Hello, Hoyle4 here, but you can (and WILL) call me Vice President of Jellybeans, and I’m here to talk about Clappy, our resident misfit. This build is intended for solo play, but It can function perfectly fine as a cooperative venture. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Warning My formatting will probably be atrocious, so bear with me.
The Gear
- Thorny Ol’…
**NOW HOLD ONE ONE MOTHER-**ING MINUTE! “PEW-PEW-PEW!” LIGHT GUNS?! SERIOUSLY?! WANT A REAL WEAPON, FUELED BY THE AWESOME POWER OF EXPLOSIONS?! THE ANSWER IS YES!
Damn straight! There’s only one way to run this kennel club, and that’s with the baby punching-power of EXPLOSIONS! Let’s GET IT ON!
Note: Boominator Luneshine is ideal cuz 'splosions
Ol' Reliable
This will be one of your two explosive shotguns (why two? REASONS!). This slot is specifically reserved for the ammo efficient shotguns, because we all like to flak the world, but sometimes the lowly scav isn’t worth the ammunition, Some examples are as follows, in no particular order (Pick your poison):
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Casual Torguemada
(Torgue Grip/Hyperion Stock)
Note: This one can be a little tricky, cuz it fires in a quickly spreading triangular pattern. You wanna aim it at a surface so the flaksplosion afterwards can Boominate them.
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Casual Pounder
(Torgue Grip/Hyperion Stock/Jakob’s Barrel)
This one’s my personal preference for the all-purpose shotgun as it has a “normal” firing pattern, and it’s the perfect mix between a Bangstick and a Ravager, getting a noticeable damage boost without taking a huge hit to recoil and accuracy. It does cosume 2 ammo per shot but it’s not nearly as hampering as a ravager.
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Casual Bangstick
(Torgue Grip/Tediore Barrel/Hyperion Stock)
This is Mr.Torgue’s precision weapon (Well there’s the Stalker, but Mr.Torgue threatened to beat me with a pancake for recommending that “damage reducing p****-s***”). The damage isn’t bad despite the barrel adding literally nothing to the weapon, and the spread is slightly tighter than the Pounder while also being to fire twice as many shots (which may not be as good as you think, I’ll touch on that later), but the Pounder isn’t really hard to control, so it’s up to your preference.
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Rustler’s Moonface
(Jakob’s Grip/Hyperion Stock)
Looks like Torgue’s been fiddling around with the competition. This Jakobs shotgun is an anomaly: It shoots pellets in a smiley-face pattern that oscillates up and down as it travels. These pellets do NE damage, followed by an splash of wait for it EXPLOSIONS! weeedly-weedly-woooooow It’s a really good weapon IF you’re able to consistently hit your shots, so it’ s a learning curve.
The Boomstick
This slot belongs to your less than ammo-efficient devastation boxes. As clappy you don’t really have great ammo management in your abilities, so using one of these all the time might not be optimal, but It’s pretty damn fun. This slot could also belong to the shotguns that have a weird enough firing pattern that you feel uncomfortable using as your all purpose weapon, but exceed in specific scenarios (The Torguemada, for example could be in this slot if your sissy girly hands incapable of handling EXPLOSIONS)
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Casual Flakker
(Torgue Grip/Hyperion Stock)
I’m bad at using this thing, so I feel super bad recommending this monster to the unsuspecting masses. This thing shoots, splosions happen, then things die. Most of the splosions happen at a sweet spot, so it takes a little bit of practice to get it right, but if the enemy is large enough, it doesn’t matter how bad you are at using this thing as most of the flak will hit 'em anyway.There are flakker videos everywhere of good people using it to near max efficiency, so watch those if you need help with it.
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Casual Ravager
(Torgue Grip/Torgue Barrel/Hyperion Stock)
This gun shoots so many splosions that it’s not even funny, However, there are a couple catches. Firstly, the spread is massive so you better use it at close range or on a big baddie. The second caveat is that the gun uses 4 ammo per shot, so you will run dry if you use this too much.
