The Mechromaniac Build
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 Kalibur. Hope you all enjoy their work!
A few days ago I asked if a melee Gaige was viable. I got answers and such, but I thought “F*** it” I want to see it for myself. So I leveled my Mechromancer up to 72 and farmed Terramorphous for a new shield. The initial testing is great; at level 72 (OP0) melee Gaige seems 100% viable.
Because mob health doesn’t get a x4 at the start of play-through 3.5, as they did in UVHM. It feels easier than UVHM.
The build breakdown ----> HERE
Though it’s plausible, it’s not the best option for use at OP8, but there are a few changes you need to make.
The center of this build is With Claws and the Hide of Terramorphous. With Claws heals you for every swipe and makes Gaige actually useful for melee. This is made even better thanks to the Hide of Terramorphous having the highest roid damage. (as far as I know) I highly suggest not using the Love Thumper because you have no shield while charging at enemies. HoT (Hide of Terramorphous) will still be down 90% of the time, but at lv.72 it puts an 800k buffer between you and an enemy. Also, if you use the Love Thumper the novas from DeathTrap will kill you.
I did not put any in Explosive Clap, because after some testing I found that DeathTrap can deal more damage in the long run by not using it. It also makes him a sitting duck while he is going through the animation.
(1/5) Nth Degree is just to get With Claws, and its also useful if you do ever have to use guns.
(1/5) Preshrunk CyberPunk as I have yet to find myself building up more than 100 stacks in general mobbing. I also do not see it necessary to build up 400 stacks.
(5/5) in Bood Soaked Shields to refill your buffer between you and enemies. You can opt out of this and it works just as well. With BSS (Blood Soaked Shields) I find myself burning through Anarchy stacks faster, but living longer. Without it I find myself slowly gaining stacks since the roid effect is always up. (Props to The Izaya for suggesting this.)
(1/5) The Better Half since the class mod gives +5 to this so why not. If you do find yourself using a gun its helpful to have points in.
(3/5) Evil Enchantress helps increase the potential damage of your shield. (I found myself with 3 extra points so I placed them here. Props to ChaoticProphecy for suggesting this)
The rest of the skills are pretty self explanatory.
Because this is a melee build, Cooking Up Trouble is always going off giving you 4% healing per second. (With a full magazine) I find it unnecessary to use Discord most of the time. It is mostly there so you do not lose all your stacks when accidentally reloading. You won’t always get the chance to build up your Anarchy stacks, so I try not to run through them too fast by using Discord all the time. What’s nice is that you really do not need a lot of stacks. I find myself taking down most bandits and Bullymongs after 2-3 hits without slag, and only 25-40 stacks built up.
While not completely necessary, I still put 5 points in Close Enough. This is for those times where you cannot rely on Brick’s “punch-them-until-they-die” fighting style.
Unstoppable Force would be useful for chasing down enemies, but that would make it impossible to take advantage of the roid damage provided by your shield so I skipped that.
Gear wise:
Hide of Terramorphous: for you and DeathTrap this is a must have.
Blood of Terramorphous: I find this relic useful for counteracting any DoT’s (Damage over time) you may get. It also adds to Cooking Up Trouble’s health regen effects. You can’t rely on With Claws all the time for healing in this build
Rapier (slag element) : why not add a 200% melee bonus?
Evisceration Rubi (slag): if you want you could replace this with a Grog Nozzle. Its nice to have variety for this build. You never know when you want healing from this over the DPS of the Rapier. And take note that because HoT ALSO has spike and nova damage, you will get healed when the shield depletes or an enemy thinks its a good idea to try and punch you.
Norfleet - This is a melee build and sometimes you cannot chase enemies down. When you get down it is useful to have this to get up quickly. Deathtrap will not always be out.
Any rarity Coach Gun: This last choice is up to personal preference. But I like to use this to build up stacks while running toward my enemies from very far away. And if the shotgun is good enough you can actually do something with it. Half the time Cooking Up Trouble is active because the mag size is reduced to 1.
Any slag grenade- I prefer the Magic Missile because I never have to worry about running out of grenades.
