Borderlands 2 guide: Ten essential tips for dominating Pandora

By Iain Wilson for CVG UK

If you've read our Borderlands 2 review, you'll already know that the world of Pandora is stuffed with loot and has a wealth of character and weapon customisation at your disposal. Whether you're a seasoned Vault Hunter or a newcomer to the series, we have lots of useful information for you in our 10 essential Borderlands 2 tips for building an unbeatable character with riches beyond your wildest dreams...

HOW TO... CHOOSE THE RIGHT CHARACTER CLASS

At the start of the game you have a choice between four different character classes, each with their own unique attributes. You should pick the character that best reflects your play style from the following:

• Axton - Commando: Deploys a Sabre Turret that automatically targets enemies and provides covering fire. Can lob grenades while in Fight For Your Life mode for a better chance of survival.
• Zer0 - Assassin: Increased critical hit damage means sniping is much more effective. Can also create a hologram to distract enemies while becoming temporarily invisible, allowing you to move to a better position for attack.
• Salvador - Gunserker: While in Gunserking mode any unequipped weapons are automatically reloaded, so by quickly switching between guns you can keep a steady stream of fire going in close combat.
• Maya - Siren: Uses Phaselock to stop enemies from fighting back for a short time, and is a great support character in co-op by providing healing boosts to the other players.

A fifth character class, the Mecromancer, will be available to download in October for those who pre-ordered the game, though details of this character's abilities have not yet been released.

Each character has three different upgrade paths on their skill trees, and to unlock the best powers you should focus all your skill points on one particular path. If you feel that you've made a mistake with your upgrades or want to try out a different character setup, you can reset your skill points for a small fee by visiting a Quick-Change Station.

HOW TO... EARN MAXIMUM XP

The fastest way to earn XP is by completing missions, so make sure you pick up as many of them as possible. Regularly check Bounty Boards for new jobs and speak to every NPC when you arrive in a new area, as there are many optional missions to take on in addition to the main story.

You can only track one mission at a time on your map, however you can manage all of them via your Mission Log screen. Here they can be sorted by region, status, difficulty and story/optional, and you can even ignore any missions you are no longer interested in by clicking the right stick. Some missions will have bonus objectives in addition to the main requirements, providing extra XP and rewards if completed.

The best way to keep on top of missions is to sort them by region, so when you reach an area you can quickly see which tasks are based there. If multiple missions are set in the same place you can clear them all in one go, saving time travelling to and from there and increasing your XP more quickly in the process.

HOW TO... MAKE MONEY FAST

Borderlands 2 is all about the loot, and grabbing as much of it as possible is your key to making money fast. Every container with glowing green markings can be raided, to yield cash, ammo and of course guns. Lots of lovely guns.

Grab every weapon that you see as they can all be sold for a tidy profit, and if your inventory gets full then have a look through and ditch the least valuable items to make room. Backpack upgrades become available through the Black Market and should be invested in as soon as possible as each one adds an additional three slots to your inventory.

To make managing your inventory easier you can click the left stick while highlighting an item to mark it as Trash or Favourite, so you don't have to compare weapons more than once. This also has the added bonus that when you visit a vending machine or trader to offload your unwanted items, you can sell every item you've marked as Trash with a single click of the left stick, though this only works when the Buyback or Purchase window is selected.