What character do you recommend?

[Rabbit]

ive never played borderlands before. no idea

[Daddy Duck]

Go commando

[z00t]

Up to you. You are not limited by the number of characters you can create.
At the beginning before their action skills are unlocked, they are pretty much the same. Once their actions skills are available, that is where it gets interesting.

For the most difficult character to learn, that is Zer0. He is squishy, but can cause a lot of damage - glass cannon. Probably not a good choice for your first character.
Axton - classic soldier type. Can throw turrets as his action skill. Unlike all of the others he is balanced. Doesn't do anything amazing, but what he does do he does well.
Maya - siren with a very powerful action skill - phaselock which lifts enemies into the air and out of the fight. 2nd best sniper in the game after Zer0.
Salvador - gunzerker. He can wield two guns at the same time for his action skill. He can be a real tank but his playstyle is just being able to click both mouse buttons.
Gaige - mechromancer. Her action skill is Death Trap, her pet robot that is very very protective of her. Great fun to play.
Krieg the psycho. Hits things with a buzz axe. I don't play him, but he is basically a melee character.

Why not start one of each and get them to level 10 or so. The action skill is unlocked at level 5, so that will give you a better idea of what you are dealing with. Then choose which one(s) you want to carry on with.
The others will still be there for later if you want. Each character has their own story, missions etc.

If you ask here who is the best character, everyone will tell you that their favourite is the best.
Fwiw, my favourites in order are Maya, Gaige, Axton, Salvador, Zer0, Krieg.

[Renfrew]

Axton and Salvador are the two easiest for new players. Axton has a turret which assists your ability to deal damage, Salvador can dual wield guns, he regenerates ammo and HP while doing so.

Maya is mid-range.

Zer0 is somewhat complex.

Gaige and Krieg are very complex, definitely wouldn't recommend them for someone new to Borderlands 2 (the characters are DLC characters, so they were designed for advanced players in mind)

[Machinarium216]

My personal list goes like this:
- Maya the Siren (any build): The easiest to play and quite fun as well
- Axton the Commando: Jack of all trades character, easy to play but not fun, at least for me, he just have no significant talents/skills
- Zer0 the Assassin (Sniper build): Easy to play but not that fun since you will always do the same trick over and over, pick ennemies from distance, vanish when they get close, rince and repeat.
- Zer0 the Assassin (Melee build and its variants): Quite hard to play, specially without gear, I wouldnt recommend any melee build in first playthrough. But a lot of fun when you get it right
- Salvador the Gunzerker: Didn't play him much since I just don't like his playstyle, basically keep shooting your target untill it is dead while you regen health
- Gaige the Mechromancer (Pure Anarchy/Ricochet build): Easy to play for people who are not great at fps games since you don't have to aim at all with enough stacks, and have enough dmg. Not as strong imo as other classes/builds but still fun
- Gaige the Mechromancer (Pet Build): Your pet robot will do a big part of your damage, but it is no easy mode, you can't just relay on your pet and need to keep it alive and buffed as well, very fun build to play
- Krieg the Psycho (Melee build): Go rampage and get very close and personal with your ennemies: Bit hard to play it right, again I wouldn't recommend any melee build for new players but very fun.
- Krieg the Psycho (Gun/Fire build): Set yourself in fire and go nuts and burn everything to the ground, not easy to play but a hell lot of fun *pun intended*

TL;DR: For new players I suggest Maya/Axton/Zer0 (Sniper Build), intermediate Gaige and Salvador, and finally don't touch Krieg or melee builds (almost any class can go melee build not only Krieg or Zer0) unless you know what you are doing in term of gameplay, talents and gear choice

[lena]

My favourites to play are the more special characters, such as Maya, Krieg, Zer0 and Gaige. Basically anyone but Axton. Axton's boring, he's basically the most default character you could imagine. If you're playing for a first time, I reccomend going Maya since she's relatively easy to learn and good.

[Rabbit]

ok tnx guys ill try maya

[---GHOST]

When I played with Maya I was like "the fewer enemies the better". When I played with Salvador I was like "More, more"!

[Nakos]

I too recommend trying all of them. Play them at least as far as Sanctuary.

(Really, I suggest playing each of them through at least Normal mode to really get a feel for how they play).

[sarcastic_godot]

Gaige is easy mode - Close Enough is all you need to shoot around corners etc, and Deathtrap (her Action skill) is a sweet panic button to cover your retreat, should that become necessary (it will !!!). If you go for Anarchy Gaige, you won't even need to aim (hint: you can't if you go (A) )... ...also electrophile, Shock is where she shines, and she does so with a great light show.

Maya is somewhat CC oriented - her Action skill... Nice allrounder though. Acid is her element, and she's got a healing skill. Well-liked in teamplay, but also great solo. Just her uppity-tighty character can be ... meh.