Legendary Mechromancer COM: I actually prefer this over the Legendary Roboteer COM. You lose a little bit of melee damage but you have more health regen with the Leg. Mechromancer +5 in both Strength of 5 Gorillas and Cooking Up Trouble really helps the build out.
The Strategy:
It’s pretty basic: Slag enemies with your grenades, charge at them, and start clawing their eyes out. Try to keep a full magazine to keep Cooking Up Trouble active. With it you are getting 5.2% health regen a second; high enough to cancel out most DoT’s and just be useful all around. If you get downed, slag enemies with your Rapier then, either, let DeathTrap kill them or pull out the Norfleet. When enemies are slagged I find myself hitting them for around 10mil damage.
Deathtrap is extremely helpful. You have 10/5 in 20% Cooler so don’t be afraid to use him as often as you like. I have not timed it out, but the cooldown seems to be down to 20-30 seconds. And with 5/5 in Annoyed Android he feels like Usain Bolt.
Feel free to comment on the build and offer suggestions.
UPDATE: Gear Ideas
Captain Blade’s Manly Man’s Shield: its not a roid shield, but paired with the Rapier it could be useful. Still gives you that necessary buffer. I will need to do get one and test this out at some point to see the damage potential.
Not a Melee relic- I did some testing and I only see a 200k difference in damage when the roid shield is up and 20-50k difference without roid damage. This was with a 34% melee relic; essentially it was completely useless. I much rather prefer 1.2% health regen over this minor “improvement”
Bone of the Ancients: More cooldown = more DeathTrap. Preferably a fire one because the HoT is a fire element shield.
Chain Lightning: This would require more use of the Rubi/Grog Nozzle. It would be used as a tool to heal from long distances and to strip your own shield.
Legendary Roboteer COM: You lose the health regen of Cooking Up Trouble, but you get extra melee damage, a faster DeathTrap, and more health for the both of you.
Update: OP8 Variant
After some testing I found this build is plausible, although not the best option, at OP8. There are a few changes you will need to make. I want to stress that its only plausible. In my opinion Melee Gaige is not nearly as effective as gun Gaige at OP8.
Because DeathTrap is more important at OP levels I would move the points from Evil Enchantress over to Shock Storm for something more like ----> THIS
Bone of the Ancients and not Blood of Terramorphous with fire damage preferably. Deathtrap is increasingly important at OP8 because he scales to level 80 (Same level as enemies). Also the purpose of the Blood of Terramorphous was to counteract any DoT inflicted upon you. This works at level 72, but in OP8 it cannot heal anywhere close to any DoT you will get. Blood of Terramorphous has a weird health regen system where you have to wait a split second after being damaged for the regen to start. It does not seem like much, but at OP8 its nearly worthless compared to the Bone of the Ancients. The logic here is Deathtrap > 1.6% health regen.
Legendary Roboteer/Mechromancer: it is still up to personal preference. The Leg. Mechromancer gives you more healing, less damage, and more functionality for guns because of +5 in The Better Half. The Leg. Roboteer - Gives you more melee damage and a more effective deathtrap, but less healing. It really depends on how you play.
Grog Nozzle on hand at all times in case you need to heal although this is a must for OP8 regardless. Try and get a bladed one because this is a melee build.
(remember that the Grog Nozzle is only available for use when the mission “The Beard Makes the Man” (Tiny Tina DLC) is active. If you complete it and turn it in, you can no longer use the Grog Nozzle. The only other way to get one is from someone who participated in the Loot Hunt or to restart your UVHM play-through)
Start Discord looping and maximize that healing. You are never more than 2 or 3 hits away from dying at OP8. If you still use the Leg. Mechromancer over the Leg. Roboteer you will get a total of 7% health regen per second. You will need to use the Rapier a lot more than the Rubi to keep your damage up as well as make up for that missed healing in some manner.
Make sure you keep Cooking Up Trouble active as much as possible.
More Rapier!- All enemies get damage resistance, so you need to use the Rapier if you want to kill enemies in a timely fashion. And if you choose to use the generic Leg. Mechromancer COM over the Leg. Roboteer COM you miss out on some damage. The Rapier helps to fix that.