Borderlands – How to build Gaige so I don’t have to aim

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Gaige the Mechromancer's main selling point was that she'd be easy to play, hard to master, an ideal class for people not familiar with shooting games. I was intrigued by this idea and wanted to see how she plays going for the "no aiming" skills.

However even as someone familiar with shooting games I've thus far found it very hard to make use of her "shoot bullets and don't bother aiming" playstyle; Anarchy notably seems to be very hard to make use of. I also find this playstyle runs me out of bullets extremely quickly.

How can I build Gaige to be playable without all that "aiming" and "accuracy"? Do I just have to put all my skill points into Deathtrap (who does help) or is there some way I can get that crazy gun damage without that crazy gun aiming?

Best Answer

Playing Gaige in a "no aiming" style requires a different mindset from the other Vault Hunters. The Ordered Chaos tree works better when using a weapon with a low Magazine Size but high Reload Rate. Generally, that means you're shifting away from automatic weapons such as SMGs and Assault Rifles that often have Magazine Sizes of 20-30+.

One other thing you'll need to force yourself to forget is reloading in between fights. Anarchy stacks based on emptying your magazine or killing an enemy, so the fewer shots you have your current magazine, the sooner you'll accumulate stacks of Anarchy.

Anarchy itself is an odd mechanic. Because it reduces Accuracy per stack, you'll actually want to use a weapon with a decent amount of Accuracy otherwise you'll be doing little damage even at close range (a la Sledge's Shotgun from the first Borderlands). Combined with the need for low Magazine Size and high Reload Rate, your best shot for a go-to weapon is anything from the pistol family. Be a revolver or a repeater, these guns have respectable Accuracy and Fire Rate, without having the relatively high Magazine Sizes you want to avoid.

With this mind, you can stack Anarchy as quickly as possible for use with your other skills. While this isn't so much a "no aiming" style, Gaige's Ordered Chaos tree puts a lower emphasis on aiming than other playstyles. What's making this hard to swallow isn't so much the skill build but the mindset involved. A lot of it run counters to what you learned in other FPSs.

P.S. If you really want tips for skill builds, I would recommend getting the Close Enough skill in the Best Friends Forever tree as soon as you invest a couple of points in the Ordered Chaos tree. With your decreased Accuracy from Anarchy stacks, the ricochet will definitely help. After more points in the Ordered Chaos tree, I would recommend coming back to the Best Friends Forever tree for The Better Half skill. As you want to empty your magazines as quickly as possible, any source of increased Fire Rate helps. In fact, The Better Half skill might actually make high Magazine Size weapons such as Assault Rifles, Machineguns, and SMGs more palatable to use.