Sal is your standard grunt type. Lotsa bullets, dual wield special skill. If you can aim, he's pretty easy to play. Tanky, too... ...oh, and his element is lead (Pb). :D

Krieg is the weirdo - either melee (pretty powerful) or lots and lots of bullets with fire elemental effects. Fun, crazy, over-the-top. Can be mis-skilled easily, though.

Zero is the Ninja Xeno - squishy, either sniper role or sneak and stab. Can be very satisfying when it all works out, but for a first run, I'd recommend some other char - it helps a lot if you know in advance what's coming up ahead... ...his Element is steel, honed to razor sharpness. And Invisibility (his Action skill)

Axton... ...has fun one-liners (Gaige's are better, though). Can do fun tactical things with the turret. Is robust. But is IMHO the slowest to get through maps. He doesn't have that specialty thing the others have (apart from the turret, ofc). Element? Turret - get them!


I'd recommend Gaige for starters (going for Electro-effects so you can learn basic gunplay), more time to enjoy the plot and the view. Maya or Sal would be my shared second place. Axton for a tactical challenge, Krieg if you like highball-style... ...and Zer0 is, while fun, satisfying, and interesting, IMHO best played later.with some knowledge about the maps and mobs.

Also, respeccing is dirt cheap in this game, so don't be afraid to try stuff out. The first New-You-Station for respec is at the first waypoint.

[z00t]

Whichever one you choose to start, this is a useful site to look at all the skills
https://bl2skills.com/vanilla.html
Choose your character and go through the character trees. It behaves the same way as the game.
If you recreate your build there, you can post the url back here if you want comments / suggestion etc.
Here are some sample builds for solo play Maya. At the start, focusing on survival and health regen. First 3 points go into Sweet Release.

Level 10
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#110000000003000000000000000000
Level 15
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#220000000013000000000200000000
Level 20
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#330100000023000000000300000000
Level 25
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#330100000023000000000503000000
Level 30
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#430100000023000000001504110000

From level 30, very much focusing on Damage. The Cataclysm tree is where Maya gets nasty.

Level 35
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#430100000023000000001505310200
Level 40
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#430100000023000000001505510500
Level 45
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#430100000023010000004505510501
Level 50
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#440201000033020000004505510501
.
.
.
all the way up to 80. This is my solo play Maya build.
https://bl2skills.com/siren.html#552501500053052005514505510501

You can always respec and see what they all do. Lots of different ways you can build the characters. The site is a useful tool to learning more about the various characters.
Maya builds are generally spread over the 3 trees, while someone like Zer0 will be mostly on 2, depending on chosen style of play, melee or sniper, but not the same 2.

[z00t]

Where to find out more about the game, enemies, weapons etc
https://borderlands.fandom.com/wiki/Borderlands_2

This gives you more details on enemy health, elemental weaknesses and immunity etc. Not essential reading, but is informative.
http://www.blstats.com/index.php

[kevin.benko]

I have played all characters and many trees of the characters. I didn't really understand Salvador at first, but once i learned "the secret of Sal" he is an awesome character. BUT, as someone above, sort of, said, every character class gets different types, and amounts, of enemies.

I first started with Axton with my very first playthrough, but because I am a {butt}hole to myself, I got myself killed many many times by Wilhelm, so I deleted Axton and restarted Axton ... yeah yeah yeah... I could just respect, but I chose a restart.

Gaige and Anarchy is a force of nature, when/if she actually hits anything. And her dialoge with anarchy is PRICELESS!!!! I am currently playing Gaige in UVHM with NO ANARCHY..... whe she hits max level, I guess I will retire her... not as fun.

My second character was Maya. Until I understood the "secret of Salvadore" I thought that Maya was a bit overpowered.... nope... Salvador is really overpowered.

With Krieg, I learned to "not like money" as I kept getting killed alot... like alot alot. Thus, Krieg has taught me to not take money seriously.

Zer0... I have a single Zer0 character in UVHM, and I keep getting killed. I finished "Hunting the Firehawk then I stopped since I/he was getting himself killed. I will, eventually, get to maximum level, unless I die of old age.....

My suggestion is to pick a single character and play the {heck} out of him and when you get to the end of the first play through, if you like, pick another character and play the {heck} out of that character, wash, rinse, repeat.....

[Tony]

Zero! Totally overpowered... love it

[dontu_worry]

Gaige is widely known as the "girlfriend" character. Once you get a couple of skillpoints in the right place, she's ludicrously easy to play. I got bored of mine at lvl 67 and didn't think of her again. Her skilltree is hot garbage, but they're not going to fix it now.
Sal is easy mode and good for those who don't like consequences, skill or thinking when they're gaming.
Maya is good and balanced, can be very powerful when built and played right.
Zer0 is a glass cannon, requiring much use of tactics and timing. He has the least passive healing and you will pay for your mistakes when playing as the assassin.
Axton is very easy to grasp and can be quite powerful. He's a bit tanky and a good generalist.
Krieg, I played just a bit but didn't care for.