All Things Borderlands

[J.T.]

Salvador is Level 19 now.  6 more levels to go and then I respec Salvador and try to find a zone with a lot of enemies to kill.  The So Much Blood achievement unlocking is coming very soon, but not soon enough..

I'm thrilled that I am starting to remember where Badass Challenge fetchits are on the map.  I found the locations for Tina's mines and the Cult sigils in Tundra Express without re-cheating.

The one thing I NEED to start remembering is to keep some sort of fire weapon that isn't a Launcher on my person at all times at lest up until this point.  I had to bail to my stash to get the Scorch Gun for Loggins's quest in The Dust and I totally forgot that I couldn't wake up Mordecai without setting Varkids on fire and for some reason, you can't do either with a Launcher.

I don't need to remember to bring a slag weapon along to check the additional criteria block for Lilith's Eridium Mine side mission since you get a pretty nice slag shotgun as your reward for doing the Mutant Ninja Rats side mission for Tannis.

Dealing with Wilhelm is a lot easier when you know he's too big to attack you in the crevice near the one way Fast Travel station and Tina gives you the perfect weapon to use against him if you go through the motions and help her out with her "tea party.  When you use those tactics and that weapon, beating the Badass Challenge for killing him without destroying his Surveyors is pretty simple; all you have to do is aim low and shoot Wilhelm's legs. 

The corrosive damage from the Teapot pistol does the rest and you're keeping the Surveyors out of your field of fire so you don't accidentally take one out.  So very cheap but hey, you deserve the easy kill for going the extra mile for Tina.  Crumpets are CRUNK~!

Angel's betrayal was no easier to accept the second time around.  So very angry.

Off I go to The Fridge.  6 more levels to go...  6 more...

Oh, I finally ran into "Michael Mamaril" and unlocked the Tribute To A Vault Hunter achievement.. It was kinda sad and surreal, because I remember the article in Kotaku a few years back where Gearbox announced Michael's passing and said that they were going to put him in Borderlands 2..

[J.T.]

Salvador is 22nd and 99/100ths Level.  I was a smidge from 23rd and would've continued on but:

1) Smackdown called my name,

and

2) I totally rage quit at 7:45 PM last night. That fucking Arms Dealer side mission that Zed posts on the Overlook Bounty Board can eat a bag of dicks.

I was smart enough to figure out that I needed to clear out the Threshers first at one of the pick-up zones before activating the side mission, but how the fuck am I supposed to cover that much ground in two minutes when Runners and Bandit Technicals pretty much travel at the same speed?  Obviously these timed missions are best done with a co=op partner, but there is a way to this solo and I will cheat to find out.

I did the missions where I got Overlook back up and running (the Deadly Bloom shield you get as a reward is NOYCE~!).  Laughed my ass off when the town administrator / doctor had me fire the Hyperion mortar on poor Dave.  I probably shoulda checked with Scooter first and got that mission set done before looking at the Sanctuary Bounty Board but.....

THE CLAN WAR WAS THE BESTEST SET OF SIDE MISSIONS THAT I'VE DONE SO FAR~! SO MUCH FUN~! 

I chose to help the Zafords because I wanted free access to the slot machine in their pub, the Holy Spirits, and it did not seem like a bright idea to piss off the locals in a town I just liberated and am using as a base of operations. 

Okay, who am I kidding... It was Steve.   Steve is the reason I sided with the Zafords.

The B2 glitching community also says to side with the Zafords in order to farm the Slagga SMG from the Hodunks that respawn at the Lynchwood train station.

I almost fucked up during one of the missions for the Zafords because *guess what* I FORGOT TO BRING A FIRE WEAPON~!!! but fortunately I looted one prior to going to the racetrack to set the Hodunk's trailers on fire.

I will be so much wiser after this Salvador run is completed.

I don't know how many jumps I failed trying to get to that dumb ECHO recording that Tannis left under the bridge in The Highlands.  I was rewarded for my stubbornness with a badass Orange Vladof assault rifle I later found in a nearby treasure chest. 

Between that weapon and this Purple Bandit Slag Damage SMG, I should be able to pull off this So Much Blood dealie once I have the levels and can find a zone where I can constantly kill things and stay Gunzerked for 90 seconds.  I'm definitely tossing that Vladof in the Secret Stash for later on.

Other points of interest:

• I finally found and robbed the Cara-Van in The Dust.
• I did Mordecai's Treasure side mission that took me back to Friendship Gulag so there is an opportunity to go back to that zone to get the Badass Challenges done if I luck out and beat the Constructor on my first try during Rescue Roland mission when I am rolling as Zer0 and decide to make that my "official" playthrough because I fall in love with the character.
• I did the Stalking the Stalkers mission for Sir Hammerlock.  I had no idea the dude was a homosexual.  Oh, well.  I'm a merc, not a judge. The money he pays me to kill people spends just as fast as everyone else's.
• I stumbled across the mission, Best Mother's Day Ever~!, while failing Arms Dealer for a third time.  Too bad about Sir Hammerlock's late boyfriend..   I sold the Love Thumper shied because I liked the Deadly Bloom shield better for Salvador but on second thought, I probably should've put it in my Secret Stash for when I start playing a more melee centric character like Krieg or Zer0.
• These maps are fucking huge.   I had no idea that there was a whole section of the map in The Dust behind Ellie's Junkyard that I hadn't even touched yet.
• Moxxi doesn't seem to be too terribly broken hearted that I helped the Zafords wipe out the Hodunks or that Ellie was the mastermind behind the Clan War.  I think I murdered yet another one of Moxxi's ex-husbands in the final gun battle and she seemed honestly distraught when I helped Mr. Shank achieve room temperature.
• You can't get to one of the ECHOs you need for the Dust To Dust Badass Challenge until you do the Clan War mission set because that's the way you get access to the Hodunk Speedway.
• There are no words for how much I fucking hate Wormhole Threshers.
• My new favorite thing is no-scope killing enemies at point blank range with my sniper rifle.

