The Shocket Launcher (fiiiiine, Peak Opener, whatev)

Borderlands 2 Loot and Weapons
#1

So. @Slif_One said we should talk about this gun more, but we were totally derailing a conversation about the weapon you use to get this (it rhymes with roof stick).

The Shocket Launcher is by far my favorite assault rifle I’ve ever found. As a Gaige, I’ve found it’s just a wonderful way of clearing house when I just need a bunch of stuff to die really quickly REALLY far away. It also makes for a wonderful FFYL weapon while not feeling like that’s it’s only use, saving a slot. Sure, the AoE isn’t Norfleet levels, but I always find that if I can’t hit anything with a gun. I’m not gonna do much better with a Rocket Launcher.

I like to head canon the Shocket Launcher (Peak Opener is such a lame name) as a Collaborative effort between Gaige and Torgue.

“I NEED THAT MANIC PIXIE ENGINEER TO MAKE ME A WEAPON”

“duuuude. You like explosions?”
“MY MIDDLE NAME IS EXPLOSIONS!”
“…have you…thought…about a SHOCKET LAUNCHER?”

“BEST. IDEA. EVERRRRR”

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#2

Actually it’s High Five :crazy_face:

I’ve said all this on another thread, but that one wasn’t about the Shocket Launcher.

It’s nuts on Krieg! Firstly, it’s a dual element, combining the two neutral and therefore most consistent elements. Point everyone.

Who even carries a shock weapon on Krieg to strip shields? Well now you can, do, and should!

Being pure splash, it always procs Blood Bath and reaps the benefits! No more using grenades or launchers because of ■■■■■■ impact damage stealing the kill.

This is where it gets really fun. Bloody Revival boosts the damage of the initial “projectile” and the child grenades, the child grenades are further boosted by Strip the Flesh and any other explosive or grenade damage buffs! This means Fuel the Blood too! Get a melee kill, wreak havoc with the Shocket Launcher! Combine with Redeem the Soul, #FFYLmeta! Wanna be an idiot and use Krieg on DigiPeak? Now you can thanks to the Shocket Launcher and Easy Mode! Did I already say #FFYLmeta? Dukino’s Mum will still kill you though, but moving on…

Use a blue Flesh Crunch COM for extra explosive damage and +6 to Strip the Flesh or a Legendary Reaper for +5 to Fuel the Blood and Blood Bath!

Axton gets a metric ton of explosive buffs too, Gaige can make full use of the Shocket part of the Shocket Launcher, Maya can hold enemies in place and yoink mobs so everyone gets blown the ■■■■ up. Mr. Torgue would be so proud :’)
Zer0 doesn’t give a ■■■■ because he does Zer0 things and “Peak Opener” is only four syllables so he can’t use it in a haiku, and Salvador can piss off because he’s too busy dual wielding to ADS.

#FFYLmeta #EffSalvador

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#3

The Peak Opener
What a strange little gadget
My kill has gone boom

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#4

First five syllables
Then come seven syllables
The Shocket Launcher

Nailed it :smirk:

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#5

I haven’t had the chance to spam the hell out of BARex with ye olde Shockette Launchre yet, but I’m looking forward to it (I think I have a couple level 80 characters either just starting or are partway through Torgue due to previous playthrough resets…) KerBlaster was one of my anti-BARex weapons in the past (until it was replaced with the Hail), but the PO is another level.

Oh. Yeah. I imagine it should really shred Piston’s blimp too, since it’s basically all shield.

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#6

I’m gonna go do that right now!

I’m not doing that. Lol

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#7

Sorry y’all, took Gaige’s through OP0 Peak and worked on learning how it works! The Shocket Launcher got some use on the first spider tanks, but a shock slow hand actually did more to them. But the Shocket Launcher was good for dropping a set of humans who were just too many to hit with an Orphan Maker :joy:

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#8

Due to its nature, the Shocket Launcher excels at clearing trash mobs at an unprecedented rate, but heavier enemies are best left for heavy weapons. My Krieg uses it to strip the shields of badasses then chunks them with the Unicornsplosion, for example. I use it sparingly, but when I point it at living things they cease living.

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#9

Pick up my Level 80 Gaige with the plan on killing Hyperius, I spawn in Pyro Pete, so decided to stack Anarchy and do Pete.

Got up to 400 and summon Pete, shoot the Peak Opener and the first shot down me, (anarchy accuracy penalty got me). RIP stacks, at least I stip Pete’s shield in FFYL with the Peak Opener.

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#10

True. But in TVHM the thing leveled Uranus in three clips. So, I need to figure out what I’m doing wrong. Lol. (No easy mode. I did use the Bee with the Shocket Launcher on that Spider Tank. But I also wasn’t paying good attention because I was afraid I’d hit DT and it would kill me.)

Hahahah always jump and aim a little higher than you need to when Anarchy Splashing. still mad at that loader that literally jump into my slow hand right after I fired it.

As I climb the Peak, I’ll try to remember to get footage of some good Shocket Launcher usage. As of now, I have a video of the Orphan Maker breaking my Hide of Terra in three shots, and a somewhat decent showing of how the melee Gaige timing works on some of the assassins.

