Meet The New Class Of Borderlands 2: The Gunzerker

While the vault hunters of the first Borderlands may not have featured much in the way of narration, it definitely mattered which of them you picked.

While the vault hunters of the first Borderlands may not have featured much in the way of narration, it definitely mattered which of them you picked. Each class came with a different play-style and skill tree, from the proficient sniper Mordecai to the heavy weaponry and brutal melee attacks of Brick. Borderlands 2 will place players in the shoes of four new characters, and Gearbox revealed one of them to us during our recent cover trip. Salvador belongs to the new Gunzerker class, and all signs point to him being a versatile and entertaining character selection. Read on to see what you can expect from this new addition to the franchise.

As you might surmise from the name, the Gunzerker differs from the Berserker in that he focuses his abilities more on shooting than melee attacks. Whereas Brick would toss the guns and go into a timed rage of brutal punches, Salvador’s timed ability grants him an additional firearm. Once you’re double-fisting two of Pandora’s varied weapons, each will be fired independently with the left and right triggers. “What inspired some of the original ideas behind him was The Punisher,” says art director Jeramy Cooke. “He was happy to dual-wield AKs and M16s and everything under the sun. He just had this whole ‘grit his teeth and blast the crap out of everything’ vibe”.

Any of the guns in Borderlands 2 can be dual-wielded during this time, meaning Salvador can simultaneously shoot a rocket launcher and a sniper rifle, an incendiary SMG and an electric pistol, or go all-out with two giant miniguns. Thanks to the new "amp" elemental, you can work some strategy into your weapon selection. Amp-based weapons coat enemies in a goo that intensifies elemental damage, so dual-wielding one along with a fire/electric/corrosive gun will cause it to be much more effective.

Read on to learn details about Salvador’s skill tree.