[Build/Guide] Axeplosive Rampage - Bloodlust/Mania

Borderlands 2 Krieg the Psycho
#1

Content

  1. The General Gameplay Build
    1.1. Gameplay Demonstration @Level 61
    1.2. The Skills
    1.3. Skill Effects & Synergies
    1.4. Recommended Gear
    1.5. How to Rampage
    1.5. Leveling Advices

  2. Build Variations
    2.1. StV-less Axeplosive Rampage
    2.2. Axeplosive Suicide Bomber
    2.3. Axeplosion of the Firehawk
    2.4. Slab Nozzle Axe Slinger

  3. The Boss Fight Builds
    3.1. Terramorphous
    3.2. Pyro Pete
    3.3. Hyperius
    3.4. Voracidous

1. The General Gameplay Build

Gameplay Demonstration @Level 61:

Note: These videos are made with previous versions of the build - they are outdated.


And here is my new and awesome OP8 Melee Guide with German commentary:

The Skills:

(click on the images in case the skill calculator website doesn’t work)

Skill Effects & Synergies:

  • Blood Overdrive can be useful in non-BXR and Reaper builds. Otherwise you shouldn’t use it because the duration is short and the Release the Beast negates nearly any benefits of this skill.

  • Buzz Axe Bombardier increases your damage output significantly, especially in combination with
    Fuel the Blood. If you throw an axe while Fuel the Blood is active you’ll deal far more damage than with a standard melee attack. Check out my guide on Buzz Axe Bombardier to come to a real understanding of this skill.

  • Fuel the Blood increases the damage of:

  • Buzz Axe Bombardier

  • Love Thumper’s novas

  • Bloodsplosion

  • grenades

  • guns which list “Deals bonus elemental/explosive damage” on the item card (some exceptions that deal bonus splash damage, take a look to the Alternative Gear section for more information on that topic)

  • Light the Fuse (dynamite sticks & final explosion)

  • Blood Bath increases your gun damage while you’re waiting for the next Release the Beast chance and provides you with more grenades you can carry if you kill an enemy with:

  • grenade

  • some guns with additional splash damage like most Torgue weapons, check this list for a complete summary

  • Buzz Axe Bombardier

  • Light the Fuse

  • Love Thumper, Hide of Terramorphous and Flame of the Firehawk novas (resp. nearly every nova shield)

  • Bloodsplosion

  • Raving Retribution

  • Blood Trance is fun to use and useful in lower difficulty modes. But in UVHM (OP+) it will prevent you from chaining Release the Beast to gain full health without the need to kill an enemy.

  • Embrace the Pain doesn’t work while Krieg is in BXR. The fire rate bonus and increased shield recharge delay are only active while not rampaging.

  • Thrill of the Kill helps to keep you alive if you want to kill enemies with guns. If you want to focus on BXR primary you should skip this skill because it can screw up your Release the Beast activation if e.g. a Bloodsplosion kills an enemy right at the moment when you’re activating Release the Beast.

  • Light the Fuse is absolutely fun but is weak in TVHM difficulty. You should put 5 points in Strip the Flesh if you want to use it.

  • Strip the Flesh increases the damage of:

  • explosive guns

  • explosive grenades

  • Love Thumper novas

  • Buzz Axe Bombardier

  • Bloodsplosion (Explosive/Non-Elemental/Melee)

  • Light the Fuse

  • Silence the Voices is extremely powerful. To bypass the chance of self-damaging you should throw your axe as often as possible, especially when Fuel the Bloo is active.

  • Release the Beast provides invincibility during the transformation. Make use of this to close gaps to enemies.

  • Pain is Power increases your standard melee damage but decreases your critical melee hits. If you hit crit spots a lot you shouldn’t use this skill, especially not on higher skill levels because it decreases your critical damage to less than your standard hits.

  • Elemental Elation increases your axe throwing frequency because of the fire rate bonus. Useful if you run elemental weapons.

Recommended Gear:

