100 Ways to survive UVHM

So, I’ll be editing this over time. I was thinking we should create a 100 pointer list of the best tips as to staying alive in UVHM (if we can’t get to 100, we’ll go up to whichever number we work our way up to). There are always complaints leveled against UVHM, and I find many of them to be born of frustration rather than poor game design. Shall we create a community list?This list will be numbered in order of importance, so if there is no consensus on the position of the tip, it shall be placed on the tail end. Lets begin! “It’s called ultimate for a reason: be prepared to work at being badass, badass.”

Shoot-and-scoot. Staying in one place too long can get you killed.

Survey every area before initiating combat.

Learn your characters strengths and weaknesses.

Learn your own strengths and weaknesses, there are no perfect players.

Learn your characters action skill and how to better use it, also tailor it to your talents.

Play to the opponent weaknesses, not just your strengths.

Slag.Slag.Slag. There is a reason it is mentioned in the opening screen.

If and when you can, hit critical spots, but don’t do so at the expense of not firing.

Don’t rely heavily on one type of gun, ammo can fast become scarce.

Memorize what gun is bound to each key on your D-Pad/hotkeys as it can be quicker than spamming through your guns until you hit what you want to use.

Remember to use leveled gear. A legendary is no longer legendary when it was useful a dozen levels ago.

Use the terrain and the position of your enemies to your advantage, and avoid it becoming theirs. Being surrounded and fighting uphill may be a death sentence. BREAK LINE OF SIGHT!-(in Torgue voice). Standing in the way of bullets may make you dead.

Map awareness, watch for red dots on the map to identify threats, this is the equivalent of having eyes on the back of your head.

Don’t rely solely on AMP shields. It can be the death of you.

Use Moxxi weapons, sugar.

Don’t be afraid to run from a battle and regroup. It may even draw the lone enemy.

She’s here to help, not carry you around. Don’t rely on Moxxi guns only.

Learn to shoot from the hip while moving instead of aiming down sights all the time – it slows your movement speed and makes you vulnerable.

Frustration may lead to death. One’s inability to keep calm and collected during fights is not a fault of the game. It is meant to be challenging. Have a drink, relax. Alternatively, you may quickscope if you feel comfortable doing so.

Farming for levels is often useless, as it out dates your gear. Farm for gear instead.

Team-play BL2 is like chess, aim for the enemy you’re best suited to take.

Learn your enemies’ critical spots, and hit them often and hard.

Research your skill tree build; don’t just throw points at things that look interesting.

If your character has Slag skills, try to see if it’s possible to spec into them.

Doing so reduces the need to swap weapons.

Learn situational awareness: don’t be so focused on one enemy that you allow yourself to be backed into a corner or hit from behind.

Grouping enemies is important, singularity grenades and Phaselock assists this.

You can’t avoid rabid and lunatic enemies by back-pedalling: either turn around, or jump and/or go sideways.

Recognize possible spawn points, like open doorways or small collections of huts. This could prevent you from being surrounded.

If you already recognize a spawn point, shooting a single shot in the distance and then quickly running out of range may flush out the reinforcements and give you a better idea of what you’re dealing with.

Don’t be too proud to ease into an area and trigger just a few enemy spawns at a time, then backing out to take them down, and proceeding a bit further.

Take advice from the masters. Build videos online can also assist you with movement/aiming/tactical techniques. Absorb as much as you can from it.

Knowing your party helps. A poor random play experience is not the game’s fault.

Support enemies (surveyors and the like) are ALWAYS the priority.

Target priority enemies. That doesn’t always mean a Badass. Launcher enemies, and

Elemental gun enemies can be just as deadly.

Play pong with larger opponents in multiplayer, toggling who has the heat can mean you both live.

Memorize the operational distance of your guns. Don’t make your way in to this thread.

Taking breaks will often reset your “FFYL” timer. This can be critical to second winds.

Skills that increase movement speed will help you quite a bit against enemies who melee, on UVHM (let alone OP8) it can make a difference.

Match elements to the weakness of your enemy. Sure DoTs don’t do as much damage, but they do help. Fire for flesh, shock for shields, and corrosive for armor.

Map your entrance and exit from a zone so that at no point and time can you be taking fire from more than one direction.

Explosive is great against everything but has a damage debuff against shields, so strip shields first if possible when using explosive weaponry.

Learn what health gating is and how to work with it.

Opponents follow trail paths, you don’t have to. Escape can lead to some death defying moves.

Wiping out the smaller enemies some times isn’t the best move. Leave at least one weaker enemy alive until you take out the more dangerous enemies. They may help with a second wind!

Slag grenades can help reduce or prevent the need to slag and swap. A transfusion grenade can serve double purpose: it’ll slag and heal you at the same time.

Running over enemies in Vehicles in UVHM does little damage.

Low damage doesn’t make your vehicle useless, it can help you get to advantageous position as well as pin down larger enemies momentarily (at times even pinning them against walls).

Use singularities to pull away enemies which rush you.

Don’t ignore survival skills for DPS, there are such things as DPS caps for certain types of play and few characters benefit from overkill damage.

Having at least one long range weapon may give you the advantage in a fight.

Don’t overlook survival skills. It doesn’t have to be all offense, all the time. 0 health returns 0 DPS.

Even if your character has a way to slag in their skill tree, keep a slag weapon active in case you hit FFYL.

