BORDERLANDS 2 SALVADOR BUILD
LEVEL 1 TO 80 OP10
The Ultimate BUILD Guide
This Borderlands 2 Salvador build guide walks you through Salvador’s full progression, from level 1 to level 80 OP10. Each step is explained across Normal Vault Hunter Mode (NVHM), True Vault Hunter Mode (TVHM) and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM) with detailed skill choices, recommended gear and a straightforward progression route.
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Normal Vault Hunter Mode – Level 1 to 30
Normal Vault Hunter Mode (NVHM) is your first playthrough, in total there are 3: Normal, True and Ultimate. For the next 2 playthroughs (True and Ultimate) you restart the main campaign but with increased difficulty, but don’t worry, your gear also gets better. To note, you keep your gear and skills when restarting a new playthrough.
Recommended Skills
Level 5-10: 5 Points on Inconceivable.
Depending on how low your health and shields are, up to 50% chance of not consuming ammo.
Level 11-15: 5 Points on Last Longer.
+15 seconds to Gunzerking Action Skill.
Level 16: 1 Point on Steady as She Goes.
Improves general accuracy while Gunzerking.
Level 17-20: 4 Points on All in the Reflexe.
+20% reload speed and +16% melee damage.
Level 21: 1 Point on Double Your Fun.
While Gunzerking, you throw 2 grenades for the cost of one.
Level 22-25: 4 Points on Yippie Ki Yay.
Increases the duration of Gunzerking each time an enemy is killed during Gunzerking.
Level 26-30: 5 Points on Get Some.
Reduces the Gunzerking cooldown each time you shoot at enemies (3 seconds cooldown).
Level 31: 1 Point on Keep Firing.
Increase Fire Rate and Reload Speed the longer you press down the trigger.
Progression route
Goal: In Normal Vault hunter Mode, I suggest getting over the main story and keeping the side-missions and DLCs for the next playthroughs, so you don’t get over-leveled too much for TVHM and also because gear becomes quickly outdated.
Level 1 to 10: Opening Zones
- Farm Boom Bewm (Southern Shelf) a few times if you want a decent early Torgue weapon, but don’t over-farm: you’ll out-level it quickly.
- Check vending machines regularly for a decent shotgun or pistol (Jakobs pistols/shotguns).
Level 11 to 20: Sanctuary & Beyond
- Keep focusing on main quests
- If you want early sustain, you can obtain Rubi from the quest “Rakkaholics Anonymous” in The Dust (turn in to Moxxi), but it’s not mandatory for this build.
Level 21 to 30: End of Normal Mode
- Follow the main story until you get to Arid Nexus – Badlands. There, do the side quest “Uncle Teddy”. If you give the blueprints to Una Baha, you get the Lady Fist as a reward.
- Finish the NVHM main story around level 30–32.
Best gears
Farming specific gear in NVHM is not suggested, as gear quickly becomes under-leveled and needs to be replaced at every 4-5 level. I recommend checking vending machines and looting for the following gear before starting True Vault Hunter Mode:
Slot 1: Lady Fist
Slot 2: Any good pistol/shotgun
Shield: Prioritize capacity and recharge
Grenade: Any basic Transfusion or MIRV, for healing and crowd control
MOD: Look for cooldown, mag size or gun damage
Relic: Any vitality/cooldown relic
Tips for NVHM
- Save Golden Keys for the following playthroughs.
- Do not forget to use Eridiums to increase your inventory.
- Don’t waste time farming specific legendaries in NVHM; they’ll be out-leveled quickly
- Stock up on ammo and do one last check of vending machines for better gear before starting True Vault Hunter Mode.
True Vault Hunter Mode – Level 31 to 50
True Vault Hunter Mode (TVHM) is your second playthrough, here it becomes tougher, and you’ll want to start optimizing your build: matching elements to enemy weaknesses (fire=flesh, corrosive=armor, shock=shields) and aiming for critical hits is important.
Recommended Skills
Level 32-36: 5 Points on Lock and Loaded.
+25% Fire Rate speed when reloading your weapons.
Level 37-41: 5 Points on I’m Your Huckleberry.
+15% damage with pistols.
Level 42-46: 5 Point on Money Shot.
Increases the damage of the last bullet from any gun, upto +400% damage.
Level 47-51: 5 Points on Lay Waste.
Killing an enemie increases Fire Rate and Critical Damage.
