A bit of trouble with survivability

Borderlands 2 Krieg the Psycho
#1

Build I’m using:
https://bl2skills.com/psycho.html#55000503035100550105100055205152051

I’ve had some really good moments with it, and the self-damage is usually manageable, but I keep running into situations where I have a fire DoT on me that seems to do way more damage than usual, and I go down. And I can’t quite figure out what’s causing those scenarios and how to deal with them.

I tried running the Rough Rider, and just had disastrous luck with it. Switched to an Evolution, and that was a big improvement for me. It seems like the elemental resistance greatly reduced the situations where I got downed by the fire DoT. But every once in awhile, the damage chunks are really large, and if there aren’t enemies around to heal from, it’s game-over.

Not sure if I should grab an inflammable shield and slap that on when I encounter that big DoT (or maybe it’s too late at that point).
Or spec out of Feed the Meat/Embrace the Pain so I get some shield defense (seems like I give up too much of Krieg’s intent).
Or ???

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#2

Have you tried pulling points from the tier 1 Hellborn skills to max out Numbed Nerves? That could make a difference in the DOTs downing you.

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#3

What COM are you using?
Your build is close enough to what I run (yes, Numbed Nerves over Fire Fiend would be a recommendation). If I’m using a Legendary Torch it’s rarely an issue ; if using a Toast or Legendary Reaper I typically need a Moxxi.

That said, my guy normally has a Hail just in case.

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#4

I’m using Legendary Torch. In fact, finding that Com while playing another character was the catalyst to come back and try Krieg again.

Skimming some points somewhere in order to fill out Numbed Nerves sounds like a good step.

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#5

This is my current (OP8)

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This is for strictly guns, so no need for Fuel the Blood. Bloodsplosion does next to nothing with the gear he uses (Omen, Hail, Harold, Slagga, Chain Lightning), so Salt the Wound does more - up to 100% more to be precise. I could easily take the points in Boiling Blood and put them into PiP but I’m still undecided on that skill.

It could be you simply need more ignition, more DoTs. Try a Chain Lightning or Pandemic - they are probably the most reliable. The CL is just that much better when you need ignition right now while the Pandemic is the best at maintaining DoTs.

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#6

I may be the only one, but I also like the Fire Storm. It’s not instant, but it is pretty potent. You should definitely carry the others, I most certainly do, but on a map with lots of flesh the Fire Storm will do silly damage.

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#7

The above build shown by Boss Jefe is a good one, but if you still want Bloodsplosion, you can take away points in fire fiend and a point in Salt the wound to get Bloodsplosion

https://bl2skills.com/psycho.html#55000500055100550105140055505101051

I would suggest stick with the rough rider or switch to a flame of the firehawk if you have one.

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#8

Most of you probably already realized that the Evolution wasn’t doing me any favors. The elemental resistance is gone when the shield is depleted, which is most of the time. So not sure why I had the perception that it was helping, but probably just too small of a sample size, and random events.

Now using a Blockade, and extra points in Numbed Nerves, and that’s helping.
https://bl2skills.com/psycho.html#55000500055100550105100052505153051

He’s crazy-nuts when mobbing dense areas. If there’s a fault, it’s that there’s so much graphic fluff happening, it’s hard to see what’s going on. But crowds just disappear.

It’s odd that I don’t use his action skill at all, short of faster run speed when there’s no one around. And most of the time, I don’t really use melee either, since no one survives long enough to get close to. I might respec into FtB at some point for special occasions, but in the meantime I wasn’t using it enough to make a difference.

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#9

Talking of Krieg, does anyone know of a good breakdown on how to make the most of his stack-based skills during game-play? I’m thinking mainly of the Bloodlust and Hellborn trees for now.

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#10

The Blockade has a higher damage reduction than the Rough Rider, but the Rough Rider also helps you health stack, which is why it’s usually considered the definitive move. But that’s a tad nitpicky, you’re in good shape either way.

Anything in particular giving you cause for pause, or trouble? My Hellborn/Bloodlust Krieg builds both sets of stacks quite quickly once an encounter starts and generally doesn’t lose them until it’s over. A Flame of the Firehawk is a good way to build and maintain stacks in general, if you can deal with the strobe effect.

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#11

And gives you shield down and incoming damage skill boosts : Embrace the Pain and Salt the Wound.

@VaultHunter101
Elemental Elation and Bloodlust stacks come in tandem : dealing elemental damage consistently. Raving Retribution and AoE grenades will keep those going.
Salt the Wound just needs a downed shield.

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#12

So far I have just specced into what looks good, and play using whatever I have to hand gear-wise. However, my highest level Krieg is now in the spot where I can easily be more selective in gear choices, so I’d like to be playing smarter to the skills. Right now he’s more Bloodlust-Mania, but I don’t enjoy melee quite as much as gun play, and I’m looking at changing to a build more like the ones posted above.

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#13

Yeah, that too. Oops.

@VaultHunter101 What Jefe said. Element matching can help as well. Vladof nades (preferably the legendary variety) are your friends, as are Maliwan arms. High DOT chance will get your stacks up easier. The Hornet would work well, but I find I am far less likely to ADS with Krieg than any other toon so usually don’t go Dahl. A Gub or Tinderbox would be awfully good at getting stacks up, and once the stacks are up they are seriously nasty.

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#14

So basically what you’re saying is stick to elemental load-outs with high elemental chance, and forget about the details? I can get behind that!

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#15

For reference, my BloodBorn Krieg is loosely tied to Maliwan and Torgue gear. Maliwan leans into the Hellborn Tree and Torgue leans into Bloodlust. I like the Infection, Hellfire, Kerblaster, Seeker, Firestorm, and because I don’t worry too much about allegiance Pandemic, Storm Front, Rolling Thunder, and Bonus Package nades. The Flame of the Firehawk is for when I’m playing lazy and the Rough Rider is for when I’m playing smart. Either way you’re locked into gunplay, and once you’ve wound Krieg up he’s nigh unstoppable. Like a malevolent version of the Tick with better dialogue.

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#16

So a quick update. I respecced by level 51 Krieg into the beginnings of the build above, and things are going much better. The New Pandorans shields are still a pain, but overall I can push through much better. Running through Sanctuary at the end of Commander Lilith with a FotFH, Winter is Gone relic, Heart Breaker, and Antifection grenade was absolutely insane. (Used Hector’s pistol for the shields). SO. MUCH. FIRE!!!

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#17

They tried to fix Flame Flare, but it’s still glitched and stacks multiple fire DoTs on you instead of refreshing the initial one. Causing you to take exponentially more damage than you expect while mobbing at times.

Also you should max out numbered nerves, and maybe post your gear. A Legendary Reaper has more survivability than a torch for example, and you need it at OP10 a lot of times. The Flame of the Firehawk is better for Elemental Empathy and health gate looping, but the Rough Rider is good too (though a little sketch at OP10). And a Stormfront or Chain Lighting is good for panic healing, even without Moxxi.

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#18

Weird, for me self-ignite is never a threat. What is a problem is when you catch a fire DoT from enemies, which can be a pain to shed due to the reproc effect, but it’s not like it stacks it just lasts forever (the bonus health of the RR is a godsend here). I generally go either 5/5 (Reaper) or 6/5 (Torch) with FF, not comfortable playing with less.

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#19

actually self ignition from something like a fire barrel, fire grenade, fire splat gun , fire rocket launcher might be a problem if the ~3.5 fire dot multiplier applies in this case …

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#20

I was referring to the natural self-ignition from BBB and FF, which is negligible.

Ofc your own fire grenades and barrels are even more likely to kill you than enemy fire DoTs if they connect.

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