Why Do Fans Like the System of Borderlands 2 Classes?
Take it or leave it but Borderlands 2 is something more than a game. It is a beautiful voyage through chaos, creativity, and pure fun. Since it came out in 2012, it has been the fan-favorite with multiple DLCs and sequels because its successful formula included the elements of RPG with frantic first-person shooting. What sets the title apart is not its rare art style or its outrageous humor but rather its characters a.k.a. unique Borderland 2 classes. The YaninaGames team’s members are huge fans of this great Gearbox franchise and want to show beginner developers how to create the character system in games like Destiny and Borderlands with looter-shooter and RPG mechanics.
This game is all about the unique artistic style and character design – such things inspire the creation of customized items. Personalized Lanyards transform the visual art style of the game into a real masterpiece. Each lanyard reflects the game’s aesthetics and the player’s personality. Whether it’s the iconic weapons of the characters, unique clothing details, or iconic scenes from the game, lanyards perfectly demonstrate the best aspects of favorite games. Thanks to the exquisite craftsmanship and high-quality materials, players can literally feel the charm of the game in their daily lives.
All classes in Borderlands 2 represent mayhem of its kind. From stealthy assassin Zer0 to the mayhem-loving Psycho Krieg each class in this popular title adds something a bit different. This variety in Borderlands 2 top classes isn’t cosmetic. This character-based class system defines your whole experience: how you fight and interact with this twisted world.
It’s also important to make sure you pick the right class from the very beginning. Each Vault Hunter (this is how all Borderlands 2 classes are called) has special abilities and skill trees – be it through crowd control, insane damage, or being able to put out supportive plays for your teammates. No matter if you play solo or with friends, picking the right class that fits your strengths is the best strategy for all novices.
What Are The Classes in Borderlands 2?
Borderlands 2 features six different Vault Hunters, each representing a class that defines the experience on this dangerous planet of Pandora. These are not just your run-of-the-mill characters full of guns and explosions but rather built around defined abilities and skill trees. These skills reflect their personality and general playstyle. Different classes in Borderlands 2 provide something a little unique when it comes to playstyle and strategy.
This is the detailed Borderlands 2 classes guide – including the characters from the original game and DLC:
1) Axton the Commando
Axton is your typical soldier-type character, and his special ability offers the Sabre Turret. This deployable turret can be upgraded to shoot missiles, shield the player, and other abilities that make him versatile in both offense and defense.
His skill trees include:
- Guerrilla. Upgrades in this tree work towards increased turret damage and fast-paced combat;
- Gunpowder. This Borderlands 2 classes skill tree focuses on boosting Axton’s explosives and long-range combat;
- Survival. This tree provides Axton with many defensive boosts, such as health regeneration and shield upgrades;
Axton’s selling point is his versatility – whether you’re looking for a hard-hitting turret or a “tank-ish” Commando, he’s your guy.
Axton is the tactical soldier who uses his Sabre Turret to draw fire and inflict damage from a distance. Use his turret for defense or controlling choke points. He is an all-rounder – good for the players who seek the balance between attack and defense.
Axton’s skills are all about upgrading his turret and versatility in combat. The Guerrilla line improves the turret’s damage, while the Gunpowder tree is more about explosives and midrange. Survival provides better defenses for Axton, turning him into an unstoppable soldier during long fights.
2) Maya the Siren
What makes Maya powerful is her capability to handle the battlefield with Phaselock which can immobilize the enemies and make them helpless. Her Phaselock can also heal up the allies or inflict elemental damage, depending on her build.
Her skill trees are:
- Motion. They buff up crowd control and defensive capabilities, pulling in enemies;
- Harmony. Heals and assists Maya and her team during times of need;
- Cataclysm. Affixes Maya’s attacks with devastating elemental damage-such as fire, shock, and corrosive damage;
Maya has unparalleled skills making her effective in solo, as well as one of the Borderlands 2 best duo classes. She is all about crowd control and support. Her Phaselock forcibly suspends enemies in mid-air, giving a reprieve to focus fire on them or heal teammates. The mastery of Maya lies mostly in tactical play since her abilities manage enemies while doling out elemental damage across the board.