[J.T.]

Well fuck.  I am old and unimaginative. 

It did not dawn on me to use the Catch A Rides as teleportation stations to cut down on travel time.

Looks like clearing the first mailbox of Threshers is still part of the plan.

Now this eight hour shift will feel like twenty eight now that YouTubes has cracked the code for me.

[J.T.]

Once I am 25th level and spec myself to the moon, it looks like the best spot to try to unlock the So Much Blood achievement is the first section of Frostbite Canyon. 

Makes sense since there are several bandit encampments in close proximity and if I move fast enough, I should be able to keep killing and add time to my Gunzerking clock.

I also have a class mod that buffs Last Longer so I won't have to dump as many points into that skill when I am 25th Level and have access to Yippie Ki Yay.

[J.T.]

So Much Blood! (20) Gunzerked continuously for 90 seconds.

I was a bit worried because I thought the achievement was glitched.  I went to Frostbite Canyon to get my murder on and I was Gunzerked for over two minutes.   I started to get pissed off, but then the achievement unlocked after I came out of the bloodlust state.  Whew!

Nothing drove home the idea that it is all in the build more than this journey with Salvador.  Randomly assigned skill points will make you effective, but building towards a certain goal (ie. unlocking this achievement) made me effective AND efficient. 

Putting points into skills that sounded cool got me through 25 levels, but putting those points into skills for the specific purpose of staying Gunzerked for as long as possible made Salvador function on a whole 'nother level.

It kinda made me sad, because now that I am tinkering with Zer0, I am actually going to have to put some serious thought into how I want Zer0 to function.  It also blows goats that Gearbox KNOWS this and has seriously truncated the availability of skill points so that you can't master all three trees like you could in the first game after you bought additional DLC that took away the level caps. 

Even at the max level of 72, I think I can only completely master two skill trees.  Fuck that.  For the money I payed for the Season Pass, I want to be good at EVERYTHING.

Playing games is what I am supposed to be doing for leisurely enjoyment.  I'm not supposed to be researching this shit like I am about to write a thesis, but getting the Unseen Predator achievement is going to require a certain build and an even more significant time investment than So Much Blood.

I won't have the points needed to gain access to the "key skill" (Many Must Fall) necessary to make an attempt at Unseen Predator until Zer0 is 31st Level.  That's a lot of side missions and things getting dead. 

I really sucked the first couple of times I tried to use Decepti0n, but I am getting the hang of the timing.  I think I was a bit taken aback because the HUD color splash is a bit jarring when you activate the Action Skill, but I've practiced on a few bullymongs and I am starting to get into a rhythm of camo / wait two seconds / sniper headshot or camo / fall back / Hail Mary with a grenade or camo / flank / backstab when I am patient enough to let an enemy come straight at me.

I want Zer0's digistruct ninja-to for Christmas.  It is fucking awesome that the blade is activated as he swings the sword..

I also noticed that I only have three fingers on each hand.  I am a ninja alien that speaks in haiku?

I'm using the default head and skin right now.  Haven't been impressed with any of the current customization options.

[J.T.]

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 8:54 AM, J.T. said:

Well fuck.  I am old and unimaginative. 

It did not dawn on me to use the Catch A Rides as teleportation stations to cut down on travel time.

Looks like clearing the first mailbox of Threshers is still part of the plan.

Now this eight hour shift will feel like twenty eight now that YouTubes has cracked the code for me.

This shit TOTALLY WORKED~!!!!!!  And since I am old and senile, it took me a few ttries to get it right.

1st Attempt:  NOOOOO~!!!! TELEPORT TO THE RUNNER, DAMMIT, DON'T REDEPLOY IT HERE AT OVERLOOK~!!!!!! FUUUUUUCKKKKK~!!!!

2nd Attempt: Hey, I'm in the home stretch!  Wait a sec... I'm sprinting, but I'm not going forward.  MY FOOT IS HUNG ON THE ENTRANCE GATE~!! NOOOOO~! TIME RAN OUT~!!  FUUUUUUCKKKKK~!!!

3rd Attempt:  FUCKING TWITCH REFLEX~!  I HIT THE X BUTTON TOO SOON~!! PUT THE ARMS IN THE MAILBOX~!  QUIT SHOPPING AT THE VENDING MACHINES~!!  HIT THE FUCKING B BUTTON TO CANCEL, QUICK~!!!!  NOOOO~!!  TIME RAN OUT~!!! FUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK~!!!

4th Attempt: FINALLY~!!  Why am I so tired all of a sudden?  I'm going to eat dinner and then take a nap..

[J.T.]

Oh, and DUH~!  I unlocked the achievement for leveling up a character to 25.

[Death From Above]

I honestly think Borderlands 2 would be a best game ever made contender if UVHM wasn't so blatantly a giant turd basically designed for youtube showoffs. If it was a serious, more well thought out difficulty level this game would be basically perfect, but it simply isn't worth the effort in solo play. At all.

