Weapon and Item leveling

[Robber N0T from here]

Okay, so this is a little embarassing, but I may have completely missed the point on how weapon and item leveling works.

I am currently at the very beginning of Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (just about to leave the small town with Claptrap) and I'm pretty close to reaching level 50, as everyone kept telling me to start this mode before reaching that level. HOWEVER, since English isn't my first language, I may have completely misunderstood the meaning of weapon and item "level-scaling" and "level cap".

So HOW does collectibles leveling works exactly? Do weapons and items never go beyond level 50? Are 50+ leveled weapons and items avaliable only as quest rewards, weapon chests, Boss drops or Golden Keye box?

[maVRoyal]

Loot droped from enemies and from quests. Would always be 1-2 levels around you. If you have lvl 49 at the moment. Then most if not every gun in UVHM will be lvl 50-51. When you yet char at lvl 55 then guns will be around lvl 54-56. When you are lvl 62 then you will get lvl 61-63 drops and so on.

[Robber N0T from here]

Originally posted by maVRoyal:

Loot droped from enemies and from quests. Would always be 1-2 levels around you. If you have lvl 49 at the moment. Then most if not every gun in UVHM will be lvl 50-51. When you yet char at lvl 55 then guns will be around lvl 54-56. When you are lvl 62 then you will get lvl 61-63 drops and so on.

And this only works in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode? Will it also work that way if I now leveled up in Normal or True Vault Hunter mode?

[maVRoyal]

Equipmemt scales to your level only in UVHM. Once you enter Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode all enemies and loot would be around your level.
It doesn't matter if you leveled yours character to lvl 50 in NVHM or TVHM.
Most important thing is to be at UVHM If you want loot and enemies to scale.
Hope it clears everything.

[HelmsDerp]

Basically, each map has a level range. This determines what level the enemies are and what level guns they will drop

In normal and TVHM those map levels are fixed. In Ultimate the map level is always the same as your character level. You can't ever go farm a lower level area, and you can't wander into a too high level area.

The good news is you can farm your favorite maps as much as you like, since you will never out level them. The bad news is you will need to farm new gear a lot because the game is much more difficult and guns need to be replaced after 3-4 levels.

[Nakos]

Items don't change levels. Once a drop happens, that's the item's level.

In UVHM, your enemies scale with you. This means that the loot they're capable of dropping will also scale, but an existing item will never change. However, this means that each time you level in UVHM, your weapons are (in effect) automatically degraded.

UVHM starts at level 50. TVHM caps out at level 50. This means that the highest level gear you can get in TVHM is level 50. The scaling, and damage fall-off of obsolete weapons is much, much more noticable in UVHM. (This is by design, weapons (and othere gear) are supposed to become obsolete). This is why people say "start UVHM at 50, no later".

Normal mode and TVHM are about leveling, being over-leveled makes you stronger.

UVHM is about keeping your gear up to date, leveling is an incidental process that occurs while you're trying to keep your gear up to date, and which makes the process harder.

[Robber N0T from here]

Originally posted by Nakos:

Items don't change levels. Once a drop happens, that's the item's level.

In UVHM, your enemies scale with you. This means that the loot they're capable of dropping will also scale, but an existing item will never change. However, this means that each time you level in UVHM, your weapons are (in effect) automatically degraded.

UVHM starts at level 50. TVHM caps out at level 50. This means that the highest level gear you can get in TVHM is level 50. The scaling, and damage fall-off of obsolete weapons is much, much more noticable in UVHM. (This is by design, weapons (and othere gear) are supposed to become obsolete). This is why people say "start UVHM at 50, no later".

Normal mode and TVHM are about leveling, being over-leveled makes you stronger.

UVHM is about keeping your gear up to date, leveling is an incidental process that occurs while you're trying to keep your gear up to date, and which makes the process harder.

Okay, this all makes sense. So I guess the last thing I want to make sure is this; Will there be any problem if I gain a level-up back in Normal or TVH Mode, and then go back to my UVH Mode playthrough? In all this passing of the three mods, I still haven't even started any DLC, and I also use some bosses in other modes to farm Eridium and money. Do weapons in UVH scale to your level regardless of where and how you gained the next level, or must the level-up happen only in UVH to trigger them being at higher level too? I'm sorry if this is confusing, I only recently started playing this game for the first time, EVER

[maVRoyal]

If you level up in mode other then UVHM and come back to it, then enemies and loot will scale like all stuff in UVHM always do. But remember, when you come back it will be harder cause enemies will be a level higher and you would still have the old guns.

[Nakos]

Originally posted by Mr. Manovar nr. 6:

Okay, this all makes sense. So I guess the last thing I want to make sure is this; Will there be any problem if I gain a level-up back in Normal or TVH Mode, and then go back to my UVH Mode playthrough?

A problem? Well, functionally, no, but subjectively, yes.

If (for example) you're playing in UVHM and you're level 54. For whatever reason, you decide to go back to TVHM and do something there and end up leveling to 55.

Now, when you go back to UVHM, you're level 55. All your enemies are level 55. But you're weapons are still level 54. You'll notice that it takes longer to kill enemies, that you use more bullets (and lose more time to reloading).

