Recommended order for DLC/endgame?

[kalirion]

I have a level 34 Siren on my first Normal playthrough, with just the final story missing, 2 side quests (including Moxxi's Loader arena) and the major DLC content left to do. I did, unknowingly, fast travel to a couple of the DLC locations before, so Savage Land starts at level 30 and Dragon Keep at 31.

What would be the recommended order for doing these things? Or should I finish the story, do the robot arena, and then do the DLCs in TVHM? I don't know that I'm actually going to keep playing any already completed content, including the story missions, in the ng+ modes, at least with the same character.

My current gear is mostly level 30 or below, which keeps me from being too OP for level 30 stuff - hell I got the snot kicked out of me a few times by the Loaders in the previous story mission I did.

Also, any recommended playing order for the DLCs?

[WIFEBURGER]

Personally recommend doing the Tiny Tina DLC next once you're finished with the main story since it's a direct continuation from where it left off. The order in which you complete the rest of them is up to you.

[kalirion]

Thanks! Should I do the DLCs in TVHM instead of Normal, to reset their levels?

[z00t]

Don't do the DLC's in normal. You will just carry on going up in level, but the gear drops won't.
Finish the main story and start TVHM. Then think about which of the DLC's you want to do. There is no order, they are not connected, you don't have to complete one before starting the next.
I would suggest Tiny Tina's as there is just a lot of good gear there. Class mods, the various 'magic' grenades, eridium all over the place, and, and... It is a fun DLC.

Bear in mind that you will not be able to complete all of them before you reach level 50. Finishing TVHM at level 50 or a bit over is important. The 3rd playthrough, UVHM, always scales to you. Starting it at well over 50 with level 50 gear, you will be in for a tough time.

[Malice@Doll]

I think the best way to do it is 1,3,2,4

[kalirion]

Originally posted by z00t:

Bear in mind that you will not be able to complete all of them before you reach level 50. Finishing TVHM at level 50 or a bit over is important. The 3rd playthrough, UVHM, always scales to you. Starting it at well over 50 with level 50 gear, you will be in for a tough time.

So in TVHM the DLCs won't scale to your level? I'm not sure I'm even interested in the story missions of TVHM.

Originally posted by NYXL Mew‡zxn:

I think the best way to do it is 1,3,2,4

I don't know which DLCs are which number.

Also I don't have the Upgrade Pack 2 DLC, in case that makes a difference. In recent years, NG+s tend to just burn me out on games.

[z00t]

DLC level scaling. They will generally scale with you as you progress through the story. It is only in UVHM that the game will always scale to you.
With the DLC's, as soon as you defeat the final boss, the entire DLC will scale to 50. The raid bosses will all be at least 52 etc. No matter your level.
Not sure what you mean by " I'm not sure I'm even interested in the story missions of TVHM."
The DLC's all have their own story, their own side missions etc. You will be following the story to progress through the DLC. Each of the DLC's contain multiple maps, and you will only unlock them by going there while following the story.

I think the 1,3,2,4 order may have been a gentle troll. There is the release order of the DLC's but that has no bearing on the play order - there isn't one.

Since you don't have Vault Hunter Upgrade #2 your character will not be able to progress beyond 61. You will need pack #2 to progress further. That doesn't really have any bearing on TVHM.

[kalirion]

I meant I'm not sure I want to do the main (non-DLC) story missions again.

[Mez Koo]

Scarlet, Torgue, Hammerlock, Tina, then the headhunters in their obvious order.

[Mez Koo]

Oh, definitely finish the story to unlock TVHM, then hope into the dlc's in TVHM, there is nothing for you in normal mode anymore.

[kalirion]

Thanks!

[Neit]

You can do DLCs in Normal, it has it's caveats, but it's not as bad as some people seem to think.

If you start DLCs after you finish main story and kill final boss, DLCs will scale to 30-35 levels, XP gain will slowly drop as you gain more levels and you will end up around level 40 (after completing all 4 big DLCs and 5 Headhunter packs). Even though your gear will be probably capped at level 35, game will be less challenging at this point, but as long as you don't mind having it a bit easier, or you just want to collect DLC specific customizations, challenges or eridium, it is an option.

After you finish everything in Normal, you will be level 40, with lvl 35 gear, starting on TVHM level 30. If you focus on main story (skipping most side missions), those levels will quickly catch up and you will reach final boss on TVHM around 48-49, which you can round up to 50 very easily.

It depends what exactly you want from the game. If you want more "casual" option, this is the way how to do it.

[kalirion]

After clearing the last (non-boss raid / non-DLC) sidequest on Normal I switched to TVHM and, after reaching Sanctuary, did the Tiny Tina DLC (minus boss raid and leaving Badass Arena for later since it was giving me too much trouble). I'm now level 50 in the middle of Big Game Hunt DLC, which I'm not enjoying nearly as much as the awesomeness that was Tiny Tina's.

[Moose]

difficulty will scale in ultimate vault hunter mode, best to just burn through the story up until then.

[kalirion]

Originally posted by Moose:

difficulty will scale in ultimate vault hunter mode, best to just burn through the story up until then.

That's the thing, I'm not interested in burning through the story. I already played the story in Normal, I don't have any urge to do the same quests again in TVHM. I just want to experience the content I haven't seen yet.

Or do the DLCs cap out in TVHM? If so, at what level?

[West Dragon]

I wondered this myself previously, but this post here answered my question for me after a quick google search.

https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/101763/when-should-i-start-the-dlc/101772#101772

For those of you who don't like going off-site, I'll just quote the post below.

"TL;DR: On Normal, Scarlett's and Torgue's campaigns are supposed to be taken alongside the main quest, at any point since level 15. Hammerlock's and Tina's - after the main quest. On TVHM and UVHM - any campaign at any point.

Campaign DLCs scale to player's level when you first visit them, but with restrictions in Normal and TVHM. These are:

Normal:
Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty - levels 15 to 30.
Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage - levels 15 to 30.
Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt - levels 30 to 35.
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep - levels 30 to 35.
True Vault Hunter Mode: all DLC scales up to level 50.

Upper bounds is what I observe when returning my level 50 from TVHM. Lower bounds are what I see when jumping there with a level 8 character.

Big Game Hunt and Dragon Keep are the ones definitely designed to be taken after the main quest - other two are actually a breeze if you are level 33-34 after the main quest, and especially when you complete them at 36-38.

Side note: Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage is NOT similar to Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot - it is not a ladder of lots of rounds on a few arenas. It is what Underdome should have been - a full-sized quest line built around a tournament and several arena (and non-arena) battles (and non-battles)."