[Death From Above]

For all the shit the Pre Sequel gets, the lack of Slag reliance in UVHM at least makes it somewhat less awful. That was a giant step forward. But that game has virtually zero endgame content by comparison so this one with Digistruct Peak (which I honestly think is a fantastic little area and a GREAT endgame concept other games should look at in the future), the multiple raid bosses, and multiple DLC's.

 

I would feel a lot differently about UVHM if I could play multiplayer but my internet connection will not let that happen so I have to solo it, and it really sucks. It's hard, yes, which is all well and good, but where's the fun? Everything about the first two modes is fun. UVHM is not.

[J.T.]

Okay, so I'm pretty good with Decept1ion now and I seriously believe that this playthrough with Zer0 will be the "beat the game" playthrough because I am really digging being (as Nomads refer to me) a ninja thing.  Once I'm caught up to where I was with Axton, I'll convert back to the bullet style comments in my posts for easier reading.

The only issue I have with the Assassin skill tree is that it doesn't really have a passive health regen skill, but the whole point of the class is to not put yourself into position to take a lot of damage.  I'll have to invest in the Cunning tree enough to get Innervate and I suspect that Transfusion grenades and an Eridian artifact that grants me passive health regen will be my best friends later on. 

The Survivor class item (yep, the class item take the form of a pair of bladed elbow guards) offer passive health regen, but I am in love with the Spy class item because it lowers the cooldown for my Action Skill and I am good with that trade-off.  I am willing to hunt down Anshin injectors if I am badly hurt in exchange for being able to cloak more frequently.

So far, I'm dealing with the Cult of the Firehawk stuff again.  I've had to reach waaaaaaaay back to my EverQuest Monster Pulling days while playing Zer0 and I am almost an expert kite farmer of Goliaths now, especially since I've embraced the love of the Spy class item.  Optic Camo On Demand Is Life.

I don't always get a Goliath up to the final stage because it will occasionally run off and agro a cluster and get killed, but my beloved Blue Jakobs sniper rifle can knock its little helmet off in one shot without hurting the bastard so it usually start their berserker murder run at full health.  Then I just lead the asshole to an enemy, ghost, get some distance, and let game mechanics take its course.  Simple.

If I can keep the Goliath covered, I'm usually good to go and then I just burn him to death with my Orange Maliwan Fire Damage SMG once he's a Fatal GOD-Liath.  Right now, I am 4-2 in deliberate Goliath farming. I sold off a Purple Bandit assault rifle because the recoil was fucking crazy.  I'm much happier with the Purple Dahl assault rifle I got before tapping out at 11PM last night.

I've taken care of Incinerator Clayton's first two missions (RIP Matchstick) and now the Enkindling is upon me yet again.  I still have to go back and kill Scorch without damaging his Fire Spiderlings to check off the last Badass Challenge I need to do in this Frostbite Canyon.  I thought I had it down on the first try when I actually had to kill Scorch legit for the side mission, but I must've screwed up somehow.  I did not get the Badass Rank when Scorch dropped and I am not really sure why.  Maybe a wild shot hit one of the spiderlings? .

Hopefully I will get a chance to game this weekend, but it's not looking likely.  Saturday will be fairly busy (furniture shopping during the day and free MMA card at night) and Sunday football with the family is sacred time.... unless the Steelers or the Giants lose.. 

I'm also going to try to go and see Mag 7 on Sunday after the early worship service at my church.

[J.T.]

So, yeah. 

In the opening credits Zer0 is introduced as "a number."

The genetically modified Hyperion assassins that Roland sends you after in the Assassinating The Assassins side missions are named Wot (two), Oney (one), Reeth (three), and Rouf (four)

Coincidence?.

 

[Death From Above]

There is a skill down Zero's middle tree that will give you health back in deception, but playing melee you are probably better off going down the actual melee tree and looking for a quest reward gun later on in the game called the Rubi. It heals you a % of damage you deal, including melee as long as it's the weapon you are holding at the time. With stuff like Execute, backstab etc it's pretty much full health on a kill. Very popular item on melee Zero. Rubi can also sometimes spawn with a melee attachment for extra damage, but that's dumb luck.

[BrianS81177]

On 9/23/2016 at 10:42 AM, J.T. said:

So, yeah. 

In the opening credits Zer0 is introduced as "a number."

The genetically modified Hyperion assassins that Roland sends you after in the Assassinating The Assassins side missions are named Wot (two), Oney (one), Reeth (three), and Rouf (four)

Coincidence?.

 

Shit, I never noticed that. I feel stupid. 

[J.T.]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 2:46 PM, BrianS81177 said:

Shit, I never noticed that. I feel stupid. 

I have OCD and excellent pattern recognition skills.  A curse when you're trying to beat a game.

Then the conspiracy theories start to bubble in my brain like is Zer0 part of the Hyperion genetics program that resulted in the Splinter Group or the assassins at Southpaw Steam & Power.

Then I get angry because that theory does not explain why Zer0 is working freelance as a Vault Hunter or why Jack has a bounty on Zer0's head for political assassinations.

I finished up the Flame of the Firehawk side mission tree with Zer0 (I felt homicidal after the Eagles beat the shit of of the Steelers) and killed Scorch again finally without hurting any fire spiderlings to complete the last Badass Challenge in Frostbite Canyon.

RIP Incinerator Clayton.... again..

