“16”]GRENADES[/SIZE]

Grenades are essential to the gameplay and builds used in BL2. Whether they complement the build, are essential to it or can vary according to taste, you will always use your grenades in a battle, so you should choose wisely. Here are some directions:

Magic Missile: blue/purple Maliwan, will fire 2/4 slag homing spheres that will seek out your enemies and slag them. This grenade mod also regenerates grenades which is awesome. An excellent choice if you don’t want to carry a slag weapon.
Drops: Badass sorcerer’s in Tiny Tina’s DLC

Longbow Singularity: comes in all colors, normally try to go for the 0.0 fuse time and slag. Why singularity? Pulls enemies together tightly, allowing for B0re and for rapid map cleanup. If you carry a slag version, it will also have a chance to slag them at the same time: win win.
Drops: Any loot source in the world
Quasar: Legendary singularity grenade, always shock. In addition to the singularity effect, it will also deal shock damage during the grenade life instead of a single explosion, allowing for DoT healing.
Drops: Ultimate Badass Varkids and Legendary Loot Midgets

Stormfront: Vladof Legendary tesla, it will fire smaller teslas from the main one, each also dealing more DoT over time. Great for shield stripping (melee) or for fast healing with moxxie weapons equipped.
Drops: Rat Brothers

Transfusion (inclunding 0-negative): These grenades will not explode but instead launch smaller explosives after enemies, healing you for the damage dealt on him (if you catch the healing orbs released on point of impact). If the grenades are elemental, there is a chance to deal elemental damage. Best choices normally are for Longbow Slag transfusion with 0.0 fuse time since you can direct it better and have a good chance to slag the opponent, making it a three in one grenade. The 0-negative is the Seraph version of the transfusion grenades but you don’t need it specifically for game use.
Drops: Any loot source in the world; O-negative drops from Pyro Pete

Chain Lightning: Rare Maliwan grenade mod - covered in the Melee section.

[SIZE=“16”]RELICS[/SIZE]

There is a wide variety of choice for this section and, ultimately, the final choice will be yours. I will only list some relics worth considering for their bonuses and wide use across several builds.

Bone of the Ancients: e-tech relic, it grants increased cooldown rate AND a multiplicative bonus for elemental damage. One of the best relics out there. Just consider the elemental bonus and the area you’re entering before choosing which relic to use. Comes with bonus elemental damage for corrosive, shock and fire.
Drops: Legendary Loot Midgets

Sheriff's Badge: the go-to relic for pistol builds, with bonus to pistol damage, fire rate and fight for your life time.
Drops: The Sheriff of Lynchwood
Deputy's Badge: the Sheriff’s little brother dedicated to shotguns.
Drops: Quest reward from “Showdown”

Stockpile: increase ammo capacity for the selected weapon type; comes for all weapon types. Purple rarity relics can increase ammo for 3 different weapon types. In UVHM you will wish to have more ammo sometimes. Essential for Sniper-Zer0’s.
Drops: Any loot source in the world

Shadow of the Seraphs: This relic increases the chance to fire twice any weapon with each pull of the trigger. It’s basically Tw0 Fang in relic form and it can add its effect to the skill. Since the two add to each other, the effective chance to fire twice and to increase the fire rate of all weapons can reach 100%. There is a catch tough: weapons with high fire rate can glitch out of firing twice. This thread http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=315227 will help you out regarding the interaction between Tw0 Fang, Shadow of the Seraphs and fire rate of the weapons.
Drops: Seraph vendor in Tiny Tina’s DLC

[SIZE=“16”]CLASS MODS[/SIZE]

Oh boy…yeah, there are a lot of great Zer0 Class mods out there that you can use. Depending on build, synergy and strategy, you can have about 4-5 different choices for this slot. Here are the most important:

Legendary Class Mods
- Killer: increases team critical hit damage, its skill bonuses make this a terrific mod for gun-builds on Zer0.
- Sniper: its sniper-only critical bonuses that appear on the card are bugged, making it affect all weapon types; gives decreased shield capacity. I never used this one much outside of sniper-only gameplay but generally it’s inferior to the Legendary Killer for fast fire-rate weapons, even considering the critical hit bonuses.
- Ninja: hands down the best class mod for melee builds on Zer0. No other class mod can compare to it. The reason? +5 Ambush, +5 Killing Bl0w, +5 Backstab - all the multiplicative damage bonuses for the melee equation formula. Other class mods will only boost two of these, and none other will boost Ambush with the other two. Also, +5 F0ll0wthr0ugh is pretty damn awsome.
Drops: All 3 drop from Chubby enemies
- Hunter: A still very viable choice for class mod even at OP8 thanks to extra survivability (+10% health regained everytime you go into deception), reload speed, critical hit damage and cooldown rate. An all rounder class mod for both gun-play and melee builds.
Drops: Vermiverous and any loot source in the world

