Class Mod (Borderlands)


 * "A sniper without a sniper COM is just a guy with a gun."
 * — Marcus Kincaid

Class Mods (or COMs, as in COMmand Decks) are a major item in Borderlands, obtained at around level 15. "Class Mod" is short for class modification. COMs are class specific upgrades that provide bonuses to your character's and/or a teammates abilities. Class Mods offer a wide variety of bonuses such as; amplify your damage, heal you and your teammates, increase your health and/or shield capacity, reduce your reload time, increase skill ranks, etc.

Gameplay
Class Mods skill bonuses do stack even if the specified Skills are maxed (5/5), but skill bonuses will not function unless you have at least 1 point in the specified skill.

They can be obtained in several ways throughout the game.
 * They can be bought from Medical Vending Machines.
 * Found in many of the lootable objects such as: chests or skag piles or lockers.
 * As a reward from completing a mission.
 * Dropped by certain enemies when they are killed, most notably Crimson Lance soldiers.
 * The four Mods included in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx(Specter,Ogre,Marine and Truxican Wrestler) are not available before you enter the The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC.

Manufacturer
Class mods come in a 3 levels of rarity; green, blue and purple. A particular class mod may be produced by 2 different manufacturers despite the mod having the same modifiers. For example, the Bombardier class mod for Berserkers is made by both Dahl and Tediore.

Class mods are built with 3 primary parts: left side, body, right side. The body is standardized by class subtype; berserker, bombadier, etc. Class mods are made with 1 of 3 materials. The material used determines which effect bonus the mod will have and has no effect on the skill bonuses. Material 1 gives the default effect only. Material 2 gives the default effect and effect 2. Material 3 gives the default effect and effect 3.

Most class mods have 6 possible modifiers; three effects and three skill bonuses. A COM can have a maximum of 5 of these modifiers due to the material 2 effect and material 3 effect being exclusive of one another. Additionally, for the skill bonuses, only one can be the maximum of +4.

Nomenclature
The name of a Class Mod appears different in the Inventory list than on its Item Card. In the inventory list the class mod has an additional number designator at the beginning of the name. The number designator is a 2 or 3 digit number.

The numeric designation, such as 14, 230, 560, etc, partially determine the quality of the class mods and directly correlates to the level of the mod's bonuses and effects. The number is unaffected by the COM title, the manufacturer, and material grade.

The number code tells you two things.


 * The tens digit (or ones digit if the number only has two digits) represents the left-side piece of the COM and determines the quality of the skill bonuses, where 1 is the worst and 6 is the best. From best to worst: 6 gives a 4/3/3; a 5 gives 3/3/3; a 4, 4/3; a 3, 3/3; a 2, just a 3; and a 1 only gives a single 2. The higher skill in a set or the skill(s) left out of a low quality mod are chosen at random, meaning two 660 mods can be identical except the +4 skill boost.


 * The hundreds digit (or tens in a two digit number) represents the right-side piece of the COM and determines the quality of the effect bonuses, but has no bearing on which one; that is solely based on material type: 600 is the best. For the highest quality mods, this is represented by the 100s digit in the mod name. Each mod has its own minimums and maximums. A 600 series mod will have the highest effect bonus for its level; a 500 series mod will have less for its level; and so on.

A mod's required character level also determines the quality of the effect bonus.

Variety
Each class has eight sub-classes of mods. Each mod is geared towards a specific branch of the skill tree. As such, you will only receive the full benefit of the mod used if you match your skills to the mods. Some class mods are better than others but have one perk that makes them stand out, such as ammo regen or added accuracy. Keep in mind that only one class mod can be equipped at once. Of the eight sub-class mods, of the original seven, four are geared to solo play and three geared to team play. Therefore if you are interested in both forms you may benefit from having a mod for each type of play. The eighth is yet to the classified but is only available with the DLC The Secret Armory of General Knoxx

Solo

 * Firefly Mod focuses on the use of Incendiary weapons. Good against fleshy enemies.


 * Mercenary Mod focuses on the use of SMGs. Increases damage and boosts three key skills. Ammo regen is helpful.


 * PlagueBearer Mod focuses on the use of Corrosive weapons. Good against armored enemies and boosts to mind games+ Inner glow add to survivability.


 * Specter Mods focus on the effectiveness of sniper rifles, affects critical hit damage, sniper rifle damage,sniper accuracy,bullet speed and sniper ammo regeneration.