Progression route
Goal: Try to finish TVHM around level 50, avoid over-leveling before UVHM. Because in TVHM items scale up to maximum level 50, and in UVHM enemies scale to your level, meaning if you finish TVHM at level 55, you’ll only have level 50 gears against enemies (in UVHM) that are level 55. But DLCs will scale to your level even after level 50, so it’s best to do the DLCs after you finish the main story so you have good level gear for your last playthrough: UVHM.
Level 30 to 32: Follow the main story to Liar’s Berg
- At Liar’s Berg you’ll have access to Fast Travel and you can now do your first DLCs.
Level 32 to 36: Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage DLC
- I suggest doing Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage (Select Badass Crater of Badassitude in Fast Travel), farm Torgue Tokens for your most important gear of this build: Harold pistol.
Level 36 to 46: Complete main story
- Push main story to finish True Vault Hunter Mode near level 46.
Level 46 to 50: Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep DLC
- Select Unassuming Docs via a Fast Travel Station and progress until the side quest “The Beard Makes the Man” in Mines of Avarice: from this mission you get the Grog Nozzle as a quest weapon. Important: You keep the Grog by never turning in the quest, in other words, do not complete this quest in order to keep this pistol.
- While in Tina’s DLC, farm Badass Sorcerers and other enemies for a Chaotic Good Monk class mod. This COM comes from Dragon Keep chests/enemies.
Level 50: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt DLC
- Select Hunter’s Grotto via a Fast Travel Station and progress until you get the side quest to fight The Bulwark in Hunter’s Grotto. The Rough Rider is a rare drop from Bulwark.
Level 50: Getting ready for UVHM
- Farm Savage Lee in Three Horns Divide or use Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage vendors to obtain the Unkempt Harold. The Double Penetrating prefix (DPUH) is ideal, but any Harold is already strong.
- In Lynchwood, proceed through the mission chain until “Showdown”, then kill the Sheriff of Lynchwood. She can drop the Sheriff’s Badge relic. (You can farm her by reloading the area, she respawns after the quest is done.)
- For grenades, farm Ultimate Badass Varkids or general legendary sources for Quasar, a shock singularity grenade that groups enemies and strips shields.
- Do the side quest “Uncle Teddy” to get the Lady Fist as a reward.
Best gears
As enemies are now tougher, it’s important to start farming for specific gear, such as Harold and obtaining the Grog. These two weapons are the core of this powerful build and are vital to have before starting your last playthrough: Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM)
Slot 1: Harold
Slot 2: Grog Nozzle
Slot 4: Lady Fist (for Bossing)
Shield: Rough Rider
Grenade: Quasar
MOD: Chaotic Good Monk
Relic: Sheriff’s Badge
While Gunzerking, have the Grog in you off-hand so your Harold shots will fully heal you as long as you’re hitting something. Against bosses I suggest you to swap the Grog with the Lady Fist, it multiplies your crit damage enormously!
Tips for TVHM
- Use Golden Keys if your gears are under-leveled, as gears from Golden Keys always scale to your level.
- Do not forget to use Eridiums to increase your inventory, especially ammo as Salvador is a high ammo consumer.
- Once you finish the main story on TVHM, every side-quest (rewards) and mobs will scale to level 50.
- Stock up on ammo before starting Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode – Level 50 to 80 OP10
Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode (UVHM) is your final playthrough, for some players the game really starts here. The key part is starting UVHM at level 50 (maximum 52).
Enemies will now continuously scale to your level, so it’s important to have an optimized build. Here you can do the main story, DLCs and side-quests whenever you want, and if needed, you can reset UVHM to redo quests at a higher level.
Recommended Skills
Progression route
Goal: Your goal is to complete the main story, do the DLC’s and complete the side-quests (in whatever order you want), by doing all of this, it should take you to level 80, where you can start Over-Power levels. You can also do some power leveling, to reach higher levels faster.
Level 50 to 80: Complete the game
- Get to level 80 either by completing the main story, side quests and DLC’s or by doing some power leveling.
- Refarm your gear as soon as they feel under leveled (see TVHM section for farms).
Level 80 to 80 OP10: Digistruct Peak
- Clear Digistruct Peak to unlock OP ranks (OP1→OP10). You should be able to get upto OP3 quite easily. After OP3 you’ll need to refresh your gear at every OP level.
