Borderlands 2

[kildorn]

Oh yeah, those 3-legged crystal things? A single melee hit shatters the crystals on their legs, so if you're quick you can drop them in 3 hits.

Huh, that would make them far less of a pain. I've been doing 2-3 sniper rounds/leg since they seem to eat SMG rounds without flinching.

[Segoris]

On another Maya note, has anyone gotten a lot of mileage out of Restoration? Even in the arena fights I haven't used it much as my teammates aren't biting it slowly. We either get separated a bit or gibbed (read: surprise double Super Badass Maniacs), which is where Res is awesome-fantastic.

I think the most mileage anyoen wil have with Restoration is that it's biggest advantage over any other healing skill Maya has is that it is not Phaselock dependant like Sweet Release and Elated are.

That said, for me it wasn't until later that Resto felt right as I went higher in resto with higher damage weapons (level 31 currently for reference). I'm at 8/5 resto (so 48%) and it is feeling much more impactful. At 5/5 it's good, but I found it was more dependant on the weapon type than anything. This pretty much contradicted to how I was playing before adjusting to Restoration (sniper abusing the no-range on phaselock for CC and for Rezzes) but to heal effectively I switched to Sniper/SMG/Shotgun. Sniper as my main dps source, SMG for mid-range healing, and shotgun for close range heal/dps with a pistol that can outdamage anything else (1-shots basic goliaths...kind of sick). I'd break down the guns and their usage with restoration as this:

-A good shotgun from up close can almost full heal just about anyone, but will heal for less from distance if it is DMGx## (300dmg X 15shots or something like that) as the shots will spreadout and miss the target
-Sniper shots didn't feel as they were doing as much as they should have, plus with slower rates of fire I didn't like snipe-healing. If you find a quick firing AND quick bullet speed sniper rifle it might work better, but also a bit tougher with needing to zoom trying to follow a moving target to heal them with it from range as players don't move like npc.
-SMG/AR felt good as it was lots of numbers streaming from the player being healed so it felt more responsive and actually seemed to be the best in-combat healing while someone's taking hits. Usually I'll go smg until someone gets to about 1/3-1/2 health then hit them with a shotgun to bring them back to full and switch back to SMG, but this is also partly because with my SMG I add multiple effects to mobs inbetween healing, high rate of fire, good damge, fast reload make it my go-to healing weapon
-Pistols are hit or miss. I have one pistol that is stronger than my shotgun but the shots move so slow it's easy to miss. Other pistols I haven't really enjoyed since they're a faster rate of fire than sniper rifles with less range making them my last choice for healing

[Rishathra]

Speaking of the quit/reload trick, has anyone found a spot like New Haven in the first game, where there were something like six weapons chests scattered around the town?  That was my main method of acquiring good guns.

The Slab camp has a whole mess of them, and is pretty light on the hostiles. Chests in the world drop loot on level with the zone though, so it's not something you can go back to frequently until you're level capped.

Does it work the same way as the first, where you had the first, second, and 2.5 playthroughs?

[kildorn]

Speaking of the quit/reload trick, has anyone found a spot like New Haven in the first game, where there were something like six weapons chests scattered around the town?  That was my main method of acquiring good guns.

The Slab camp has a whole mess of them, and is pretty light on the hostiles. Chests in the world drop loot on level with the zone though, so it's not something you can go back to frequently until you're level capped.

Does it work the same way as the first, where you had the first, second, and 2.5 playthroughs?

I believe 2.5 is gone and replaced by just everything auto leveling in 2?

[Furiously]

Just finished. Although I don't think I ever got a Maya setup I liked, but the game was sooo well written and done. Very satisfying.

[Llyse]

Just finished. Although I don't think I ever got a Maya setup I liked, but the game was sooo well written and done. Very satisfying.

Is it necessary or rewarding to have played Borderlands 1?

[Rasix]

Not really.

[Evildrider]

Just finished. Although I don't think I ever got a Maya setup I liked, but the game was sooo well written and done. Very satisfying.

Is it necessary or rewarding to have played Borderlands 1?

Other than it's a good game, nope. 

[Yegolev]

You get a special head.

[kildorn]

One of the late zones is a lot more enjoyable if you played BL1, but overall the game tries to explain the whole thing pretty well.

[Lantyssa]

It isn't necessary.  Rewarding depends upon how much you like games referencing their predecessors.

The heads are okay, but as a FPS something you only see on menu screens.  [Incidentally, my Siren is named the Crazy Twin...]

[Yegolev]

Reading back, seems a good gun is hard to find.  Same for grenade mods and shields, but in those cases I only have to worry about if it is better than the one I have now.  Usually; I did try out a shield that made me immune to corrosive but it was much less effective than I had hoped.

My main is Zer0 and with some help from friends I managed to get two good sniper rifles and a couple good pistols.

A fire pistol that is top-notch and outranks any fire sniper I have found, which honestly I couldn't tell from the numbers but it hits for massive damage on fleshies, and a shock pistol that sucks a lot but is still shock and works better on shields than the fire pistol.

I have a general-purpose non-elemental sniper, and recently obtained a good corrosive sniper than does a moderately better job on robots.  Meaning that it hurts them more if I miss the critical.  But the non-elemental will often take their left arm off in one hit, so it's almost a wash.

Anything else is just whatever I have in my "assorted" pile.  I carried an explosive shotgun for a short while but now I do better firing from the hip with the sniper, or pistol for rakk.  I do want to find an emergency SMG, though.

The heads are okay, but as a FPS something you only see on menu screens.  [Incidentally, my Siren is named the Crazy Twin...]

