Starting UVHM for the first time, need some help

Borderlands 2 Maya the Siren
#1

Boy I sure am making a lot of threads here. Anyways, looking to start UVHM for the first time. Wanna try and prepare myself for the various dealings of things.

This is my Maya build that I’m currently running. I don’t have Cloud Kill because I’m working on (slowly) downloading the patch. So I’m currently working off an unpatched BL2 for now.

  1. Class mods. I know that the Legendary class mods are the best, but those aren’t available until level 61. Which means 11 long levels until I can get one. I’m currently running a Chrono Binder (+5 Suspension, +4 Reaper, 18% CDR) which has served me very nicely. I’m aware that the Cat COM deals lots of damage, but my only worry is that I don’t have any of the skills it gives. Is it still worth using despite that? I’d end up losing Reaper & Suspension. I’d easily make up Reaper through the gun damage, but I’d lose an extra 2.5 seconds on Phaselock.

  2. Gear. (I’m aware you can do UVHM with blues & purples, as a disclaimer). I know that Maya does best with SMGs and Sniper Rifles. I’ve looked in the Top Gear thread and the ones that come to mind are the Sandhawk, Pimpernel and Bitch. I’ve never used the Bitch or Pimpernel, but the Pimpernel is said to have the highest damage output of any sniper rifle in the game once you get the hang of it. Should I put in the time to learn how to use it? Never used the Bitch either.

Don’t know how important shields are, or what the good ones to use. I usually improv a lot on my various characters. I tend to go for Turtle Shields due to Ward. Should I opt for some unique shield (like the Cracked Slash, which I’ve seen mentioned) or go for something orange? The only ones I can find that are useful are Neogenator and Sham. I’m compelled to get them both, though I’d probably just opt for Neogenator.

As for grenades, I take it this one doesn’t matter too much? I typically carry around a Tesla as a sort of “one size fits all” sort of solution. Considering keeping updated Corrosive Cloud & Fire Burst ones. Or should I opt for Magic Missle x4/Chain Lightning/Quasar?

Lastly, rocket launchers. I take it these are pretty important in UVHM? I tend to never use them, even in TVHM, so my experience with them is limited. Would I need to keep a unique, strong one around, or just a high damage blue/purple one?

  1. Resetting quest progress. Seeing as I’ve never done UVHM, how does this work? Can you reset to a certain point of your choosing/specific quests, or does it just reset all quest progress period? Also, can you reset specific DLCs (Tiny Tina, Scarlett, Headhunter DLCs), or would they be lumped in with the total quest reset thing? In that vein, if I want to farm for gear without doing bosses over and over, I’ve read that red chests are the best. The reliable ones, iirc, were Marcus’s DLC thingy with the train and Torgue’s DLC (in the ring arena area and behind one of the signs). Anything else?

That’s pretty much all I can think of. Sorry for the long post and text walls. Just want to be prepared and all that.

Edit: forgot a thing. Working on getting the Grog Nozzle since it’s apparently pretty important to not constantly dying.

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#2

There’s two legendary class mods available to you - the one from Terra, and the Legendary Siren. (Leg. Cat, Nurse, and Binder are the ones after level 61 iirc). As you level up, just use what you find that makes up for whatever you feel is currently lacking in your build. Feeling a need for better shield stats but haven’t found a better shield yet? Go Banshee. Co-oping? Nurse or Binder. I usually keep 2 or 3 at any one time and switch between them as circumstances and opportunity arises.

Same with guns. Yes, SMGs are great and Maya can snipe, but whatever you have that works. If you’re running Opportunity and the only corrosive weapon you have is a shotgun, go for it.

For things like the Pimpernel, I’d honestly not bother farming until you hit level 72. You can actually do that easily enough between the main game, DLCs, and the headhunter packs without needing to reset.

If you should decide to reset:

  • Load your game
  • Hit character select at main screen to get the mode select menu
  • Choose UVHM and look for the prompt to reset on the dialogue

Grog Nozzle: again, this is not as important as you might think. Yes, if you want to solo raid bosses a Grog is the best source of damage-based healing. But in general gameplay you can get healing from your action skill, Good Touch, Transfusion grenades, etc.

On build, I’d add in Sweet Release for extra heals next. If you’re not interested in Sub-Sequence (some like it, some don’t) I’d continue up the Harmony tree.

You should also check out the advice here:

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#3

Legendary class mods, the first generation, are available pre 61, the second generation only cone from tubby enemies after 61. For Maya you can get a Leg siren before 61; Legendary nurse, cat, and binder after. You could score a legendary siren pretty quickly if you repeatedly melt tinder snowflake in the Mercenary day headhunter dlc. With Maya you shouldn’t need a Grog Nozzle for leveling. And when you reset UVHM it’s the whole shebang: vanilla and dlcs. Nades are up to you, maya doesn’t generally need extra slag, but the tiny tina nades regen your supply. I actually prefer a dahl scout sniper in slag for Maya once you spec cloudkill.

