"Another Melee Zer0 Guide" - A Zer0 Build

There's ninjas, apperently.

Introduction

Uh....

....


...OK, I'll be honest here - Zer0 isn't really my kind of guy. Not in terms of personality (On that front, he's pretty OK), but the three ways he can work in-game really don't appeal to me that much. On one hand, I just plain suck at sniping, both with the Lyuda and Pimpernel, which rules out the Sniping route. On the other hand, I can't think of any real way to use Deception in a normal gun build outside making an escape/rockets. And on the third hand, you have melee.

Maybe it's because most of my melee experience prior to Zer0 was with Krieg, but Zer0's melee just seems... boring to me. Maybe it's the lack of flavor to it in my mind (Zer0 has just Bloodshed/Cunning, Krieg has Mania/Bloodlust and Mania/Hellborn). Maybe my mentality with guns leaking into melee (Said mentality is "Shoot lots of bullets in the general direction of the bad guys"). Or some other thing I don't know of.

Then again, I'm probably comparing a rouge to a barbarian.

Still, just because I don't like him as much as the other characters doesn't mean I don't recognize his damage potential. Because he does have a LOT of it. And for those who haven't read the probably-numerous guides to Zer0 on here, I'll try and help show you how to do it.

Emphasis on "Try."

Main Gear

The main stuff we'll be using, of course.


SLOT ONE: Slag Rapier

Mission Reward for "Message in a Bottle - Hayter's Folly"
Preferred Prefix: Irrelevant.
Ideal Parts: Also Irrelevant.
"As I end the refrain, thrust home." - Always spawns with a +200% bonus to melee damage. Mediocre overall stats otherwise.
"Curse of the Porcelain Fist!" - The user also takes more damage from melee attacks.
Previously owned by one Captain Blade, this weapon has the single highest bonus to melee damage available on Pandora (As far as I know of). And with the below-average stats otherwise, it's all it's good for as well.

If you're gonna shoot with it anyways, then get one in slag; it'll help when you need to slag something in a pinch.


SLOT TWO: Unkempt Harold

Drops from Savage Lee in Three Horns Divide/Bought from Torgue Vendors in the Campaign of Carnage DLC
Preferred Prefixes: Double Penetrating (2x Projectiles)
Ideal Parts: Torgue/Jakobs grip.
“Did I fire six shots, or only five? Three? Seven. Whatever.” – Shots split into seven over a horizontal spread. Consumes three/six ammo per shot.
The Harold isn’t just one of the best pistols in the game, it’s arguably one of the best weapons in the game, PERIOD. And despite being in such a high position, it’s also one of the easiest to obtain, thanks to the Torgue Vendors.

We'll mainly be using this one to take out enemies we can't really hit with melee (Most flying enemies, BNK-3R, etc) or those who explode on death (EXP-Loaders, HOT-Loaders, etc). You'll want to lead your targets when it comes to fliers, though.


SLOT THREE: Slag Rubi

Mission Reward from “Rakkaholics Anonymous” (Turn in to Moxxi)
Preferred Prefixes: Evisceration
Ideal Parts: Maliwan grip.
“Whenever I'm caught between two evils, I take the one I've never tried.” – Any damage dealt by the player while wielding the weapon heals them, at a rate of 12% of the damage inflicted.
I was pretty divided on whether to put the this or the Grog, While the Grog offers a much bigger health return, it's status as a mission item leaves it rather unstable in terms of parts, since it's going to change every time you reload the game. With that aspect , Rubi is your best option, despite the lower health return.

With that said, if you can get your hands on one of the stable versions from the Loot Hunt, then get the Grog.


SLOT FOUR: Norfleet

Drops from Vermivorus the Invincible and Hyperius the Invincible (Anywhere that has Varkids and Washburne Refinery respectively)
Preferred Prefixes: Pussiant (+Damage), Prudential (+Reload)
Ideal Parts: Maliwan grip, Vladof/Tediore sight, Torgue/Bandit exhaust
“Blows Up Everything!” – Fires three energy balls similar to those found on other E-Tech launchers. Each projectile moves slowly and erratically, dealing massive damage on hitting anything. Consumes three ammo per shot.
I don't think I need to explain this one.