Rogue: These appear in Tiny Tina’s DLC, they are used more for the mods bonuses than the actual skills they boost. You have 3 different “major” variants (good, neutral and evil) and 3 minor variants (chaotic, neutral and lawfull). Depending on the combination, you will get a mix of 3 bonuses and 3 skills they can boost. The 3 bonuses (more important) are: magazine size, fire rate and critical hit damage. For gun-builds, especially pistol builds, I would recommend Chaotic Evil Rogue, with bonuses for fire rate and critical hit damage and +6 Tw0 Fang (blue rarity recommended for the +6 skill bonus). Sniper-builds get more from Neutral Rogue coms with increased magazine size and fire rate (for that CA stacking).
Drops: Chest in Tiny Tina’s DLC

Stalker: The pistol dedicated class mod, grants bonus to pistol fire rate, magazine size and shield recharge rate. Combined with a Sheriff’s Badge and Tw0 Fang = even the slowest fire rate pistol out there will be a bullet hose. Best choices would be Shadow Stalker, with +6 F0ll0wthr0ugh and +5 Rising Sh0t, and Disturbed Stalker, with +6 Rising Sh0t and +5 F0ll0wthr0ugh, both blue rarity.

Ninja: Once beloved boss killers for the melee builds, now they have been replaced by their legendary version. Still, it’s always nice to remember the days where you would use them to one-shot Wilhem, Ultimate Badass Constructors 2.0 or other Ultimate Badasses. Suggested type: Shadow Ninja with +6 Backstab and +5 Killing Bl0w.

Survivor: Grant both health bonus AND health regeneration, these class mods are now used in conjunction with OP Turtle shields to create a character that has low level (3 digit preferable) health but a health regen of 4 digits. This allows you to health gate and regain your health almost immediatly (there is a small pause put it will be during the health gate invincibility window). Combines really well with a Sniper Zer0.

Shot: Grants team accuracy bonus and can boost Precisi0n: the accuracy gain and the interaction with weapon spread granted by this com with +6 Precisi0n allows you to use some weapons with a large spread more effectively at greater distances. This is noticeable with both the Pimpernel AND the Skullmasher. The gain with the Skullmasher allows you now to use it like a sniper for more pinpoint shots on critical hit spots, making it very effective at long distances. I tested it on Opportunity and it destroyed all around the map from long distance. I would say that this com is a viable class mod for sniper Zer0’s to use.

The remainder of class mods drop from any loot source in the world

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[SIZE=“16”]MELEE (THE NINJA)[/SIZE]

This will be a space dedicated to the best gear for a Ninja Assassin to use out there, with a brief commentary for each gear mentioned:

  • Rapier: 200% melee damage bonus and the only weapon with this much melee damage boost.

  • Law: Decent damage Jakobs pistol with 100% melee damage bonus. If it has a scope, it will be one of the lowest recoil weapons in the game (but you won’t use it for the sniper capabilities).

  • Rubi/Grog Noozle: your main health regen weapon, make sure you have a bladed attachment and slag (Grog is always slag but ruby isn’t). Ruby will heal for 12% of the damage, Grog for 65%.

  • Norfleet/high powered rocket launcher: Second Wind capability.

  • The last weapon slot can vary depending on other gear available or personal preference, just make sure it is useful and powerful enough for a Ninja to use.

  • Legendary Ninja class mod: no choice there, this is the best one out there. Acceptable alternative: blue rarity Shadow Ninja for bosses, Legendary Hunter for mobbing.

  • Cooldown relic: can be the Bone of the Ancients or just a regular Cooldown relic just make sure it keeps you with Deception as often as possible.

  • Grenades

    • Chain Lightning: rare Maliwan grenade mod from Tiny Tina’s DLC, always 0.0 fuse, will launch a bolt of electricity that will bend and hit several enemies. Used for fast healing and shield stripping (always use your ruby/grog when firing it). Regenerating grenade ammo makes this your first choice for grenades as a Ninja. Lightning Bolt (blue rarity Maliwan grenade) is also a suitable choice.
    • StormFront: rare Vladof grenade mod (talked before in more detail); your alternative to the Chain Lightning. Against certain enemies that cause DoT, this will be better than Chain Lightning since it will keep a constant damage over a large area, letting you heal for a longer period of time and fight off or survive with the DoT.
  • Shields:

    • Hide of Terramorphous: Highest roid damage in the game. Normally chosen for Boss battles, raids and OP8. Look for the shields with elemental resistance - indicates Maliwan parts and Maliwan gives the highest roid bonus to the shield.
      Best parts: All Maliwan
      Drops: Terramorphous
    • Love Thumper: Purple rarity Bandit shield. Has a long recharge delay making management easier than other roid shields. Its roid bonus is the third highest after HoT and Punchee (seraph shield, not better than Thumper in the long run). Warning: each successful melee hit will launch a nova blast. Secondary Warning: this blast will harm friends in Co-Op. Terciary warning: this can be hilarious.
      Best parts: All Maliwan
      Drops: Quest reward from “Best Mother’s Day Ever”

[SIZE=“16”]Honorable mention[/SIZE]

  • Order: Blue rarity, works in conjunction with Law pistol to grant you health for each successful melee attack. With the scaling of the game, this combination has lost ground to the rapier + ruby/grog but it’s still effective at Normal and TVHM.
    Best parts: All Maliwan
    Drops: Quest reward from “BFFs”
10 Likes

Bumping this thread for it’s relevance, making it more visible.