The Backup Plan
Use this thing when it’s not optimal to use a shotgun (like when you’re outta ammo or when things start flying)
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Explicit 88 Fragnum
(Torgue Grip)
I wanna reccomend non-fragnum weapons here (your favourite flavour of torgue AR might be here), but the fragnum is really that good. With the laser sight, this thing is very good at hitting other things at mid-long range with impunity, and with clappy’s skills, it can do it very quickly. The only issue with this is that it isn’t the best at hitting flying enemies (Best that Torgue’s got). The bullets travel slow-ish so if they’re not heading towards you, you might have to lead your target.
The Loophole
Spoiler Alert, we be using subroutines, so we gotta have something to use when the subroutine isn’t in our favor (To be fair we don’t actually have to, but nobody likes being inefficient with damage). I think torpedoes aren’t affected by the penalty but if that was true there wouldn’t be a rocket launcher subroutine, so idk exactly (Halp pliss). However I am almost positive that this thing completely bypasses the gun damage penalty.
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Refill/Hefty IVF
(Scav/Tediore Grip, Dahl/Any Stock, Non Elemental)
I’m pretty sure Refill/Tediore or Hefty/Tediore has the highest DPS when reload throwing, but Hefty/Scav will give you the biggest number when you throw it, cuz it gives you the highest base dmg and the largest magazine. It may be super ammo inefficient to constantly reload throw it, but in UVHM you can get like 1600 shooty things to convert into explosions, so you can kill like a bunch of Iwajiras before you run out of ammo, so yeah.
The Non-Shooty Things
Imma be brief here, cuz this stuff isn’t too interesting.
Shield:
Option 1: Health Buffer
While this is my preferred option of shield, as our kit has an INSANE amount of damage so the shield slot can be more attributed towards balanced survivability (what a concept), there are options geared more towards blocking a particular damage source or increasing your damage, and they are equally viable.
Haymaker/Panacea Adaptive Shield/Reogenator (In that order)
I like the haymaker, the red text isn’t too fantastic but it let’s you give corrosive to not you (Clappy is armored technically so if you get an unshielded corrosive dot on you it’s gonna hurt). In addition it gives you the highest effective health out of all three, even though it has the lowest resistance iirc. The Panacea has the highest capacity so it does the best in a shield subroutine, but clappy’s all about health which is why I go with the haymaker. Theoretically the reogenator should be the best cuz it gives you the most health, but it’s not like I’m speccing into THAT much bonus health, so in practice it’s less effective than the haymaker and the panacea.
Option 2: DPS Booster
At this point in time some of you must be thinking, “HOW CAN YOU HAVE AN EXPLOSIVE BUILD WITHOUT CRYO! YOU’RE STUPID AND PROBABLY SMELL BAD!”, and to that I say…
Alkaline Avalanche/Warming Avalanche/Grounded Avalanche
…eh? K so Cryo is a really good element, it boosts your Explosive and Critical damage by 200% each when used on a frozen target, I just think the use of a Cryo weapon specifically limits my slot options when considering a subroutine focused Torgue build. I know that weapons can be shifted around and blah blah blah, but all of the “good” Cryo weapon options are fairly mediocre weapons on their own, or at least without a heavy build focus. That being said, with Cryo being so good for a Torgue focused Clappy, It would be completely ignorant to not incorporate it elsewhere in the build. While I personally prefer to have this in the form of the Longbow Cryo grenade, the Avalanche is another amazing option for incorporating Cryo. The perfect Avalanche in this case would include all Maliwan parts, as we’re not really using the “shield” parts of this shield but rather all the non-shield goodies that come with it.
Option 3: Basic B
As far as shields go, this one’s pretty good. Nothing fancy, but it does shield things, which is good.
Alkaline Shield
I’ve been toying around with getting a really good Tediore shield, with high emphasis on recharge delay, without hampering the other shield stats as much. My findings led me to using a Dahl Body, a Hyperion Battery, and a Maliwan (Corrosive Resist) Capacitor (In truth as long as one of the Body/Battery is Dahl and the other is Hyperion the shield should be the same). Generally, Dahl shield parts are avoided as they actively decrease the “special ability” of the shield, but since Tediore shields have no special ability to decrease, they’re fair game. While it’s true that all Hyperion parts (barring the capacitor as we really want that immunity to corrosive DoTs) will provide the lowest recharge delay, the capacity loss is nowhere near worth the 0.01 cut to recharge delay, so I mix in some Dahl.
