Category talk:Rank

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Weapon Rankings/ Item Tier Levels..

Hi guys. firstly I would have liked to put a re-direct from 'Item Tier Levels' but I don't know how to do that here.

Secondly.. I want to discuss whether Seraph is higher than Legendary.. I don't have many gold item to compare but Ive had a few Torgue from the BCOBT and most have been much worse than even some Common weapons I have used, some have been to a good purple standard and one was better than my magenta weapons, an explict unkempt harold with a scope.

which is better??

my fav Magenta was/is the Tediore Shock Plasma Caster, it just rips through anyone and anything (within reason). even superbadasses to some degree.. would love to get a gold one to compare..

I have a gold Plump Kerblaster just now.. its pretty good.. almost ..*almost* ..up with my magenta weapons. would love to own a gold Torgue Ravager, those things are crazy..I owned one before.. but the accuracy was so bad I had to sell it, normally i found the purple Ravager hits 70-80+% accuracy.. the gold one I had was..40% and hit me too when i fired. I had purple one.. maaann nice.. it lasted me ten level ups.. wow what a shotgun! I don't use Hyperion except they're shotgun.. but that Ravenger is my number 1 shotgun style weapon.

Dava4444 (talk) 08:37, December 8, 2012 (UTC)

Note about Importance of Rank

I don't want to put this on the main page because it is partially personal opinion, however this does need to be noted in detail somewhere - rank is NOT everything in Borderlands 2.  I can cite numerous examples, but I'll stick to 3 to illustrate this point as clearly as I can.

First, Plasma Casters (no matter what manufacture or elemental type) pierce shields intrinsically.  In this case, rank is less important than simply being a particular type of weapon on the sole grounds that, fighting a BUL Loader becomes trivial when wielding a Plasma Caster, yet it can be a genuine challenge with any other SMG.  This mages a Green Plasma Caster, situationally, a better weapon that a Legendary SMG.  A similar situation occurs with Spikers, Railers, and Blasters - all E-Tech weapons have unique firing traits that give them a certain amount of extra utility which, depending entirely on the specific situation, can make them infinitely better than even a multiple-rank-higher weapon.  Spikers have limitted target tracking, making them excellent for enemies behind vertical cover, and Railers will bounce off a surface entirely.  More still, Blasters have different traits dependant on specific brand.  Vladof Blasters reflect like railers (balls rather than beams, but still) whereas a Dahl Blaster fires its burst in a horizontal cone, allowing you to kill multiple hostiles per burst - or just waste 2/3 of your ammo against a single target.

Second, Hellfire stacks.  This is a capability that instantly places it far and away above the vast majority of other elemental SMGs in the game.  Sirens, especially when playing a Cataclysm build, fill the BL2 role of the traditional "glass cannon" - doing a lot of damage in a hurry without the ability to sustain said damage in return.  Hellfire provides a unique benefit here, not just because of the immense boosts that SIrens get to elemental damage overall, but because it sllows you to limit the time you spend exposed to enemy fire by stacking several stacks of the Hellfire DoT and then staying in cover until it takes effect.  In this case, Hellfire is superior not because of rarity but merely because of elemental effect.  To illustrate this point more clearly, a Siren with a Witch class mod will get much more use out of a Teapot pistol than the Hellfire SMG.  Paired with the correct talents and rapid shooting, the Teapot - a Blue-rarity PISTOL - can outdamage even the Hellfire!  However, again, this is both  dependant on a high-corrosive-damage build, and even on there being enough enemies in close proximity for the effect to spread (Teapot's DoT doesn't stack, but does spread to nearby enemies, making it one of the single most lethal weapons in the game against clusters of Loaders).  In both cases, the situation is key.  Using the Hellfire against loaders will be less effective than a non-elemenntal green rarity SMG of the same level.  Really.

Last, Bad Touch, Good Touch, and Rubi.  In normal mode, these weapons are capable items that can be obtained by anyone and give a considerable advantage.  In True Vault Hunter mode, where death becomes a matter of "how often per mission" having a gun that heals you as you kill things becomes an awe-inspiring tool, completely regardless of DPS.  While often overlooked, Rubi does this especially well, healing the largest percentage of damage delt while having a reasonable damage rate, comperable with any other Blue-rarity item and better than the weaker Legendary items.  In these cases, passive healing becomes a benefit that, in and of itself, is more important than other attributes.  While especially useful for the likes of Maya and Zer0, the power of these guns does not end there.  Ever tried making a dangerously offense-oriented Axton with 0 passive healing abilities?  Try it, get a Specialist class mod, and hand him a Bad Touch.  As much as I prefer the passive healing, this is a great build for Axton (especially when using the Bee) that allows him to dramatically increase his damage output, with or without the turret, ahile not having to constantly worry about death.

So...yeah.  I know it's no secret that rarity in this game isn't the be-all-end-all of the loot system, but it bears reinforcing.  Rarity should be used as an indicator ONLY.  That is, yes, odds are good that a purple weapon is PROBABLY better than a green one, but read the freaking numbers before you go throw yourself against Master Gee again. Chuckmoney (talk) 06:43, February 3, 2013 (UTC)