I see the special head enough to make it worthwhile for me.  I also think Zer0's looks better than his default.

[Bunk]

Some of the special heads are cool. I started a Gunzerker for a multiplayer game, and the BL1 head for him was Sledge's helmet.

[schild]

Why can't I take screenshots of just guns from in the goddamn game? :(

[Furiously]

I hopped into hat's game last night uninvited. The game is 4x better in a group.

[jakonovski]

My Commando got the rocket upgrade for his turrets and now there's no need for weapons. Holy shit.

[TheWalrus]

I'm still waiting. I'm excited for it though! :D

[kildorn]

Why can't I take screenshots of just guns from in the goddamn game? :(

F to inspect gun, P (I think) to screenshot. Creates these:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=99027141

[Kageru]

It's fun. Lots of variety in guns and a better progression of introducing new modifiers means you are constantly hoping for that perfect gun for your character build. It's pretty true to the atmosphere of the first one but more complex and a much better interface barring the horrid inventory. Steam match-making beats the hell out of game-spy.

Multi-player tends to be chaotic. You are always chasing the fastest moving member of the team (which isn't me) and there's no time to go exploring. So i'm doing single-player with zero who has some lovely skill synergies but a focus on scoped shots and ambushes which work better solo when I can take my time. Playing a team build siren because I find phase-lock tactically fairly dull. It's either a grenade or a stun and too many of the abilities are passive off that.

[Yegolev]

What works for me, is if I'm interested in the story I have to play alone.  If I want to amplify the fighting fun (or if I'm stuck, like with that damn thresher), I group up.

If you hop into someone's game on XBL you then don't have to enter a Party in order to do voice chat.  I appreciate this streamlining, but I miss being able to moan at someone who is swapping characters.

[Yegolev]

Playing a team build siren because I find phase-lock tactically fairly dull.

Phase lock is great for holding someone still while a sniper gets a headshot.

[kildorn]

Phase Lock is useful in the sense that nice shit happens during it. Cataclysm is pretty depressingly bad imo (the last point's damage is just.. terrible), but everything else is usually pretty solid at holding up a flank while I take care of other shit.

Turret is absolutely amazing, just a long assed cooldown.

[Ingmar]

First hour or so puts this at amazingly better than TL2, but I guess it better be for 3x the cost.

[Yegolev]

SAY HELLO, BUTT STALLION.

There is a Torchlight nod (or I assume so) in BL2, which I won't explain since it might be spoilery.  I haven't seen a D2 nod, one of which was present in BL1.

[Segoris]

Phase Lock is useful in the sense that nice shit happens during it. Cataclysm is pretty depressingly bad imo (the last point's damage is just.. terrible), but everything else is usually pretty solid at holding up a flank while I take care of other shit.

Turret is absolutely amazing, just a long assed cooldown.

I have to disagree about Cata being bad (definitely not depressingly bad). It's the area effect & effects tree, and it does a good job at filling that role. I've found Cloud Kill and Ruin as amazing compliments to a weapon set, especially in TVHM (first couple quests so far anyways). I usually don't like to carry a shock weapon so Ruin tears apart any shields which more mobs seem to have now, and I have enough +elem dmg bonuses where corrosion is fantastic against everything but makes robots/armored mobs melt with Ruin+weapons type+class mod adding corrosion.

My only issues with Phaselock is that too much of the healing is tied directly to it, and you're fucked if you're against mobs that can't be phaselocked with no lesser minions around

Edit: by "too much of the healing" I mean the best healing leaving group support in those situations to Restoration and having to shoot friendlies to heal which pales in comparison to a strong Sweet Release triggering.

[Segoris]

For Ard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

That is the original video/reference for the achievement we found on accident last night

[Ard]

Heh, I was willing to take your word for it.

[Segoris]

I was on youtube anyways for something else and ran across that :p

[Surlyboi]

Tiny Tina fucking owns me. Just sayin'

[Segoris]

Best. Tea Party. Ever.

[Furiously]

I think I've killed the TMNT's and snow white and the seven midgets.

[Evildrider]

I'm a little teacup bloody and cut.  Here is my handle here is my butt.

[Quinton]

Gonna eat so many goddamn crumpets. It's gonna be a crumpocalypse.

[Kageru]

The crowd control of phaselock is very useful. But it's tactically boring because either I have abilities tied to it being on something (like healing or damage) in which case you use on cool down, or as CC which is also fairly obvious, and then you shoot the pinata.

The siren ability in 1 was much more interesting. Allowed you to escape, reposition, do damage while travelling, do damage on exit and entry, or even do a big melee attack. It's actually a little bit like zero's ability which I do find interesting. It uses the environment better and gives you tactical options.

The game is set up much more like an MMO with the grind. Achievements, badass points, weapon unlocks and a lot of core abilities feeling like they come later. They want you to keep playing.

Tina was certainly amusing, but Mordecai needs a silencer :/

[Segoris]

I think I've killed the TMNT's and snow white and the seven midgets.

I noticed the 7 midgets, but which was snow white? I think I missed that reference. And the TMNT references were awesome

crumpocalypse.

I've been trying to fit that word into my daily vocabulary since I heard it, fucking love Tiny Tina

The crowd control of phaselock is very useful. But it's tactically boring because either I have abilities tied to it being on something (like healing or damage) in which case you use on cool down, or as CC which is also fairly obvious, and then you shoot the pinata.

If we're only talking fun factor then I definitely agree and think it's somewhat boring. Though if we're simplifying things then all of them seem boring except infiltration imo.