Borderlands 2 - PS3 - Review

[Ohio Joe]

15. My Solo Siren

Tonight, I stopped at the dispensary and had a wonderful find... Let me try and explain something first. A number of the dispensaries I go to label the weed with some various information about the strain, including a 'number' that is a measure of how much 'get you high' factor it has. Beyond it being, the higher the better, I have no idea how it is calculated or what it really represents. The bulk of the weed I smoked before moving here would be rated around 14.0... The best I had ever had (and it was pretty damn good) before coming here would be rated around 20.0... The usual I buy at the dispensary here is rated about 18.0-19.5, middle-top shelf product... Tonight... I found a strain called C Slider and... oh my I do not recall what it is a hybrid of but it ends up with a mellow/smokey flavor and with a rating of freakin 23.5, one 'bowl' in the vaporizer (about half of the materiel in a cigarette for my vaporizer) and i'm about... As stoned as I've ever been... And I babble when I'm stoned... So, on to it, heh

Lilith is no longer the playable Siren, you are now Maya... Though Lilith is now an NPC. Maya is a bit different then Lilith (you find out there are always six Sirens, each with a different power), instead of disappearing, she can 'phase-lock' enemies... The skill changes depending on your skill path (we'll get to that).

The three trees to choose from are Motion, Harmony and Cataclysm and for this build, you will use some from each. A small disclaimer first... I'm doing this just before the release of the third DLC, at this time the level cap is 50 but it will be going up. It has not yet been announced what it will go up to or when but it has been announced it is going up. This will happen either with a patch sometime after the third DLC, or as part of the fourth DLC. When the level cap is increased, a third difficulty level is also going to be added... None of that is included in this guide yet but I will update lit when it's released and I've figured something out

OK... I'm currently at level 46, so just a few more points and I know where they are going so... Here is what I'm currently using and how I got there doing a solo Siren.

First point comes at level 5 and has to go into your action skill, Phaselock. At this point, it lifts the enemy off the ground and holds them in a bubble... They take damage but can not attack, so open up on them.

At level 2, drop a point into Sweet Release, in the Harmony tree. Every time you kill an enemy that is Phaselocked, you get some health. This only needs 1 point if you go with a mod that gives you +to skills here... And I suggest you do that, it is all the health regen you need.

Put the next 5 points, Level 3-7, into Ward, in the Motion tree. At 5 points, this gives you -40% shield recharge rate and 25% shield capacity. The bonus these two give you are great early on and stay great all the way through.

The next five, level 8-12, go into Suspension, also in the Motion tree. At level 5 it will give you another 2.5 seconds that Phaselock is active. Not a big deal now but later this is awesome.

The next point goes into Converge... A one point skill that modifies Phaselock to now also act like a singularity... Drawing all nearby enemies towards the locked target. This is a vital part of your strategy... As mobs draw close, target one in the back and Phaselock it, it stops the mob dead and draws them backwards, giving you more time to kill before they reach you... And it gets even better soon

On to the Cataclysm tree for a lot of points now, this is your main tree. Start off with five points in Flicker and five points in Foresight. Now you have a +305 chance that weapons elemental effects will trigger when an enemy is hit with a bullet... Watching a siren with this pumped and anything elemental that fires fast, pistol, smg, assault... It's devastating how much more damage you do then classes that don't have the boost.

If you are having trouble getting the last two, put points into Helios as soon as you can... The three of these all end up with five points.

Next is Cloud Kill. A nifty little skill that only takes one point. A poison cloud that gets renewed every five seconds as long as you hit something.

Chain Reaction gets the next four points. Now, any time an enemy is phase locked... All bullets you fire have a chance to riccochet and hit a second enemy... A 32% chance with four in it.

Blight Phoenix gets the next five. A kill skill... Kill an enemy and for seven seconds you deal both fire and corrode damage to any close enemies (i would guestimate it at about 6 yards... yeah, whats a yard, I know, heh). It will save your ass when you get killed mid way through a mob so many times, you will rely on it as a strategy... I shit you not

The crown jewel at last... Ruin. Phaselock now deals slag, corrode and electrocute damage in addition to all previous effects... ohhhh, just open up in the general direction with and smg and down they go... It is so awesome

Right about here, I had completed about 75% of the side quests so I went on and finished the main quest to open 'True Vault Hunter Mode'... or as I call it, the next difficulty level

I have an idea where I want to go but I want to see what happens with the upcoming level increase (no, it was not in the third DLC)... How many points it is will determine what I think will work best here as there is also supposed to be a third difficulty level... I suppose they will call it 'Supreme Vault Hunter Mode' or some such shit, heh. I will update this post when I do figure it out though.