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#11

At OP10, I emptied my AR and shotgun ammo and only took off about 40% of its health before realising I had a Legendary Sickle equipped.

I figured if I stocked up on ammo and switched to a Flesh Crunch I’d be able to finish him off before I ran out again. Nope.

So I went down to OP0, emptied half my AR ammo reserve then finished it off with two Fastballs. Satisfaction.

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#12

Interesting, shocket launcher here should do nearly as much as a shock Slow Hand per shot without the child grenades (the card damage is a lie, it does way more than the listed damage).

Spidertanks have weird hitboxes/damage-type resistances, but far as I know they don’t resist launcher splash

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#13

spider ants take reduced damage from splash … There some sort of weird averaging (like some bits of the splash hit the crit zone and some hit the more damage resistant areas) , sorry can’t really present a formula for it … Based on a few tests I’ve done on the dust I would say rough-fully 60% of the splash damage but that probably isn’t true for every spider ant type …

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#14

I was talking about SPR-tanks :laughing:though that is definitely still useful info for peak-goers.

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#15

Indeed, I was doing some dummy testing with Axton last night (level 80), doing PO vs. KerBlaster, and though the KerBlaster card shows it doing about twice as much damage as the shocket launcher’s, the shocky actually outdamages it about 4:3. Putting on a 39% explosive relic helps the KerBlaster, but the PO still slightly outdamages it.

The child grenade of the KerBlaster does a little more than twice the damage of the PO’s (btw this is all somewhat an uncontrolled science experiment since I left BAR on, COMs on, skills specced etc), but of course the PO drops a lot more grenades. And the fire rate of the PO is about twice the KerBlaster (and even faster when ADSing of course.)

KerBlaster = obsolete. :frowning: I guess unless you run into one of the few shock-resistant baddies.

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#16

I recall something about robots resisting shock on the Peak. I never did finish the test and forgot about it until now. Not that that explains why the SH did better than the PO.

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#17

To be exact the PO’s main projectile does three times the listed card damage, and each of the child grenade does 1/3rd the main one. Perhaps the card damage refers to the child grenade, or maybe its just a gaffe of GBX’s part- but hey, its not something I’m gonna complain about.

Yeah, I took the ole’ Kerblaster for a spin yesterday and it’s just so…lacking in comparison. Got straight-up obsoleted like the Hammer Buster and Trespasser.

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#18

It’s actually the case. I took an OP10 Peak Opener to OP0 for testing with no skills and no gear that affects damage (to get rid of the overlevel damage reduction) and this is the damage of the child grenade :

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Which is exactly the card damage :

20190708130952_1
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Also, important note nobody here brought up : I noticed the 3 child grenades count as unlisted projectiles, so they all get full Amp bonus.

So basically : the weapon roughly does 12 times more theoretical DPS as what’s on the card (3 child projectiles, main projectile doing 3 times the card damage, and ADS doubling fire rate) without needing any sort of accuracy, quadruples Amp Damage, AND ALSO gets double damage in the Peak !

Yup, it’s definitely a new meta weapon, hell I would say it’s the best AR in the game.
The Bekah needs that sweet spot, crits and a good trigger finger (or Tw0 Fang) while the Peak Opener is one of those plug’n’play weapons, just point and shoot. Bekah still has higher theoretical DPS but the Peak Opener is gonna beat it with every character in most situations because of how easy it is to reach its maximum potential.
On Krieg and Axton it blows the Ogre out of the water with ease. It’s easily Axton’s piece of choice for AR builds, and it procs Blood Bath with every kill on Krieg making it completely ridiculous for Reaper builds. And it’s still top-tier for every other character.

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#19

I don’t understand how you can like using this gun and be excited about it. Peak Opener is the most overpowered gun in the game and it’s boring. What is the best AR for Axton? Previously it was Ogre, Kerblaster, Hail or Bekah. Now it is Peak Opener. And everybody runs this gun in the time trials, even Zer0. What a great amount of gear choices the game has now, right?

Using Peak Opener is like turning the game on very easy mode. The devs even state it outright with the item names: Peak Opener “Top-tier pick for optimal play” used with the shield Easy Mode “Keep the pressure up without getting bodied” = turn the game on easy mode to effortlessly open (complete) the Peak (the most challenging part of the game)

Do you play other games on easy and feel satisfied about it? “Oh, I completed this game on very easy, I must be so good!”

I’m not saying they shouldn’t have added this gun I totally like Peak Opener. Overpowered items are good for the game as they serve as a difficulty selector - good players can always refrain from using these and have their challenge while bad players get a chance to actually complete the game. Also Peak Opener is great for farming or skipping parts of the Peak fast if you feel like practicing some specific part (like Dukino’s mom or the assassins). But are you really so bad at the game that you need to use something as overpowered as Peak Opener?

If you like using it, it’s fine with me, to each their own, but I would have more fun using white gear.

#20

The projectile has flight time, the child grenades spread and have a delay so they don’t always land, and most enemies are constantly moving. It chews through ammo because of its high RoF and consumes four per shot, if you overuse it you will run out of ammo.

That’s what you define as overpowered? It’s definitely at the higher end of the spectrum, but it’s not overpowered by a long stretch.

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