1 Like

Time playing TPS made me see some pieces of gear differently, and I’m wondering if you’d be open to discuss adding things to the list.

1: professional COM
Just as good as a Rogue COM with fixed prefixes, but better skills (killer instead of velocity) making it viable both in blue and purple. The extra reload speed makes it like a “good” Rogue and the bonus to killer is kinda like the bonus an evil one gets. It also gets more shield capacity as a bonus. The only thing the rogue really has better is the fire rate boost from the chaotic prefix, but since the main skill of interest on these 2 COMs is Two fangs, and Two fangs breaks above 10fr, a fire rate boost is not always a good thing. Fast guns that are not pistols are usually better served by this COM than by any other non-legendary.

2: Pitchfork.
I don’t know how much testing this one was given, but it’s slowly taking it’s place as TPS’ best gun for taking on bosses, and on more than one character. I know BL2 has more overpowered stuff than TPS, but I’m sure that with the right build, it can be a total monster. No other sniper can output 25 bullets in less than 2 seconds. Definitely not for mobbing, but once you face a boss…

1 Like

The professional com never was in my radar, I might have to test about with him.
As for the Pitchfork: yes it is devastating on large enemies with large hitboxes…but then you have a CA Zer0 that can wreck pretty much anything with one bullet so…yeah the pitchfork comes out with most of it being wasted ammo. You don’t use it for mobbing and even on raid bosses with CA you can deal with them better with a Lyuuda or even Pimpernel.
That’s why I didn’t consider the Pitchfork as T0p Gear.

1 Like

I agree with the pitchfork, too much ammo and not great with CA.

1 Like

To me it’s AT LEAST as good as the rogue COM, and probably the best non-legendary COM for non-snipers C/B. Most go to the Rogue for the fire rate, the crit and Two fangs. The professional offers as much of the last 2, and half the time a fire rate boost would conflict with Two fangs (or would simply be useless like in the case of a Maggie build)
The 2 servings of extra reload speed (killer and COM bonus) and the shield boost are just enough little extras to make it better than the Rogue IMO.

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Yeah, Pitchfork has potential, but probably more on, say… Sal, than on Zero.

… I should go back to making Sal builds :stuck_out_tongue:

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A Slag Pitchfork is a real good choice for slaging enemies, but the ammo comsumption is a draw back. A corrosive is a nice one to kil loaders because of the crit spots too.

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I would think a slag pitchfork would be a terrible choice for slagging, so much ammo used up from a not only small but valuable ammo pool when so many guns/grenades do it better.

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Just a good choice when you don’t want to play serious and start to play for fun only, like a Topneea only Sal… For Zer0 it’s impraticable, but it’s fun.
EDIT: Also, on pistol/shotgun builds the sniper isn’t that great, but there are still better weapons to do that. Fun to use, but not great for serious playing.

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So not T0p Gear at all, hence not on the list.

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Totally agree on the Professional com–IMO if you’ve maxed out Tw0 Fang, you should avoid other fire rate boosts. Too easy to encounter that fire rate bug and render TF worthless. Plus a TF-dependent build can always make use of faster reloads.

Personally I think Professional coms with +6 in TF and +5 in Killer is the best non-legendary COM possible for a shotgun-heavy build, but it’s been awhile since I played and I never finished working out my build so I’m not the greatest source of impartial information.

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I agree with everything you said except this part :smile:
Ambush is a GREAT skill as it’s bonus is multiplicative. To me, a purple one is the best.

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Is this bit about the Legendary Sniper COM still a thing? I use one for my build and never knew about this.

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AFAIK it’s still a thing.

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Huh, you learn something new everyday.

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Does that extends to all Sniper COMs or just the Legendary?

EDIT: Just tested it on the dummy with no BAR and no skill points, using a regular purple pistol and a purple One Shot Sniper COM. Apparently, it does indeed provide the critical hit bonus to all weapons and not only sniper rifles.

EDIT 2: Had some more time to do further testing today. Here are the results:

BAR disabled
Skill tree empty
Purple level 72 One Shot Sniper COM (40% sniper rifle damage and 40% sniper critical hit damage)
Purple level 72 Bowie Widow Maker (218K base damage)

No COM equipped - 218K on a body shot and 545K on a critical hit
With the Sniper COM equipped - 218K on a body shot and 762K on a critical hit

Yup. I guess that pretty much confirms that a pistol is getting the 40% sniper rifle critical hit damage from the Sniper COM.

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All sniper coms. I tested it out on my Zer0 with no Bar and no skills specced to make sure. Only the crit damage is bugged to affect all guns (its why I use a low level leg sniper on my shotgun build)

EDIT: just noticed the rest of your post, haha

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The useful links aren’t working for me. Says the page doesn’t exist or is private.