super bad fire alpha skag

[Out Of Bubblegum]

I am on playthrough 2.5 now. A level 60 super bad alpha fire skag is impossible for me. Normally skags are vulnerable to fire. And normally alpha skags are vulnerable to acid. But acid does almost nothing and of course fire does nothing. What works on these things? It seems they are immune to all elemental. I know the advice to get behind them. But that is not working.

[Renfrew]

I always disagree with the strategy of getting behind an Alpha Skag, it is easier to shoot it in the back when it is jumping all over the place leaving itself exposed, there's also the aspect that Alphas (especially the elemental ones, due to fire breath, corrosion spit, and shock lasers) are more inclined to open their mouths, making crits the best strategy, as it will deal the most damage.

They are not immune to all elements, just fire. Corrosive of course is best, shock isn't too bad having an 0.9 multiplier vs armour, and of course explosive and non-elemental are options too. There are two possibilities why your weapon of choice was not working.

1) Low tech multiplier (x1 is obviously weakest, x4 is strongest)
2) Low level (You need to make sure you are constantly picking up new weapons, this is an RPG-style game)

[Out Of Bubblegum]

Thanks. I am level 60 also. I was in the cave where you do the shock crystal harvest. Near Fyrestone. I had two of them near the entrance. I have a corrosive launcher that does good on alpha skags. But not on these. I died several times :(
Then I hid behind the vending machines and just kept shooting them with the launcher. I could buy more ammo right there. Eventually they died. That was not fun. I am not liking 2.5 very much. Everything is a sponge. I search the vendors often for better weapons.

[Renfrew]

Your mistake is using a rocket launcher. Again you need weapons that can shoot them in the mouth, rockets can't crit.

[Jon Boy]

Yes the higher bad ass skags are stupid. Fire se acid elemental weapons or explosive ones,
Hope this helps

[Out Of Bubblegum]

I did start by using my SMG/sniper rifle/shotgun and tried to shoot them in the mouth. But they were not cooperating. They would just charge or do a quick spit. And with 2 of them at once, trying to get a mouth shot on one left me vulnerable to the other one.
In the end cheese tactics won. Hiding behind the vending machines is a coward cheese tactic. But it works. The game puts lots of barriers around that you can prevent the melee attackers from getting to you. You just have to recognize them.

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

the Maliwan Defiler wrecks Badass Fire Skags relatively quickly