TVHM Maya help?

Borderlands 2 Maya the Siren
#1

Really having a super difficult time with TVHM. I don’t understand why this is so hard. I have leveled 2 characters in BL3 and have played at max mayhem difficulty with much fewer problems than this and I’m not even close to max difficulty.

Wilhelm was my initial problem and that was solved with finding a specific weapon that was closer to my level before I could defeat it. However, now that I’m past that I’m having similar issues with Glutonous Thresher and even just regular mobbing.

I just die instantly to everything. I don’t do enough damage. I die over and over and over to the point that I have no money left to even buy gear upgrades when I see them on vending machines. I’m scrounging for ammo.

Every “boss” type enemy is 2+ levels above me which seems like an odd game design considering I’m still leveling with subpar gear that may not be properly matched to health bars or on level all the time. The added levels of these enemies just means I can’t damage them effectively. My last two skill points I dumped into sweet release to try and add survivability but that did almost nothing.

I’m actually at the verge of just putting this down because this is not fun. Just wondering if I’m missing some TVHM or Maya strategy that is making this harder than it’s supposed to be. For Wilhelm just having a specific gun (teapot) made all the difference but it’s not that feasible to die repeatedly…then have to search for some very specific gun to make progress only to immediately start dying repeatedly again and have to repeat that process. That seems like a very terrible and not fun game loop. Or maybe I just suck.

These are my skills at 40: https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#500501500052050000000502000000

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TVHM Wilhelm: why is it so hard?
#2

Use Converge in left tree and Cloud Kill in right. I would go into something like this at lvl 43 https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#050501000001000000000544511501
Move some points to skills boosted by your COM.

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#3

Spec into cloud kill an everything will be easy mode.

Also there is a safe spot in the thresher fight, i found it by accident.

You just need better gear. Trt to farm harold and fastball, level 30ish will last you until level 50. In that fight i link is in normal mode and i am level 10 and thresher is level 17 (did it for the challenge to finish the game at the lowest level possible).

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#4

If your playing solo I would recommend focus mostly on Cataclysm for damage and grab a couple skills like Ward and Sweet Release.

Immolate is God tire Fight for your life support.
Cloud Kill is ridiculously powerful on any enemy.
Reaper is another great skill for bumping your Damage per second.
Ruin is also a great skill no matter your level.

One thing to help prepare for TVHM is making sure you do the Hyperion Slaughter Dome in Normal. It is fairly challanging but will give you a ton of exp before you start TVHM. This will put you at a fairly competitive level for all of TVHM.

My last big tip is once your past Normal start keeping a decent Slag weapon with you. Being able to Slag targets makes them far easier to kill. TVHM you will still haft to “Slag and swap” to fully benefit from the damage increases.

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#5

With Ruin there is no need for slag weapon, even on OP levels, better choice will be slag grenade.

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#6

I find earlier game before you are able to push that CD down with a solid COM and Relic it is still worth keeping a slag weapon for FFYL. Grenades can be useful but at that point we are assuming by Sidartha’s second playthrough that they have a decent amount of Grenade SDUs. Considering that there post said they find themself under leveled against most larger enemies I can only presume there gear would also be some what behind. Using an under leveled non unique grenade for slag is a gamble.

Any slag gun mixed with Immolate will help deal with FFYL while solo. Once a player has more knowledge of the unique weaponry or if your at end game usually Slage guns are irrelevant past a small handful. But that is a whole different level of play. We are talking about first time experience in BL2.

If we are talking end game then all you need is Ruin/ Scorn/ Converge. Mix in Life Tap x Blight Phoenix and your damn near invincible whipe watching everything around you melt. A
But again that is a different level of play.

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#7

If it isn’t you’re first run through bl2, you may have just forgotten what a crazy grind the game is! Keep adapting and keep on top of the grind!

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#8

@Sidartha

Are you playing on pc? If so we can co-op and I can help you get through it. I too started a new Maya on BL2 and at the same spot in the story line.

