Maya is the bona-fide psychic badass of Borderlands 2. Her Phaselock ability has a short cooldown, allowing the Siren to lock enemies in midair while dishing out damage on anything in her sights. Playing as Maya effectively requires players to successfully target and augment Phaselock for maximum effect, while making use of their own trigger finger to make the difference. Leveling her up, though, can at times be difficult. Here is our guide for how to build Maya in Borderlands 2 & the Handsome Collection and make the most of her unique skills and abilities.
How to Build Maya in Borderlands 2
The original Borderlands 2 capped players at level 50, whereas in The Handsome Collection (or after purchasing the correct DLC on PC or last-gen consoles) allows characters to be leveled all the way up to 72.
While this does allow you to make use of an absolute smorgasbord of different talents, it’s still a limiting factor. Yes with a maximum of 67 skill points available to you, it can be easier to make the right build. That doesn’t mean that enemies get any easier to kill.
If anything, they become more difficult as Borderlands 2 goes on, meaning you’ll have to efficiently create a build that fits your play-style.
That’s where this guide comes in, really. First, we’re going to offer you some guidance on building Maya into a beast while leveling in Borderlands 2, then offer you a selection of different builds to use at the maximum level available in Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. Without further ado, let’s get to leveling.
Leveling Build
How to Build Maya in Borderlands 2
Bringing Maya up from level 5 to the distant echelons of 72 can be a little difficult. After all, her Phaselock doesn’t have any obvious ability to deal damage other than just picking up whatever poor chap/skag/loader you desire.
That’s not to say it’s never got a use, as many of Maya’s talents exist to turn Phaselock into a powerful weapon of destruction rather than a way to fulfill your desires to do a Mass Effect Lift in real life.
Before you start thinking about tearing everything into a billion pieces with your brain, you’ve got to make sure you’ll actually stay alive.
This is the basis of any good leveling build and with Maya, things are no different. Most of Maya’s survival abilities are in the Harmony tree so that’s where you’ll want to focus those early leveling points.
The key to properly using the Harmony tree in the early stages is to ensure that whatever you Phaselock, you kill. Sweet Release gifts you a bunch of health when something dies in a Phaselock, and Wreck increases your damaging capabilities when a Phaselock is in effect.
Later on, you’ll be able to get even more health from each enemy you ‘lock in Borderlands 2.
After these two you’ll be looking at Elated. Thanks to the skill’s bonus of granting you increased health regeneration while an enemy is Phaselocked, you’ll want to change your strategy for using Phaselock.
Rather than picking up your enemy and turning them into a health pinata instantly, it’s key to lift them and wait until the very last second before dishing out death.
Bleeding enemies this way for health is a big help in keeping Maya alive. The rest of the skills listed in the above build are sort of obvious.
That being said, you should never underestimate the power of Scorn at early levels. At 31, your opponents will be getting stronger and your gaze will be looking towards more difficult gameplay modes.
Slag damage in Borderlands 2 is very important. Scorn allows you to launch a ball of Slag across the battlefield, making your opponents much more susceptible to damage and saving you a whole load of effort in killing them.
By the time you’ve finished off that above build, it’s likely time to start looking at more high leveled gameplay. So let’s look at a solo build and co-op build for prospective Vault Hunters.
Solo Build
How to Build Maya in Borderlands 2
Playing Maya as a solo character all the way up to level 72 is a fantastic and fun way to play Borderlands 2. That Phaselock and the huge variety of explosive attacks makes you feel like you’re walking through a circus of fireworks, explosions, and dead stuff.
It’s no Cirque du Soleil but this is the closest you’re gonna get on Pandora. This build‘s basis revolves completely around the leveling talents we posted before, boosting Maya’s ability to dish out the pain while keeping herself out of a shallow grave.
The way to do this is by taking a leap as far out of the Harmony tree as possible and straight into the explosive embrace of Cataclysm. At every turn this tree is like taking a bottle of steroids before a 4 hour workout session. Starting simple with Foresight, Helios, and Cloud Kill is a good way to go because they’ll vastly increase your Phaselock’s power while allowing you to fire off more bullets quickly.
Now you’re left with a choice though; you can take a hop into the Motion tree and work towards Converge or stick in Cataclysm. They’ll both work out in your favor but regardless of which you choose, you’ve got to get Converge at some point just for the improved Area of Effect damage on offer.
Following the patch to Cataclysm is lined with more wonderful killing power. Reaper and Blight Phoenix are incredibly helpful when it comes to taking down masses of opponents with Ruin just being unrestricted awesome.
This vast amount of killing power accompanies Life Tap beautifully. Gaining 6% life steal (the ability to gain health back from damage dealt) after each kill when you’ve got this much explosive power up your sleeves in Borderlands 2 turns Maya into an invincible death machine.
This build can also work in multiplayer vault hunting, but there’s just as much scope for a new build which turns Maya into one of the best cooperative gameplay partners this side of a nuclear missile strapped to a midget.
Co-op Build
How to Build Maya in Borderlands 2
Taking Maya into a cooperative game doesn’t mean you’re the walking bringer of death you used to be. Well you still are, just with some more skills that will help your buddies kill with the same ruthless efficiency you do.
Maya’s skill set is also pretty unique in that she can throw out a load of actions that’ll actually help to keep her partners alive. If you’re playing as Maya cooperatively, then do yourself and your colleagues a favor by making use of these beneficial boons.
In the Harmony tree, Restoration and Res become incredibly useful for cooperative gameplay in Borderlands 2. Restoration allows you to throw damage towards your buddies but instead of hurting them, you’ll bring the heals. Res allows Phaselock to be used in dire circumstances to bring a comrade out of Fight For Your Life.
Phaselock will still be incredibly important while playing with Maya alongside others so make sure to spend plenty of time in the Motion tree. As you’ll see above, quite a lot of effort is necessary there.
By speccing the way we’ve shown above in the Motion tree, your Phaselock will last longer, cool down quicker, and pull enemies closer in the pursuit of keeping your friends alive and enemies dead.
Since you’re playing with other people, taking Sub-Sequence is incredibly important. When your Phaselocked fun-buddy dies, Phaselock will find its way to a new target and keep the free health flowing through the team.
Other than that, just take a long run down the Cataclysm tree to give you more opportunity to throw damage onto anything in sight while keeping everyone close to you alive.
Don’t forget that these builds aren’t set in stone. Your build may suit you better. If you’ve got one you use, share it with us in the comments below.
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