Assault rifle conundrum

[Thorveim]

As a krieg player, I would really like to slip an assault rifle in here, as i'm but a simple man, and like big guns with big magazines to dispense bullets around.

But.. i'm having a really hard time finding something satisfying to use. I saw the Ogre get mentioned a lot, but every time I pick it up, I feel like the Seeker does way more DPS... without wasting ammo everywhere. Sad thing it doesn't have the rate of fire I'd expect from an assault rifle. Everything else felt like utter garbage, from the Sawbar to the beefiest purples I could come up with... Are bullet hose assault rifles really a lost cause for every character that isn't Axton? if not, what gun would you advise me to look at?

Added info that could be useful is that I'm centered around Mania and Bloodlust... meaning I get huge magazines really frequently, but that i'm not really partial to setting myself or other stuff on fire.

PS: I use Gibbed quite a bit, and while I do everything to keep my character legal, that means the rarity/getting the right parts for guns is a non concern.. mainly because I don't feel like killing the same thing over and over to get a perfect roll when i can feel like my own gun manufacturer and enjoy the result :p

[lpnlizard27]

https://borderlands.fandom.com/wiki/M2828_Thumpson

On my axton the mag size can reach 180,

Tip: if you have a controller with auto fire/ turbo, this gun is absolutly amazing.

[green]

- Leadstorm (also syncs nicely with the Bee, if used right)

- Kerblaster (Underrated, imo)

- Purple Torgue AR (if you don't like the Ogre, avoid Spitters. Try a normal Vladof barrel)

- Hail (I don't really like this one, due to the bullet arc, but it has nice damage)

- Sawbar + Bee (haven't tried this, but I've talked to people who swear by it)

- Shredifier (did I spell that right, lol?)

Given your description of "bullet hose assault rifles" I've chosen to opt out any Jakobs ARs. They're annoyingly semi-auto. And if you're in UVHM, slag stuff. The best guns will only do half decent damage if enemies aren't slagged. Hope it helps

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

I usually didnt like AR much, I'm only playing maya and zero.... so it's usually mostly SMG and snipers, but I tried playing the new DLC and completed it lately, and there's 2 amazing AR there. The 2 effervescent ones, peak opener and toothpick, combined with their relic and shield they give some interesting advantages. Only drawback is that they can only come into a single element.

Basically the toothpick is an AR version of the fire sandhawk when the peak opener is a high ROF shock kerblaster... really worth a try.

[green]

Originally posted by (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:

I usually didnt like AR much, I'm only maya and zero.... so it's usually mostly SMG and snipers, but I tried playing the new DLC and completed it lately, and there's 2 amazing AR there. The 2 effervescent ones, peak opener and toothpick, combined with their relic and shield they give some interesting advantages. Only drawback is that they can only come into a single element.

Basically the toothpick is an AR version of the fire sandhawk when the peak opener is a high ROF shock kerblaster... really worth a try.

Forgot about these, cause they're new. Agreed, they are also really nice ARs!

[no gimmick needed]

go torgue and use explosions skill tree

[Thorveim]

Peak and Toothpick I need to look at, although I don't think i'll roll with their associated shields and relics... got to bost my health as much as I can with those (playing Krieg, so the bee shield would be a bad thing for me)

Already tried the Sawbar and was more annoyed always having to hunt the sweet spot more than anything else...

I should try the Leadstorm, Shredifier, and purple torgue AR especially though, and probably Kerblaster too (I got bonuses to explosives and they trigger a JUICY kill skill ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥! The Carnage already works well with those, but another explosive gun I can use at closer range without annihilating myself would be nice)

good advice so far, i'll try these when i have time :)

[Lord Cyphre]

There are a lot of fine ARs in the game but most of them aren't as borderline OP or broken as some of the most popular items are.

Axton is far from the only character who's able to utilize ARs efficiently, he doesn't even have much to boost them specifically.