Don’t be afraid to respec if the situation calls for it. I typically run a Thoughtlock/Ruin Maya, but I spec out of Thoughtlock as soon as I get to Digistruct Peak. It’s just not effective there.

Ammo/Health regen items can be equipped between skirmishes, even low level/spare ones.

Some enemies are hostile to each other. Divide and conquer.

Don’t rely on an item that you can’t use too well. If FotFH makes it difficult for you to aim, see if you can find alternatives.

Time your kill skills, hitting a low priority target is usually a bad idea, unless it’s a set up to taking down a dangerous foe.

If you’re going to take a knee, drop a slag grenade should you have the opportunity to do so. It’ll help gain a second wind.

Recognize the ammunition being used against use. Chest high walls are great for bullets, but an outcropping is what will save you against rockets.

Every build should have a contingency methodology for when things don’t go as planned.

Explosive damage is great for second winds, as well as crowds of enemies.

Singularity grenades are also an escape tactic. It is the sticky tape of Pandora.

Skill overrides can drastically change your characters play style, by 50, you may have a few.

Loose guns restore ammo.

Unique guns make for unique playstyles, this can change your relative ease.

Unique items can be a fall back to a character weakness; i.e. Deliverance for flying enemies.

Health-gating is a reliable tactic, not a solution to all problems.

UVHM requires farming, this is an aspect of the challenge, not a drawback.

Avoid fighting in narrow corridors, bottleneck enemies.

Avoid doing some quests until they’re on a capped level (I.E. Rakkaholics, the Enkindling.)

Some enemies have incredibly slow turn movement times, rope-a-dope when you can.

Some enemies can be slagged without appearing as though they are slagged, always check.

If you’re low on ammo, some fights are just a waste. A quasar and a jog can get you through.

DoT can help you keep track of enemies that employ invisibility.

When suffering from DoT, allowing yourself to go in to FFYL may prevent you from killing your SW.

Don’t casually ‘wander’ from your party because the zone is clear, respawns do happen.

Lower level relics can be better than their higher level equals, read them thoroughly.

Find an item farming location that is best suited to your abilities. An easy to use sight can be the difference between life, and puncturing local waste disposal units.

OP8 has been finished with non-unique items, complimentary gear can come at any time.

Hoarding money like Scrooge McDuck can lead to some pretty expensive New-U trips.

Not all opponents have predictable attack patterns, at times you have to go in hot and heavy.

Not all guns have to shoot forward, you can fight behind cover with relative invulnerability.

In a pinch, a weaker non-elemental gun can be preferable to a stronger one of the wrong element.

The run-over function on vehicles is DPS weak, but not useless. It can pin the enemy down.

Slag enemies (such as Psychos or Spiderants) should be high on the priority scale.

Splash Damage can turn the tide in narrow passageways.

Go easy on rocket chucking if it is your first FFYL in a while, you don’t want to instantly down yourself.

Grenades come across more often than one might think. Don’t be stingy with them.

When choosing FFYL weapons, make sure to remember that you’ll need it against different categories of enemies. An Incendiary Norfleet will seem a bit underwhelming against a Ultimate Badass Loader.

Some enemies (for example Badass Skags) have the tendency to shoot stream projectiles. These can be avoided and can render the enemy useless for seconds at a time.

Inversely, other enemies (such as certain Loaders) only deal with burst salvos, making killing them only a matter of patience and timing.

When on a team, using a COM that brings collective stats up may make you the quiet star of the party, especially when coordinating these benefits with others.

Pay attention to weapon parts. You may think you’ve got a gem in your hand, but it has a seriously flaw to it.

Certain optional quest items (such as the Pimpernel or the FotFH) can be game changing, but only attainable once (unless you choose to restart). Consider when you choose to reap the reward.

Certain low level bosses are incredibly easy to farm for potent weapons. (Knuckledragger, one of the easiest opponents in the game, drops the Hornet, one of the most potent corrosive weapons available).
100 tips are a lot to remember. Try and implement a few at a time and see how it changes your game style. The long journey to becoming an Ultimate Badass begins with a single shot. ONE LAST THING;

Remember folks, there are 100 ways to stay alive. But there are a million ways to die. Alan Jackson – A Million Ways To Die (Lyric Video)

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE CONTRIBUTORS (Information from these posters has either been copied verbatim, used to alter a standing idea or added but modified for conciseness.)

xmngr – Punk ain’t dead, it’s on Pandora. ACNAero – High in the sky, so fly. VaultHunter101 – Making Dogmeat of the Bandits. J3tHive – Killer Bee. KrewlraiN – Guide Constructor. Gulfwulf – Guru Gulfwulf’s Guide to Gunning Godhood. Derch – The Hero we need. Adabiviak – If he’s stalking you, best to Lei Low. Ryoushinteki – This Link is no longer available. WolfandSaint – A genius, or maybe insane. MidnightNova – No guilt that I-No of, so forget Aba-dit. Abvex – Eyes on the prize. farsight37 – Bringing home the bacon. Tokesy97 – Pass the ammo to the left hand side. McMoney – Handsome gentlemen never carry ready cash. Feculator – Structurally Superior. Ravenhawk – You’ll have trouble, nevermore. Carlton-Slayer – Fresh Psycho of Bel-Air. Ronnie_Rayburn – Believes only two things come from Elpis. Matrixneo42 – He knows the answer to every Kung Fu question.