Now it's off to The Dust but probably not before I make a Boss Run and complete the lastt BC for Southpaw Steam & Power and gamble away a couple $K at Moxxi's.

[BrianS81177]

So question for my fellow vault hunters. How the fuck do I get more Seraph Crystals besides through the slot machines in the Tiny Tina DLC? 

[J.T.]

2 minutes ago, BrianS81177 said:

So question for my fellow vault hunters. How the fuck do I get more Seraph Crystals besides through the slot machines in the Tiny Tina DLC? 

Geeks here at the office all agree that the answer to this question is "farm Pyro Pete." 

I don't want to spoil it for myself, suffice to say that the guys here say that the more familiar you get with the encounter, the easier the fight becomes AND he's supposed to drop some pretty decent loot.

[RIPPA]

Hyperius and Master Gee the Invincible also drop the crystals

Here is the key thing - you have to beat each DLC first before the boss becomes available via bounty board and starts dropping them

[BrianS81177]

Can you do it in normal, tvhm and uvhm or only the higher ones?

[J.T.]

18 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

Can you do it in normal, tvhm and uvhm or only the higher ones?

I'm assuming that it can be done in Normal.  Like Rippa said, you have to beat each DLC first before the boss becomes available via bounty board, but you should only be 35th level or so by the time you complete the main story and all of the DLC.

Well, shit.  This time around, I didn't have the quality of firepower to prevent W4R-D3n from taking off with Roland. 

The only Shock weapon I had on me (read:  did not sell foolishly) was a bullshit White Maliwan pistol that did not get the job done against W4R-D3n's shield and for some reason, this time around it felt like the Loaders were a lot more aggressive and I had to resort to cloak and snipe tactics when my Corrosive SMG and Shock pistol ran low.

There is definitely something to be said about being able to Gunzerk during that boss battle, especially when you're firing a really good Shock weapon and a really good Corrosive weapon at the same time.  I was a little spoiled by the damage output and passive regen that Salvador had.   There were a couple of times during the W4R-D3n fight last night where I was like, "Okay, dude, you are not a akimbo weapon wielding meat shield anymore," and had to actively think like a Death From A Distance player.

Zer0 had to go to Friendship Gulag to spring Roland out of lockdown, which was fine by me because that gave me two more easy Badass Challenges to complete.  I invested in a Level 13 Blue Maliwan Shock Launcher (WEAPON OF THE DAY~!) to bring down W4R-D3n's shield and packed the same Green Maliwan Corrosive Damage SMG I used during Round One with W4R-D3n on the Ramparts.

One thing I noticed during that fight is that my Blue Vladof Shock Grenades are starting to get outpaced so I will have to invest in a new Grenade mod really soon.

Once again, I've gotten all of the Badass Challenges for the Bloodshot Stronghold done EXCEPT for the hated Give It A Whirl, so fuck that for now and I'll come back when I've got a Singularity grenade.  The Splinter Group went down in the order prescribed so I've got the usual yummy Purple Bandit Slag Damage shotgun as a reward from Tannis for my effort and I got a much better version of the Blue Ammo Absorbing 1340 Shield than the one I got the last time I beat the Out Of Body Experience side mission.

I completed all of the Badass Challenges for the Bloodshot Ramparts while on my way to fight W4R-D3n.  Thank goodness there is only one Cult of the Vault sigil on that map and my old man's memory did not fog up and I was able to remember the location of all of the car keys for The Last Place You Look.

So Zer0 is on his way to Tundra Express tonight to meet the excellently kick ass Tiny Tina and unlike my Salvador playthrough, I remembered to bring a Fire weapon this time (AND IT IS A TEDIORE~!  BOOMERBANG~!). 

I also know that Slag works better than Acid on the Badass Mutant Varkids on that dumb side mission I have to do for Hammerlock.... probably why you get a Slag weapon from Tannis's side mission in the first place.

[J.T.]

RIP Wilhelm one mo' time.  Shooting that bastard in the legs with the Corrosive Teapot for the easy Badass Challenge completion hasn't gotten old.

The betrayal still hurts.  Why, Angel?  And no, we are not friends anymore.

I think that when I finally downloaded Assault on Dragon Keep, it fixed whatever pathing bug there was in the original game that allowed me to get cheap kills on Madame Von Bartelby via jumping off the side of the mountain towards Buzzard Academy and shooting her at my leisure when she struggled to get back into the air.. 

This time around, Madame Von Bartelby didn't follow me down the path when I fell on purpose, but her Varkid minions (the Bug Bombers) did and they lit my ass UP! 

Bummer.  I can't beat the Badass Challenge if I can't kill her without taking damage from those things.  I had to put on my thinking cap.

I tried to use the environment to my advantage, but those Bug Bombers took out the nearby Buzzard squadron in no time flat and then they came for me and they were quite pissed off.  So much for the enemy of my enemy plan.

After reloading my save post rage quitting and getting a snack, I finally resorted to aggroing Madame Von Barterlby to get her to come out of the Varkid nest, cloaking, jumping off the side of the mountain while the bugs were distracted by my hologram, running aaaaallll the way back to the zone entrance, and sniping the shit out of her with my trusty Blue Maliwan Fire Damage long range asswhipper.  3.5 Zoom, baby!  Success!  Once she was dead and crispy, I could move on with the pleasurable task of taking out her support bugs.

Blew up the train blah blah blah. Got all of the Badass Challenges done for Tundra Express and End of the Line. 

