Borderlands 2 Class Breakdown: Maya the Siren

Borderlands 2 is a unique experience, and the class you pick at the beginning of the game is a big part of that. Each class suits a different play style and picking the right one is key for your domination of Pandora. Today, I cover the Siren class; the second class that I enjoy the most.

The Siren class is the most unique in the game. While the Assassin class is primarily the melee/sniping character, the Siren relies on her medic/magic abilities. Maya’s main ability is called the Phaselock, which levitates enemies up in the air in a glowing purple ball rendering them helpless. The best strategy with the Phaselock is to target the strongest enemy remaining and kill the surrounding ones, or to have your team focus fire on one tough enemy while they cant fight back. The strategy will certainly vary depending on if you’re playing solo or co-op.

Speaking of solo or co-op, there are two specific builds that I recommend depending on whether you trek Pandora by yourself or with a partner (or three.) While playing co-op, I would start spending skill points more on the medic side, better known as the Harmony skill tree. Start off with Sweet Release (when you Phaselock an enemy, you and your partners get extra health) and Restoration (which heals you and your teammates when you shoot them.) From there, Recompense (your enemy has a chance to take the same amount of damage they dealt to you) would be a solid choice, even if it’s not guaranteed to redirect damage. The last two hugely important Medic skills are called Elated (gives you and your teammates health when an enemy is Phaselocked) and Res (which lets you instantly revive your teammate by using Phaselock on them. These are mostly beneficial when used with a partner as Restoration, and Res would be wastes of skill points if you were by yourself.

Single player-wise, the Cataclysm tree is where I started, while Sweet Release, Recompense, and Elated are all great options, along with other skills that affect your weapon and damage ability. Flicker (gives you a higher percentage to cause elemental damage with your guns) is a good start if you’re making the journey alone, as elemental weapons can add additional damage. Helios (Phaselocking an enemy causes a fiery explosion) is another awesome ability that can hurt multiple enemies in a crowd. This not only deals a nice bit of damage, but also has a chance to set enemies on fire and also locks one enemy down. Chain Reaction (Phaselocked enemies can have bullets ricochet off and hit nearby enemies) is another perfect attack that can deal damage to a lot of enemies at once. It also ensures that you get the most out of every bullet.

The Motion skill tree is also useful in both single player and co-op. Make sure you grab Ward (increases shield capacity and shield recharge delay) since it is valuable to have the most shield and fastest shield regeneration you can get. Accelerate (increases damage and bullet speed with guns,) Suspension (increases the duration of Phaselock,) and Kinetic Reflection (after you kill an enemy, you have a chance to deflect oncoming bullets) are all excellent additions to the Siren that make her very powerful.

Maya’s Phaselock ability is the star of the show and is a blast to use. Being able to focus a team’s gunfire on one enemy or the ability to suspend an enemy that’s beating you down is a nifty trick, especially if you used a healing skill while they can’t fight back. If you aren’t fond of “healer” characters, Maya probably isn’t for you. She does, however, offer a lot of cool offensive abilities that makes up some for the healing abilities. Make sure you give the Siren class a play through, as she is a lot of fun to use.

This is part two of a four part series. The Assassin can be found here, the Gunzerker will be featured next followed by the Commando.

What do you think of Maya the Siren? Was she your character of choice? Did you play as a medic or a Siren offensive force? Let me know in the comments below

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