Borderlands Soldier Build
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Depends how you want to focus yourself and what tree you want to start with. I really like the Medic tree because you can boost ALL weapons mags, and then heal up to 35% HP after a kill for you and your team. If you aren't playing with a team, Cauterize is useless, so drop it period.
Between trees, Refire is TONS better than Deploy, but if you get them both, you will be a badass. What you need to do is decide if you want to deck out your turret or just yourself/team. If you want the turret, start with the left tree and then go middle (don't get the last middle tree skill because it would be better to spend those points on something else). If you want to be a badass all by yourself, then go with the Medic tree.
None of this really matters because you can respec at almost any time for a small fee. Idealy, get a class mod later in the game and respec around that. You need at least 1 point in each skill that it gives bonuses to for it to do anything, but I've had my characters practically double in strength when I've respeced around a mod and not just going for what sounds cool.
By level 45, this is what I'd do if I was playing solo and wanted to not focus on my turret. I started with the Medic tree.
http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/skilltree/roland/#01550050500000000550055
And here is my turret-centric skill set, starting with the Infantry tree
http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/skilltree/roland/#01550050550055500000000
You might get people complaining about the lack of Metal Storm in both builds, but the problem I have with MS is that it only lasts for 7 seconds after a kill. You won't have it 100% of the time, whereas increasing both bullet damage and turret damage 100% of the time means you won't be wasting skill points. After all, if you kill an army one man at a time, you never will see any benefit from MS. Towards the bottom you could choose Assault instead of Refire if you want to boost your rifles, but chances are after unloading a clip into some one, your turret will be ready to fire again.
On the support Tree, I neglected Stockpile because ammo regen class mods are common for far more CONSTANT ammo regen. If you really don't want to regen ammo with your mod, you can still get one to equip between battles. Not worth spending the points on something that you can only use once per 100 seconds and have it work less. I also over-clicked on the Grenadier skill. You probably could save a few points from that one and dump it into something else, like Aid Station on the Medic Tree. Same goes with Guided missile since you don't reap the same benefits per point as you do with other skills. Really, you probably should spend 5 points between Guided Missile and Grenadier combined and save the rest for aid Station and Overload.
Since you are asking this, what classes have you played? If this is your first playthrough, great, but just be aware that the Soldier is a great character that doesn't really do anything special. All of his skills really just make shooting guns easier. There aren't much to speak of in the way of special effects. This is different than the Hunter which will have shield penetration, or the Siren whom can do crazy elemental effects by igniting enemies with fire and electricity. Both classes are able to build up to these effects while the Soldier really doesn't get much of anything new to change his playing style. It just feels more dry to me when you keep leveling up and all your skills are just passive without really changing the way you act in battle.
Between trees, Refire is TONS better than Deploy, but if you get them both, you will be a badass. What you need to do is decide if you want to deck out your turret or just yourself/team. If you want the turret, start with the left tree and then go middle (don't get the last middle tree skill because it would be better to spend those points on something else). If you want to be a badass all by yourself, then go with the Medic tree.
None of this really matters because you can respec at almost any time for a small fee. Idealy, get a class mod later in the game and respec around that. You need at least 1 point in each skill that it gives bonuses to for it to do anything, but I've had my characters practically double in strength when I've respeced around a mod and not just going for what sounds cool.
By level 45, this is what I'd do if I was playing solo and wanted to not focus on my turret. I started with the Medic tree.
http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/skilltree/roland/#01550050500000000550055
And here is my turret-centric skill set, starting with the Infantry tree
http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/skilltree/roland/#01550050550055500000000
You might get people complaining about the lack of Metal Storm in both builds, but the problem I have with MS is that it only lasts for 7 seconds after a kill. You won't have it 100% of the time, whereas increasing both bullet damage and turret damage 100% of the time means you won't be wasting skill points. After all, if you kill an army one man at a time, you never will see any benefit from MS. Towards the bottom you could choose Assault instead of Refire if you want to boost your rifles, but chances are after unloading a clip into some one, your turret will be ready to fire again.