 * Tempest Mod focuses on the use of Shock weapons. Useful against guardians and other well-shielded enemies.

Team

 * Catalyst Mod focuses on reducing team cooldowns, and boosts the Siren's On Kill skills. It can also help find rare items, or add shield regen.


 * Note: To explore the discussion of whether Catalyst +2 Team Find Rare Items affects chests, visit +2 Team Find Rare Items Experiment


 * Defender Mod increases team and personal survivability.


 * Tormentor Mods help teams using elemental weapons.

Solo

 * Commando Mod focuses on the use of shotguns and abilities that compliment the use thereof. Recommended for close-range encounters or fights against very large enemies.


 * Heavy Gunner Mod lets a properly built Soldier unleash a devastating storm of weapons fire once they get started. Good mod for close-range or extended fights.


 * Rifleman Mod focus on soldiers using combat rifles. With patch 1.3.0, the rifleman class now works with machine guns. Very useful for players who favor machine guns and combat rifles. Ammo regeneration is vital if you intend to keep using the machine gun.


 * Shock Trooper Mod focuses on electrical damage and grenade attacks, as well as boosted health. Effective against guardians.

Team

 * Leader Mod focuses around boosting team experience gains, action skill cooldowns, and the rate at which you can deploy the Scorpio turret. It can also boost the Soldier's own defensive abilities.


 * Support Gunner Mod pack is an excellent solo and team mod thanks to ammo regeneration and increased team magazine sizes. They are very useful (perhaps even vital) to those using ammo-hogging machinegun-type Combat Rifles.


 * Tactician Mods are good for supporting soldiers, and can also increase your own survivability considerably. Works best for shooting from behind cover.
 * Marine Mods allow soldiers to effectively use launchers and grenades, and can heal team members very easily during firefights through the use of the splash from explosives.


 * Note: Increasing the magazine size also has an effect on Eridian weapons.

Solo

 * Berserker Mod focuses on Brick's Berserk skill and the close combat Brick endures when not in it. Recommended for solo play.
 * Blast Master Mod adds extra explosive impact to Brick's explosive weapons as well as the skills that benefit from the damage. A damage focused blaster mod.


 * Bombardier Mod focuses on the blaster skill tree and Brick's ability to fire rockets. A firing rate focused mod. Launcher ammo regeneration fixed with patch with General Knoxx.


 * Ogre Mod focuses on the use of shotguns and abilities that compliment the use thereof. Recommended for close-range encounters or fights against very large enemies.


 * Titan Mod focuses on keeping Brick alive for as long as possible, best for tanking offline and solo.

Team

 * Centurion Mod focuses on Brick's ability to act as a tank for the team and keep himself and other players alive. If sheer personal survivability is your focus you should go with a Titan mod.


 * Skirmisher Mod focuses on close combat. Recommended for a team with more than one Berserker, or for speed-emphasis berserk fighting.


 * Warmonger Mod focuses on the damage that Brick and the team around him deals. Most effective against larger groups of weaker enemies due to on-kill skill boosts.

Solo

 * Assassin Mods focus on the effectiveness of corrosion; increases corrosive elemental chance and damage as well as increases character resistance to corrosive damage.


 * Gunslinger Mods focus on the effectiveness of pistols; affects pistol fire rate, damage, ammo regeneration and accuracy.


 * Hunter Mods focus on the effectiveness of Bloodwing; affects Bloodwing's damage, cooldown, and number of item drops.


 * Sniper Mods focus on the effectiveness of sniper rifles, affects critical hit damage, sniper rifle damage, Bloodwing's cooldown via sniper shots, sniper accuracy and sniper ammo regeneration.


 * Truxican Wrestler Mods focus on the effectiveness of Melee Combat, affects Melee Damage and Maximum Health.

Team

 * Ranger Mods focus on the effectiveness of Bloodwing and Accuracy. It does so by affecting accuracy, critical hit damage, and bloodwing's stats.


 * Scavenger Mods focus on the effectiveness of looting. It does so by affecting the amount of items you find, their rarity and your health return. It can also affect health regen.
 * Note: To explore the discussion of whether Scavenger +2 Team Find Rare Items affects chests visit +2 Team Find Rare Items Experiment


 * Survivor Mods focus on the effectiveness of team and personal survivability. It does so by affecting team health regeneration, items dropped by enemies and reload speeds. It can also affect team damage.