Oh, and I NEARLY failed the Tea Party mission when I got greedy.  I shot the helmet off of a Goliath while Tina was doing her thing, but when I cloaked to shed agro, the big mother fucker rushed Mr. Sparks and started to beat the shit out of Tina's generator instead of attacking his buddies to level up. 

Shit.  So much for farming purple during this side mission.. 

I had to burn him to death with the quickness with my sniper rifle (3.5 Zoom, baby!) and then throw a shit ton of my 'Lectric AOE grenades to reel in the next wave of bandits. 

I didn't use my hologram distraction for the rest of the encounter since apparently the enemies fixate on Mr. Sparks and will try to destroy it instead of investigating your mirage.  Finally got shit under control after a rough start. 

At the end, Flesh-Stick got what was coming to him.  RIP.

I'm about to travel through The Fridge and head off towards the Highlands now.  I've gotten through Round One of Bandit Slaughter.  Getting the ten crit deaths was not such a pain in the ass since I had a good sniper rifle, but it is only Level 15 and the Bandit Slaughter side missions scales with my level.  I'm going to need gear comparable to my own level for the later rounds.. 

I scored on a Level 19 Green Lobbed Singularity grenade mod from a vending machine, so first order of business when or if I game tonight is to finally deal with the hated Give It A Whirl Badass Challenge. 

I got happy when a Suicide Midget dropped a Level 19 Homing Singularity grenade mod during Wave Two of Round One of Bandit Slaughter but to my abject horror I noticed that the mod makes the grenade zip around the air until it finds an enemy and THEN it detonates.  That's probably not going to work in Satan's Suckhole where I need the singularity to center somewhere above the Vortex so that it pulls an enemy to his doom in order to check the block on Give It A Whirl.

I was thrilled when I saw the garden variety Singularity mod available at Marcus' Ammo Dump vending machine near Fink's arena after collecting my snaps for Round One.

I'll still keep the Blue mod for later use though; i'll just sell the Green mod once I get done with the FINAL BADASS CHALLENGE I HAVE FOR THE BLOODSHOT STRONGHOLD~!  Hopefully I will score on a Transfusion grenade mod of some sort very soon.  I'll probably need it for the later rounds of competition at Fink's Slaughterhouse.

I don't know why people that play Zer0 rave about the Dark Knight skin.  This Moral Grey Area outfit I recently got from an enemy drop is pretty awesome!  I can't believe I have to get more than a thousand kills via my Action Skill to get the N1hils1m head that I want.  That shit is going to take some doing. If I wanted to get it early, I suppose I could spend a few days killing lowbies, but even I am not that anal and I'd rather spend time getting some traction on the story mission.

[J.T.]

My hero is Zer0 so from here on out, my posts will be in the beat this game playthrough bullet format.

