How to stay alive in UVHM?

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel BL:TPS Discussion
#1

Despite having thousands of hours in BL 2, I have very little experience in TPS. Only a couple of playthroughs through TVHM on each of the chars, and now I wanna try out UVHM. In the BL 2 section of this forum there’s a nice thread on how to stay alive in UVHM.

Is there a similar thread for TPS somewhere? Or is it basically the same strats. Apart from slagging, of course. :wink:

#2

Hardest part of UVHM in tps is the painfully slow leveling. What character are you playing? Wait let me guess Athena :rofl:
Guess i should ask about your build also

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#3
  • Cryo functions like slag. Frozen enemies are easier to finish than unfrozen ones. This is especially important to remember with those pesky shock shuggaraths. Plus, frozen enemies can’t run and hide if you drop into FFYL.
  • Barrels respawn on a fairly short timer (nn minutes - anyone know the number?) so watch out if you backtrack a lot or pass through the same area multiple times.
  • Odds of getting higher rarity gear in the vending machines is much better than BL2, so get in the habit of checking regularly on your way through.
  • Don’t obsess about micro-managing your O2. Honestly, there’s tons of sources!
  • Exploit the Oz kit mechanics to the fullest, especially the difference in the in air/in vacuo perks. And for goodness sake use the jump/boost/slam mechanic when dealing with mobs - it’s a life-saver.
  • In light of the slow levelling in UVHM, remember that you get much more XP from killing enemies on foot rather than using vehicle-mounted weapons.
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#4

Use claptrap. BOOM

#5

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#6

Bwaaahahahaa. Seriously tho…claptrap. gearbox thought it would be funny to disguise the most op character

#7

Don’t forget that explosive does more damage to frozen enemies.

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#8

Athena is actually one of my least favourite characters at this point. :grin: The constant weapon swapping to get storm weaving going is driving me nuts. I hate game mechanics like that! But I’ve just finished TVHM with Aurelia, so… That’s who I was planning to continue with. I’ve been sniping a lot, and will probably continue doing so. Here’s my build!

I’ve got some really nice gear to go along with that, so I’m all set there! At least until they start to fall behind as I level up.
Ice Barking Snider
Laser Disker
Absolute Zero

Purple Tediore shield
Celestial Baroness

…Plus some other shiny stuff on my other chars. All level 50!

You’re speaking to the #1 checker of vending machines in BL history. I often have to force myself to leave them alone. Talk about OCD, eh! :rofl:

I used an Arctic juggernaut Oz kit most of the game. A lot of these kits give bonuses only when you’re airborne, which I’m usually not. At least not when I’m shooting. Any suggestions are welcome!

#9

Shock weapon in every slot does the trick for me! You put your BAR points into reload speed, right?

It depends a bit on the area and what I’m doing. Sometimes you want an Ack-Ack, sometimes and EDD13, … If I know I’m going to be in vacuum for an extended period of time, I might look for something with a nice bonus for that specifically. Take a look at the Oxidizer for example - good for those areas where you’re constantly in and out of vacuum.

This is actually one of the most satisfying things I find to do in TPS - landing critical hits using a sniper while sailing through the moon’s negligible atmosphere. It’s something worth practising, because it means you can better hit enemies dodging behind cover and it’s harder for them to hit you when you’re not on the ground. If you’re playing Nisha, consider some version of this as an incentive to go airborne.

#10

Doesn’t go well with Avalanche, I’m afraid. I just picked up a Tranquility kit, but I’m also considering the 3DD1.3, since I’ve gone down in FFYL quite a few times already. 3DD1.3 is the obvious choice when you wanna stay healthy, but… I just want to use something else. I’ll give that Precision kit a go. I think I used it on Nisha at some point…

Yeah, I could do that, ofc, but… It’s just the stupidity of having to switch from the gun I prefer, just to get a skill going. It simply pisses me off something awful! If I can ever get to terms with that, then I might use her again. The rest of her skills are pretty awesome. Athena’s personality however… :unamused: A sleeping pill if I ever saw one!

#11

I find I switch quite a lot during intense mobbing anyway, because it’s faster than reloading for certain of my favourites. As usual, advice is worth the price paid!

Huh - I guess you haven’t been getting the same vocal lines as I have out of the RNG! That said, I really like the way she plays. I like Aurelia’s skill set, but her voice actor… shudders. Clappy is my LOL-time favourite, and Jack/Timothy has grown on me. I like Willhelm’s pets (and the ability to direct fire). Nisha scares the living daylights out of me.

Anyway, Oz kits - definitely worth experimenting with. Always good to have an Ack-Ack handy for flying enemies, even if you switch back to something else later - every gun becomes a Flakker, but without the need to hit just the right range.

#12

Her dialogue seems rushed, if anything. And it probably was, considering that all the other VH’s are referred to by their own names by the npc’s. Jack calls her “vault hunter” in the opening scenes, and so does Roland in Jack’s office. Still… I find her way more interesting than Athena.

Nisha, Wilhelm and Clappy have really interesting personalities. I like them a lot! Doppelganger is kinda… meh!

So, now… not only do you need to reload one gun… but TWO! :rofl: Yeeeaaah… guess I’m missing something here!

#13

It’s the accent - it’s off, for want of a better word. As someone who grew up in south east London, I know what the accent should sound like, and that’s not it. It’s like listening to Dick van Dyke’s version of cockney in “Mary Poppins”, crossed with nails down the chalkboard.

You reload when everything’s dead…

#14

Precisely! And on top of that, she sounds quite young. Considering that she is Alistair’s sister, and he’s an old fart, she should sound more like an old hag. They sound bitchier! Any old hags present in this forum are excluded, of course.

