The Chaotic Best Friend
Hey guys, Ninja here! Just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up before proceeding into this guide. I didn’t make any part of this build. I simply moved it from the old forums to our newer ones here and fixed up the formatting a bit to appear more organized. The original creator is a user named MAIXX74ps3. Hope you all enjoy their work!
----> Original Thread
Preface:
This build is designed for general game play, questing, mobbing, farming, DLC/HH (Headhunter) play through, and venturing into Digistruct Peak (DP).
This is NOT a raid boss (invincibles) build.
Yes, it is a pretty generic 72+ BFF/OC build…But I’ve just tweaked it a little to work as explained. Play this like you would any other BFF/OC build. Here are the basics for running this build successfully:
- You need to have a good understanding of your enemies and their weaknesses.
- Knowledge of the zones and what you will fight & where is also necessary.
- You need a significant Armory, at least Fire, Corrosive, and Shock versions of your preferred weapons.
- You need to know how to effectively use all your weapons.
- Patience for altering your load out on the fly.
With all of these, you will put up some serious DPS. Going through UVHM I grew tired of constantly having to change loadouts to suit the various elemental weaknesses of the enemies I would encounter in each area. After playing in DP I found that with the mix of enemies (bandits, loaders, and creatures) all spawning together, combined with the multiple boss fights, I needed a build and weapon setup that could work for almost everything. (Excluding raid bosses) I tried some of the LBT builds utilizing shock, but it just wasn’t my thing. I have always played Gaige BFF/OC; matching a weapon’s element to the enemy’s weaknesses will almost always (with the exception of shielded enemies) produce higher DPS than an LBT build attacking everything with Shock.
Explanation:
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I dropped the element specific gear loadouts and went with a combined fire/corrosive Fibber setup using a Sheriff’s Badge to buff pistol use. There are occasions where the Fibber just does not work due to its ricochet ability. (i.e. airborne enemies) For these direct fire situations, activating Discord and aiming doen the sights of a DPUH works very well. Then there is also the issue of large open areas involving long ranged combat that doesn’t require accuracy. For this, a Seeker (Slippery prefix for projectile speed) can fill this role well. With little to no Anarchy, I use a Pimpernel (fire & Corrosive) backed up with a DPUH or Swordsplosion.
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I tinkered with various BFF/OC builds. I first started with a DT centered build for mobbing using the Legendary Mechromancer COM to keep DT strong and as active as possible. (low cool down) But this made fighting bosses difficult because DT just stood there and used his zap attack… So then I ran with a build centered around the Legendary Anarchist with Gaige doing majority of the work. While superior in boss fights and raids, I found mobbing difficult and DT use hindered by long cool downs. Ultimately I combined the 2 builds and depending on what COM I was using I could fine tune Gaige and DT for boss fighting or mobbing without having to respec.
First and foremost, I always prestack my Anarchy to the build’s max of 300. For lv.72 play, with good gear, prestacking Anarchy is not as necessary. But for playing at OP8, prestacking really is necessary. I find 250 stacks to be most effective; high enough to deal sufficient damage, but still low enough to control my shots fairly well. This build is set up for a max of 300, allowing for use of Discord and Typecast Iconoclast to help keep us in that 250-300 sweet spot.
The Build:
Digistruct Peak Version Lv.72 +
Skills and their Various COM Boosts:
- Cooking Up Trouble (+5 with L. Mechromancer)
- The Better Half (+5 with L. Mechromancer)
- Unstoppable Force (+5 with L. Anarchist)
- Made of Sterner Stuff (+5 with Necromancer)
- 20% Cooler (+5 with L. Mechromancer)
- More Pep (+5 with L. Mechromancer)
- Myelin (9 with L. Anarchist)
- Strength of Five Gorillas (+5 with both- L. Mechromancer & L. Anarchist, +6 with Necromancer)
- Smaller lighter, Faster (+5 with both L. Mechro & L. Anarchist)
- Typecast Iconoclast (+5 with L. Anarchist)
Lower level build variations:
- This uses Made of Sterner Stuff to boost DT melee without having to invest points into LBT for Strength of 5 Gorillas. (Does not have all skills unlocked for each COM)
- This uses MoSS to boost DT melee without having to invest points into LBT for So5G. (Does not have all skills unlocked for each COM)
Class Mods used with this build:
(The only “required” gear for this to work)
- Legendary Anarchist
- Legendary Mechromancer
- Chaotic Good Necromancer (+6 So5G/+5 MoSS)
- Chaotic Neutral Necromancer (+6 So5G/+5 MoSS)
The Legendary Mechromancer is used for general mobbing and questing. It’s good for general gameplay that gives an adequate DPS boost to both Gaige and DT. Combine all that with increased healing and a quicker cool-down to create almost nonstop mobbing.
For pure DPS, a Chaotic Good/Neutral Necromancer (+6 So5G/+5 MoSS) will seriously buff just that. This is the COM to use for bosses and mini-bosses. (i.e. Warrior, Bunker, Dukino’s Mom, etc). But again, this excludes Raid Bosses.