SHIELD: Love Thumper

Mission Reward for "Best Mother's Day Ever"
Preferred Resistance: Inflammable (Reduces fire damage taken)
"If thumping you is wrong, I don't wanna be right." - INCREDIBLY long recharge delay. Sucsessfully melee attacks while your shields are down will cause an explosive nova.
This is, in my opinion, the best overall roid shield in the game. While it might not have the absolute highest roid damage in the game (It's second to the Hide in that regard), it does have the absurdly long delay, which means we won't have to worry about our shield recharging. And with the novas, you can hit multiple enemies at the same time with one swing.

Just a warning, though - that same nova can also blow up nearby barrels, and it WILL hurt any co-op partners within range. Be cautious.


GRENADE: Chain Lightning

Drops from Badass Sorcerers in the Dragon Keep DLC
“Don’t pay it back, pay it forward.” – Always shock. Throws forward a lightning bolt that can jump between enemies. Also regenerates grenade ammo.
One of my favorite grenade mods as of late. Along with recharging our grenade stash, tossing one is a good way to get back your health if you're in a pinch, and does some nice damage on top of that.

(Fun fact: the red text comes from a 1916 novel called “In the Garden of Delight,” where the phrase was used in the context of rewarding love with more love. The way it’s used here makes it sound more badass, though.)


CLASS MOD: Shadow Ninja

Drops from Anywhere
Preferred Boosts: +6 Backstab, +5 Killing Bl0w
This is pretty much one of the best COMs you can get for melee, with only it's Legendary counterpart beating it out.


RELIC: Shock BoA

Drops from Loot Midgets
With no means of increasing cooldown rates through skills, this is our best option of getting the next Decepti0n out faster. It also boosts shock damage, which is nice with Unf0rseen and our Chain Lightning.

Other Gear of Note

This is for any gear that didn't make the main list, but should be looked into if you so feel like it.


Hide of Terra

Drops from Terramorphous the Invincible in Terra's Peak
Preferred Resistances: Grounded (Reduces shock damage)
"His hide turned the mightiest tame..." - Combines the Roid, Nova, and Spike shield types into one shield. Very high roid damage.
With the highest Roid damage in the game, one might think this would get the slot over the Thumper. So why did't it?

Well, the recharge delay killed it's chances for me. A normal MMF chain lasts about 5 kills, or about 15 seconds. With a Thumper (With a delay of over 3 minutes), that's nothing to worry about; but on a shield like the Hide (With a delay of about 3-5 seconds) and with most melee builds in UVHM requiring a roid shield, this isn't really a good thing.

If you choose to use this shield over the Thumper, then you'll want to master the art of shield-stripping - basically, toss a Chain Lightning at your feet to bring down your shields before you strike. And for that, you'll need a Grounded version (Otherwise, you'll just kill yourself and look stupid in front of your enemies/co-op partners).


Grog Nozzle

Mission item for "The Beard Makes The Man" (DO NOT TURN THE MISSION IN)
Preferred Prefixes: Evisceration
Ideal Parts: Irrelevant
“Hand over the keys, Sugar…” – Always slag. Highly reduced damage, with increased crit damage (+200%) and slag chances. Heals the user at a rate of 65% of damage done. Has a chance to make the user “drunk.” When active, projectile count will be multiplied by six, at the cost of fire rate and accuracy. This effect can be applied to other weapons.
...In other words, an ideal Rubi taken up to eleven. The only problem is that, due to it's nature as a mission item, it's going to change every time you load the game. But with the Loot Hunt having provided versions that aren't tied to the mission, you'll want to seek out those if you can.


Conference Call

Drops from The Warrior in Vault of The Warrior/Handsome Sorcerer in Dragon Keep
Preferred Prefixes: Practicible
Ideal Parts: Hyperion grip and stock
"Let's just ping everyone at once." - Below average pellet count. Shots generate more pellets as they travel.
The main alternative to the Harold, this has served me well on my Mechro. Where the Harold works best against those that explode on death and those you're otherwise unable to melee, the CC is better at hitting the flying ones.

