I made this build a few years back and decided it was time to move it over here. Bear with me, I’m ■■■■ at this stuff
The Gear
Weapons
Hail
The hail is one of the best rifles for Axton in my opinion. It heals you, has splash that benefits from grenade damage and it’s always elemental. There is a slight learning curve to it, but if you can get it down then you can absolutely destroy with this gun
Norfleet
Everyone knows the Norfleet, it’s the best launcher in Borderlands 2. It’s only here to get out of FFYL easily. Nothing else to it really
Shields
Because I’m lazy and want to do the minimal amount of work possible, so here is a link to the shields section of Axton’s Top Gear. All of them can work well in this build (I’m partial to the Blockade and Antagonist myself
Grenade Mods
Magic Missile/Crossfire
Both are excellent choices for slagging your enemies, it’s just a matter of what you want. Crossfire can cover a larger area and is easier to obtain, but Magic Missile can seek out enemies and regenerate grenade ammo. Whichever you choose, you can’t go wrong
Relic
Bone of the Ancients
One of the best, if not the best, relics in the entire game. The reason elemental relics are so much better than, say, gun damage ones is because the damage from elemental relics is multiplicative, not additive. And since the Hail comes in elemental only, there’s no reason not to use one
Class Mod
Grenadier
Best COM for this build, hands down. It boosts everything I could possibly ask for in a build like this. The Hail becomes incredibly powerful in Axton’s hands, especially if you can get a version that boosts Impact and Steady (+6 on Steady is ideal)
Skills
Guerilla
[5/5] Ready
Boosts to reload speed boost DPS. Simply put, the less time you spend reloading, the more time you get to shoot ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ in the face
[5/5] Willing
Increases Axton’s survival capability. With this, the Hail and the skills put into the Survival tree, I’m sure you’ll find Axton very difficult to kill
[5/5] Able
More survivability. What else is there to say? Nothing. Literally nothing. Or maybe there is and I’m just tired and lazy. Who knows?
[5/5] Onslaught
When you get a kill, this skills makes it easier to get your next one and keep it up for a while. Simple ■■■■
[5/5] Grenadier
There’s no real downside to this skill, at least in this build. None of the other perks in this tree are very good with this build
[1/1] Double Up
Double Up helps you slag enemies pretty mindlessly, or at least much easier than using your grenade mods. If it weren’t for this skill, I’d never use the turret on Axton
Gunpowder
[5/5] Impact
I’ll be honest, I kinda wish there was another option here. Expertise is total ■■■■ for this build and while this IS better, I don’t like it a ton. Oh well, at least it increases DPS
[5/5] Metal Storm
Holy ■■■■, this skill is SO much fun to use with the Hail. The fire rate can just get to absurdly high levels. Give it a shot, I’m sure you’ll love it
[4/5] Overload
As I said earlier, the less time you spend reloading, the more time you get to shoot ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ in the face
[5/5] Steady
This is one of the best skills Axton can use in combination with the Hail. With a COM that boosts it to 11/5, you’ll be getting an additional 55% multiplicative damage (I believe it’s multiplicative, correct me if I’m wrong). Basically, it’s ■■■■■■■ amazing
[1/1] Longbow Turret
Uhh… it’s cool?
[5/5] Battlefront
The hail benefits from both Grenade and Gun damage, making this an excellent choice here
[1/1] Do or Die
The extra grenade damage comes at all times, and the ability to slag enemies in FFYL easily with your grenades will help you pick yourself up much faster and easier
Survival
[5/5] Healthy
In those rare times when your shield is down for extended periods of time, you’ll be glad you have Healthy. Be warned that it does make health gating more difficult though
[5/5] Preparation
I hate having my shields down, therefore I love this skill (I’m getting really tired and lazy, don’t judge me)
[5/5] Quick Charge
It’s a really nice skill to have no matter what shield you’re using (though it does work especially well with the Sham if you ask me)
Video (coming soon)