On the support Tree, I neglected Stockpile because ammo regen class mods are common for far more CONSTANT ammo regen. If you really don't want to regen ammo with your mod, you can still get one to equip between battles. Not worth spending the points on something that you can only use once per 100 seconds and have it work less. I also over-clicked on the Grenadier skill. You probably could save a few points from that one and dump it into something else, like Aid Station on the Medic Tree. Same goes with Guided missile since you don't reap the same benefits per point as you do with other skills. Really, you probably should spend 5 points between Guided Missile and Grenadier combined and save the rest for aid Station and Overload.
Since you are asking this, what classes have you played? If this is your first playthrough, great, but just be aware that the Soldier is a great character that doesn't really do anything special. All of his skills really just make shooting guns easier. There aren't much to speak of in the way of special effects. This is different than the Hunter which will have shield penetration, or the Siren whom can do crazy elemental effects by igniting enemies with fire and electricity. Both classes are able to build up to these effects while the Soldier really doesn't get much of anything new to change his playing style. It just feels more dry to me when you keep leveling up and all your skills are just passive without really changing the way you act in battle.
Like Signa said, if you aren't going online, you should prob ditch the Cauterize, replace it with the Overload perk. Stockpile can be replaced with a class mod with ammo regen, so that leaves the guided missile open for business.
http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/skilltree/roland/#01055505550050515550000
That's mine for reference. (If I've done the linking right..)
Edit: the 1 on supply drop is for nade regen. Class mods don't regen those..
Edit 2: Also, the extra level cap for all users is coming, so you can add another 8 to those perks soon enough.
Edit 3: Welcome to the Escapist!
http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/skilltree/roland/#01055505550050515550000
That's mine for reference. (If I've done the linking right..)
Edit: the 1 on supply drop is for nade regen. Class mods don't regen those..
Edit 2: Also, the extra level cap for all users is coming, so you can add another 8 to those perks soon enough.
Edit 3: Welcome to the Escapist!
To each their own, but I'm curious about your justifications regarding the Infantry tree. You have Sentry, but not Impact. I'd swap them because of using your guns more than the sentry. On the next tier, you have Metal Storm which is fine, but why scattershot? He's not using shotguns, and as far as I'm concerned, spreading your wad doesn't help much when you need to hit something at a range. BL is quite open, so you don't get to use shot guns at close range often enough. If you dropped that, you could have both Assault AND Refire which I consider better than deploy by itself.Skobvs said:
That's a great build if you hate the turret (personally, I loved it). The only nit-pick I have is that you obviously ran out of things to put points into, so you chose Deploy. If I was avoiding the turret, I'd still spend those last 5 levels on Guided Missile so that on the occasion that I do use the turret, it at least has some expanded features. Your choice is fine though too so that the turret will be available more often when you need it for those emergencies.Grilled Cheesus said:
Cauterize is really bad, it doesnt heal that much and you will be waisting ammo and time, you could instead just kill the bad guy.
Overload, Refire and Metal Storm are good alternatives.
Overload, Refire and Metal Storm are good alternatives.
Ah, when you said "this is mine" I thought that was a build you were offering the OP. My bad. Yeah, no justification needed then, because we aren't talking about your play style as much as helping the OP.Skobvs said:Just a little justificationSigna said:
Again to OP, just avoid Cauterize because you've already got heals on the turret.
I took cauterize on a 3-man playthrough, and I was shocked at how much I used it. It's really helpful in staying out of fire while you heal if your allies are still taking damage. Also, I don't think anyone ever died while under fire and rezing me because I could heal them long enough so that I'd be back on my feet before then went down.josemlopes said:
Over all, it is a useless skill, but because of how easy it is to respec, I certainly suggest trying it if you have 2 or more allies. It's not like it will cost you more than a single mid-level death.
