The Rough Rider is a shield that has a permanent capacity of zero (technically it has a cpacity of 100 but is always drained). Every character receives a bonus from having zero shield capacity, but i have decided to focus on Axton. Axton's skill "Crisis Management" gives him increased gun and melee damage while his shields are depleted. This ability is always active with the rough rider.

It is also important to note that the Rough Rider gives increased resistance to all damage types and increases the wearer's max health.

Note: Some people did not understand this, so I will state it clearly. The rough rider is not something that should be used to level up. It's just a little bit of fun. You will find yourself clearing out whole bandit camps incredibly quickly, and in normal mode, this build is great for farming bosses. Please try to understand that before unleashing your flames upon the comments section.

The build focuses on Crisis Management and various health regen and health boosting skills. I also tried to put in as many gun damage and fire rate increases as I could.



I'll go over the individual skills now.

Guerilla Skill Tree:

Sentry: Increases sentry duration and shots per burst.
Basically a filler skill so I could get farther down the tree. It does, however, greatly improve the effictivity of your sentry, so it is all in all a good skill to have. 3 points into this skill.

Ready: Increases reload speed.
An esssential skill for this build; The decreased reload time means you can spend more time shooting and less reloading, which combined with other skills, will restore your health. 5 points into this skill.

Laser sight: Increases sentry accuracy.
The points in this skill could be moved into the Sentry skill if you feel that the they would be better spent there. 2 points into this skill (can be moved into the Sentry skill).

Onslaught: Kill skill. Killing an enemy increases your gun damage and movement speed for a short time.
If you keep killing enemies, you can keep up this bonus and keep the increase to movement speed and gun damage. 4 points in this skill.

Scorched Earth: Adds rocket pods to your sabre turret.
I put this skill in because it is good to have; it greatly increases your turret's effectivity. 1 point in this skill (it can only take 1).

Able: Killing an enemy causes you to regenerate health for a few seconds. This effect does not stack.
This is another essential skill for this build; because you will be running straight into the middle of combat, you will need some kind of health regen. That is where this skill comes into play. As long as you are killing enemies, you will stay alive. 5 points in this skill.

Grenadier: Increases the maximum number of grenades you can carry.
Not a necessary skill, especially if you spend your eridium wisely in the black market. You can move points from this skill anywhere else. 2 points in this skill.

Crisis Management: You gain bonus gun damage and melee damage while your shields are depleted.
The central skill of this build. I already explained why it is important. If you have not been paying attention, though, here is the rundown: Because your shields are always down, you are aways receiving the bonus from Crisis Management. 5 points in this skill.

Double up: Adds a second gun to your sabre turret and changes both guns to fire slag bullets.
If you go this far down into the tree, why not include this skill? It's good to have. 1 point (it can only take 1).

Gunpowder Skill Tree:

Impact: Increases gun damage and melee damage.
Just a good skill to have. 5 points.

Expertise: Increases your weapon swap speed and aim speed. Also, your movement speed is increased while aiming.
Mostly a filler skill, but good to have nonetheless. 2 points.

Metal Storm: Kill skill. Killing an enemy dramatically increases your fire rate and reduces recoil for a short period of time.
This goes well with the onslaught skill. Combined, they make it much easier to deal damage and to survive.

Battlefront: While your sabre turret is deployed, you deal increased damage.
This skill is not really necessary. In fact, I would reccomend moving the point I put into this skill into Metal Storm or Longbow Turret. 1 point in this skill.

Survivial

Healthy: Increases your maximum health.
A good skill to have as it increases your longevity in combat. 5 points.

Last Ditch Effort: Increases your gun damage and movement speed while in fight for your life.
Good to have even just 1 rank in, as it makes getting second winds much easier. 1 point.


Note: Avoid skills that modify the way shields work. Do not put any points in willing, preparation, or pressure.

Axton's skill tree naturally leans towards the use of assault rifles. I have, however, put no points into these skills because I wanted to leave your weapon options open. Because of the gun damage increases, you may want to use an assault rifle with a high fire rate.

Slot 1

I would recommend a pistol, SMG, or assault rifle; something to use in medium ranged combat that can also hold its own in short ranged combat.

Slot 2

An assault rifle or a sniper rifle. The assault rifle if you are using a pistol or SMG in slot 1 and do not want to focus on long ranged combat (my reccomendation), or a sniper rifle if you want to leave the option of long ranged combat open.

Slot 3

A rocket launcher. The perfect weapon for a second wind, and also useful for bosses and tougher enemies. The high damage output will be further boosted by your skills, making a rocket launcher a necessity.

Slot 4

A shotgun or high-power unique weapon. An explosive shotgun is especially useful because of its ability to hit multiple crit-points. If the weapon comes with the 'casual' prefix, it will gain projectiles, making it even more useful. I use a Casual Hulk (explosive shotgun manufactured by Torque).

Any of these slots are open to change, and some options can be better than others depending on your situation.

For a Class Mod, I would recommend the Legendary Soldier class mod or a high-level Pointman class mod. The Legendary Soldier class mod gives large all-around bonuses, and the Pointman class mod gives you increased health and health regen.

For a relic, I would recommend a Vitality relic, Tenacity relic or Proficiency relic. Legendary and unique relics all have their own properties, so I have no time to cover them all.

The Rough Rider is a rare drop from The Bulwark in Hunter's Grotto, exclusive to the Sir Hammerlock's Hunt DLC. Just keep farming The Bulwark until you get this shield. You can actually farm it in normal mode because the shield won't actually have stats to be boosted by picking this up in TVHM or UVHM/

The love thumper is a shield with a massive cooldown and large roid damage. Melee attacks will also deal bonus explosive damage. If you don't have the rough rider, this can be a melee-oriented alternative. However, I would strongly suggest not using this build if you do not have the rough rider.

This build does not work very well in UVHM, but can still work in TVHM. Assuming you use the right relics, this combo works great. Enemies do so much damage in UVHM, however, that not having a shield can prove fatal. That is why I would recommend that this build only be used in Normal mode or TVHM.

I have plenty of ideas for guides, but I would like to know what you, the readers, want. I am considering doing a Tier 3 Death Race tips guide (possibly along with a video), as well as considering a law and order melee zer0 build. If you want either of those or a completely different topic, leave a comment. Thanks.