(I can't think of anything else to say regarding this.)


Topneaa

Drops from Anywhere
Preferred Prefixes: Rugged (+Damage), Turbulent (+Fire Rate)
Ideal Parts: Vladof sights and grip, Torgue exhausts
These things are for if you want to use rockets for anything other than emergencies. At that they succeed, with their low ammo cost and high fire rates – it’s like having a miniature Norfleet, only they fire one orb at a time and they're made by Vladof.


Leg. Hunter

Drops from Vermivorus the Invincible in Anywhere with Varkids
"I never die." - Adds five points into 5 different skills. Using Decepti0n while this is equipped will restore 10% of your health.
The various Leg. COMs are pretty nice for general-purpose use, and this is no exception. The bonuses to C0unter Strike and Killing Bl0w in particular are nice to have.


Law

Mission Reward for "Won't Get Fooled Again"
Preferred Prefixes: Irrelevant
Ideal Parts: Also Irrelevant
"De da." - Always spawns with a +100% melee bonus. If the Order shield is equipped while this weapon is active, all melee attacks will restore your health.
For those of us who don't have Pirate's Booty, this can serve as a nice substitute for the Rapier; as it has the second-highest bonus to melee. For those who do have it, it can used in it's place until you get one.


Leg. Ninja
Drops from Tubbies
"In the midst of combat, keep stillness inside you." - Adds five points into five different skills. Has a higher bonus than it normal counterpart.
The only reason I didn’t make this our main COM is because of how grindy my time leveling through UVHM was (That, and my first time through it was a real clusterf#ck). Because of that, I’ve decided to not get Digi-Peak. Since most people here do have it, though, I would suggest using this over the blue version where possible.

Skill Tree

Any skills with their name in BOLD are considered a cornerstones.

Level 61, Basic Frame

SNIPING

• Headsh0t - I had two more points left over from leveling up, so I put them here. Where you put them is entirely up to you, though.

CUNNING

• Fast Hands - While this is a build focused on melee damage, reload and swap speed are pretty useful to have across all builds.
  
• C0unter Strike - Sure, it might activate at random, but at 5/5 this is a chance at +250% melee damage. Only Krieg's Silence The Voices gives a bonus that large.
  
• Ambush - Stacks with Backstab, and gives us some room for error if we don't hit them in the back.
  
• Death Mark - When you hit someone with melee, they take 20% more damage from everything. EVERYTHING. Guns, grenades, DoTs, more melee - it will all deal more damage. And if they were slagged when you put it on, that goes up to 60%. The fact that it gets applied with melee is just the icing on the cake.
  
• Unf0rseen - Most enemies will wander over to your decoy when it's up. Aside from givng us a chance at Backstabing them, it also hands them a nice present when Decepti0n ends/get redeployed.
  
• Innervate - Let's us get to our target faster mid-Deception. Also regenerates health for us.
  
• Death Bl0ss0m - Death Mark is enough of a boon for us as is. This skill not only lets you deploy a bunch of them at once, but also makes them STACK. And then the kunai that deployed them explode into various elements/DoTs, which even the Ultimate Badasses will melt if under the effect of five DMs at once.
  
  Just remember to stay back a bit when you toss 'em; the little explosions that occur can kill you as well.

BLOODSHED

• Killing Bl0w - The ultimate finisher. If you can't kill it in one hit, expect it to die within one more (Unless it's a raid boss).
  
• Ir0n Hand - When your shields are down all the time, you'll want to increase the number of hits you can take.
  
• F0ll0wthr0ugh - A ninja never stops moving, so a faster ninja is a better one. It can also help as an indication of a kill.
  
• Execute - Consider the damage from the other skills across our trees, roid bonuses, and our weapons. After you've done that, double that number.
  
  This is Execute in a nutshell.
  