• Moral Grey Area is my favorite outfit.  I've got a lot of work to do if I want to get the N1hilis1m head.  I am not racking up the Action Skills murders like I should. I may have to take time out to pad my stats by farming lowbies..
• It is the end of an era.  I finally beat the Give It A Whirl Badass Challenge in the Bloodshot Stronghold by using the bullshit Green Lobbed Singularity grenade mod I got yesterday.  It took two grenades to pull a Nomad Torturer off of the broken crosswalk and into the vortex.  Mother fucker would not go out without a struggle. With all Badass Challenges completed in both zones,  I no longer have to return to either the Bandit Stronghold or the Bandit Ramparts unless some side mission sends me back there.
• The shrine to Marcus the Gunbringer in the Bloodshot Ramparts is pretty disconcerting.   Every time I think about those ECHOs where you learn about Marcus selling guns to both the Bloodshots and the Crimson Raiders, it makes me want to punch that fat fuck right in his throat.  He'd better be glad that 1) He's behind a protective cage at his gun store in Sanctuary and 2) I will always be in the market for quality firearms and he's the only thing going on Pandora.
• Also knocked out the Boss Run Badass Challenge.  Good bye, Southpaw Steam & Power.
• As I am killing rat men in the Fridge, Angel continues to offer her woe is me excuses as to why she sold out Sanctuary.  I am not listening to your bullshit, Angel.
• Even when Angel sounds guilt ridden and remorseful, the game still uses the standard image of Brittani Johnson as Angel with that smirk on her face and it makes me trust Angel even less.  Gearbox could've at least paid a little extra to add some footage of Angel looking sad so that the emotional tone of Angel's voice synchs up with the facial expressions in Angel's VR hologram..
• A good corrosive weapon (preferably two) is a necessity when you are defending the lunar beacon from the Hyperion horde in Overlook.  Decepti0n is a pretty good panic switch but the cooldown timer is brutal, especially when the Constructor comes and missiles start flying everywhere .  I got downed once but got a Second Wind when the DoT from my beloved Corrosive Teapot auto-pistol killed a GUN Loader.
• Okay, Angel.  You did me a solid by getting me back to Sanctuary but from where I stand, you owed me one.  To say that I still don't trust you is an understatement.
• Why doesn't Angel want Lilith to come to her personal chambers.  Why is Angel's computer core housed in Thousand Cuts?  I thought Angel's AI consciousness was on board a Hyperion satellite?  I am missing something here.
• Few things in this game feel better than unlocking your last Weapon SDU slot.
• Thanks to the Salvador Chronicles, I learned that it is a far better idea to get Overlook up and running before moving on with other side missions.  Karima "tricking" me into firing the Hyperion mortar on Dave's house before testing the shield is still funny even the second time around. RIP asshole.  The townsfolk are cured of the Skull Shakes and Zer0 has performed yet another out of character civic duty for his fellow living beings.
• Okay, who am I trying to kid?  I went with the Overlook Medicine Man side mission tree first to get my hands on the Deadly Bloom shield.  It is a Purple shield that sets off two defensive Explosion Novas:  once when the shield capacity reaches zero and another time if your health falls to zero.  Any melee enemy close by that is not a healthy Badass will probably die.  It is almost a guaranteed Second Wind and so far it is my favorite shield in the game.
• I beat the Arms Dealer side mission with the Catch-A-Teleport strategy.  I am glad that other people have the free time to think up shit like that so that I can benefit from it without having to tear my own hair out thinking of it myself.
• After finishing up Arms Dealer, I knocked out Stalker of Stalkers.  Poor Taggert.  That last ECHO where you hear his death screams while Henry is eating the poor bastard alive is pretty disturbing.
• I got the follow up side mission for Stalker of Stalkers (BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER~!) when I ran over a Stalker with my Bandit Tactical trying to practice how to power slide.  I suck with all vehicles in this game.  You may have been a pompous windbag, Taggert, but you didn't deserve to go out like that.  I will avenge you.... and sell the Love Thumper for cash money.
• RIP Old Slappy and thank you Sir Hammerlock for that awesome Blue Tediore Slag Damage shotty.  Sweet sweet Deadly Bloom shield. Your timely Explosive Novas saved my ass during that boss battle.
• I have found four out of the eight Windsocks in the Highlands that I need to locate for a Badass Challenge.  No clue where the others are.  I will try to get a bit of YouTube cheating in today in between scrubbing these fucking router logs.
• I have fond absolutely none of these Hyperion communication devices I need to destroy in order to beat the Failure To Communicate Badass Challenge for The Highlands so yeah, I need to cheat for that, too.
• I found the Cult of the Vault sigil in the Highlands purely by accident while running away from a pair of BULL Loaders.  I like happy accidents.  There are no words for how much I a thankful that there is only one sigil on this particular map.
• Round Three of Bandit Slaughter can kiss my ass.  I have a Blue Homing Incendiary Transfusion grenade mod and a Purple Survivor class mod to take care of passive health regen and the Deadly Bloom shield is my weapon of last resort, but getting out of the arena with my ass intact was still a chore..  If I'd tried harder, I probably could've gotten the 20 crit kills for the alternate challenge (I got 18 / 20) but when the final wave rolled around and I had Badass Psychos and Lab Rats running after me, all I wanted to do was make it out alive and collect my paltry winnings.
• I got most of the crit kills in Round Three with a Blue Vladoff Shock Damage sniper rifle.  It's not bad for conventional use, but I prefer Jakobs or Maliwan when it comes to sniper rifles. Give me raw power or give me the high elemental proc.  The Vladof sniper rifle is good for using as a poor man's shotgun when I am backpedaling and no scoping Psychos running after me
• The blue Eridian artifact that modestly extends my Second Wind timer asaved my ass a couple times in Round Three.
• I can't believe I still have two more rounds to complete.  I can't believe I am going to force myself to do it since there is an achievement on the line for completing five rounds of that shit.  Yeah, definitely have to check out YouTube for some tips and tricks for Rounds Four and Five.
• If Fink's Slaughterhouse is good for anything, it's gear.   It is the only place in the game where the loot in the vending machines scales with my level, so I don't have to be a Level 21 Assassin running around with Level 18 weapons and mods.
• I was dumb and sold off my Blue Maliwan Fire Damage SMG because it was a shit Level 15 weapon and I was trying to game the vending machines at Finks to score on Level 19 or better gear, so I have to get another Fire weapon that isn't a launcer before I start the Clan War quests because I'll need one for one of the missions.
• If Round Four frustrates me to the point of near rage quitting, I'll tap out and go do the side mission where you track down Tannis's lost ECHOs in the Highlands and then I'll work on both of Scooter's side missions in The Fridge.  At least I'll make some more money and not feel like I am spinning my wheels.

[J.T.]

Went Five Rounds (25) Completed Round 5 of any Circle of Slaughter.

• Round 4 wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be.  I was paranoid so I brought along an Green Vladof Fire Damage assault rifle as a back-up weapon in case one of my favorite guns ran dry  I've heard horror stories about having to fight the Buzzards in the arena and I came prepared with a Blue Maliwan Corrosive Damage Auto-pistol with a 3.5 Scope.  Most people die trying to fight them out in the open so me being a total cowar...... strategist... decided to take cover in the lower part of the arena.  I was thrilled to notice that the Buzzards eventually go away and drop off the Marauders riding shotgun on the rails of the gyros and those guys were easy to kill.  I just had to fight smart and know when to make a break for it and find another place to bunker down.  I didn't really give a shit about crits; I just wanted to get things dead.  Hence my choice to shoot the helmets off of Goliaths, cloak, find a good place to hide, wait until the rampaging Golaths hate murdered everything for me or died trying, and then reward the survivor with bullets to the noggin.  I had three Badass Nomads to kill in the last wave.  That shit was fun... not.....   One of the Ultimate Badass Raging Goliaths dropped a Blue Jakobs Sniper Rifle for me when he died!  That shit would come in handing during...
• Round 5 was more of the same.  Not impossibly hard, but definitely challenging and very time consuming.   Wave One was full of Rats and Marauders so my brand new Blue Jakobs sniper rifle got a workout.  My Blue Tediore Slag Damage auto-shotty and Blue Tediore SMG saw some action during a wave where there were a shitload of Psychos.  Then it was more goop and boomerbang during a wave of Nomad Torturers and I made Rank 3 in the Short Chained Badass Challenge through a bit of cloaking and SMG fire.  I had to swap out the Tediore auto-shotty for the Vladof assault rifle when the shotty ran dry and that would be the difference maker.  I had plenty of ammo in the AR to get through the last wave and as a reward for my time and effort, Fink gave me the Slag damage version of the Vladof Hail.... aka one of the MOST HATED WEAPONS IN THE GAME~!.

