User blog:Bladewinder/The Bullet Storm (Axton build)

The Level 50 Bullet Storm

Overview
The gist of the build is simple, to lay down as much firepower as in the shortest possible amount of time when the turret is up.

After the first kill, kill skills will ramp up the DPS significantly. Turret has to be in double up, so as to allow you to apply even more DPS without you having to switch over to a Slag weapon.

The build sacrifices survivability for more damage. Even then when caught in the Fight for your life scenarios, you should get out of it relatively painlessly with a few homing MIRVs / grenades.

I have tested this build and successfully solo Terramorphous in 2.5 with and without the use of a Bee. All post patch after the Bee / CC nerf. Yes it is not the Kerblaster / Gunpowder build that is all the rage now but it will still do fairly well.

For maximum effect, this build requires the use of a Purple Rifleman's Com. Which provides bonuses to Impact, Onslaught and Battlefront. It also adds to AR magazine size (saving points in Overload) and a very nice boost to AR damage.

I will discuss alternative COMs further.

Skills
Guerrilla (26 pts) 5/5 Sentry = Longer duration and more shots in.

3/5 Ready = You will need the reload speed.

1/5 Laser Sight = Helps highlight targets & I find the turret more accurate vs air.

5/5 Willing = Your tank skill. This is crucial if you are relying on the Bee and cannot wait for nearly 7 seconds to charge the shield.

5/5 Able = Shoot em and heal yourself. 2% hp over 3 seconds isn't a lot, but it can save you when you need it.

5/5 Onslaught = Your main kill skill. Improves damage and move speed. Improved by the Rifleman COM for even more ludicrous damage. And the move speed is a bonus !

1/1 Scorch Earth = For 1 point, your turret can throw out 22 rockets. That means more DPS which are again doubled by the turret own slag gun. Great.

1/1 Double Up = Your game changer skill. Slag is a good thing. Assures you get double the DPS and you can save the nice Slagga SMG (or any other slag weapon for that matter) for another Axton build or another char.

Gunpowder (17 pts) 5/5 Impact = With a good +6 to Impact from Rifleman COM, you will deal a lot of damage with most guns. Combined this with a good AR, well.... You get the drift.

5/5 Metal Storm = Again your kill skill. Faster ROF without the Recoil. That means more kill streaks and more reloading. Which is what points in Ready are for.

5/5 Battlefront = Another COM boosted skill. Watch your damage kick in once you got the turret out. Then watch the DPS sky rockets AFTER your first kill.

1/1 Longbow = Mainly used for turret HP or distraction. Given that you rely on Battlefront a lot for damage, more HP for turret is prudent.

1/1 Do or Die = Again a 1 point wonder. 10% more damage to grenades and rockets is nice. But the best use for it is to get out of Fight for your Life scenarios. Ever got hammered down ? Toss a few homing MIRVs or a Bonus package and get back up !

Survival (2 pts) This is pretty much up to you.

I would recommend at least 1 point into Preparation for some passive healing out of combat anyway.

1/5 Healthy = A small boost to HP is still good.

1/5 Preparation = A small boost to shield capacity. Main bonus is for the health regen.

Weapons
You are using a Rifleman's COM ya know ? So pretty much any AR will utilize the Bullet Storm to it's maximum potential.

Personal favourites of mine.

1) Hammer Buster = This rifle can easily exceed the 20K DPS range. Add in Impact and the inherent AR damage boost, you can use this as a make shift sniper if it has a scope.

Granted the critical hits are not going to be amazing but you will still hurt a heck lot since you can fire very quickly. The Hammer Buster also has a much deeper ammo pool compared to Sniper rifles obviously.

2) Shredifier = Moderate damage, highest ROF ingame and somewhat decent magazine size.

The Rifleman's COM improves on the magazine size and brings up the damage that is even comparable to some pistols, which is good. And oh, the Shredifier is ridiculously fun with Metal Storm.

3) Purple Dahl Spinigun = Yes a purple and not a legendary. Watching a 9 round burst into a single target with little to no recoil is very satisfying. Excellent as a mid range sniping weapon.

4) E-tech Blasters or BlASSTERs = Good damage and decent ammo capacity. The COM makes them even better.

However steer clear of Dahl burst fire Blasters because you are likely to waste shots unless the target is large or close, but by then you are better going full auto.

Alternate COMs
Slayer of Terra = Has a +4 to ALL Tier 1 skills EXCEPT preparation.

I suggest dropping a point from Metal Storm and putting it into expertise so you get the benefit.

Slayer of Terra provides a MASSIVE health boost (+4 Healthy and possibly 8k+ extra hp). This results in a tanky but strong fire based setup. Your ARs and Kill skills won't pack as much punch but any weapon that burns things will do the trick.

Legendary Soldier = Has +5 to ALL Tier 1 skills.

Again I recommend dropping a point from Metal Storm to Expertise. Legendary COM offers you a modest health boosts and a general stat boost to all guns. But the DPS loss from Battle Front and Onslaught can be noticeable.

However the flip side is that the turret cool down is shortened, so you get more up time for your Battlefront.

Other COMs

Well there are other COMs can be used in the interim if you are not able to get the purple Rifleman's COM or Slayer of Terra / Legendary Soldier. Also Blues COM on their own are easier to get hold of (you can buy them off Zed by save/reloading) and you can get something useful out of them.

For example: Engineer: Turret Cool Down, Battlefront and Sentry. Turret gets more shots off, last longer and the usual DPS boost from Battlefront. Faster cool down means more up time.

Shock Trooper: Onslaught and Metal Storm. The electric damage boost can fulfill a niche role if you like.

Tactics
1) See enemies.

2) Throw turret.

3) Get 1 kill.

4) Mow them all down.

Now the Bullet Storm build is better for generalist combat, however if you are considering doing Raid bosses more, the kill skills can be better invested else where.

As stat reset is so cheap, nothing is set in stone, so feel free to explore or adjust the skills to your liking. :)