Maya relies on Phaselock, and her skills bring various flavors of magic to the table – Motion enhances crowd control, pulling enemies together or deflecting bullets. While Harmony adds some healing aspect. And Cataclysm unleashes some devastating elemental damage. You can also use the fan-made BL2 skill calculator that counts the skill points for all the Borderlands 2 character classes.
3) Salvador the Gunzerker
Salvador’s Gunzerking ability lets him dual-wield any two guns, turning him into a walking arsenal. With Gunzerking, just like R6 attackers, Salvador gains health regeneration and damage reduction. He is almost unstoppable.
His skill trees are:
- Brawn. Increases his toughness and makes him even more durable in combat;
- Gun Lust. Focuses on weapon statistics, reload speed bonuses, and gun-switching bonuses;
- Rampage. Supercharges Gunzerking with buffs to ammo, damage, and fire rate;
Salvador is perfect for gamers who want to shoot and tank all day. Salvador brings raw aggression along with his Gunzerking ability, where he can wield any weapon with a dual-wielding stance. His fighting style is all in the high-octane, in-your-face, high-firing, headfirst charging into a battle.
All three of Salvador’s skills are designed to help him unleash a hail of gunfire. Gun Lust gives his weapons additional damage, Rampage supercharges his Gunzerking for chaotic firefights, and Brawn makes him nearly indestructible so that he can heal while mowing down enemies. By the way, you can read more about this character on the corresponding page about Borderlands 2 Wiki classes.
4) Zer0 the Assassin
Zer0 has precision and stealth – this class relies on his Decepti0n skill to turn himself invisible while deploying a decoy of his body. It lets him line up deadly sniper shots or sneak in for grossly devastating melee attacks.
His skill trees are:
- Sniping. The critical hit damage is increased, along with sniper rifle effectiveness;
- Cunning. Extends the usefulness of Decepti0n while providing buffs to damage, and boosting ranged and melee assault;
- Bloodshed. The skill tree specializes in different ways of close-quarters combat. You can enhance the Zer0’s melee skills and improve critical chances;
What sets Zer0 apart is the way he is able to melt enemies from a distance with precision strikes in a completely unique way. This class is perfect for players who enjoy a tactical game.
5) Gaige the Mechromancer
Gaige is a charismatic inventor who summons a huge robot called Deathtrap that fights alongside her for 60 seconds. She also has the Anarchy stacking system when every kill increases damage but lowers accuracy.
Her skill trees are:
- Best Friends Forever. It increases Deathtrap’s combat effectiveness while boosting Gaige’s survivability;
- Little Big Trouble. Specializes in elemental damages, especially shock damage;
- Ordered Chaos. Building Anarchy stacks-increasing damage at the cost of accuracy;
What sets Gaige apart, however, is her Anarchy mechanic nature – she’s chaos in motion, rewarding aggressive players who actually thrive on risk. Gaige relies on both her trusty robot sidekick Deathtrap and the manic Anarchy system. This class trades accuracy for damage. She’s a loose cannon and is ideal for highly aggressive and unpredictable gameplay.
6) Krieg the Psycho
Krieg is a melee-focused character who relies on his Buzz Axe Rampage skill. He deals the massive damage with a huge axe. He heals himself with every kill. This is a high-risk, high-reward character.
His skill trees are:
- Bloodlust. This increases his kill skills and buffs ranged combat with Bloodlust stacks;
- Mania. Based on melee damage and health regen, this tree rewards points for damage taken;
- Hellborn. Assigns fire damage to Krieg’s skills, allows him to set himself ablaze to activate bonus effects;
Unpredictability defines Krieg, he is all about getting into the thick of the fight, dishing out damage, and healing through violence. Krieg the psycho is right at home in close combat. His skills that increase melee damage, and even reward setting himself on fire, are his bread and butter. Krieg adores chaos.
You may check the following Steam discussion where users talk about the perks and unique skills of Borderland 2 classes.
The Borderlands 2 Classes Tier List
Early in The Game
So you’ve got the detailed Borderlands 2 classes description. Now let’s start ranking these classes from best to worst for the early game and post-game walkthrough. Taking into account all the Borderlands 2 pros and cons of classes, we’ve graded them by skills and efficacy at different stages of the game. The S-tier list means the best of the best character you can pick while the D-tier list shows what classes should be avoided if you don’t seek the challenge.