When I get to this part of the story line, I go farm a shock Fastball and a Hellfire smg. I also get the Teapot to clear the bots in Overlook.

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#9

The middle of TVHM, around the 40s, has its own difficulties: one doesn’t have the skill points to get some builds really going and good gear can be scarce. Meaning, the often quoted UVHM cure-all method of ‘Farm Savage Lee for a Harold and things will be alright’ doesn’t work yet and some of Maya’s endgame strength are still missing.

For now, the OP’s build is a little all over the place. Every tree gets a little, but no skill beyond tier 3. At level 40 you should have 36 skill points (including the one spent on the action skill itself). As stated in this thread before, Cloudkill is quite weapon, as are Reaper and Ruin.

At that number of skill points its possible to go down Cataclysm tree to the capstone including CloudKill, Immolate, Chain Reaction etc. and put the remaining points into Ward and Suspension. That should help a little along the way.

As soon as the Converge/Ruin synergy gets going, things become easier.

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#10

Already using Converge. It’s slightly helpful but not enough to help me survive or kill fast enough. Will maybe try to respec out of Harmony tree to get to Cloud Kill now.

I will try that I guess but not sure how to survive longer than 3 seconds. I’m just so damn squishy.

Is Immolate better than Helios? I have an aversion to boosting FFYL when I’m trying to avoid FFYL but is that just inescapable in TVHM+? In BL3 I always avoid FFYL boosts and I don’t regularly go into FFYL because I focus on staying out of it. Maybe that is not feasible in BL2?

The horse is already out of the barn on that. I have been in TVHM since 30 and I have stayed “on level” with the story mission but so far on level with story has been too difficult in many cases. I feel like I need to out level everything to not die constantly. I’m also already using a slag grenade with leech (and a slag weapon if necessary) and while it’s helpful it hasn’t helped enough because I take so much damage I can’t stay out of FFYL.

Well it’s somewhat reassuring that this is a known difficult spot in the game and it’s not just me sucking. You say getting a Harold won’t help but others suggested that. Curious why you say that won’t help?

I was trying to take the most impactful and accessible skill that would either give DPS or survivability but one theme I’m seeing in all the responses for playing solo seems to be to focus on Cataclysm tree so I guess a respec is in order. Will try that thanks.

This is like my 3rd run through BL2…however, I always ended up getting distracted before getting to TVHM or soon after so I don’t have much time outside of story mode. It’s been a rude awakening even after playing on M10 in BL3.

#11

It does still help a little, as Nat suggested, even though it will become underleveled sooner or later. The main difference in UVHM is that that every area scales up whenever you gain another level. So it’s always possible to go to Three Horns Divide and farm for an on-level Unkempt Harold from Savage Lee and an on-level Fastball from Boll.

In TVHM this kind of scaling isn’t in place, so one has to make with the equipment one finds or has to spend some golden keys. It’s still possible, of course, but it’s just easier to get on-level equipment in UVHM. For example, one can do a very short farming run in Frostburn Canyon for a Lascaux, a Hellfire and two red chests or simply use the loot train as an always available source for gear.

In TVHM, legendary weapons sure help, but while an Unkempt Harold ten levels under still can be used, it lacks the punch of an on-level gun.

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#12

Get yourself to the Tina dlc and get a bee shield. Problem solved!:wink:

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#13

As others have said, CloudKill is an essential tool in Maya’s kit for NVHM and TVHM. It’s less important in UVHM.
And I assume you’re constantly phase locking, right? Constant. As soon as it’s cooled down, lock something. Never let it be idle if it’s cooled down.

As for squishiness, one aspect of TVHM is the number of elemental weapons the enemies have. I usually (98% of the time) am using an Adaptive shield to both get elemental resistance and the added health. I really only change shields to something else when I get to max level and enter Digistruct Peak, and even there I’m often wearing adaptive.

But other than that, grind your gear. I’ve done TVHM with a Maya about 72 times, and it’s all about getting the right guns. Again, now that you’re past Wilhelm you can go get some Lyudas. I pretty much only use Lyudas in TVHM, with the occasional Hellfire thrown in for fun.
Also, farm Storm Fronts. You’d be surprised how well a Storm Front attacks enemies, and they are effective for 10-12 levels above their marked level.