Best gears
As enemies scale to your level, it’s important to refresh your gear at every few levels. It’s also a good time to farm gear with the right spare parts:
Slot 1: Double Penetrating Unkempt Harold
Slot 2: Grog Nozzle
Slot 4: Win-Win Lady Fist
Shield: Rough Rider
Grenade: Quasar
MOD: Chaotic Good Monk
Relic: Sheriff’s Badge
While Gunzerking, have the Grog in you off-hand so your Harold shots will fully heal you as long as you’re hitting something. Against bosses I suggest you to swap the Grog with the Lady Fist, it multiplies your crit damage enormously!
Tips for UVHM
- Save fast travel points near boss farms for quicker re-farming.
- Reach higher levels quickly with these power leveling methods.
- Glitched quest for unlimited money.
- Do not forget to use Eridiums to increase your inventory, especially ammo as Salvador is a high ammo consumer.
MORE SALVADOR BUILDS
PISTOL MONGER
Level 50
Pistols • Good damage
PLAYSTYLE
The Pistol Monger build centers around pistol guns. By selecting specific skills and gear, you’ll be impressed by Salvador’s damage with pistols. This build also improves our character’s general stats, such as higher damage, faster fire rate, Gunzerking lasts longer and has a shorter cooldown period.
With The Pistol Monger build, when entering a fight, quickly activate Gunzerking to have a faster fire rate and take enemies down. Holding a pistol gun in each hand will make it very easy to clear large groups of enemies. However, I recommend focusing on one target at a time to benefit from the kill skills.
SOLO
The Pistol Monger build is great for Solo; you’ll be able to complete most of the game’s content. For increased survivability, Salvador will be able to Gunzerk while in FFYL, which will make it much easier to come back to life.
COOP
The Gunzerker class is about diving into the action and dealing maximum damage. But there’s a downside: Salvador lacks good Health and Shield Regeneration skills. While you wait for Gunzerking to cool down, Salvador will be vulnerable and need his team’s support.
GEARS
Slot 1: Unkempt Harold
Slot 2: Rubi – Slag
Slot 3: Lady Fist
Slot 4: Badaboom
Shield: The Sham
Grenade: Lobbed Singularity
MOD: Renegade Class Mod – Suave
Relic: Sheriff’s Badge
SKILLS
Here are the skills you’ll need for this build to work. First, I’m You Huckleberry increases pistole damage.
Then, you’ll need these action skills: Auto-Loader, Yippie Ki Yay and Get Some. These kill skills will reload your weapons, increase Gunzerking duration, and reduce its cooldown.
To finish, to improve Salvador’s damage and fire rate, get Lock and Loaded, Divergent Likeness and Keep Firing.
DEPUTY SAL
Level 72 OP8
Shotguns • OP damage
PLAYSTYLE
The Deputy Sal is a famous Salvador build, and that’s because it’s insanely strong. The secret of this build? Money Shot and Shotguns. When Gunzerking, Money Shot only looks at your right-hand gun’s magazine size to calculate the damage bonus, which will apply to both guns. With the right gear and skill, Salvador can get the full Money Shot every two shots.
To play this build, it’s important to make sure when Gunzerking to have a gun with a magazine size over 12 (Grog Nozzle or Lady Fist) in the right hand and a gun with a small magazine size (shotguns) in the left hand. In this way, the full damage bonus from Money Shot also applies to your left hand, and because shotguns have very small magazine sizes, you often get the Money Shot boost.
SOLO
In solo mode, this incredible build allows you to easily walkthrough the game’s content. Use Gunzerking when you need to clear large groups of ennemies or need to regain health.
COOP
With Deputy Sal build in coop mode, Salvador will definitely have the role of the damage dealer. However, Salvador lacks of health and shield regeneration skills, making him vulnerable when Gunzerking is cooling down.
GEARS
Slot 1: Grog Nozzle
Slot 2: Lady Fist
Slot 3: Orphan Maker
Slot 4: Twister
Grenade: Storm Front
Shield: Neogenator
MOD: Monk
Relic: Deputy’s Badge
SKILLS
For this build to work, you’ll need Money Shot. Combined with No Kill Like Overkill, all the excess damage from Money Shot will be transferred at the next ennemy you fire at.
To improve survivability, Down Not Out allows you to Gunzerking while FFYL.