The Legendary Anarchist is the primary COM to use when stacking up Anarchy. Whether you’re prestacking or dealing with a respawn, the boosts for Typecast Iconoclast (+5 (10/5) 60%) and Smaller, Lighter, Faster (+5 (9/4) 54%) can help to build up stacks very fast. This combination allows both DT and Gaige to dish out serious DPS when dealing with common (or even Badass variant) mobs. But changing the COM then allows you to turn up the power curve for Gaige when dealing with Boss encounters (compensating for when DT just stands there & zaps)
Other mods that work with this build:
- Punk (requires no change in build, subpar DPS compared to Necromancer)
- Prodigy (requires no change in build, Necromancer provides higher DPS)
- Jill of All Trades (requires no change in build, subpar DPS compared to Necromancer, and niche loadout)
- Sweetheart (requires no change in build, but probably least desirable of all Gaige’s COM’s - just no…)
- Legendary Roboteer or Roboteer (requires at least 1 point in Potent As a Pony for full unlock, this one is Gaige’s only Melee oriented COM and best used only in Melee loadouts)
Best Weapons for this build:
Majority of the gear listed in Top Gear for Gaige!
could be effective in this build.
In this build Gaige’s DPS is deternined by 4 skills: Anarchy, Close Enough, Better Half, and Nth Degree. Weapons should be selected based on how well they work with all 4 skills; matching weapon element to enemy weaknesses whenever possible.
Weapons that synergize best with all skills:
- Fibber (Ricochet)
- Conference Call
- Interfarcer
- Ravager
- Slagga
Weapons that work well with low Anarchy stacks or with Discord:
- DPUH
- Pimpernel
- Swordsplosion
Notable weapons:
(These have a place within the build, but in a secondary/support kind of role. They do not synergize well with all skills.)
- Twister
- Hydra (Effective with any level of Anarchy, but being Jakobs they do not benefit from Better Half )
- Hail (doesn’t work well with Nth Degree, but works very well with high Anarchy and Close Enough )
- Rubi/Grog (grenade heals, not for damage)
- Seeker (does not work with Nth Degree, but it is the ONLY weapon effective at long range with Anarchy)
- Topneaa
- Hive
(Used in FFYL or with Discord; there are no Rocket launchers that work with Nth Degree and can be suicidal with high Anarchy if fired without Discord). - Antagonist Shield - Bullets reflected off of Gaige (not DT) can proc Nth Degree.
Shields, Grenades, & Relics:
These are not build specific as any one of those listed as “Top Gear” could work. Care should be taken in each loadout to make sure all gear works together.
Note: I find the Hide of Terramorphous is the most effective shield to put on DT while using this build
For weapon specific details like parts and prefixes or check out the Top Gear for Gaige by using the link above.
FAQ
Melee Build?
- This build contains all of Gaiges melee skills, and if combined with a melee gear loadout would work at Lv72, but Gaige does not have enough melee abilities to be truly viable at OP8.
Why not more Anarchy?
- At 250-300 you can still direct where your shots go. Example fighting Scorches and Black Queen, keep them between you and a wall, shoot the wall behind them, Close enough pulls the rounds into their squishy backsides for an easy kill. If fighting indoors, shoot the ceiling above an enemy, close enough pulls the rounds down on thier head & shoulders for lots of crits… At 400 stacks you have a hard time shooting the ground at your own feet…
With a ricochet fibber and close enough you can really take advantage of your surroundings and bank fire onto your enemies from cover. Using Close Enoughs ricochet effect can be so much more than … shoot the ground at their feet. But only if your Anarchy is still low enough to allow you to do so.
Why not use “X” skill in this build?
- Either lack of points or possible skill deficiency,
(For a better look into each of Gaige’s skills, use the [DDD] Gaige’s skills for you! thread as it can offer a better explanation of them than I can.)
Why With Claws?
- This is Gaige’s best healing skill.
Why 5/5 in The Nth Degree?
- This is a very powerful skill for any/all multi enemy and multi hit box boss encounters. To take full advantage of this skill you NEED to read this - The Secretest Secrets of The Nth Degree
Why 5/5 Annoyed Android in DP build?
- Gun toting enemies are not going to move up to fight DT, the faster he can get to them, the more damage he’s going to do. This is especially important on the large open maps of DP.
Why does the Digistruct Peak version have 2 points in Cooking up Trouble?
- This is used for out of combat heals to top off your health between fights.
This is not effective for mid combat healing, unless it is around 10/5, because you’re not doing damage while using this. And in OP8, if you stop doing damage to heal, your enemies will also heal (enemies can recover shields and health in UVHM).
Do we need to use the weapons and gear listed above?
- Class mods are a definite yes. The build is built around them. Everything else can be what ever you prefer playing with, but I recommend at least sticking to the gear listed in Top Gear for Gaige because it is the best gear for Gaige.
Is this tested?
- This has been my primary build almost as long as I have been 72. Using this build I solo’d DP unlocking OP1-6 (7, 8 in co-op because I didn’t want to farm an entire gear set again to get the last 2 OP levels). I regularly play at OP8 with this build once I unlocked it.
) But I’m working on them as well as possible 
