Best Borderlands 2 Builds

A Borderlands 2 build starts with which of the six Vault Hunters you play, because each has a unique action skill and three skill trees built around it. The action skill is the anchor. Salvador's Gunzerking, Krieg's Buzz Axe Rampage, and Zer0's Decepti0n all ask for completely different gear, so a build is largely a question of how to make that skill uptime as high and as lethal as possible. Skill points are limited, which forces choices about how deep to go in a single tree versus splitting across two. Class mods boost specific skills beyond their normal cap and are often the single largest damage source in a build. Relics, grenade mods, and shields fill the remaining slots, and shields in particular can define a playstyle, since some grant damage bonuses while depleted and others reward staying at full. Weapon parts are randomized, so two guns with the same name can perform very differently. On Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, elemental matching against enemy health types goes from helpful to mandatory.