Borderlands 2 offers players a wild and unpredictable journey through Pandora, where chaos reigns supreme. Among the diverse roster of Vault Hunters, none embodies chaos quite like Krieg, the Psycho. His unique Buzz Axe Rampage action skill transforms him into a whirlwind of destruction, capable of decimating enemies with brutal melee attacks. Many players fail to unlock the full potential of this devastating ability. Using this guide, you can make Krieg’s Rampage mode an unstoppable force.
Buzz axe rampage mechanics
Krieg’s action skill allows him to discard his weapons in favour of his iconic buzz axe, dramatically increasing his melee damage and allowing him to throw his axe at distant targets. The base cooldown is 120 seconds, which feels painfully long in the heat of battle. When adequately built and executed, Rampage becomes nearly perpetual, allowing Krieg to maintain his heightened state of destruction.
The key to maximizing Rampage lies in understanding its fundamental mechanics. Each melee kills during Rampage, which restores 5% of Krieg’s health, while thrown axe kills restore 12%. This health regeneration is crucial for maintaining survivability while engaging multiple enemies. The damage scaling changes based on whether you’re using melee attacks or throwing your axe, with melee offering higher base damage but throwing providing safety at a distance.
Rampage build essentials
The Krieg level 80 OP10 build focuses heavily on the Mania skill tree, with strategic investments in Bloodlust to maximize Rampage effectiveness. The cornerstone of any Rampage build is “Release the Beast,” a game-changing skill that transforms Krieg into a Badass Psycho when activated at 33% health or below. This transformation grants 100% damage reduction during the transformation animation, instantly refills health, and boosts massive melee damage. Most importantly, activating Release the Beast immediately resets your action skill cooldown when it ends, enabling chain Rampages. Other critical skills include:
- Feed the meat – Increases maximum health and shield recharge delay, providing the durability needed to survive between Rampages.
- Empty the rage – Provides up to 50% melee damage when shields are depleted, which synergizes perfectly with specific shields.
- Salt the wound – Gains stacks when taking damage while shields are down, increasing shotgun and melee damage.
- Silence the voices – Offers a massive 250% melee damage bonus at the cost of occasionally hitting yourself, a risk worth taking for the immense damage output.
- Bloodbath – This skill causes enemies killed by your melee attacks to explode from the Bloodlust tree, dealing massive splash damage to nearby foes.
Optimal equipment selection
Equipment selection dramatically impacts Rampage effectiveness. The ideal shield is the Rough Rider, which offers damage reduction and health bonuses while technically constantly being depleted, activating Krieg’s empty-shield skills permanently.
- The Legendary Sickle substantially bonuses melee damage skills for class mods. Alternatively, the Legendary Psycho mod offers a more balanced approach with bonuses across all three skill trees.
- In the relic slot, a Blood of the Ancients with health and cooldown rate bonuses helps maintain survivability. It reduces downtime between Rampages if you miss a Release the Beast activation.
Execution strategies for maximum damage
The perfect execution of Rampage requires strategic timing and target prioritization. The ideal approach follows this pattern:
- Allow your health to drop just below 33%
- Activate Rampage to trigger Release the Beast
- Target weaker enemies first to build momentum and maintain health through kills
- Save stronger enemies for last when you have full health
- As Rampage ends, find ways to lower your health again safely
- Repeat for near-infinite Rampage chains
When facing raid bosses or limited enemies, consider using self-damage from Silence the Voices or environmental hazards to lower your health for the next Release the Beast activation. Aim for critical hit locations for thrown axe strategies, which deal substantially more damage. Against shielded enemies, melee attacks are typically more effective, while armoured enemies take increased damage from thrown axes.
