I only played the siren in the first. Can't wait for this game.

Can I still shoot dudes to heal them?

@EpicSteve: Yes. It seems that now the Siren Maya has this ability.

I'm going to wait until the Mechromancer is out then play as her.

I'm probably going to end up being Axton since I went Roland the first time around and he seems to be like him with some key differences (nobody wanted Roland at all who I played with and not to be bragadocious he turned out the most useful to my group. When I even suggested maybe changing my class mod to one that doesn't refil ammo but lets me do more damage, all I got was a symphony of "NO!") But I'm thinking Maya since she like Roland from the first game seems to be the support role this time around and that is my preferred class/load-out in most games. The more I can help my team and keep them alive is where I like to be. Still, I'll vote for Axton, that's where I'll most likely end up with.

I think all of the classes are far more enticing to try right away than in the first game. However, Roland was my first and "main" character in BL1, so I'll make it a tradition and choose Axton the first go around. Having two massive turrets that I can throw anywhere sounds too awesome to pass up right away.

I'm doing Siren in Borderlands 1 right now. Fun class. Suits my playstyle well enough.

Probably switch to something different for 2. Zer0 looks like my kind of stupid. :D

I played Siren in Borderlands 1 and loved it, but I think I'm going to go with Zero to start for this one. I like cutting people up with a bloody large Katana.

@Tennmuerti said:

No way to tell untill I take a look at their actual ability trees.

Sorry for quoting your 6 months old post, but I really want an online way to build skill trees. Come on Gearbox, it's 2 weeks until the game is out, and I want to plan! :(

@Cincaid said:

@Tennmuerti said:

No way to tell untill I take a look at their actual ability trees.

Sorry for quoting your 6 months old post, but I really want an online way to build skill trees. Come on Gearbox, it's 2 weeks until the game is out, and I want to plan! :(

Holy shit it IS only 2 weeks until release!

Axton, I played a lot of Borderland's solo and that class suited me the most, was also helpful in groups to. Sounds like there are a lot more customisability with the turret this time round to which I appreciate.

I'll probably go Gunzerker, then Axton, then a Zero and probably a Maya. I went Soldier to 50 and then a siren to 69 in the first game with beserker/mordecai here and there. Damn if I'm not going to get every BL2 class to 50 though. Badass ranks really going to help on my resolve for that.

Was thinking Maya at first but i changed my mind and am going to go Salvador. Though this time around they seem to have made the classes all worth playing through with so i get the feeling i will check them all out and if the games good enough play through with everyone.

Can't decide between Zero and Salvador.

Seems like I'm in the least popular camp with Salvador. Borderlands (2) is a game about guns, so the class who can dual-wield and is named the Gunzerker only seems appropriate.

I probably will go with commando. Because I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

I really want to play the Mechromancer, but I guess I'll start off with Axton.  If I knew I would be playing with other people consistently, then I'd role a team-oriented Siren, but I'll probably be stuck playing solo most of the time.  A deployable turret will help keep me company.

After reading Gameinformers review, I think i am going to start with zer0. Sounds like a lot of fun to play around with. Also have there been any discussions about playing some Coop with other GB users, would be awesome ! :)

I'm looking forward to playing Maya. All of my friends that I'll be playing with are Call of Duty bros, so having me be there as a healer seems like both a fun and sensible idea! Plus, the phaselock looks fucking neat!

The Gunzerker because in a game that is primarily about guns I want the class that is all about guns and nothing else

Zero the Assassin.

Zero cause I love scoring them critical hits. Just look at that sniping skill tree. Overpowered. Actually the bloodshed tree seems overpowered as well...

Honestly, the classes in this game don't seem to matter at all. It's just about shooting your big guns at mutants and critters. That's it.

@Klei said:

Honestly, the classes in this game don't seem to matter at all. It's just about shooting your big guns at mutants and critters. That's it.

They all play fairly differently i would say, yes it all comes down to shooting things but the abilities each class gets do make a huge difference gameplay wise.

Honestly, the classes in this game don't seem to matter at all. It's just about shooting your big guns at mutants and critters. That's it.

@GunstarRed said:

@Tennmuerti: I played so much of that game it's hard to remember what my first playthrough felt like. The bird was completely useless by the time I'd gotten round to Knoxx and the Claptrap DLC.

Bloodwing was for me the only acceptable skill. Impossible to hide from, gave health, gave a fuckton of items and attacked a lot of people. My Mordechai gets 3-5 items from every enemy just by dodging bullets. I also specced him (and used character bonus) to get the action skill about every 6 seconds. The turret did have it's uses, but it was too easy to just hide away from. the two others were uninteresting.

As for Borderlands 2, I'm thinking Zero but I'not to fond of all those critical hit-bonuses. Was some cool melee-bonuses, but you know... Gazillion weapons, I don't want to use the same old weapon from start to finish.

@joshthebear said:

Soldier all the way. Played that way in 1 and plan to again in 2.

Wow, I feel hip choosing Salvador and seeing that most people wouldn't like him. While I can see a skill relying on guns is sort of strange, I'd love to use two shotguns at once, or two rocket launchers - and I'm confident about my aim despite consistently screwing up.

Well, for me it's between him and Maya, since I do like playing a support class.

The same class I play in real life: Zero class.

Zer0. He's the sniper class, which is all I need to know.

I'm probably going with Axton, but I'm starting to consider Zar0...maybe...