Even if you run out of ammo… before… everything… is dead? :innocent:

#15

That. Never. Happens. :dukewhistle:

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#16

Build looks nice and should work well. I’d try sneaking in a point into Long-range killer because it’s quite nice for a potential damage boost for 1 point (even though I’ll admit I never really tested how much different ranges get extra damage so take that with a grain of salt).

A lot of people don’t like Whiteout because the visuals can be distracting but I personally really like it. The first point gives the biggest damage reduction so for me it’s a one point wonder. The area is quite big and every enemy inside it just gets a 17 % reduction on their damage? Sold!

If you are using that Celestial Baroness I’d also start working towards getting at least 1 point into Quality, not quantity. You have to waste the points on contract and valet on the way but with the COM that 1 point is immediately 30 % more gun damage and 18 % more firerate and at UVHM you can pretty easily always keep yourself with blue or above weapons since they can last you for a couple of levels more than in BL2 easily.

If you want to go super easy mode and still have the ability to pick up the Fridgia at lvl 50 from the quarantine quest chain I’d go for it. The gun is ridiculous to begin with and once you get 1 kill there is absolutely no way anything short of freeze immune enemies can stay thawed for more than half a second and the sheer dmg output with Avalance, Frostbite, Wintertide and all the raw gun damage and crit bonuses Aurelia packs kills them in seconds. I used a lvl 50 Fridgia just running straight into enemies and spraying into their heads while leveling and it still works at 60+ (not to mention that since you won’t get to 70 in 1 playthrough you can just go pick up another when the time comes).

Wintertide works awesomely with shotguns. It seems to roll freezing chance on every pellet and something not getting frozen in one hit while it is active is pretty much as rare as having someone not get slagged with a Pimp in one shot in BL2. I’ve liked Hyperion and Jacobs shotties on Aurelia a lot. Skullmasher with or without Wintertide is an overkill on her. At about 80+ Dutchess stacks you can oneshot kill pretty much any basic mobs at 70 even when far (2 shots before that if you are far) and it’s again awesome with Wintertide in case there’s something around that can withstand a shotgun/sniper blast straight to the face making it another very good option for something you can go pick up every once in a while if you need a gear upgrade as it is in Nel’s loot pool.

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#17

For some general advice since you asked if it’s like BL2 or different I’d say it’s the same but easier. Enemies don’t have as much health and no regen but shields tend to be a bit tankier in this game.

Every character has the ability to quickly create or close distance because of double jump boosting out of a spring is such a fast way to move. Slams are also a universal tool and do both quite a bit of damage and stun enemies a bit so it’s universal close range AOE / breathing room tool. Psychos can still run back and jumpkick you or slam you themselves upclose but it makes Kraggons an absolute joke because you can play Super Mario on their heads and just double jump off them indefinitely if they ever even get close enough to you (provided they don’t resist your slams elemental). You can also get into a habit of immediately pressing crouch if someone knocks you back, especially in a low gravity area as that will ground you from the air right then and there canceling the knockback.

Vendor checking is a reliable way to get blues and purples although I always felt a bit strapped on cash while I was leveling Aurelia (I never took another character to 70 in this game, it’s SO SLOW). Might very well be that I just wasn’t picking stuff up for selling tho. I grinded everything green and above and never had problems with gear while leveling so if I have to say something nice about that contraption it does make it so you don’t run into a gear draught and end up having to go farming for gear.

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#18

I haven’t tried it since I’m already finding it difficult to land crits while the DoT numbers and the freeze effect is swirling around the enemy heads. The fact that the centerspot on my sniper scope is almost the same color as the ice doesn’t exactly help. But I’ll give it a go! At least then, I’ll know what the hell I’m talking about! :slight_smile:

Yep! That’s the plan.

Never really liked that gun, but I also never thought about how it would be with Aurelia’s skills. I’ll give it a go! :+1:t3:

That’s also something I didn’t think of! I’ve pretty much stayed away from shotties on her, but that piece of advice surely makes sense. Thanks! I’ll go and insult Nel when the time comes, and see if he has a nice shiny for me. Really looking forward to climbing those towers! Yes, sir! No sarcasm there! :scream:

I really appreciate the advice I got from both of you, @VaultHunter101 and @Lammas. Thanks!

And as always… A special shoutout goes to @Gulfwulf for those awesome Torgue memes. Did you know that a Bonus Package works reeeally well on a bunch of frozen enemies? I’m surprised that it’s not considered Top Gear for Aurelia.

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#19

Bloody hell! This ain’t no joke! :scream: Zarpedon just ripped me a third one. :flushed: I’m afraid to even think of how the upcoming fights against the Sentinel and the bosses in Clappy dlc are going to look. I was cruising along with the gear I got at level 50, and I was doing just fine, and then… BOOM! I had to get out and farm for some better gear, and finally… I got her! :sweat_smile:

I was relying heavily on my Laser Disker reloads, but I might as well have thrown it off the side instead. It barely scratched the paint on her. The strategy that finally got me through it was to Frostbite her, and use a shock Thinking. The Vibra Pulse seemed to work best on the phase where she was still suited. I had no idea that she had that massive shield regen. :rofl: She’s always died like a little bitch in NVHM and TVHM, so it caught me completely off guard.

I’d really appreciate some strategy advice on that fight, since I’ll be doing it again at some point.

#20

You’ve already hit on the main thing - shock weaponry. IIRC you might be able to interrupt her shield regen? It’s when she does the punch-the-deck pose. You can try using the plasma cylinders to take out a chunk of shield in one go. Once she’s out of the suit, the main thing is to get the signal for those novas and time either a jump or cover so you don’t get put straight into FFYL.

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