• The really horrible rep this gun has compelled me to check out one of my favorite things on YouTube, the "Does This Weapon Suck?" series at Man of Low Moral Fiber's channel.

• So what have we learned today, Charlie Brown?  The Hail is the pinnacle of situational use and is ridiculously lethal..... if you happen to be a MECHROMANCER~!

I am an ASSASSIN, so this weapon simply does not work for my playstyle. 

I made a move to sell my Hail rifle, but then I thought I might keep it, chuck it into the Secret Stash, and use it to twink a Mechromancer later on, if or when I ever decided to play as one.  The caveat being that I'd still be playing this game and I really oughta try to beat Gears of War 3 sometime soon and knock yet another title off of my Pile of Shame.

Hmmmm...  I'll make a final decision later on.

The Deadly Bloom was worth its weight in Eridium during the Bandit Slaughter side mission series.  It got me at least four or five easy Second Winds in Round 4 and 5 and kept the party going.  It will break my heart to sell that shield, but it is Level 18 and I am pushing 24th thanks to the EXP from all of that murdering.  I need to get a Shield more comparable to my current level so I will game the vending machines outside of Fink's Slaughterhouse until something good shows up as the Item of the Day.

At some point in one of the rounds, I unlocked the Skyburn customization skin.  It is very pretty but it has no cool logo on it so Moral Grey Area is still my go to killin' outfit.

As for the story related stuff I did last night:

• I located all of Tannis's lost ECHO's.  Loot gods were not kind.  Only trade fodder in the chests I came across.
• Taggert is avenged. I totally forgot the nasty business about how the safe containing the Love Thumper shield had a biometric scanner on it that could only be unlocked using Taggert's knuckleprint pattern... which meant that not only did I have to kill Henry, I had to gut her in order to retrieve Taggert's semi-digested arm from the Badass Stalker's gizzard.  Ewwwwww.
• I completed all of the Badass Challenges in the Highlands.   Thank you, YouTube for showing me where the Hyperion comms towers were (and more importantly, what they looked like) and how to get to that last fucking windsock.

This weekend will be busy and console gaming will be verboten..  We're hanging out as a family and have got a tour of the White House going on Saturday morning and then we'll grab lunch in Chinatown that afternoon.  Not sure what is going in the evening, but it is sure to be designed to keep me away from my 360. 

Binge watching the shows we're behind on, I imagine, starting off with How To Get Away With Murder and Secrets & Lies.

Sunday will be all about the NFL and then I will have to bail around midday to get my daughter back to my ex's on time, so I will pick up with Scooter's missions in The Fridge that afternoon and then drag my ass into work on Monday morning..

[J.T.]

Well, shit.. 

I've done the side mission, Cold Shoulder, for Scooter before as Salvador and two of the Badass Challenges in the Fridge are inverted versions of the other in the same side mission. 

When I finally encounter Laney White and her minions again, I'm going to have to be mindful to either kill her first or wipe out her minions first to complete the mission and turn it in to Scooter. 

When I fight them the first time, if I screw up and kill one of her minions first, I have to remember to finish off the other midgets BEFORE killing Laney.

After that, I've got to save and restart my game and then go back to do the opposite of what I did before... provided that noting glitches out and the access tunnel to Laney's lair stays open.

That still leaves the bullshit with Smash Head, finding that dumb Rat frozen in an icicle, and locating the ECHO for the Rakkman. 

Since I have to kill Laney twice, I hope she drops the Gub for me at some point.

Glad I already found both Cult of the Vault sigils in The Fridge.  That's one less thing to OCD about.

[BrianS81177]

My girlfriend and I were playing the Tiny Tina DLC and I found something I have never seen before. The "Magic Missile" grenade that you get when you kill the Sorcerers, I've always only seen it in blue. Well we got a purple version which splits into FOUR grenades, instead of two like the blue one does. I've played the DLC numerous times before and have never seen that.

[J.T.]

Silently Stalking / I peer through my scope / Splat! Your brain falls to the ground..

