Easiest class? Any advice on getting better equipment around lvl 18?

[C O R P S E Y]

So it's my first time playing through, and at lvl 18 I'm struggling. The enemies drop my shield quickly, and my weapons often barely scratch enemies.

I'm considering just re rolling, I'm not enjoying the psycho ultimate ability, or making good use of it.

Any tips on where to get great equipment around this level? The main story bumped up to lvl 20 and I've hit a wall.

[Alex]

hey, if you have skipped doing side quests, that's why you're underleveled and undergeared
sometimes, you gotta do side quests alongside or between story quests

[Big Bad Wolf]

Hey.
Try completing the side quests, if you do that you will always be overleveled compared to the enemies. also try changing weapons every couple levels so that your gear doesn`t become useless, this way keeping it the same lvl as you are. in relation to krieg the psycho, he is a good character but his play style is very different from all the other characters, search for the bloodsposion build and you get an op character.

[Nish-Ki]

Check BL twitter page. They just releases codes for 5 golden keys.
You could use one of them to give you a great advantage right now.

inb4 anyone complains to save the keys till lvl50+
Yeah, you can do that, but 1 key just so you can have a chance at purple loot to better survive now is just as important.
Can't use it at lvl50 if you give up the class mid way to lvl30.

[C O R P S E Y]

Thanks for the tips! I might still switch classes, what do people find to be the most fun / easiest classes? I'll still respec and see how that goes.

[Nish-Ki]

Most classes are tough early on, just cause of the weapons.
Each get powerful skills, Psycho for me was just going ham and getting health from Melee kills.
It's tough early on for that one, for me atleast. I have him around lvl30-ish

Personally had the easiest time with Gage cause her skill can act as a mini tank.
Zero has stealth which is great for insane crit damage and if you're a sniper person.

Those are my only 2 past lvl50

[RainingMetal]

In my experience, the easiest (balanced) characters to start off with are the Commando and Siren. The Mechromancer is also a fair choice. The Gunzerker is basically cheating mode, especially if you don't care about rationing your ammo supply. I wouldn't start off with the Assassin or Psycho.

As others have said, do every sidequest you can before going on with the main story.

[GogglezDoNuffin]

Originally posted by Ni-K-Sha:

Check BL twitter page. They just releases codes for 5 golden keys.
You could use one of them to give you a great advantage right now.

inb4 anyone complains to save the keys till lvl50+
Yeah, you can do that, but 1 key just so you can have a chance at purple loot to better survive now is just as important.
Can't use it at lvl50 if you give up the class mid way to lvl30.

http://orcz.com/borderlands_2:_Golden_Key#SHIFT_codes there's like +150 working keys, I don't see how one can even run out of them, unless if they look something specific or use them after every level.

[shibenator]

If you are a beginner, try Maya. If you are going for your second playthrough, try Salvador (the most overrated class). If you are looking for some challenge, try melee based characters such as Krieg and Zer0. If you are lazy to shoot people, try Axton. If you want to empty your mag to a hyperion loot box for 400 times, try Gaige.

[Juzt_Lernin]

Originally posted by GogglezDoNoffing:

Originally posted by Ni-K-Sha:

Check BL twitter page. They just releases codes for 5 golden keys.
You could use one of them to give you a great advantage right now.

inb4 anyone complains to save the keys till lvl50+
Yeah, you can do that, but 1 key just so you can have a chance at purple loot to better survive now is just as important.
Can't use it at lvl50 if you give up the class mid way to lvl30.

http://orcz.com/borderlands_2:_Golden_Key#SHIFT_codes there's like +150 working keys, I don't see how one can even run out of them, unless if they look something specific or use them after every level.

Yep, those will help. And I think Siren is the easiest by far. Your first playthrough is one of the toughest. Once you get that down, the rest aren't bad. Don't forget you can tip Moxxi to get a decent SMG that is always your level too.

[dontu_worry]

Originally posted by CorpseEater:

So it's my first time playing through, and at lvl 18 I'm struggling. The enemies drop my shield quickly, and my weapons often barely scratch enemies.

I'm considering just re rolling, I'm not enjoying the psycho ultimate ability, or making good use of it.

Any tips on where to get great equipment around this level? The main story bumped up to lvl 20 and I've hit a wall.

You dont need better gear. You need to adjust to and understand the game better. Shields in this game protect you about as well as a single layer of bumwad will protect your fingers when wiping, and there is no way to make it thicker. Time to notice and use the well placed and abundant cover the game provides in place of easy-mode shields. I wouldnt have it any other way. It makes for more involved, planned, dynamic and intelligent gameplay. In any color, there are.good and bad guns. Try stuff. Keep what works. Weapon relic, nade and COM selection will really pay off only when they all synergize with skill and tactical choices. "stronger gunz" and "stronger sheeldz" are deliberarely limited and discouraged options. This encourages players to learn the fairly intelligent and varied synergies built into the game rather than settling for shallower and dumber options of gear that solves issues without patience, learning, problem solving or thought.

[Sparky]

Originally posted by CorpseEater:

So it's my first time playing through, and at lvl 18 I'm struggling. The enemies drop my shield quickly, and my weapons often barely scratch enemies.

I'm considering just re rolling, I'm not enjoying the psycho ultimate ability, or making good use of it.

Any tips on where to get great equipment around this level? The main story bumped up to lvl 20 and I've hit a wall.

get an unkempt harold from savage lee and let it carry you the entire first playthrough

[HiTmAn]

maya is best without any competition...but u still need to get good gear and lvl up properley

[Ashley]

Maya and Salvador are very easy. Maya is probably the easiest with toxic cloud ability. Just shoot something once and toxic cloud does the rest.