Then some sides and DLCs. You’re ripe for the Marcus DLC, or even taking a trip to the Valentine’s DLC (though you might want to just do 90% of it now and wait to do the final battle) to gain levels and gear.

And as soon else said, yes, the range of lvl 38 to 42 is pretty sparse for gear.

EDIT: Oh, and target prioritization. TVHM, and where you are now, brings you the joys of rabid animals (skags, stalkers, etc.) and blaster enemies, like nomads. Rabids are your #1 priority, since they move so fast and have devastating melee attacks. Blasters (and their buddies like storm masters) have really nasty rocket launchers.
So if you spot either of those types take them out as fast as possible. Ignore anything else to get rid of those guys.
–RoA

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#14

I don’t even know what a rabid is. lol. o.O

#15

So I was looking up level variants of the Harold and found this: https://borderlands.fandom.com/wiki/Unkempt_Harold/Variant_Chart

What is unclear to me is what determines level for this? Is it the level I first entered the zone which determines the zone level and therefor the gun level? Is it my character level? The enemy level? Looking at that chart it’s sort of odd that only 1 of them is listed as level 40 so I’m curious how I would go about getting that one?

#16

Oh you will learn. And learn to curse them.
You typically first encounter one (or two), rabid stalkers, in the plains during the mission Bright Lights, flying city in the Highlands Outwash area. Be on your guard.
IN fact, I’ve had six (6) of those nasty things appear there one time. Arg.
Then when you go into the Wildlife Exploration Preserve you’ll encounter more. And hate them.

Besides their speed and jerky movement, you can identify them by their silvery-gray speckled hide.
–RoA

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#17

That’s exactly the shield I use and always look to upgrade. It seems like the best overall bang for the buck with resists, shield and added health. Many of the other shields feel a bit gimmicky to me and I prefer full time benefit over theoretical or situational benefits unless I have good control over them.

#18

I of course agree.
I do use the Bee (the only other shield I use) in 3 situations.
First, Saturn and the Warrior. In both cases there are firing locations where I can’t get hit, so the Bee stays up constantly and I can take them out really quickly.
Second, Digistruct Peak. While it goes down frequently there, it’s up enough that it makes a big difference.

#19

Yeah, my experience with amp shields in BL3 isn’t good. I mean you can’t really control when the damage boost happens so I don’t like it. However, getting full time boosts is another story. That’s good assuming you can survive the low capacity of the shield and/or have gear to really put the damage over the top and make up for less survivability. Again, maybe better with more skill points.

There are a few shields like that in BL3 that I like…for instance the Snowshoe is amazing on Moze with Snowdrift Deathless. There are a few others but in general I prefer more boring but dependable options like the Transformer.

Back to the Unkempt Harold…that chart I linked above shows a level 40 version. I been trying to farm that and haven’t seen one drop yet but it doesn’t seem likely that it would be level 40 (my current level) because the zone is lower and Savage Lee is 32. I assume that means the gun will be 32 if it drops? How would you get a 40 version? Would you have to not enter that zone until level 40 so the zone gets set to that level?

Is it even worth farming for a level 32 Harold when I’m level 40? I mean I have a level 35 Maggie which I assume would be better than a 32 Harold but I don’t think I have ever used a Harold so not sure.

#20

From my experience that’s right.

Actually, that had me puzzled a little. Though it should be possible to start the Torgue DLC in TVHM and buy one with tokens from a Torgue vending machine. Those are exclusive to the DLC and offer legendary Torgue products as item of the day.

Personal opinion: No, it isn’t. There is enough other gear around and the first really good option was posted already:

:point_up: That is what to look for at the moment. The mission is available now and it’s worth the effort.

The Marcus DLC is done quickly and the loot train gives at least 4 relics, about half a dozen COMs and shields as well as two rocket launcher etc. each time. That may be a passable place to upgrade your gear.

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