  • Primary weapon:
    [LIST=1]
    []a Bandit Rockets! assault rifle to bring yourself under 33% health by shooting at your feet. You can also use another manufacturer’s assault rifle with Torgue barrel but you shouldn’t use a Torgue one because you can easily kill yourself with it if Fuel the Blood is active and you don’t notice it.
    [    ]or a powerful gun like a Double Penetrating Unkempt Harold or a shotgun (preferably slag or explosive) while waiting for the enemies to bring you under 33% health
    []or a slag gun with a high elemental effect chance.
    [/LIST]
    [    ]a fire weapon with high projectile velocity for fleshy flying enemies
    []a corrosive weapon with high projectile velocity for armored flying enemies
    [    ]a rocket launcher (Badaboom, Norfleet, etc.), a Tediore Plasma Caster or another powerful weapon for second winds
    [/LIST]
    [LIST]
    []Shield:
    [LIST]
    [    ]COLOR=“DarkOrchid” Love Thumper[/COLOR] to easily gain Salt the Wound stacks and boosting the novas with your explosive and grenade damage bonuses
    []COLOR=“Orange” Hide of Terramorphous[/COLOR] for even more melee damage. It is harder to use (harder to gain/maintain Salt the Wound stacks) than a Love Thumper because of the low shield recharge delay.
    [    ]The Rough Rider is almost mandatory if you want to play OP (overpowered) for at least OP level 8 and don’t use health relic.
    [/LIST]
    []Scream Sickle class mod (+6 Silence the Voices / +5 Fuel the Blood) or Legendary Sickle
    [    ]Relic:
    [LIST]
    []Explosive Relic if you want to use explosive weaponry and to boost your Bloodsplosions
    [    ]Vitality Relic / Blood of the Ancients / Resistance Relic (Fire/Shock/Explosive/Non-Elemental) / Blood of the Seraphs: to increase your survivability / make it easier to hit the 33% health range for Release the Beast. Especially the first two are perfect if used in combination with The Rough Rider shield since the health increase of the relics is added after the health bonus from The Rough Rider is added to your base health and therefore the boost is extremely high.
    []Sheriff’s Badge to increase your axe throwing frequence and therefore your overall DPS
    [/LIST]
    [    ]Slag O-Negative to slag your enemies and get additional healing while you’re in BAR or a Slag/Shock Singularity Grenade (especially Quasar) to pool your enemies, get rid of their shields or slag them. A Magic Missile is a great way to slag multiple enemies simultaniously and reliably without slagging yourself.
    [/LIST]

How to Rampage:

[youtube]bHQdomXt3xo[/youtube]
[LIST=1]
[]Activate Buzz Axe Rampage while under 33% health (an exclamation mark appears to the right of your health bar, Krieg says something like “Time to rampage”) to trigger Release the Beast. If you’ve more health:
[LIST=1]
[]and there are no enemies in sight use e.g. a Bandit Rockets assault rifle (credit goes to Spunky117), shoot at your feet and damage yourself
[]or let the enemies damage you but be careful if you’re under 50% health because enemies can now one-shot you.
[/LIST]
[]Kill an enemy with your melee attack to trigger Fuel the Blood.
[]From now on you deal far more damage with the thrown axe (~10.000k) than with a melee attack (~5.000k).
[]Now there are two options:
[LIST=1]
[]Still kill enemies with your melee attack to gain more Bloodlust stacks for additional Damage Reduction and Grenade Damage bonuses.
[]Throw your axe until Fuel the Blood ends and repeat the previous steps.
[/LIST]
[]Another point is the positioning:
[LIST=1]
[]If you’re surrounded by enemies try to use melee attacks to trigger the novas of the Love Thumper.
[]If the enemies stay close to each other or there is just one enemy, throw the axe.
[/LIST]
[]If you’re going down keep on mashing the button for your melee attack since while the Fight For Your Life animation you can still attack and it just needs one lucky hit to get back up before the FFYL timer starts.
[/LIST]
The weird thing about this is that Taste of Blood gives you the additional stacks only if you kill an enemy with a melee attack although the skill description doesn’t list such a specification.

Leveling Advices:
[LIST]
[]Put one point in the Bloodlust tree to gain bonuses from Bloodlust stacks. Then focus on the Mania tree.
[]Get Fuel the Rampage as early as possible. Delete it once you have Release the Beast.
[]Shoot with your guns and don’t try to stay always in melee range.
[]Don’t be economical with your Slag Transfusion grenades. Throw one or two of them before entering combat with multiple enemies.
[]Use your thrown axe to stagger your enemies to close gaps easier.
[]On the early levels a Slab class mod can be very helpful.
[]Get your hands on the Moxxi weapons as soon as possible to regain health if you’re not in Buzz Axe Rampage (BAR). Use them until you can use Release the Beast.
[]Get your hands on Release the Beast as soon as possible.
[]Don’t attack Badasses frontally. Throw your axe, charge in if the enemy is staggered and finish him off with a melee attack.
[]Some enemies (especially badasses) like Constructors, Saturn can deal devastating melee damage. Just throw your axe.
[]You don’t want to melee EXP and Hot Loaders since they explode when killed and you’ll most likely die.
[]Make use of your slag guns, especially for badasses, bosses etc. at the latest in UVHM.
[*]Stay away from barrels if you’re low on health.
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]2. Build Variations[/SIZE]

[SIZE=“3”]StV-less Axeplosive Rampage[/SIZE]

[youtube]5U2jFzrVLTU[/youtube]

The Skills: http://www.bl2skills.com/psycho.html#50505515002150550005150100000000000

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]a slag or explosive shotgun (e.g. Butcher, Swordsplosion, etc.)
[]a gun for second winds (e.g. a powerful rocket launcher)
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]COLOR=“Orange” Hide of Terramorphous[/COLOR] or COLOR=“DarkOrchid” Love Thumper[/COLOR]
[]Salt Meat (+6 Salt the Wound / +5 Empty the Rage)
[]Might of the Seraphs or Strength Relic
[]Magic Missile
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]Axeplosive Suicide Bomber[/SIZE]

[youtube]2ctUNGq3A3w[/youtube]

The Skills: http://www.bl2skills.com/psycho.html#50500515004120550015155100000000000