• The weekend was pretty awesome despite the shit weather.  The family and I took the self-guided White House tour on Saturday.  Barack and Michelle made a brief appearance to greet everyone but didn't shake hands or anything and good ol' Secret Service made sure you kept your distance.
• Steelers beat the living shit out of the Chiefs, so they are tied for the division lead with the Ravens who lost last night!
• I got my kid back to my ex's on time and then watched some football with my father.  Gamed for a bit and here's what happened:
• I did both of Scooter's side missions in The Fridge and spent more time engineering Badass Challenge success than anything else.
• I already found the two Cult of the Vault sigils in The Fridge for a Badass Challenge, so I didn't have to worry about that.
• Loot Elders were somewhat kind.  I blundered into a Blue Tediore Shock Damage auto-pistol just in time for the showdown with Sinkhole, that Badass Stalker boss that you have to kill with a Shock weapon in order to meet the alternative mission criteria.  I blew two alternate mission criteria out of my ass during Bandit Slaughter because I was focused on survival instead of completion.  Now I have to switch gears a bit.  Killed Sinkhole with the Shock pistol by throwing it (Grenade damage for thrown Elemental Tediore weapons is the Element and not default Explosion damage.. thank goodness) and then shotgun murdered poor Shorty as soon as he popped out of Sinkhole's stomach.  I fast traveled back to Sanctuary to turn in the mission completion to Scooter and it was all good in the hood.
• Here is where shit got a bit complicated.   The first time I did Scooter's side mission to try to un-brainwash (that's a word now) Laney White, I focused on smoking Laney before killing her midget helpers.  Another Badass Challenge knocked out of the frame!  I fast traveled back to Scooter and turned in the mission completion..
• Then I re-loaded my game and went for Badass Challenge # 2 (kill the midgets first, then Laney) and then remembered about the side mission that you get from the Goliath on that map.  I killed the Goliath and he dropped the ECHO.  The alternate mission criteria for this job is that you have to kill 10 midget enemies before opening the secret treasure chest and turning in the mission.  But wait!  One of the Badass Challenges in the Fridge is to kill a skeletal Goliath named Smash Head WITHOUT killing any of his Boner Midget minions, BUT he doesn't spawn with his minions until AFTER you turn in the mission completion..  Fuck...  If the midget spawns are scare going through the Rat Maze, I am going to be esss ohh ellll.  Fortunately for me, I still had to kill Laney and her short gang over again and what?  HER MIDGET MINIONS COUNT TOWARDS THE ALTERNATE MISSION CRITERIA~!  AWESOME~!!! With the Midgets First / Laney Second Badass Challenge completed and the 10 Dead Midget alternate death toll already met, I went after the Goliath stash.  I turned in the mission at the Goliath treasure chest and then Smash Head and his Midget Boner minions showed up. LET'S GO~!!!  And Holy Shit, Smash Head is armed with some sort of Shock Damage launcher that totally kicks the crap out of you even if you are caught by splash damage from his rockets, so I had to fight smart lest I spend thousands of dollars being reconstituted by the nearby Hyperion New U Station save point.  During the hinter part of the duel, I aimed too high and accidentally skragged one of the Midget Boners riding on Smash Head's shoulders.  I was a little pissed off at first for not remembering to stick to the "shoot at the feet with a DoT weapon" plan I used on Wilhelm to beat a similar Badass Challenge, but I also didn't want to mess around too much since Smash Head can dish out a ton of hurt so I just killed the big bastard and moved on.  I figured I'd get him after work today anyway for the Badass Challenge completion.
• Found the Rakkman ECHO recording for an easy Badass Challenge completion.  I also killed Rakkman. RIP.  He didn't drop the Gunarang for me so fuck him.
• Smash Head also stiffed me on any rare loot...
• As did Laney White.  Now you see why I said that the Loot Elders were only "somewhat kind"
• Cheated with phone YouTube to figure out how to get to the Trapped Rat to complete that Badass Challenge.  Figures that there was a catch to it.  The Rat Man is frozen in one of the man-cicles that you can smash for loot, but it is in an area of the Rat Maze blocked by a door that is locked from the inside.  There is a spot close by where you can see into the room through a small opening in the wall, so the trick to getting inside is to go aim your gun into the room via the open gap and shoot an ice stalagmite to clear the hidden New U  machine that is inside the area so that it registers your and creates a new save point / revive spot.  Then you have to die and be digistructed inside the room..  After that, you can smash the appropriate man-cicle to complete the Badass Challenge and also loot a treasure chest before unlocking the door and going on with your business.  I wondered why the player who created the hint video chose to get into the room by committing suicide via grenade damage by using a thrown Tediore weapon on himself?  Why not just charge the closest group enemies and simply refuse to fight back?  There is a Level 20 Badass Psycho that typically spawns around the corner that will cheerfully butcher you and you don't even have to say, "Please.".
• So, the only thing I have left to do in The Fridge (future return missions notwithstanding) is to smoke Smash Head without killing his Boner Midget minions and that will be the final Badass Challenge for this map.  Not easy given the firepower he has.  I now have a Blue Maliwan Fire Damage SMG that will hopefully work better than the Caustic Pistol I used  I figure that I will die a couple of times before getting it right, so at long as I don't bleed thousands of dollars to Handsome Jack's bank account I should be okay.
• When I am done with that last bit of business in The Fridge, it is off to The Dust to work on Malachi's Bounty Board side mission and then I help Ellie with the CLAN WARS~!
• I finally collected enough bullshit White weapons and opened enough lootable containers to knock out Rank 5 in those Badass Challenges (Another Man's Treasure and Open Pandora's Boxes respetively).  Now I can be a bit more selective about the loot I grab for resale and don't have to claw through every pile of Stalker dung I come across..
• And fuck.  I thought that the Arctic Explorer achievement was glitched because I have been to all of the named areas on those maps already.  However, it looks like in order to unlock the achievement, I have to reveal the ENTIRE map, so I will go back to those areas and see if there is anything else left to fill in.
• Zer0 is Level 23 right now.  I will respec my assassin and take a shot at the Unseen Predator achievement once he hits 31.