[Nevieth]

There is no exact 'best' character to play, as they each specialize in something different and both peak in different ways.

Salvador is the worst and most difficult character to level up and get geared for, but once you've finished with that and have one of his main builds ready to go, he's reliably the most dps-heavy characters in the game. He can survive anything and will destroy anything with ease, you just need to slog through horrible leveling and get him a pimpernal/durp build or a dpuh/grog build.


Maya is probably the easiest to level through normal mode, but only if you build toward her Cloud Kill ability, which simplifies most content up until UVHM. She's sort of a glass-cannon, where you can pump out crazy damage, but you're relatively fragile. Overall great character, and is best when she has a Sandhawk + Bee shield.


Krieg is the 'high risk, high reward' character, and is considered a pain to level until he hits 30, then he becomes fun since you've unlocked certain abilities. I recommend going fully into the Bloodlust tree until level 30, then swapping over to Mania. Never go Hellborn until you're in UVHM and know the build, since it's built around risking your own life for damage. Firehawk shield is preferred on Krieg.


Axton is surprisingly believed to be the fastest character to level, and is the preferred speed-runner. He's all-around decent, but isn't the best at any specific thing beyond maybe "Grit", which is a skill on his furthest right tree that allows him a chance to simply ignore damage that could throw him into FFYL.


Gaige is unique, since she is overpowered in Normal mode and even somewhat in TVHM, but in UVHM you're forced into one tree as your primary one, and that's her Anarchy tree. Her bot has buggy AI and will use weaker lightning zaps instead of his powerful melee abilities. When her bot works, he works great, but when he doesn't... Biggest tip is don't reload with an Anarchy Gaige... even if you have to rebind your reload key.


Zer0 is the hero we need, but don't deserve. He's super fragile and isn't good at controlling enemies, but he is amazing and blowing up stuff and sneaking past stuff. He's known as a God-Bore since his b0re ability is so broken it can practically 1 shot an OP UVHM max level hyperius with a basic repeater level 1. A little confusing at first, but he's reliable.


I think I got everyone.

Each character requires different builds, but in normal mode (level 1-30) you should be fine experimenting. I recommend looking up guides if you're truly stuck, and definitely make sure you're not speccing into hellborn if you're playing a krieg in normal mode.

[Gadget]

Originally posted by nevieth:

There is no exact 'best' character to play, as they each specialize in something different and both peak in different ways.

Salvador is the worst and most difficult character to level up and get geared for, but once you've finished with that and have one of his main builds ready to go, he's reliably the most dps-heavy characters in the game. He can survive anything and will destroy anything with ease, you just need to slog through horrible leveling and get him a pimpernal/durp build or a dpuh/grog build.


Maya is probably the easiest to level through normal mode, but only if you build toward her Cloud Kill ability, which simplifies most content up until UVHM. She's sort of a glass-cannon, where you can pump out crazy damage, but you're relatively fragile. Overall great character, and is best when she has a Sandhawk + Bee shield.


Krieg is the 'high risk, high reward' character, and is considered a pain to level until he hits 30, then he becomes fun since you've unlocked certain abilities. I recommend going fully into the Bloodlust tree until level 30, then swapping over to Mania. Never go Hellborn until you're in UVHM and know the build, since it's built around risking your own life for damage. Firehawk shield is preferred on Krieg.


Axton is surprisingly believed to be the fastest character to level, and is the preferred speed-runner. He's all-around decent, but isn't the best at any specific thing beyond maybe "Grit", which is a skill on his furthest right tree that allows him a chance to simply ignore damage that could throw him into FFYL.


Gaige is unique, since she is overpowered in Normal mode and even somewhat in TVHM, but in UVHM you're forced into one tree as your primary one, and that's her Anarchy tree. Her bot has buggy AI and will use weaker lightning zaps instead of his powerful melee abilities. When her bot works, he works great, but when he doesn't... Biggest tip is don't reload with an Anarchy Gaige... even if you have to rebind your reload key.


Zer0 is the hero we need, but don't deserve. He's super fragile and isn't good at controlling enemies, but he is amazing and blowing up stuff and sneaking past stuff. He's known as a God-Bore since his b0re ability is so broken it can practically 1 shot an OP UVHM max level hyperius with a basic repeater level 1. A little confusing at first, but he's reliable.


I think I got everyone.

Each character requires different builds, but in normal mode (level 1-30) you should be fine experimenting. I recommend looking up guides if you're truly stuck, and definitely make sure you're not speccing into hellborn if you're playing a krieg in normal mode.

one small thing about you saying axton is not really good at anything outside of grit, is just not true.

for one, axton is the best user of grenades and explosives in general with krieg being a close second due to skills such as steady, grenadier, do or die and battlefront as well as grenadier class mods. he is also the best user of tediore weapons due to his high reload skills as well.

Axton is also amazing at raiding with tediore builds via chucking and can defeat voracidous in about 2 seconds and hyperius in less than a second. (yes i know technically its longer because of the setup but the other characters have that time as well and he still has setups that, while not as fast for timing, require less setup and are still pretty damn quick.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNpulf9lZ8A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXTO9peM534
(the setup for the kill starts around 1 minute in for both)

not to mention that he has great shield skills meaning he can keep something like a bee up most of the time as well as tank more damage than other vhs typically can.

he is technically also the best user of ARs due to overload and his rifleman classmods but you shouldn't limit yourself to them because they're kinda underwhelming in general (there are exceptions)

he is still kind of a jack of all trades but he does have specialized builds which make him the best in certain areas.