Hi guys, recently picked up Borderlands again and got really into it(before I just finished the normal mode then quit). I’m playing melee zero(mostly, I still shoot a ton) and I’m ~lvl 35 in TVHM and I need some help.
Mostly what I’m confused about is items and farming. I’ve a decent amount about the items I’m going to want(rubi, unkempt harold, etc) but what I don’t get is when I should get them. I want them high leveled for UVHM, right? So all of these items I"m supposed to get I have to avoid until I’m level 50 and about to go into that? Seems a little ridiculous trying to even remember all these side quests I"m supposed to dodge. Are there items int he meantime I should be trying to get to get me through TVHM at all? I just feel like I’m walking on a minefield.
Also, when people talk about farming things like say Unkempt Harold that aren’t quest rewards, how do you do that? Do you have to exit the game completely if it doesn’t drop?
Umm what you should likely do is just farm some easy to farm gear as you go along. So farm a Harold right now then a few levels later farm a Fastball. The game is set up in such a way that every few levels you are presented with a new farm. And since TVHM doesn’t scale like UVHM none of the weapons will be level 50 unless they are the end game farms (Ladyfist, Fibber, Chere Amie, Badaboom, etc). On the topic of farming non quest rewards just load in, kill the enemy that drops it, and if they don’t drop it just save and quit and try again.I usually put on music in the background while farming. So for your TVHM playthrough some farms I would definitely recommend are the Harold, Fastball, Lyuda, and the Bitch. All great picks but the Lyuda and Bitch are particularly great on Zer0. Hope that helped
Nah, get them when you can. Some you can farm, such as Knuckle Dragger for a Hornet. You can overtip Moxxie also, like… a bunch of money… Somebody wrote $75K, but I walked in on UVHM recently and tipped her $1K and got the trick SMG. The thing is, take what you can, when you can, because there is always more/cooler etc and plenty of loot chests. If you run shy on money, do the Gingerton/Marcus Mercenary shop. Go out of the shop to the left into Gingerton, open Xmas boxes. If you’ve gotten to the point where you did the Hodunk vs. Zafford feud for Ellie, you can also farm the Zafford money cave off the Holy Spirit’s Bar. Plenty, I mean plenty of money from either one.
The reward guns are cool, don’t get me wrong, but I’m currently running Zero with half weapons I either got from chests or drops. I’ve got some wicked plasma casters & snipers from these sources.
BL2 is pretty well designed, you’ll get the challenge available when you’re about ready for it level-wise… the weapon(s) awarded are on-level, so good to go. When you progress to UVHM, you’ll start over and re-do those challenges, so… you’ll get new weapons at level.
I’ve been playing Zero forever. Don’t forget to use your action skill, toss that Kunai and back off, let your shield regen. If you’ve got a grenade mod that will refill, such as a Magic Missile from TTAODK (Dragon’s Keep), pummel 'em with grenades while invisible. Don’t shoot while invisible, your parlor trick will vanish…
Best wishes and have fun!
Ah, sorry, forgot the question about “Farming.”
Tons of fun, that. Many medium-bosses re-spawn. Like, the first one outside of Claptrap’s place - Knuckle Dragger. You exit that map and go fruit around someplace else, then return to the area. (Like, go from Southern Shelf to Three Horns Valley, then return). They won’t always drop the cool gear, but sometimes they do. I understand the odds are totally random (it’s an algorithm, I know, but that’s what the official word is…). You re-enter the area and re-fight that guy and see what he drops. Bad Maw, Doc Mercy, they all re-spawn. So, as I level up a bit if I get bored I’ll go back and smack them around and see what they drop… aka… “farming.”
All loot chests will be reset when you leave that map and go to another one. So… you can also “farm,” weapons chests. These can also be a good source of $$ if you are low on funds. If the weapons are “meh,” sell 'em.
Just a quick one : the two pillars of melee Zer0 ( bladed slag Rubi and Rapier ) are level irrelevant. I’ve used my NVHM gear right until OP8.
Other than that, look at getting a good slag gun at the end of TVHM ( lvl 50 ) like a Slagga or slag Pimpernel.
When you get to UVHM that’s when you have to decide when to take a quest-reward mission ( say for the Law if you want it ) - but until then just use what you get.
You can save any quest rewards in TVHM for after you kill the Warrior to get them at level 50 for a leg up on UVHM. This is a pretty handy list of quest rewards and the missions that yield them. As you go through TVHM they will be the same/similar level to where you are when the mission becomes available. Farmable (ahem, repeatable) fights, as well as what level you want what reward at, become more relevant in UVHM. I’ve never run my Zer0 melee (which means I am only repeating what I’ve read here on the forums), but what @Jefe said is true, so get those items asap. I think the only melee gears that care about level are roid shields, and you may need underleveled nades for convenient shield stripping. Really though, once you get to UVHM you can reset your playthrough as early, or as often, as you like, so don’t fret about gear so much that you’re not having fun anymore.
Zer0 is my main character and I don’t get it. Why use melee? In a lootporn game avoiding use of guns is a crime. Zer0’s action skill is most suited for combat, as it makes it makes it more tactical instead of just making game easier.
