Constructors and Krieg, Not a Love Story

[Bringoutyerded]

[This is not a rant, just a statement of experience for others who have also, or who may in the future, commiserate with this experience with the otherwise unstoppable chaotic Krieg. I'm at level 57 atm during my quest to learn Krieg, so don't have my skill tree fully fleshed out. As well, I'm doing this with largely found, non-OP gear. I have plenty of experience with other toons in this game]


Have you ever read a story or watched a movie about finding "the one", or perhaps even personally experienced this yourself? Your one true sole mate, your ying to their yang? Where the two just "complete" each other, as they gaze deeply into each other eyes? Sappy, yet heartwarming at the same time?

Well, I've discovered the antithesis from playing Krieg in UVHM. It only has one eye. That glows red and spits OP lasers. That has repair surveyors as friends.

Thus far I haven't encountered many things as I progress with Krieg that cause me heartburn here in my self-limited, reduced-farming, mainly dropped/found gear quest. But these potlickers have.

Main story-wise, now that I'm nearly finished with my third playthrough in UVHM, constructors are my nemesis.

It is because of them that I farmed a Hornet and Harold (I swore to myself that I'd not do this) back at level 53. My melee skills are still not yet fully-developed too :(

I'd guess that even with OP gear they'd be a pain with Krieg. But maybe not. There's likely Krieg players out there who've soloed him and never gave constructors, SBA or otherwise, a second thought. Yes, I am not worthy in your eyes. C'est la vie.


Off the top of my head, you encounter them at least 12 in the main story missions a few times (may be missing some here). Some of these were actually little problem, could melee relatively well. But others (in bold) definitely were:

Highlands - Outwash just before you battle the beacon-swallowing Gluttonous Thresher
Overlook battle there are two or three (these, actually, I had little problem with)
Opportunity, during the mission collecting Jack's voice samples
Two in Thousand Cuts en route to the Bunkr (the last one up on the upper level is a SBA)
Arid Nexus Badlands on the road at the Hyperion Info Stockade, plus two in the stockade itself
Hero's Pass - there are two.


I've spawn camped so many times because of them on my self-limiting Krieg learning quest, it's driven me to cheese and mainly snipe them. Melee has been abandoned, aside from periodic explosive axe-chucking.

Where I can, I fight them from locations where they can't hit me. In the list above, I've found places where that's possible for many of these. For some of these I use literally ALL of my sniper, pistol, and AR ammo by the time they are finally downed.

Two of them (the one in the Highlands, and the second SBA just before the Bunkr), got the better of me. They drove me to use a Hornet and Harold.

My takeaway from this: Now that I've reached the Warrior for the final battle, I now know that I can deal with these buggers, albeit somewhat painfully, so there's that. I've proven to myself that most of the encountered constructors can be dealt with using found, largely non-legendary gear.

The two constructors that caused the diversion from my plan, well, someone more skilled likely could have handled these under the same circumstances without the two pieces of OP gear I broke down to use.

As Krieg, I have learned to respect the Constructor, just not love them.

[Warmonger]

Corrosive Fastball + Bloodsplosion chain.
Other than that, they're pretty tough indeed. That's why it's important to always carry strong corrosive weapon or two.

[Zen_Disaster]

I've soloed the game legit from lvl 1 to 80 OP8 happilly on Maya & Zer0 & took the other four classes to lvl 50 UVHM but wouldn't return to push my Krieg any higher basically cos of the issue you mention. It's not an uncommon complaint & from what l understand Gearbox took it seriously enough to kill him off in the series after BL2. Am aware of the methods to survive him through endgame but I prefer to push classes with which I was basically comfortable. PS I know it's a minor detail but people usually don't consider the Hornet to be OP - as for the DPUH, that's one that defines OP in most people's minds. I'm not making a case for any accuracy in this description - I didn't use my Harold at anything much above the mid 60's whereas Hornet remained a goto for me thru endgame along with another +/- 5 guns.

[Bringoutyerded]

Originally posted by Warmonger:

Corrosive Fastball + Bloodsplosion chain.
Other than that, they're pretty tough indeed. That's why it's important to always carry strong corrosive weapon or two.

How well does Bloodsplosion alone deal with them as compared to RtB? To this point I haven't reached it as I went down the Mania tree to its capstone first. Had I done this with Bloodlust instead, would it have been even a little easier without OP gear?

Are bloodsplosion chains any more effective against them as compared to the melee boost from Salt the Wound/Silence the Voices/RtB?

[Bringoutyerded]

Originally posted by Zen_Disaster:

I've soloed the game legit from lvl 1 to 80 OP8 happilly on Maya & Zer0 & took the other four classes to lvl 50 UVHM but wouldn't return to push my Krieg any higher basically cos of the issue you mention. It's not an uncommon complaint & from what l understand Gearbox took it seriously enough to kill him off in the series after BL2.