Maya for sure. Played a Siren in BL and loved it. I normally play support classes (played a priest for most of WoW) so the fact that Maya has a pretty decent support tree while still being able to lay out some heavy damage is perfect.

I was going to play as the Siren until I realized she doesn't have the same skills as last time. Now I guess it's the assassin dude but he looks so dang stupid. :(

I only played as the soldier/turret model in Borderlands, but I think this time around I'm gonna give Maya and her phaselock skill a try. Seems really neat!

Roland was my favorite character from Borderlands 1 and Axton is based Roland except with a better turret and cooler skills. So yeah... Axton. As a secondary I will probably either play Maya or maybe the Mechromancer Gaige. Surprised Salvador isn't a lot more popular in this poll, he gets most of the promotional images/adverts it seems like and everyone I know either wants to play him as a main or a secondary.

@Karkarov: I'm gonna be playing Gunzerker first. :D

He is a large crass violent berserker dwarf with guns who can be made to have blond mohawk and a beard.

It's like Gearbox reached into my dreams and made them real.

@Tennmuerti: I just don't trust them stunty folk! They have those beady little eyes and those short stubby legs! Seriously though Salvador does have the most personality of all the characters and it seems like he got the most design work. Zero just seems like a poor man's Snake Eyes from GI Joe, minus the cool dog/wolf.

I'm going with Zer0 for my first playthrough, which will mostly be solo. If I do a co-op playthrough, I'll take Axton.

@Karkarov: Dude what?!? NAH. Zer0 is my second favourite character wise after Salvador, he is (most likely) a cyborg/robot ninja with hologram smiley's for facial expressions, a digital constructing katana and he talks in haiku! (also his face expression changes to display a sweet 0 when one shotting enemies from Deception). It's a sort of juvenile type of badassery I can appreciate on a certain level, especially in Borderlands.

Axton and Maya have so far shown the least of their personality if anything. (from all the pre release footage anyway)

Gameplay wise Zer0 for me just seems to have kinda bland skill trees tho. Unlike Axton and Maya with dozens of interesting combos and cross tree synergy.

@Tennmuerti: I've read some crazy theories about Zer0, suggesting that "he" is actually eridian. It's been noted that he apparently has 3 fingers, unlike the other characters, and looks quite "elongated".

It's just speculation, but I hid it behind spoilers anyway.

I like his Bloodshed tree, basically, building around "Many must fall"... could turn out to be quite crazy. Or terrible! (I'm a bit concerned about taking the guns out of the gungame, but I have to try it out now!)

@Mnemoidian: Yeah i'm not saying any of his trees are bad as such, they are all allright, but they are just super well defined making them serve a specific purpose that does not mesh so well with each other and does not have as much cross tree synergy as the other classes (there is some just not as much). Even made a couple of builds on the build thread: http://www.giantbomb.com/borderlands-2/61-36055/offical-skill-tree-builder/35-559784/#49 myself, including one centered on Many Must Fall.

There is little "skill" to theory crafting with his skill trees. But on the other hand all his playstyles seem to require more ingame skill.

Know what i'm saying ~.^ ?

Zer0. Seems like a different way to play.

@Mnemoidian: @Tennmuerti:

Heard the same rumor about Zero, we will find out sooner or later since they apparently put more focus on the characters you actually play this time. At least that's what the quick look EX implied. I still think Zero would be more useful as a pure sniper though and he does have one tree 100% dedicated to it. Tenmuerti is definitely right about the personality though, they have pretty much glossed over Axton and Maya completely. I suppose they are banking on their popularity due to having bad ass skill trees and the characters they derive from being the two most popular in the previous game.

MECHROMANCER!!

@Tennmuerti: @Karkarov: Ah, right - I'd missed that thread! ... though, I'm trying to avoid digging too deeply before it's out (which is difficult!), and as such haven't looked around THAT much the other trees. I'll have to look into that a bit more.

I'm about 90% certain that long-term(/endgame), a Sniper-Zer0 will be far more effective than one built around Many Must Fall - it's just the math of fighting bosses vs plowing through weaker enemies and likelyhood of getting yourself murdered by being in melee range of big baddies (I'm pretty good at getting myself killed as is)... If anything, I'm a bit concerned about the "endgame-viability", but... eh, with the badass ranks, I'm hoping it'll not be as much of a chore to play another class, in that case :)

I see what you mean about Maya/Axton having had less visibility, but it's likely just a case of the Cyber Ninja Assassin and Dual-Wielding Rocketlauncher dude being easier to market :)

If anything, the closer we get to release, the more excited I get about playing allclasses.

Played Siren in BL1 and got sick of how pointless her Phasewalk ability was. Will definately pick the Commando this time!

@FoxMulder: Phasewalk was the single most OP class ability in Borderlands 1. It's one of the main reasons Siren's were the first class to (legit) solo Crawmerax for quite some time.

And Maya's Phaselock is a way different ability too :)

@FoxMulder: I am finding Phasewalk to be highly useful in a lot of different applications (I'm playing Borderlands for the first time just now). Maybe this is a matter of playstyle? Most important usage for me is instant escape and shield/health regen when I'm about to die.

This is the reason I think I'll try Zer0 in the sequel. His decoy ability looks to function in similar capacity to how I use phasewalk.

Its in my name and its in my blood zer0 all the way.

@HerbieBug: Careful tho you are not invulnerable when in Decepti0n, unlike Phasewalk; so stray bullets, aoe damage and other effects can still potentially harm you (even if you aren't being directly shot at). On the other hand Decepti0n has much more offensive and combo potential.