As a shield this will provide less effective health than any of the adaptive shields, but the guaranteed immunity to corrosive DoTs coupled with how quickly it refills itself in combat prove useful on Clappy, especially when you roll a shield subroutine (Lava swimming becomes a reality with how quickly it recharges).
(so much for being brief)
Class Mod:
Gratuitous Loose Cannon
or
Audacious Sapper (OLT/KB)
The Loose Cannon gives you the best skills for damage as well as a pistol boost for the Fragnum, while the Sapper gives you a balanced skill boost with a explosive damage boost. Pick one and boominate.
Oz Kit:
Explosive Duality/Bomber/Systems Purge
I reccomend only using the system’s purge in atomosphere and only using the duality in a vaccuum. I forget exactly where grenade damage and explosive damage factor into the damage equation so idk which is better (the percentages are comparable but if one happens later in damage calculation that one would be better), but I’m pretty sure all the guns I’ve recommended get boosted by both.
Note: The Cryo slam is preferred were applicable.
Grenade:
This is basically preference. You can pack a Liongbow Cryo if you prefer a non-cryo based shield, or you could also use a Quasar/Pandemic/Stormfront to apply DoTs and Stack up Maniacal Laughter, which is far from a focus in this build but more of a bonus.
The Build
NOTE — There are 3 points that have not been assigned. I will talk about them at the end of this section.
The three points in Happy Guns will boost a torguemada’s mag to 8 ammo, to max OLT (unless the actual minimum mag size is bugged like in BL2 OR OLT actually only checking base mag size, and I’m doing this for no reason, clarification would be appreciated) Also if you really hate the Torguemada, you can slide the happy guns points into trap card or even shudder Start with a Bang for the purple com boost, as even 5 points of happy guns won’t boost a 6 mag to 8.
I’ll be walking through the Loose Cannon spec, as it is the one I use, but I hope the above explanation for the Sapper spec is sufficient. Without further ado, let’s do this.
Action Skill: [color=magenta]Heal[/color]...err...[color=Aqua]VaultHunter.exe[/color]
I use it to heal when I’m low, sometimes good things happen when I do that, sometimes I have to sit in a corner while I flail around with a Buzz Axe. I think the chances of good things happening are higher when you use it to heal when you’re low because I get Gun Wizard and Pirate Ship a lot.
[color=limegreen]Boomtrap[/color]
9/5 Drop the Hammer - It’s a deeps increase, nuff said, the accuracy drop kinda sucks on shotguns, but splosions so it’s k.
5/5 Killbot - Kill Things, get health. Admittedly not as good with a haymaker/panacea as your shield won’t be down as often as it would be with a lower capacity shield (maybe worth using a reogeo on the sapper spec as its capacity is shite anyway, haven’t tested it though).
1/1 Second Wind [By Tediore] - Not a great skill but CC is only useable on moonface and that’s only on one pellet, and sometimes it’ll be a quick pickup from FFYL.
10/5 Load n’ Splode - This is one of the main reasons why something like a bangstick might not be the best thing ever, because you want a gun to be able to empty its mag ASAP. You have a bunch of fire rate boosts so it’s not that big a deal to keep a healthy amount of load n’ splode stacks even with a larger mags.It’s really hard to pass up a potential +200% explosive damage. The stacks go away quickly so you generally only have a few seconds of 5 stacks unless you’re using a Moonface. Also don’t reload your weapon early to stack this up. It’s not necessary and you potentially botch OLT.
5/5 One Last Thing - This skill is wierd. Your kinda last shot has a kinda boost in damage. There’s been some number crunchers working on what exactly happens with this skill, but from my understanding the second last shot boosts your splash damage, while the last shot boosts the impact damage. Its good, because using your entire clip…err mag…err shooty bucket happens fairly often with your torgue weaponry.
