I have started BL2 3 different times and I always get interrupted before getting to max level. Since some of the later DLCs increase level cap to 80 from 50…do those level cap increases also give more skill points and if so how many more? Can you just max out most of the skill trees or did they add more skills to the trees or something?
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They do. You get 75 skill points in total and can get most if not all skills you want
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So they never added anything to the existing skill trees to make them bigger or anything?
Nothing, skill trees are the same as they were in the basic game in 2012.
Here’s skill calculator https://bl2skills.com/vanilla.html This should answer any of your questions about skill points
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Yeah, I was using that but since it said “vanilla” I wasn’t sure if that was outdated and there was another one with added skills. I guess it’s just the difference between base game and the unofficial patched game.
Seems sort of odd that the end game would devolve into no build diversity like that where each class just gets all the skills for each class.
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The level cap raise from 72 to 80 was very late in the game’s lifespan. You still had to think about where you allocated points at 72, maybe not so much at 80. Some characters don’t benefit much from the extra points, but others (e.g. Axton?) do.
For fun you could completely max out any one skill tree, then allocate remaining points strategically. Hardly minmaxing but might make for some giggles.
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I honestly never understood why GBX did that. I didn’t do the peak and was quite happy at level 72. I still play BL2 from time to time, but pretty much exclusively with characters that are still levelling through NVHM and TVHM. I wish that having the extra 8 levels had been completely optional, and you could have chosen to keep any individual save ‘locked’ at an appropriate threshold (72, 72+P, 80, 80+OP).
Too late now, unfortunately.
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I think the extra points were intended as a bonus for those who stuck with the game all that time? I could have lived without them: UVHM was already enough of a grind to 72. Only did the OP levels with Maya and Sal. Maya was more fun but I only managed thanks to the terrific OP level guides on these forums.
It takes a while to get to max level (now 80). If you want to just run the peak once to have a look, you can do that after you complete the main story - I did it in TVHM just to see. It’s basically a don’t-die-gauntlet with a series of different zones. In UVHM you need to hit max level and complete the story. Then, successfully completing the peak unlocks an overpower (OP) level that you can select through the character select menu. This increases enemy stats; playing at OP1 also means enemies drop OP1 weapons and gear, which have increased stats. Running the peak on OP1 unlocks OP2, etc. At certain points, new zones/enemies appear (or can appear) during the run that increase the challenge.
Highly unlikely.
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Yeah, it’s kinda funny…
You can finish Story in UVHM at about level 57. Prior to the final increase, that meant grinding 15 levels more to be able to go to the Peak to get OP levels and gear.
Now, with the cap at lvl 80 that’s 23 levels (if my basic arithmetic is good) to get to the Peak being meaningful.
It’s truly a grind. The only characters I have in the “new” OP levels are ones that were already lvl 72 when the DLC came out. I doubt I’ll take another char from lvl 1 to 80/OPs, I have my OP characters, I’ll just use them.
And quite frankly I didn’t really need the extra skill points. Filled in some corners, but nothing earthshaking.
–RoA
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Probably 
I really used to know this board like the back of my hand. Not so much now.
Don’t worry about True. Do some side quests, otherwise you’ll end up facing Hero’s Pass at 46. Try to be 48-49 so the Warrior can get you to 50-51.
Ultimate however :
First thing is make sure you know what side missions give a unique quest reward you’d like (Lady Fist, Fibber, Heartbreaker) to have at max level. If there isn’t one (looking at you Evil Smasher), do it.
Do Marcus’ Xmas Headhunter straight away : gets you access to the loot train for the duration plus Tinder is worth 20K xp iirc.
Slappy is good for a few levels too. A couple of Contraband Skyrockets deals with it pretty quickly.
DLCs and Headhunters are all safe to run through except having to stop at “Whoops” in Scarlett’s. There aren’t too many unique quest rewards you need to save : Jolly Roger, Pimp, Orphan Maker, SWORDSPLOSION!! come to mind.
Dust runs are great : McNalley, Gettle and Mobley, Mick, Black Queen and maybe some tubbies.
Peak runs are also great for xp. Until you get to 80, there’s no advancement for OP level but it’s still a fun circuit.
Varkid pods give 1K. The beginning of Wam Bam has you injecting pods. Just keep killing them instead.
Hope that’s a start.
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Doing everything @Jefe suggested once each should get you to 72 at least, maybe a bit beyond depending on how many of the side quests you pick up along the way. Once there, repeating the headhunter bosses and a few raids should do the job. It’s a fair number of hours, but at least it’s not doing the same single thing over and over. I find it considerably less painful than grinding to max level in TPS.
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Can someone clarify something for me? Do all side missions get reset with each new playthrough? Like if I do all the side missions in story mode and then reset to TVHM will I have access to all of them again even if I completed them in story mode? Same with UVHM? Or are there some that don’t get reset in the next iteration?
If they all do reset…wouldn’t it be smart to do all/most side missions in TVHM before moving to UVHM to squeeze as much XP out as possible before moving on?
All the quests reset when you go to a new play through, uvhm allows you to reset it whenever you want and it resets all the quests as well. Doing all the side missions isn’t a good idea because once you get to level 50 in tvhm your XP gains slow down by a lot.
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TVHM is a complete play-through of everything from landing in Windshear Waste so yes, everything is reset except your character’s level, BAR, and gear.
Note that you can switch at any time between NVHM and TVHM at the character select menu.
You do not want to go too far past the TVHM level cap (50) before you start UVHM because all gear you get will be at most level 50, but enemy scaling is steeper in UVHM so those level 50 weapons will become out-classed much sooner than in TVHM or NVHM. (Enemies also have health regen in UVHM).
Some rewards from missions and side quests in TVHM are worth having at the start of UVHM, but it’s not worth doing all the side missions if you’re going on to the higher difficulty.
You can find more info on specific quests and rewards in the final section of this post:
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If you asked me a year ago it would have been 72 
Yes, 80. If it’s something you want for end-game. The Lady Fist is a perfect example. No one needs the LF for the storyline, but definitely for the Peak and raids.
I forgot this :
I’d personally just wait til 80 to get my Heartbreaker or whatever. It’s painful, but, builds character 
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