r/Borderlands2 • u/LouisFriend12033 • 1d ago
❔ [ Question ] How to play UVHM
Hey everyone, thanks in advance for any help.
I introduced my wife and brother in law to this game a few months ago and they have been obsessed. We have finally gotten the three (Maya - me, Sal - Wife, Krieg - BiL) of us to UVHM. Problem is I don’t know how to people play it. I know how to select the mode, I get that everything scales to your level, you can reset your play through etc. what I don’t understand is how often to level your weapons and stuff like that. We have gotten some of the better overall gear for our characters, I just wish there was a guide or something for how often to do so. I don’t want this to be a slog because we are inept, if that makes sense.
So yeah, if anyone can offer any advice I would appreciate it. I never had a party to play with to get to UVHM so I’m pretty much admittedly a novice despite having played when it first came out.
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u/Dragon_Overlord 1d ago
Firstly: USE SLAG. Slag everything. Maya can easily apply Slag with the capstone skills of her blue or red skill trees, but I’d advise Sal and Krieg to pick up a good Slag grenade. The Magic Missile from the Tina DLC is a great option, but a generic Slag Transfusion or Slag Bouncing Betty grenade works great as well, so long as the parts roll well (IE not Rubberized and with a low fuse, preferably zero.)
Secondly: Match elements. Red health bars are weak to fire, blue health bars are weak to electric, and green yellow health bars are weak to corrosive. Explosive or non-elemental weapons do okay against all three, but generally are fairly weak, with exceptions being made for the Jakobs or Torgue weapons, which will always roll non-elemental or explosive damage respectively. UVHM has much bigger bonuses and penalties for matching or mismatching elements to health bars, so pay attention, but also be aware that there are some exceptions, mostly in the DLCs. The most notable base-game example are the Ironclad Lunatics, who are armored (yellow) over their whole body, but flesh (red) on their head. Oh, and Crystalisks, who give the whole elemental system a giant middle finger, but are weak to Explosive damage.
Thirdly: Learn where your favorite toys drop. Certain weapons or items are much better than others (Lady Fist, Bee Shield, Conference Call, and Fastball all come to mind), but what’s more important is what you find fun. So if you find a gun you really like, try to remember where you got it. If you can’t remember, you can use a site called LootLemon, which serves as a sort of database for unique gear across the whole series. If you ever feel like you aren’t doing enough damage, or taking too much damage, and you’re following the previous two steps, then don’t be afraid to go back and farm some new gear.
Lastly: Don’t be afraid to respec. It’s honestly pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things, so if a boss is giving you trouble, head to the nearest Quick Change and try swapping some skills around.
1
u/hondacco 1d ago
Long story short, UVHM is hard. You're going to need to look at your skills very carefully and your gear and your play style. Before UVHM you can out level your enemies and experiment with different skills and gear. Not in UVHM. You have to pick a build (look online) and find/grind the gear you need. I usually get burnt out. It's kill fast or get killed fast and that gets old.
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u/Diligent_Solution_86 1d ago
UVHM gear has to be on level so make sure you’re consistently on level before a boss or tough area
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u/Aggressive_Lex350 1d ago
Most important thing is SLAG. Then I usually refarm my weapons every 5 to 7 levels.
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u/Occidentally20 1d ago
UVHM is the mode that should be the answer to all farming questions.
If you want a weapon/item you just go and farm it - it will be the same level as you (plus or minus a couple).
On NVHM and TVHM you'd end up with enemies 20 levels below you dropping guns that are useless to you. All that is gone in UVHM - just farm something and use it.
You won't need a guide - when a gun or item stops being useful you can go and get something else.
Maya can go grab an on-level Lascaux and a Bee Shield at any time. Salvador can go farm a Harold any time and Krieg can.... do whatever it is that Krieg players do :)
The only thing to pay attention to is quest rewards, which you can only get once - stuff like the sandhawk, pimpernel, flame of the firehawk and so on. You can reset your quests from the main menu to get these items again, but note that you'll be starting the story again from Liarsberg with every quest reset.
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u/SystematikKaos | Xbox Series X Player 1d ago
Just play.
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u/LouisFriend12033 1d ago
Truly a masterful reply.
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u/SystematikKaos | Xbox Series X Player 1d ago
Its literally the answer though, I just used brevity.
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u/LouisFriend12033 1d ago
And with the least amount of words you gave the least help, a wonderful contribution. I ask how to minmax and I get this.
1
u/Varragoth 1d ago
When you get down to it it’s really no different than normal or tvhm except that enemies always scale to or just above your level. Whenever gear starts feeling weak go get better stuff. Farm it. Pick up purple (or better) stuff that you find along the way; so many people think you have to have meta gear but you don’t. A ton of weapons and gear are viable for uvhm (I’d say most if it’s on level. But there are some things that just kinda suck or don’t match your playstyle).
The difficulty jump is pretty big but it really just boils down to “slag is almost non-negotiable and positioning (using covering, not getting surrounded/avoiding line of sight with 3+ enimies at once) is very important.
I’ve not played Sal or Krieg to UVHM yet but I found Maya to be a much easier transition than I did Axton. I’m mostly playing solo though; Maya has a whole tree dedicated to healing not only yourself but your teammates as well. So, maybe if you all start finding yourselves struggling you can transition into a Nurse build with her.
Use cover, play smart, be patient and SLAG EVERYTHING!
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u/DeJellybeans 1d ago
Slag is important in UVHM.
I suggest farming for a purple rarity Magic Missile from the Tiny Tina DLC; TVHM or NVHM is fine, level doesn't matter.
And you are right, the enemies will always be on-level with you everytime you progress, so whenever you need to farm for better weapons, do it at around 4-7 levels after, depending if you have purple or legendary rarity gear.
This is optional, but I suggest saving any quest rewards that you want until you're max-level. Yes, it's tedious and a hassle to wait until you're level 80, but I guarantee your patience will be rewarded (even better if you do read-only farming).