MELEE BRICK
Level 72 OP8
Melee • Fast • Fun
PLAYSTYLE
You may be surprised to see a melee build, but I’m telling you this is a powerful and fun build to play with. We’ll be playing with specific gears and investing in skills with only one goal: boost Salvador’s melee damage. Thanks to Jefe’s calculations, the base melee damage against an OP8 enemy is 158K, with this build and on a slagged enemy Salvador will be dealing around 133,469K, yes that’s impressive, that’s + 84474%! For this build to work, you’ll need to have equipped 2 Rapiers as they boost melee damage.
When playing this build, you’ll want to maximize Salvador’s melee damage before engaging in close combat. First, activate Gunzerking and have a Rapier in both hands. Second, Salvador’s shield must be empty to benefit from the Love Thumper’s damage boost. I suggest using a Chain Lightning grenade to strip your shield. Then unleash your melee attacks on enemies, and on stronger enemies, use Fistful of Hurt to take them down.
SOLO
This Melee build is really fun in solo, it’s a different playstyle compared to other builds which can be a nice change for Salvador lovers. Another advantage of this build is speed, when Gunzerking Salvador’s speed is increased, allowing him to quickly reach enemies across the map.
COOP
In coop mode, Salvador will be jumping in the heart of the action, which will put him at high risk. For this build to work in coop, Salvador will need to be able to rely on his teammates to support him.
GEARS
Slot 1: Rapier
Slot 2: Rapier – Slag
Slot 3: Grog Nozzle
Slot 4: Norfleet
Shield: Love Thumper
Grenade: Chain Lightning
MOD: Legendary Berserker
Relic: Might of the Seraphs
SKILLS
To increase melee damage, invest in Keep it Piping Hot, All In The Reflexes and Fistful of Hurt.
By investing in Down Not Out, Hard To Kill and Ain’t Got Time To Bleed, it improves Salvador’s survivability, allowing him to Gunzerking in FFYL, health regeneration and increased maximum health.
DUUURPERNEL
Level 80 OP10
Pimpernel • Glitch • OP
PLAYSTYLE
The Duuurpernel build, what a strange name?! It relies on the Pimpernel glitch, combined with the damage of the Derp Duuurp rocket launcher. This build allows Salvador to take down invincible bosses in seconds.
To understand how it works, the Pimpernel bullets when in contact with an enemy or surface, spawns 5 child projectiles. These child projectiles take the damage of your main gun. This means, when Gunzerking, if Salvador has the Pimpernel in his left hand and the Derp Duuurp in his right hand, the child projectiles from Pimpernel will deal the same damage as the Derp Duuurp. On top of that, we add the Money Shot damage boost, but for it to work you need to have empty Rocket ammunition.
To play this build, it’s quite easy. Activate Gunzerking and make sure to have the Pimpernel in Salvador’s left hand and Derp Duuurp in his right hand (with empty ammunition). Then, shoot with the Pimpernel to see it’s insane damage.
SOLO
In solo mode, this build allows Salvador to complete the game with ease, even the Invincible bosses. If Salvador’s health is getting low, switch the Derp Duuurp with the Grog Nozzle and fire with the Pimpernel to get all his health back.
COOP
In coop mode, this is a great build for boss farming. That’s because they’ll last only a few seconds which makes it perfect for farming specific gears.
GEARS
Slot 1: Pimpernel
Slot 2: Derp Duuurp – Torgue Barrel, Torgue Grip and Bandit Exhaust
Slot 3: Grog Nozzle
Shield: Evolution
Grenade: Transfusion grenade
MOD: Monk – True Neutral
Relic: Elemental Relic – Explosive
SKILLS
For this build to work, you need Money Shot and Filled to the Brim. These two synergize very well together, because to benefit from Money Shots’ full damage boost, you need minimum 12 magazine size, which Filled to the Brim will help you get.
For more damage, get No Kill Like Overkill, allowing you to transfer the excess damage from one enemy to another.
Other Borderlands 2 Character Builds
If you enjoy experimenting with different characters, you may also want to try these other Borderlands 2 builds:
Maya Siren Build
Elemental damage and crowd control using Phaselock.
Axton Commando Build
A balanced soldier who relies on his powerful Sabre Turret to control the battlefield and deal sustained damage.
Zer0 Assassin Build
Stealth gameplay with devastating critical hits.
Gaige Mechromancer Build
Stack Anarchy for huge damage and fight alongside Deathtrap.
Krieg Psycho Build
High-risk melee combat with explosive damage potential.