S-Tier – Krieg
Early in the game, Krieg shines at its best. His Buzz Axe Rampage is a game-changer right out of the gate. You can kill with one shot the mere enemies and regain full health on every kill during rampage. He is almost unkillable against waves of bad guys.
A-Tier – Maya and Axton
Maya is a really good choice early in the game based on her Phaselock skill being so worthwhile. Caging the bad guys and yanking them out of the fray gives her such an astonishing advantage when playing solo or in a team. She’s a decent team player because she controls crowds with ease while meting out damage via SMGs. The one huge drawback is she’s fragile until boosting her healing ability.
Axton’s Sabre Turret does pretty reasonable damage and distracts enemies while he is safely firing from cover. He is solid, but Axton relies heavily on his turret and doesn’t have innate healing, which makes him a bit more vulnerable in case of being overwhelmed.
B-Tier – Gaige
Gaige is fun to play but takes a little longer to get up and running. Her Deathtrap serves well to distract the baddies, but it doesn’t quite equate to the damage that Axton’s turret brings to the table. Later in the game, the stacks for Anarchy really turn up, but early on, she struggles to make as big of an impact as she can.
C-Tier – Zer0
Zer0 is a very poor choice for the early game. His Decepti0n skill allows him to retreat out of very bad situations and his damage is super low. For this class in Borderlands 2, his large damage relies on more advanced skills.
D-Tier – Salvador
Salvador struggles a lot during the first hours. His Gunzerking skill takes some time to ramp up, and without any healing or good early damage, he feels very underwhelming.
Post-Game Experience
Once you hit the post-game, especially in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode and OP levels, the dynamics change significantly. This is where you may want to do the switching classes in Borderlands 2. The gear becomes king, and some particular classes really take off with the right setups.
This is how Borderlands 2 classes ranked from S-tier to D-tier list for beating the post-game content:
S-Tier – Salvador
Salvador is the king of the post-game. Gunzerking with powerful guns like the Double Penetrating Unkempt Harold and Grogg Nozzle makes him almost unkillable, while insane healing from 65% of the damage done with overwhelming damage output. He is also good for solo playing.
A-Tier – Krieg and Zer0
Krieg is also a post-game beast. At OP10, his melee starts to lose its bite, but with his upgraded Hellborn skill tree and the guns like the Unkempt Harold, he can be a Ranged tank easily. The Bloodsplosion skill alone can wipe groups with a single kill, but Krieg’s crazy style demands a careful touch.
Zer0 is also outstanding in the post-game walkthrough. His Sniping and Melee builds are amazing with good equipment. Being able to “one-shot” bosses thanks to critical hits and the B0re skill turns him into an extremely lethal opponent. However, he becomes far slower and more precise than what can be said about Salvador and Krieg.
B-Tier – Maya
With the proper setup, Maya can hold her own in the post-game walkthrough, especially with Phaselock, the Bee Shield, and Sand Hawk. She can output amazing burst damage but doesn’t have survivability like top classes do. Also, she requires the perfect gear to function properly in OP10.
C-Tier – Gaige
The catch is that achieving Gaige’s high damage requires a great buildup with Anarchy stacks. While in that build-up phase, she is super fragile, especially on the most challenging ground. Her Deathtrap falls off – she becomes a very risk-on pick.
D-Tier – Axton
Axton is one of the worst choices for the post-game walkthrough. As scaling on the enemies goes up, his Sabre Turret becomes less and less impactful. And since he doesn’t have any ultimate skills like B0re or Gunzerking, he becomes very underpowered during the toughest of challenges.