Ninja’d. I typed so much that @VaultHunter101 said it all, and in a better and more organized way. He even included the Terramorphous class mod, which I always forget. :+1: for thoroughness. And he included links to what I think may be the most important threads for UVHM adjustment. Who da man? He da man.

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#4

My way of leveling through uvhm is pretty bland. Farm a Harold, fastball, bee, and slag rubi in lvl 50 tvhm. Then rush tiny tina dlc to get a grog. Farm new Harold, bee, and fastball every 5 levels. Use whatever else drops to spice things up a bit

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#5

I’ll stick with this, and respec later if you found a good smg, you might like the lascaux with the cat class mod.

My Pimp Maya only uses Fire and Corrosive Pimpernel. It’s quite easier to get the hang into it. Rule of thumb is hit the enemies at their midsection so that the pellets will split and land in the crit spots (play on this depending on the number of points you have on accelerate).

You have Ward and Inertia, So you can mitigate recharge delay on the shield. Turtle shield, Adaptive shields is fine.

IMO, I got better defensively in borderlands 2 because I use not any defensive shields but using the bee, I can keep the Bee up by constantly moving and evading enemy attacks.

I don’t use RL either, my second wind weapon is an Unkempt Harold.

Don’t use Grog much as well except for emergency heals. Try putting the points you have in quicken to sweet release to help you with the healing.

Edit. You are done with TVHM raiding, i see.

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#6

Actually haven’t started it yet. :stuck_out_tongue: Just finished the TVHM story to get myself to 50 and wanted to start farming lv50 oranges/uniques (that I can) and start doing the raiding stuff.

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#7

Don’t get too levelled up before you start UVHM - that’s probably the biggest mistake players make the first time they make the transition from TVHM. Anything you farm in TVHM will be a max of level 50; get into UVHM at character level 53, for example, and you’ll be looking at enemies potentially up to level 55. Legendaries hold their own for a bit longer than purples and blues, but not that much longer in UVHM because of scaling and enemy health regen.

I’d suggest starting the story at least just to get a feel for the difference. You can switch between modes easily enough by hitting character select in the main menu and re-selecting your save.

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#8

Yeah, I’m aware. I’m still lv50 and avoiding any quests I don’t absolutely need to do. Just trying to get gear to prepare myself. I made that level mistake once before. I “attempted” UVHM on my Gaige, but I was lv56 with lv50 gear, and none of it was particularly stellar. Got completely wrecked.

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#9

Lol, we have the same way of levelling up, since saving some uniques for 72/OP8. I called it using the old reliables.

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#10

Additional question: does shock become a big deal in UVHM? I only really speak from a TVHM perspective, but shields seem to last forever if damaged by fire or corrosive damage. I’m considering picking up a shock/non-elemental sandhawk as a sort of all purpose gun for a few levels. Should I keep a non-elemental/shock gun around?

Also, how does explosive damage fair in UVHM? I enjoy using Torgue ARs, but they do get really inaccurate at medium to long range and they’re terrible FFYL tools.

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#11

You might need a shock sandhawk if you are going to do Pete and or Crawmerax since they are weak to shock. (save it, a low level sandhawk partnered with an on level Bee will still wreck enemies even in OP8.)

I never bother with a shock weapon with Maya, other than grenades, Just use a tesla or singularity to strip enemy shields and stick with your fire and corrosive weapons.

Maya does not boost grenade and explosive damage in her skills if i recall unlike Krieg and Axton, and there are very few torgue weaponry in her top gear thread. You may still like the Swordsplosion with her and Harold is considered one of the best guns in there. Speaking of Torgue AR’s you might find enjoyment with spiniguns with Maya especially the Ogre, with Wreck you will hit a high level of fire rate.

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#12

I suggest taking a point from Inertia and putting it in Kinetic Reflection and then look for a Blurred or Twisted Trickster com. Even at level 50 you might luck out and get one with a 6/5 boost. In bullet heavy areas the bad guys should die fairly quickly, which would be a great time to have a Sham on…

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#13

As @nat_zero_six said, you’ll mostly want to use shock grenades for shield stripping duties, since shields are weak to shock but not other damage types (there’s a useful table at the end of this post)

If you really want to farm Pete then a shock Sandhawk is pretty much essential. For regular play while levelling, though, it’s really not needed. It’s nice to have a shock plasma caster for those times when you’re low on grenades, especially when in stalker-infested areas (or a shock Topnea or similar launcher) but you’ll then need to switch weapons quickly to get fire DoT on the targets and finish them off.

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#14

Just briefly on the subject of the Grog : remember it’s a quest item - not a quest reward.

This means that if you take the quest in TVHM and enter UVHM, you reset all of your active quests which means you lose your Grog.

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#15

Goof point. It’ll still be there whenever you enter TVHM (provided you don’t turn the quest in) but not in any other mode.