Awww. That's too bad. I've done the same as you with soloing Axton and Maya (Zer0 is still at OP3 on another self-limiting, still-in-progress quest). But this is the first time that I've encountered a baddie/toon combo mismatch like this.

As I wrote, I now know that it's possible to do most of them via long-distance cheese, even using non-legendary gear in UVHM. Just takes a while (and a lot of ammo). But two forced me to use better gear.

I'm really liking Kreig now that I'm playing him. Took a twist in my thinking to start to figure him out (and some helpful advice from other players here). It's really too bad if we won't see him again. You'd think that they'd be able to keep him by balancing this single issue with some sort of skill buff or modification.

Thanks for the background, Zen.

[Zen_Disaster]

It's quite alright Bring - you know I loved the game. And Krieg was fun enough to push to UVHM but I never felt comfortable with him cos his skills & gamestyle felt very forced to me. I've never enjoyed swimming upstream & to my mind Krieg was an uphill battle lol. Have you tried pushing Claptrap to endgame in TPS? I found him to be a similar sort of battle but the developers supported his class well so it was fun.

[Wandering_Minstrel]

As I have learned in my time with the Borderlands series, some enemies do not play to your strengths. You really have to figure out some tactics and strategies in these situations. There's no shame in being over-leveled or finding a good spot to just camp an enemy. I'd even argue the game encourages it.

[Bringoutyerded]

Originally posted by Zen_Disaster:

It's quite alright Bring - you know I loved the game. And Krieg was fun enough to push to UVHM but I never felt comfortable with him cos his skills & gamestyle felt very forced to me. I've never enjoyed swimming upstream & to my mind Krieg was an uphill battle lol. Have you tried pushing Claptrap to endgame in TPS? I found him to be a similar sort of battle but the developers supported his class well so it was fun.

I have The Pre-Sequel installed but just can't seem to find the "play" button so long as there are things keeping me interested here. I've heard a few of you here speaking highly of the game (while keeping in mind it's not BL2) but haven't made the jump yet.

Perhaps I will...soon. Even if just to see how the heck one can play Clappie. His arms are so skinny; how ever can they absorb the recoil from a Jacobs?

[Bringoutyerded]

Originally posted by Wandering_Minstrel:

As I have learned in my time with the Borderlands series, some enemies do not play to your strengths. You really have to figure out some tactics and strategies in these situations. There's no shame in being over-leveled or finding a good spot to just camp an enemy. I'd even argue the game encourages it.

You are definitely right on those three points.

My disappointment is from self-imposed challenge. I'd hoped to be able to get Krieg to 72 at least, if not further, without doing much farming nor using legendary gear.

I know there's no shame in fighting to your strengths and advantage - that's advisable in real life as well, for sure. I just thought that there'd be some way to use Krieg's close-in skill to melee constructors in all circumstances, in as much as assuming that one's ability to do so would simply be limited by the player's skills.

From going through this for the first time, I at least now know that it's possible to get through most of the story with Krieg, even with found gear. I'd guess now that the same won't be doable at the Peak without incorporating farming for legendaries into the mix.

Aside from these buggers, it's been a great, and fun, learning experience to this point. Thanks for your response.

[Zen_Disaster]

Originally posted by Bringoutyerded:

Originally posted by Zen_Disaster:

It's quite alright Bring - you know I loved the game. And Krieg was fun enough to push to UVHM but I never felt comfortable with him cos his skills & gamestyle felt very forced to me. I've never enjoyed swimming upstream & to my mind Krieg was an uphill battle lol. Have you tried pushing Claptrap to endgame in TPS? I found him to be a similar sort of battle but the developers supported his class well so it was fun.

I have The Pre-Sequel installed but just can't seem to find the "play" button so long as there are things keeping me interested here. I've heard a few of you here speaking highly of the game (while keeping in mind it's not BL2) but haven't made the jump yet.

Perhaps I will...soon. Even if just to see how the heck one can play Clappie. His arms are so skinny; how ever can they absorb the recoil from a Jacobs?

Funny you should ask lol - many of the weapons in TPS were essentially made for Claptrap & happen to be non-elemental (though not necessarily Jakobs). You'll learn his *system* well when pushing him up the levels. I can give you my top builds & weaps for him whenever you like if you'd like me to share them - just let me know.

[veryworms]

This is such a wholesome thread. Like an AA meeting or Vegans catching up in the market :/

[Bringoutyerded]

Originally posted by CucKEd bY fARmeR:

This is such a wholesome thread. Like an AA meeting or Vegans catching up in the market :/

CucKEd bY fARmeR: I had been going to respond with a non-wholesome reply, but the visuals were actually quite good, especially the one about vegans. Thanks for the laugh, and the effort.