After reviewing all Borderlands 2 new classes and classic characters we’ve created the comparison table showing the strong and weak points of each Vault Hunter:
| Class | Pros | Cons | Weapons | Strategy |
| Axton | Versatile, good defense, easy for beginners | Turret becomes less effective, lacks ultimate abilities | Explosive rifles, Torque pistols, Assault rifles | Place turret strategically, focus on mid-range combat, defensive skills |
| Maya | Crowd control, team support, strong elemental damage | Fragile, struggles with survivability at high levels | SMGs, Elemental weapons (Shock, Corrosive, Fire) | Use Phaselock to control crowds, prioritize elemental damage |
| Salvador | Massive damage output; heals while attacking, tanky | Slow start, dependent on gear for full potential | Double Penetrating Unkempt Harold, Grog Nozzle | Dual-wield high-damage weapons, heal through damage, stay aggressive |
| Zer0 | High single-target damage, strong stealth skills | Low survivability, requires a precise playstyle | Sniper rifles, Melee weapons, Shotguns | Stay at range, use Decepti0n for critical strikes, focus on critical hits |
| Gaige | Massive damage potential with Anarchy, Deathtrap provides support | Takes time to build Anarchy, low accuracy with high stacks | Shock weapons, Shotguns (with Anarchy stacks), Explosives | Stack Anarchy for max damage, rely on Deathtrap for distraction |
| Krieg | Devastating melee damage, self-healing, powerful AoE with Bloodsplosion | High-risk, high-reward playstyle, melee falls off in OP levels | Melee weapons, Hellborn weapons (Fire element), Explosives | Get in close with melee, use Hellborn for ranged damage, maximize Bloodsplosion |
What do you think about our Borderlands 2 classes review and rankings? Check the Reddit discussion where gamers share their experiences about each class.
Tips for Selecting the Best Classes in Borderlands 2
- Choose the character and class according to your playstyle. There are stealth, melee, and action-packed heroes along with the classes that combine all the factors in one build;
- Make sure to level up the major skills for all Borderland 2 classes;
- Choose the right weapons for the corresponding characters. A sniper rifle will better do for Zer0 than for Salvador;
- Some classes are better for solo playings like Maya and Zer0 while others like Axton or Krieg are better for teamwork;
If these tips seem insufficient, then consider watching the following video from a hardcore fan who knows everything about Borderlands 2 classes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which are Borderlands 2 best solo classes?
Salvador and Maya are the two most fitting characters for solo play. Salvador’s Gunzerking helps to regenerate and do a whole lot of damage, he is very hard to kill. Maya’s Phaselock controls and delivers elemental damage to many enemies at the same time.
How to choose the Borderlands 2 best classes to raid bosses defeat?
The raid bosses in Borderlands 2 demand high damage output and survivability. Salvador can be outstanding with his Gunzerking skill combined with Unkempt Harold and Grog Nozzle. Zer0 with his B0re skill will be just great at raid bosses. His critical hits can tear down bosses in just one shot.
What Borderlands 2 DLC classes have been added?
Two Borderlands 2 classes were added via DLC – the Gaige, the Mechromancer, and the Krieg, the Psycho. Gaige can summon Deathtrap, a robot fighting alongside her, while the stacks of Anarchy give her massive damage at a cost of accuracy. Krieg is a melee character with his Buzz Axe Rampage ability that delivers heavy melee damage. It is a high-risk class with lots of rewards.
How to choose classes in Borderlands 2 in co-op mode?
Co-op needs a proper balance between support and damage roles. Maya is great in co-op since she can crowd-control and heal her allies with her Phaselock ability. Axton is another very strong pick as his turret will be able to provide both support fire and defense.
Which Borderlands 2 classes are recommended most for novice players?
The talk is about those casual gamers who have never played this series or even this genre before. Not necessarily these gamers are casual players but they surely need the easiest class to play with the minimum level of challenges, at least in the first hours.
Many fans offer Axton and Maya as the best options for beginners. The Sabre Turret from Axton will go a long way in supporting easily and taking players through tough spots, while Maya’s Phaselock offers crowd control and healing to make surviving easier. These classes have pretty straightforward abilities every gamer can use without any problems.
Conclusion
Picking the right character from all the available Borderlands 2 classes can make a huge difference. Whether it’s Salvador’s brute force, Maya’s crowd control, or Zer0’s pinpoint accuracy, each class brings a unique way of getting things done. The YaninaGames team offers free consulting and professional services in every niche of game development. Hopefully, our blog is helpful for you as a gamer and a game developer. Feel free to contact us to create awesome projects together!