So, yes, it's possible to go back to TVHM (and there are even a few reasons you might want to) but it's best avoided, because you don't want to interrupt the gathering of gear in UVHM. Because TVHM cannot give you gear that will be viable in UVHM.

Originally posted by Mr. Manovar nr. 6:

In all this passing of the three mods, I still haven't even started any DLC, and I also use some bosses in other modes to farm Eridium and money. Do weapons in UVH scale to your level regardless of where and how you gained the next level, or must the level-up happen only in UVH to trigger them being at higher level too? I'm sorry if this is confusing, I only recently started playing this game for the first time, EVER

Weapons do not change, ever.

The level of drops changes in direct relation to the level of the enemy that drops them.

A level 55 enemy will drop a level 55 weapon (give or take a level or two (so a level 55 enemy is likely to drop a level 54 or 55 weapon, but might occasionally drop a level 53 or a level 56 weapon)). A level 60 enemy will drop a level 60 weapon. A level 70 enemy will drop a level 70 weapon, etc.

Once a weapon has dropped, that's it. A level 55 weapon in your pack will always be level 55. (And when you are 60, that level 55 weapon will be pretty much useless, regardless of rarity).

If you want better weapons, you have to kill stronger (higher level) enemies. In UVHM, enemies are always your level (or, in the case of bosses 1-3 levels above you (I don't recall exactly, but Bosses are a bit higher than regular enemeis)).

Do the DLC whenever you want. Quest rewards will still be based on the level you start the DLC at however, so if you want a level 72 Sand Hawk or a level 72 Pimpernel then wait until level 72 to start Captain Scarlett's DLC.

Also, bear in mind, you can reset UVHM at any time (from the character selection screen), meaning you redo all of the quests. This can be tedious, as you have to redo everything, but it can also be useful, as lots of quests offer fun rewards that you might want to have fresh, higher level copies of. So it's a trade off, you do the whole story over again, but you get new quest reward gear.

Does that make it clearer?

[Robber N0T from here]

Originally posted by Nakos:

Originally posted by Mr. Manovar nr. 6:

Okay, this all makes sense. So I guess the last thing I want to make sure is this; Will there be any problem if I gain a level-up back in Normal or TVH Mode, and then go back to my UVH Mode playthrough?

A problem? Well, functionally, no, but subjectively, yes.

If (for example) you're playing in UVHM and you're level 54. For whatever reason, you decide to go back to TVHM and do something there and end up leveling to 55.

Now, when you go back to UVHM, you're level 55. All your enemies are level 55. But you're weapons are still level 54. You'll notice that it takes longer to kill enemies, that you use more bullets (and lose more time to reloading).

So, yes, it's possible to go back to TVHM (and there are even a few reasons you might want to) but it's best avoided, because you don't want to interrupt the gathering of gear in UVHM. Because TVHM cannot give you gear that will be viable in UVHM.

Originally posted by Mr. Manovar nr. 6:

In all this passing of the three mods, I still haven't even started any DLC, and I also use some bosses in other modes to farm Eridium and money. Do weapons in UVH scale to your level regardless of where and how you gained the next level, or must the level-up happen only in UVH to trigger them being at higher level too? I'm sorry if this is confusing, I only recently started playing this game for the first time, EVER

Weapons do not change, ever.

The level of drops changes in direct relation to the level of the enemy that drops them.

A level 55 enemy will drop a level 55 weapon (give or take a level or two (so a level 55 enemy is likely to drop a level 54 or 55 weapon, but might occasionally drop a level 53 or a level 56 weapon)). A level 60 enemy will drop a level 60 weapon. A level 70 enemy will drop a level 70 weapon, etc.

Once a weapon has dropped, that's it. A level 55 weapon in your pack will always be level 55. (And when you are 60, that level 55 weapon will be pretty much useless, regardless of rarity).

If you want better weapons, you have to kill stronger (higher level) enemies. In UVHM, enemies are always your level (or, in the case of bosses 1-3 levels above you (I don't recall exactly, but Bosses are a bit higher than regular enemeis)).

Do the DLC whenever you want. Quest rewards will still be based on the level you start the DLC at however, so if you want a level 72 Sand Hawk or a level 72 Pimpernel then wait until level 72 to start Captain Scarlett's DLC.

Also, bear in mind, you can reset UVHM at any time (from the character selection screen), meaning you redo all of the quests. This can be tedious, as you have to redo everything, but it can also be useful, as lots of quests offer fun rewards that you might want to have fresh, higher level copies of. So it's a trade off, you do the whole story over again, but you get new quest reward gear.

Does that make it clearer?

Crystal. Thanks.

Then I guess I will do all the DLC's on Normal mode, because I've been dying to play a satirical portrayal of Dungeons and Dragons narrated by Tiny Tina. THEN I'll do it over on True Vault Hunter mode along with all the Sidequests I didn't complete, and back to UVH. I literally do all that just so I can reach maximum level. And weapons? I think I'll just use the Golden Keye box in Sanctuary. I don't think I'll be able to reach the Warrior in Ultimate Mode anyway, let alone beat the Terramorphous