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#16

This may be my favorite typo ever, unless you intended it, in which case that, and you, are just plain awesome. :laughing:

OT, sorta: I didn’t know that about the Grog Nozzle in my Pandoran youth. I remember being very confused when I completed “the beard makes the man” and it disappeared from Exit,GaigeLeft’s NVHM hand. Like, how does everyone manage to get one? This is so unfair. :pouting_cat: I know better now, but that first time really took the wind out of my sails.

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#17

When I level Maya through ultimate I generally rotate between a mixture of what I find, a Good Touch, a Hammerbuster and Lyuda’s. Paired with Sweet release and a bit of clever play I survive just fine. I personally don’t enjoy the Lascaux or Harold much but if you like them they both could work as regular items too and when you reach loaders a Hornet is often the simplest solution to source.

Shield wise Maya isn’t picky, I personally use the best I have of adaptives, turtles and absorbs. Grenades too are pretty open choice, I like singularities because between that and converge I can contain enemy movement and avoid a good deal of damage.

Having that sort of gear is nice however the real important point is that you are aware of the effective lifespan of your weapons. For instance if you know that your Unkempt Harold is going to become ineffective when it is 6 levels under then begin sourcing a replacement while it is still around 4 and a half or 5 levels old so that you don’t get caught without an effective weapon. During my first trip through UVHM my biggest problem was that I knew my Pimpernels would be good for 6 levels so I never looked for any weapon to replace them, then I got hit like a train at LVL 57 when suddenly they no longer cut it and I had no effective weapon.

If you don’t plan to save it till endgame then grab the Pimpernel whenever you’re in need of an effective killing weapon. Truth is that even though it is so hard to use effectively it is also so good that you don’t need to use it effectively and it will still kill things. You’re playing Maya who is extremely forgiving with the Pimpernel, you’ll probably struggle tremendously for 10- 20 minutes then you’ll get used to it and it will be a really effective killer, Phaselock really eases this learning period. I think that it is definitely worth learning as it is one of those unique weapons that you won’t find in any other game.

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#18

Whoopsie. This didn’t occur to me. Ah well. I can just get one again for UVHM. It’ll last me for TVHM while I farm stuff anyways.

While I’m on the subject of Grog: the healing is very nice. First time I’ve ever used it. I was mainly going for it for a reliable slag weapon with a side effect of healing. I prefer using Tesla grenades to deal with shields and AoE damage after a Converge Phaselock, but there are times where I need to slag something. Like if I’m being chased by a Goliath that I didn’t Phaselock, or a Super Badass Loader since I can never kill them in the duration of a phaselock.

Ah, that’s a good point. Didn’t think of doing that.

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#19

A lot of good pointers have already been given by the rest of the crew, but I still feel that I should add a few comments.

Gear:

Some gear is farmable over and over again, so you can have them at different levels in the same playthrough. The items that aren’t, are best left until you’re at level 72. I’m talking about quest rewards, such as the Pimp and the Sandhawk. You’ll want them at the highest level possible. Unless, ofc, you have already planned on resetting your playthroughs at some point.

Grenades:

Grenades aren’t as efficient on Maya when it comes to damage output in UVHM. They can get the job done, but you’ll need a really good one for it. It’s therefore better to use your grenades for other purposes, such as slagging, shield stripping or crowd control. I’ve personally never felt the need to use grenades or guns for shield stripping when I have Ruin. And the same can be said for slagging. So, some extra crowd control with a singularity grenade is what most Maya veterans will recommend. Preferably a Quasar.

COM’s:

A Cat COM is great, but it’s not the skill boosts that make it great. It’s the stat boost. The extra SMG damage is awesome. There are several COM’s that will work just fine. Some will work better than fine.

Cooldown:

The thing that makes Maya really strong is her phaselock, so improving your cooldown is important. A cooldown relic is your best option for most setups. If you run a Binder or a Legendary Siren, you don’t really need to have points in Quicken. Do some test on your own to see what you prefer!

Build:

Once you get tired of switching to the Grog every 5 seconds, you should consider putting points in the Harmony tree. Sweet Release and Elated will soon make you forget what it was ever like to use the Grog. And there’s also Wreck!

Apologies if I’m just repeating what others said before me, but… There you have it! Have fun! :wink:

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#20

Pretty much all I have to say has been said already, but I’ll probably still repeat what others have said. I would definitely recommend grabbing a least a few points in sweet release for healing or a transfusion nade which should allow you to avoid the grog, maybe carry the rubi for panic situations but you really don’t want to rely on it for staying alive most of the time with someone like Maya. Maybe take the points from quicken to sweet release and grab a cool down relic instead, maybe even drop inertia for more healing.

My last Maya ran a similar com to you up till the mid 60s when I finally got a L siren to drop. 5 points in ward will make basically all shields decent.

Also, a lot of people like to trash anything bandit, but their smgs are decent, once you get wreck, you have a higher dmg smg with a high fire rate during phaselock and it’s accurate enough since you’re shooting at stationary targets.

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