3 Likes
Piemanlee
(Goodbye friends and not friends, it's been a fun ride)
#8
Yes, but the OP finds it hard to get into zer0, probably because he chooses to focus on melee. Just because the option is there doesn’t make it fun. Maybe someday I’ll get into it, once I get bored of playing Borderlands as FPS game with tons of guns to shoot.
Melee Zero can be a rough road, especially on your first playthru with him. The Sniper skill tree is all about the guns. I usually invest in this tree first. This makes him much more lethal. With Zer0, distance is your friend. If you get mobbed by a bunch of enemies, toss your action skill and gain some ground.
If you get stuck on a particular challenge or game area, there is a TON of information on this Forum from users who have been there, too. Do a search and you’ll find great strategy tips, secret sniping spots, secret enemy weaknesses, you name it. Or, do just like you did and ask the question - There’s a good community on here of folks who will jump in and help.
Also, if you need a specific weapon type, like a wicked incendiary or something, at your level for a challenge… you’ll either find an easy way to find one in the game world through the advice on these forums or somebody will give you one.
Going full melee from the start is rough because you simply don’t often have the burst tools of tesla / stormfront / lighting bolt / chain lightning and a good roid shield and when you do you out level them fast.
If you want to get into the melee focus you want to pick up a rapier. Whether or not you want to spend points to get to Many must fall now or later is depatable. I’d say do it later but then again picking it up now will familiarize you with how it works and feels. I’d rather start working on the middle tree after getting assassinate and a rank or 2 of backstab & unforeseen so your COM can boost it. Melee zero, like all zero’s, needs death mark and death blossom to function properly past TVHM (and the kunai’s also take some getting used to).
Just building on what Lammas said, the last Zer0 I brought up I basically respec’d from gun to melee to gun based on the gear I had ( for the exact reasons he stated ).
For example : when the Order shield quest comes along in TVHM ( at ~46 or 47 iirc ), you can farm the reward for a good version that will last you 5 levels or so - if you can get a matching tesla.
The Love Thumper ( maybe level 37? ) is a great shield to use to familiarize yourself with MMF but it’s mostly too hazardous to use for most story-line stuff until you’re more experienced. Problem is the nova will pop barrels which will kill you if you don’t have something for insta-heal - so maps like Bloodshot are pretty dangerous.
Otherwise when I didn’t have a good roid / tesla combo, I spec’d the middle tree ( again as Lammas stated ) and went hybrid.
Damn this community is dope, very helpful responses. Would you all reccommend just buying the season pass dlc and doing the quests as soon as they come up? I have no paid for DLC right now
Yes you can go back and get another one if you so wish but if you are in either NVHM or TVHM it will be the same relative level. An example is if you got one in TVHM. It will be around level 35. If you went back at the end of TVHM when you are level 50 and it drops again, it will still be around 35 so at that point it wouldn’t even be worth using. However once you reach UVHM the game will constantly scale with you meaning that if you ever get anytime in your playthrough it will always be you level. The only non guarantee to this is in the OP levels. There’s still a chance that it can drop at OP6 or OP7 when you are in fact OP8. And yes do get the season pass if you are on PC or last gen consoles. If you own any current gen systems and plan on using them I would recommend the Handsome Collection. Beyond the season pass I would also recommend just buying everything in the game period. All the story DLC’s and the Headhunters as well as the level cap increases. It’s very much worth it, this comes from someone who has sunk over 3,400 hours in the entire series. For quests I would only do some that are interesting to you or if they have a good reward such as the Cult Following quest line or the Bandit Slaughter for the Hail (an extremely good assault rifle). Generally speaking don’t do all side quests until you reach UVHM otherwise you will become severely overleveled. When doing side quests just try to stick around the same relative level as the current story mission as indicated by the Vault symbol rather than a gear. Also, welcome to the forums
Awesome, that is so very helpful. I’ll go head to get a harold right now then!
Two more questions, sorry for the trouble. I always see OP7, OP8, etc. Is there a new mode after UVHM? Also, how do you farm quest rewards? You get the reward, save/quit and do the whole quest all over again? I really hope that’s not it haha
UVHM is the highest mode currently in game. Typically after completing TVHM you will start UVHM at around level 50 and it should take you all the way up to the OP levels as the game constantly scales. As for farming quest rewards, what you want to do is load the game, spawn in, run the the turn in location and turn it in, and if you get the parts you want you can continue, if you don’t get the parts you want or the element you can Alt+F4 on PC and dashboard and close the application on console. DO NOT save and quit otherwise it will save your progress and you will be stuck with whatever version of the weapon you have gotten with no chance to change it as quests are a one time thing. It is recommend however to set your game to offline to prevent other people from joining because when a player joins it will force the game to save your progress which will lock you with that specific gun or item and that can totally ruin a reward farm. The trick of farming a quest reward is to always close the game without saving, that way you can continually turn in the quest for the desired item.
5 Likes
paulothead
(AN awkward, not THE Awkward, Yeti)
#19
Yep, that’s exactly right. The Main Story Mission bosses mostly don’t respawn, like Handsome Jack near the end. You can re-fight the Warrior all you want, though. Just exit that map, like, fast travel to another place like Sanctuary, then return. I don’t know if it’s necessary, but I always do something in that area I’ve traveled to and make a change, like, buy ammo, open a crate, then pass a “Save,” thingy, before I travel back to go re-fight and farm loot. Again, don’t know that all that is necessary or if you can simply fast travel right back.