The Kitten can be really nasty on Krieg, give that one a try if you haven't already.

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

Originally posted by lpnlizard27:

https://borderlands.fandom.com/wiki/M2828_Thumpson

On my axton the mag size can reach 180,

Tip: if you have a controller with auto fire/ turbo, this gun is absolutly amazing.

Any jackob revolver/AR/shotgun + rapid fire macro = click to win, especially on a sniper zero...

[Carl!!!!]

My krieg uses Kitten. 3 bullets fired at cost of 1 bullet, firing pattern makes a smiley face. corrosive is great for loaders. also works nicely on crystalisks. But I also run a hellborn/bloodlust (no action skill use at all) gun build, so slag rubi, hellfire, corrosive kitten, and carnage, with flame of the firehawk shield.
So much fire, so much fun. and pretty good survivability. All DoT damage heals you, you get 50% damage reduction when on fire, plus homing fireballs and elemental novas and can dish out serious damage (which ends up being a lot of overkill damage, which also heals you). When your shield pops, just run around with rubi slagging everything while the novas go off. Heck, even the burn damage is high enough to not really even need a corrosive weapon.

[Bringoutyerded]

For the past year or so I've been almost exclusively running a Jakobs Boss/Filled AR on my Maya and Zer0. Recently soloed the two new Peak levels as Maya with one of these guns performing the bulk of the non-specials killing, along with a Tumtum. I use a Neutral Evil Cleric COM with a Jakobs relic that boosts mag size by 71%. Wonderful and effective combo on most things, outside of Dukino's Mom, Doc Mercy, Saturn, or OMGWTH.

[photo du visage]

Peak opener on krieg is a monster. The initial shock blast does 3 times the damage listed on the weapon card without even considering the child grenades that spawn afterwards. No reason to use the kerblaster (or any other AR), the peak opener is an upgrade in every aspect. It activates bloodbath too so its great with a legendary reaper class mod

[Thorveim]

After testing, the Shredifier looks decent, while the Peak Opener and kerblaster do really stand out, but each has rather massive drawbacks:

-Peak Opener is doom incarnate, but eats ammo like no other weapon I saw in the game so far... and rainbow color with glitter on a TORGUE of all things?

-KerBlaster has way better ammo economy (due to hurting more, still lower DPS than the Peak Opener though), issue being that if I shoot it too close to me soon after a kill... it can 1shot me from full health should the child grenade also hit)

Main issue with both, however, is that they are both about mid-range explosion spam.. and that's already the job of my Carnage. Here what I seek would be more close-range to mid-range, and here the "close "part would get me murdered :p ONE weapon i can't use in close range least i kill myself is enough in my opinion.

Other assault rifles here fall victim to patterns that make you miss at almost point blank, and the lead storm needs you to find the darn sweet spot like with the Sawbar, but in an even harder to nail down version.

Overall, guess I'll pack a Peak Opener and bear with the glitter: shock is the only element I don't have covered already (got a fire ♥♥♥♥♥ and a corrosive Conference Call alongside the Carnage), and it synergises too well for me to pass up on it as a "You will not get close to me" weapon that is better at clearing hordes of weak enemies than the Carnage (not as good for hardened targets though as far as my tests went... and even then can't use it everywhere without ammo running out FAST). The rest always makes me feel like Hyperion SMGs or even the Butcher make better assault rifles (big magazines, great DPS, good long range accuracy... they have it all) ><

[Draekus]

Vladof AR's that i generally look for :

regular Vladof barrel
E-tech
Jakobs barrel
Dahl barrel

[Chaos Epoch]

Originally posted by Draekus:

Vladof AR's that i generally look for :

regular Vladof barrel
E-tech
Jakobs barrel
Dahl barrel

E-tech Vladof AR's are downright awesome. I personally think they're the best E-tech in the game next to Hyperion E-tech SMG's.

Dhal AR's are great for taking down large bosses with it's burst. But Vladof just takes on anything.