• Backstab - Distraction is something Zer0 tends to excel at, so you should take advandtage of that. It's kinda like playing the Spy in TF2, only there's less hats and screwing up doesn't result in your death after a few seconds.
  
• Resurgence - This is largely a filler skill, since it really isn't as good as it sounds. But considering how the other options are either counter-productive (Grim, Be Like Water) or just plain bad (Like The Wind), it's the lesser of the evils.
  
• Many Must Fall - Arguably the powerful skill in Zer0's arsenal. Melee kills made during Decepti0n will automatically redeploy it, and give you another shot at a melee kill. Get another, and it gets redeployed AGAIN. And AGAIN. And AGAIN. And so on. It's entirely possible that this skill can let you clear out a whole room without ever being in sight of your enemies.
  
  This skill is why I think Zer0 can be an absolute beast in mobbing. If it isn't, I dunno what is.

SKILLS TO AVOID

• Grim - In a build where you want your shields up, this is a pretty nice skill. In a build like this, however, it shuts off our Roid bonus between MMF chains.
  
• Be Like Water - It just doesn't make sense with MMF, since to taking use of it needs you to shoot between every melee attack. Since shooting in Decepti0n automatically ends it...

Leveling Guide

(AKA, How to Grow a Ninja)

NORMAL - With no means of getting a health return until Lvl 21 at best, you'll want to try and get a slag Rubi when you can. Otherwise, use this playthrough as a way of getting used to melee.

• Lvl 5 - Decepti0n. You might as well, since you can't put it anywhere else.
  
• Lvls 6-11 - 1/5 Killing Bl0w, 5/5 Ir0n Hand
  
• Lvls 12-15 - 5/5 Killing Bl0w
  
• Lvls 16-21 - Execute, 5/5 Backstab
  
• Lvls 22-25 - 4/5 F0ll0wthr0ugh
  
• Lvls 26-31 - 5/5 Resurgence, Many Must Fall

TVHM - Before you enter TVHM, I'd suggest doing Pirates Booty for a little more XP and to grab the Rapier. Once you have them, keep moving ahead and continue practicing.

• Lvls 31-36 - 5/5 Fast Hands
  
• Lvls 37-41 - 4/5 C0unter Strike
  
• Lvls 42- 46 - 5/5 Ambush, Death Mark
  
• Lvls 47-50 - 4/5 Innervate

UVHM - By the time you hit UVHM, you should be using melee for most of your kills (Save for the ones who explode on death or fly around). Other than that, slag as you would with the other characters.

• Lvls 51-56 - 5/5 Innervate, 5/5 Unf0rseen
  
• Lvls 57-59 - Death Bl0ss0m, 5/5 C0unter Strike, 5/5 F0ll0wthr0ugh.
  
• Lvls 60-61 - These two points are ultimately up to you. I personally just dump them into Headsh0t for the crit damage.

And as a bonus, here's some gear to look out for as you level:

• Anything with a melee attatchment (Unless you have a Rapier on hand).
  
• Hyperion Shotguns
  
• Torgue Rifles
  
• Torgue Launchers
  
• Torgue Shotguns
  
• Maliwan SMGs
  
• Maliwan Pistols
  
• Bandit Shotguns
  
• Bandit Launchers
  
• Vladof Pistols
  
• Bouncing Betties
  
• Transfusion Grenades
  
• Roksalt ("Splinter Group")
  
• Heartbreaker ("Safe and Sound" - Turn in to Moxxi)
  
• Lady Fist ("Uncle Teddy" - Turn in to Una Baha)
  
• Roaster ("Note for Self-Person")
  
• Creamer ("Creature Slaughter: Round 5")
  
• Order ("BFFs")

The Really In-Depth Version

There's actually a whole lot more to Melee Zer0 than I've covered here - Like his melee formula, shield stripping, various other techniques, etc. Thankfully, someone has already gone ahead and done that:

Honestly, these two videos explain how Melee Zer0 can be powerful better than I think I ever could.

Q&A

Title, I suppose. I'll add to this as questions come in.