1/1 Livin’ Near the Edge - Stupid good deeps increase when you get your faced busted in. You’re clappy, so it’ll happen often. Also adds the most epic action package ever (V for Vendetta is my favourite movie so getting this for the first time was the best thing ever). It’s a little slow to get all of its damage off, but it does alot of free damage, so try not to die with it.
[color=deepskyblue]I Love You Guys[/color]
5/5 Maniacal Laugher - You might see an issue with this skill in combination with the focus of the build, explosions don’t do DoTs nor are they affected by elemental effect chance, but I really don’t like the other skill in solo, plus there are some other quirks in your kits that can proc DoTs as well as grenades so it’s not entirely useless.
5/5 All the Things are Awesome! - You can also take the 25% cdr, but your Heal only has a 40s cd and is not that useful anyway, so 10s off is no big deal. Back to this skill. The bonuses are small for solo, but hey all of the bonuses are fantastic anyway.
1/1 You’re…GOING TO LOVE ME - The nova is bugged iirc so that the 15% ish heal won’t count your bonus health, but it doesnt matter cuz Gun Wizard is a thing. Refills your mags, gives you more of everything. SPLOSIONS!
[color=indianred]Fragmented Fragtrap[/color]
1/1 All the Guns - Mandatory. It’s good when you get pistol or shotgun, it doesn’t matter when you get the other ones because IVF/the damage decrease isn’t that bad to begin with,
3/3 Fuzzy Logic - Mandatory. Free crit is good and non-torpedo torgue things like that
1/1 Safety First - Mandatory. These defensive bonuses are really good, esp when tripleclocked is factored in as it increases the capacity bonus regardless of frag stacks.The damage decrease is not a big deal cuz broken record.
5/5 Surprised? Stabilize! - Accuracy boost is really good with shotguns, recoil is gravy, also with fuzzy logic your buff icon becomes a Jack-in-the-Box Koala and it’s totes adorbs.
1/1 Tripleclocked - Potential damage boost is good, penalties aren’t a thing cuz broken record. One Shot Wonder isn’t really good at all, but I have only really gotten it when I accidentally use it at full health.
5/5 Grenade Vent - I’m pretty sure every Torgue thing and IVF get boosted by grenade damage, daz it. Also with a bomber kit you can potentially extend a good subroutine for a very long time.
9/5 Death Machine - It’s only REALLY good with the COM boost, but when you get it you get such many deeps increase, also you get to be a nascar for a few seconds
Now for those final three points. Here’s a short list of potential skills for the extra three points.
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It’s a Trap…Card - This nova is bugged too iirc in the same way the other nova is bugged, I don’t like this one as much as it’s dependent on how often your shield gets popped and how much damage you take after it gets popped, and the damage isn’t fantastic, but it’s a fairly free point.
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Rainbow Coolant- This ability is more fun than practical, Both the nova and the action package apply DoTs for Maniacal Laughter, so that’s a thing. The issue is that planning for when your frag stacks run out is basically random. You have marginal control with grenades but more often than not you see a pretty rainbow hitting nothing but your vehicle. Disco Inferno seems bad, so it might actually be detrimental to take this skill, but WHIMSICAL EXPLOSIONS OF A CHILD’S IMAGINATION!
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Pain Simulator is Painful - The last two points after Trap Card will generally go here, you already get health boosts with your shield and All the Things are Awesome! and Health Subroutines, so this is arguably better than Wax Off, Wax On, unless you plan on using a non-adaptive shield option.
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Through Thick and Thin - Eh…its k you get heal more often
You can basically put the 3 points anywhere, but I personally recommend they go into Trap Card and Pain Simulator. So my final spec would look like this.
That’s about it boys and girls! I would post a gameplay section but It’s pretty straightforward: Use the right gun for the situation and use whatever Heal gives you to the best of your abilities. Thank you all for reading, and feel free to chat it up below. Have a nice day.
props for being able to run without the cryo crutch. I don’t know what I’d do without my beloved Fridgia.