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]an explosive shotgun (e.g. Swordsplosion, Ravager, etc.)
[]any kind of explosive guns (e.g. Ogre, Unkempt Harold, etc.)
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]Deadly Bloom
[]Flesh Crunch (+6 Strip the Flesh / +5 Taste of Blood)
[]Elemental Relic (Explosive)
[]Magic Missile
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]Axeplosion of the Firehawk[/SIZE]

[youtube]tym5K3vB3-4[/youtube]

The Skills: http://www.bl2skills.com/psycho.html#50500515004150550000155130000000000

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]an fire elemental shotgun (e.g. Blockhead)
[]an corrosive elemental shotgun (e.g. Omen)
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]Flame of the Firehawk
[]Scream Sickle (+6 Silence the Voices / +5 Fuel the Blood) or Legendary Psycho (Build)
[]Blood of the Ancients (+ shotgun ammo pool)
[]Magic Missile
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]Slab Nozzle Axe Slinger[/SIZE]

[youtube]Be8EKd4S4Fg[/youtube]

The Skills: http://www.bl2skills.com/psycho.html#50500515050150305005155000000000000

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]Grog Nozzle
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]COLOR=“DarkOrchid” Love Thumper[/COLOR]
[]Rampaging Slab (+6 Fuel the Rampage / +5 Feed the Meat)
[]Sheriff’s Badge
[*]Storm Front
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“4”]3. The Boss Fight Builds[/SIZE]

[SIZE=“3”]Terramorphous[/SIZE]

Terra fight
[youtube]VzvQBJK_wn0[/youtube]

Skill Calculator Link

Any roid shield is viable. But the best results you’ll achieve with a Hide of Terramorphous. Wait until the Masher phase begins so Bloodsplosion can chain from enemy to enemy and every time the damage becomes more deadly. Once the final Bloodsplosion arrives Terra will disappear into thin air.

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]Slag Rapier for massive melee damage to get the most damage out of the first Bloodsplosion.
[]Slag Rubi to get constant healing from the Storm Front; while moving all enemies together.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]Hide of Terramorphous
[]Scream Sickle class mod (+6 Silence the Voices / +5 Fuel the Blood) - +44% melee damage is the maximum
[]Explosive Relic to boost your Bloodsplosions
[]Storm Front paired with the Rubi to heal yourself
[*]a low-level Slag Bouncing Betty
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]Pyro Pete[/SIZE]

Pyro Pete fight
[youtube]n-cX1e1RMm8[/youtube]

Skill Calculator Link

Any roid shield is viable. But the best results you’ll achieve with a Hide of Terramorphous. Just lure the Spiderants into the arena so Bloodsplosion can chain from enemy to enemy and every time the damage becomes more deadly. Once the final Bloodsplosion arrives Pyro Pete will disappear into thin air.

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]Slag Rapier for massive melee damage to get the most damage out of the first Bloodsplosion.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]Hide of Terramorphous
[]Scream Sickle class mod (+6 Silence the Voices / +5 Fuel the Blood) - +44% melee damage is the maximum
[]Explosive Relic to boost your Bloodsplosions
[*]a low-level Slag Bouncing Betty
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]Hyperius[/SIZE]

Hyperius fight
[youtube]9nE7-0zEZzk[/youtube]

Skill Calculator Link

In this case you absolutely want the recommended gear since you’re always on the brink of death. Hitting yourself too often with the axe or going down/into FFYL too early and the fight is over, for you. If you want to be sure you can kill a Loader before FFYL ends start hitting them at about 75%. If you’d kill them far before it gets dangerous just switch back to Hyperius. But remember, you only have four times the possibility to easily get back up again. After that you have to kill Hyperius right away because the FFYL timer runs faster everytime you’re going down.

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]Slag Rapier for the highest possible melee damage
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]Hide of Terramorphous
[]Scream Sickle class mod (+5 Silence the Voices / +4 Fuel the Blood / +4 Empty the Rage) - +44% melee damage is the maximum
[]Might of the Seraphs or Strength Relic
[*]Singularity
[/LIST]

[SIZE=“3”]Voracidous[/SIZE]

Krieg vs. Voracidous
[youtube]cHzhJQVh17I[/youtube]

Skill Calculator Link

Any roid shield is viable. But the best results you’ll achieve with a Hide of Terramorphous. Just wait until all the midgets stand right next to each other so Bloodsplosion can chain from enemy to enemy and every time the damage becomes more deadly. Once the final Bloodsplosion arrives Vorac he will disappear into thin air.

Recommended Gear:
[LIST]
[]Slag Rapier for massive melee damage to get the most damage out of the first Bloodsplosion.
[]Slag Rubi or Grog Nozzle to get constant healing from the Storm Front
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[]Hide of Terramorphous
[]Scream Sickle class mod (+6 Silence the Voices / +5 Fuel the Blood) - +44% melee damage is the maximum
[]Explosive Relic to boost your Bloodsplosions
[]Storm Front paired with the Rubi to heal yourself
[*]a low-level Slag Bouncing Betty

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