Q: Will there ever be a Lvl 72/OP8 version of this?

A: Due to previous experiences with leveling through UVHM, no. I really can't think of what I'd do with 11 more points from here, since you really have all the essentials for a melee Zer0 by Lvl 61.

Q: Why'd you even make this guide if you said you aren't a fan of Zer0?

A: I dunno - inner completionist, I guess?

Q: Why a BoA instead of a Strength Relic?

A: Zer0 has no skills that can reduce cooldown, along with one that causes a shock explosion whenever one of his decoys explode. And with our melee damage high enough as it is, it makes more sense to me to focus on getting those strikes out faster.

I think there's a quote somewhere on here that goes along the lines of "Two attacks that do 500 damage do more than one that deals 600." It's not the exact quote, but it's something like that.

Credits, Probably

So that's the guide. Here's some related stuff, I guess:

Resources

• The GBX Forum's list of Assassin Buillds, in case this isn't your thing.[forums.gearboxsoftware.com]
  
• Lootology 101, for finding out more about the gear to get.[forums.gearboxsoftware.com]
  
• The Borderlands Wiki, for general reference.[borderlands.wikia.com]

Specail Thanks

• Man of Low Moral Fiber, for explaining how to Melee Zer0 better than I ever could.

Credits

• All screenshots (Except the Leg. Ninja one) taken by Edo the 309th
  
• Videos belong to Man of Low Moral Fiber
  
• Guide Format belongs to CDTRim
  
• Guide thumbnail belongs to Farkye of DA[farkye.deviantart.com]
  
• Zer0 and Borderlands 2 belong to Gearbox Software
  
• Steam Guides belong to Valve

The Other Crap I've Made

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=136317058
The first guide I ever submitted to here. I may/may not give it a serious overhaul at some point or another...

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=200011418
My main Mechro build nowadays. Abuses the OC and BFF trees for the sake of high damage.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=218173282
Why's everything exploding...?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261970629
It somehow took a couple months for Grog-Harold to get a guide about it. How that's possible continues to elude me.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=309364928
Plasma Casters!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=314985568
Axton takes a whirl at explosives.



This guide probably isn't as good as the others...

[anthony]

Love thumper is for people that suck at melee Zer0, what's the point in playing the build if you don't work to actually come to a point where you can use it properly?

[Swashed]

“Blows Up Everything!” – Fires three energy balls similar to those found on other E-Tech launchers. Each projectile moves slowly and erratically, dealing massive damage on hitting anything. Consumes three ammo per shot.
I don't think I need to explain this one.

Lol'd

[Terror]

amazingly done

[buysnoah]

Is there a lvl 50 version?

[Maddie Gaming]

Alpacalypse - Sorry about the long delay in answering, but you have to bring the mission to the point where it's ready to turn in, quit to the main menu, re-enter the game, go turn the mission in, and Alt+F4 from the turn-in screen if it isn't what you want.

If you've done it right, when you load the game again, it should pick up from before you turned it in. Hope this help.

[Alpacalypse]

How do you manually save your game? I want to try farming the Rapier.

[Daniel]

I got a melee classmod with 61% damage; its lvl 61 aswell

[PinkDaddySasquatch]

good to know, how ever i have already gotten the normal mode version and the TVHM version and im not strong enough to get the UVHM version yet. and i guess i do get a notice when says something i thought it didnt :P

[Maddie Gaming]

@Pink Daddy - First off, head to the Scarlet DLC as soon as possible, and advance the story far enough that the Hayter's Folly Bottle mission opens up. Once you have it set to turn in, save your game, then turn the mission in. If it isn't slag, Alt+F4 out. Repeat until you get a slag version.

[PinkDaddySasquatch]

hey cool guide, i am trying to play melee in UVHM, just started it and i could desperatetly use a rapier with slagbut i alreadydid the quest and got a fire one instead. i really have no idea how to get another one since its a quest reward. would it be too much to ask that would dupe your for me? if youre down to do that just send me a friend request because i wont et a notice if you resond to this.