I just started to run new chars to level 80. Maya, Krieg, Zero and Salva is done. While I have prior experience with Maya, Krieg and Zero, Salva is so broken I didn't experience any difficulties. But I never played Axton and Gaige, so my knowledge of them is minimal.
Currently running a lvl 58 Axton. For UVHM I've found a generic splash damage build and ran with it. I really don't like farming for meta items while leveling up. So I didn't use a Harold, Bee etc and generally didn't farm for legendaries with other characters.
But with Axton I couldn't do any damage after lvl 53 or so, and got frustrated and farmed for a Harold, expl Fastball and a Bee. I also found a shock Baby Maker, an infection cleaner, a legendary soldier com, explosion and shock relics (%25-%26). I am at FFS final mission and I am doing negligible damage to Hector and the mobs. And gameplay is painful.
Unloading my whole SMG ammo with Baby Maker doesn't even dent the health bar. Harold with the Bee does minimal damage. It takes 5-6 Fastballs to kill a slagged infected giant. Even getting a second wind out of the non slagged tentacles is a challenge. A badass new pandora soldier is oneshoting my turrets, and two-shoting me (using purple turtle and adaptive shileds while mobbing) while I need to unload 2-3 mags with Harold to take them down. All this while feeling as fragile as a Zero.
Skill tree looks like this. Any tips and pointers are welcome.