This is a elaboration of this thread as it pertains to Salvador.
I was thinking we should create a 50 pointer list of the best tips as to staying alive in UVHM (if we can’t get to 50, we’ll go up to whichever number we work our way up to).
Unlike the general list, this list can be centralized around the design of the character, and therefore can speak on specific builds as well as a moderate degree of item loyalty.
Please add a tip and a suggestion as to where it should be in retrospect to all the other tips.
-This list will be numbered in order of importance, so if there is no consensus on the position of the tip, it shall be placed on the tail end.
Avoid tips that are too alike to previous tips.
Avoid tips that would allow for no personal influence on a build
Tips as to important items to own are welcome.
Tips as to common mistakes to avoid are welcome.
Lets begin!
Memorize where you have which gun. It will make Gunzerking far more fruitful.
The ability on some guns held in the left hand, will transfer to the right.
Sal’s close up firepower is his best point. That doesn’t mean you should abandon ranged shots in 1p mode.
Don’t panic when downed. Flooding firepower won’t help much without some slag.
Many aspects of the Brawn tree scale badly in UVHM.
Moxxi is the Patron Saint of Salvador, use her weapons.
Try and remember not to be surrounded by enemies when you’re about to exit Gunzerk mode.
5 points in incite are not for nought.
Grog doesn’t make you unkillabe, reloading could be a sudden nap.
Activating Gunzerk while going down can be worth waiting for if you have “Down Not Out”.
A Bee Build Salvador doesn’t work with certain combination.
Gunzerking is not ammo efficient. Watch your count.
Do not use “Five Shots or Six” with “Money Shot”.
Steady as she goes can screw up Hyperions reverse recoil.
Salvador can make great use out of Rough Rider.
Make a specific decision on what your damage pair will be.
Hard to kill, while not great, is never wasted. You will probably deal enough damage that it should not prevent you from getting full heal from Moxxi guns anyway.
Adaptive shield have an incredibly advantage on Sal.
Health Regen skills can be useless on a great deal of builds.
Sal’s aiming skills are not optimal, guns that need precise aiming can be difficult to work with.
The longer you Gunzerk the better.
Unless your grenade slags (for any reason), offhand Slag is key.
Keeping Moxxi one one hand isn’t always necessary. It may prolong fights against opponents such as “Cursed” pirates, where additional firepower is key.
While it may seem worthwhile to equip one shield stripping gun, and one to obliterate the actual physical body of the enemy (while Zerkin’), it doesn’t assist in anything other than lazy play. It isn’t particularly effective, as doubling down on the enemies physical weakness, after initially stripping it’s shield does far more damage.
Many teams may expect you to tank. This means you should pay particular attention to KEEPING the enemies attention. As well as knowing when to not draw attention. (I.E. Away from Turrets or DTs).
Wow. I was actually keeping an eye on this topic to see how fast it would degrade into “never use Brawn, only Moxxi”.
Literally didn’t get past the first post without Salvador’s dignity being ruined. This is why Chuck put together a Brawn build that survived at OP8, and why I ignore Moxxi guns entirely.
I saw the OP8 Brawn build that DFace (I think) did. And he said it was much harder than how Sal is normally played. And this is “Ways to stay alive” not “Ways to make Salvador a challenge.”
Still makes me genuinely upset that Salvador doesn’t even have an action skill anymore. He’s in this strange range of over-and-underpowered that makes it pointless to play him.
Oh no I’m not knocking you for it. Trust me, if I had control over the game development right now, I wouldn’t nerf Moxxi this far into the games life. It just wouldn’t serve a purpose beyond ruining thousands of peoples playstyle that they enjoy.
If anything, I’d release a character-buff patch but that’s it.
5 points in Incite are never wasted. Don’t bother with the rest of Brawn.
A Grog/Lady Fist in the left hand affects whatever’s in your right hand.
You don’t have to use two weapons of the same type when you gunserk.
Just because you have a Grog equipped doesn’t mean you’re unkillable.
You don’t need a Bee, grab an absorb shield instead.
I’m Ready All Ready are wasted points. Use Yippie-Ki-Yay, Get Some, and Last Longer instead.
You can run out of bullets while Gunserking.
Down Not Out is a great skill. Activate your Gunserk before falling into FFYL and you’ll still be able to Gunserk.
Do not use Five Shots or Six with Money Shot.
Steady as She Goes can screw up Hyperion’s reverse recoil gimmick.
A bee on sal is wasted. RR all the way. Even Lynchwood and all raids.
Thing is you don’t need moxxi all the time. I use triangle (ps3) to swap to a moxxi/combo to top off health but run lady fist and interfacer (or a dpuh if lazy) mostly. Or ‘orphanzerk’ (lf+orphanmaker).
Or just swap lf for grogg selectively on as needed and toss chain lightning or mirv. Or just weapon swap to reap the moxxi heal off of a shot.
Use RR for its advantages (outta bubblegum, incite procs when taking damage) and use moxxi and chain lighting or mirv to counter the damage from a high volume of gun wielding enemies like in Lynchwood or saw tooth. I may lead a fight by throwing a mirv or CL to disrupt, mark enemies (they are easier to locate with dot damage) and close on them with incite procced. Piping hot and ready already synergize, so there is a premium on doing some damage all the time. That said, lead foot trigger finger is wasting ammo. Find an enemy and shoot it, don’t just spray im their general direction.
Organize one weapon pair for damage and another for heal or secondary (shock to strip shields) then you can use weapon pair swap to recover health while you negate defenses. This does mean you need to mind your health bar.
Make a specific decision on what your damage pair will be. Two pistoles means pistol and matched weapon buffing skills, two different weapon type will waste those skills. Even if you use pairs of similar weapon typew, you will probably still want to have something dissimilar in one pair if only because some fights take a lot of bullets.
Incite is extremely helpful to evade enemy fire or close on them. Incite, asbestos and outta bubble gum (hence RR) are all usefull skills from brawn.
other than that watch the bahroo video on sal skills. its under 10 minutes.
If you really just want to maximize invulnerability, roll with a slag rubi or grog and a dpuh. : )
Just saw this thread, is it too late to suggest things ?
Moxxi weapons are your best friends
Hard to kill, while not great, is never wasted. You will probably deal enough damage that it should not prevent you from getting full heal from Moxxi guns anyway.
Unless you have a specific combo in mind, Adaptive shields are the best overall.
Don’t bother with health regen skills
Sal can’t aim, so use guns that don’t require you to.
Anything that makes you gunzerk longer is good.
try to time the end of gunzerk so that you are not in the thick of it when it happens. Wait a bit before changing room if needed.
The RR is an OFFENSIVE shield, it’s not good to assure your survival.
Never skip Down not Out
Out of gunzerk, swap to your off-hand and throw grenades, AOE are your best pick.
