It’s been hinted at that the vault hunters aren’t exactly playing with a full deck, but with the introduction of the Psycho class, there’s no questioning that this one is totally insane in the membrane. Krieg is a towering psychotic that has recently escaped from an underground facility and he has multiple personalities that will cause him to babble incoherently and occasionally speak in a civilized voice that recalls how he was before the experimentation. He’s dangerously unpredictable, which makes him the perfect choice to take down the dangers of Pandora.
Unlike the Mechromancer DLC, the Psycho DLC doesn’t come with any other extras which is a little disappointing. Still, the character class itself offers plenty of replay value on its own. Krieg is best likened to Brick the Berserker from the first game with a sizable amount of tweaks. Like him, Krieg’s skill allows him to go on a bloody rampage gaining health from any kills he makes. Instead of using fists, Krieg uses his buzz axe to slice apart enemies up close and at a distance. The axe deals lots of damage, making it perfect for rampaging.
Krieg’s three skill branches are Bloodlust, Mania, and Hellborn. Bloodlust is focused on Krieg’s abilities to wield guns instead of his buzz axe. For damage dealt, Krieg gets a stack of Bloodlust (similar to Gaige’s Anarchy) that gives stat bonuses while he still has stacks available. Anyone that prefers melee attacks should invest in the Mania tree since it focuses on adding melee damage as well as second wind augmentations.
Once whittled to fight-for-your-life, Krieg will take out a bundle of dynamite and be able to run around throwing them at enemies, culminating in detonating himself assuming he hasn’t already killed an enemy for a revive. This skill makes Krieg much harder for enemies to kill, and he can even instantly revive downed allies at the cost of becoming downed himself.
Hellborn lets Krieg embrace his inner pyromaniac. For his melee attack, he can now belch fire as well as throw a fiery buzz axe at enemies. This tree is all about taking and dealing fire damage. The more fire damage Krieg takes, the more he can dish out—so it’s actually a viable strategy to get set on fire and having an arsenal of fire-based weaponry can make Krieg a force to be reckoned with. The downside is this skill branch loses most of its punch when dealing with armored enemies or the dozens of Hyperion robots throughout the Borderlands 2 campaign.
Despite not having the extras the Mechromancer DLC came with, the Psycho class is incredibly fun to play with and it’s hard not to love Krieg’s nonsensical ravings. His skill branches in particular make him feel fresh and unique among the cast, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he quickly became a fan favorite because of that alone. There’s something to be said for clearing out bandit outposts as a jabbering maniac with an enormous axe screaming “NEVER STOP THE KILLING! NEVER!”
