Gearbox has recently revealed the fourth skill trees for the Borderlands 3 Vault Hunters, which was released as part of the Designer's Cut DLC. These new trees have naturally brought in some new builds that further enhanced the way that many people play the game. With that being said, the previous skill trees are still extremely viable and players have figured out how to use them effectively.
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These builds are so effective that some of them can take down bosses in the blink of an eye or wipe out hordes of enemies without breaking a sweat. The following Borderlands 3 builds should be of particular interest to both new and longtime players.
Updated July 10, 2023 by Stephen LaGioia: Gearbox's wild looter-shooter has seen an immense amount of content and updates, spanning to as recent as June 2022. And with so many fluid elements and layers of customization in the game, settling on a solid build can be as tricky as ever. So we thought we'd refresh and flesh out this list of some of the best Borderlands 3 builds for Amara, FL4K, Moze, and Zane.
Players can also click on links to the creators' youtube video demonstrations to get an elaborate breakdown of the skills, guns, and other complementary elements needed for each build.
13 Boresplosion Zane
- Loads of explosive chains and splash damage
- Leans on the Eraser skill
- Risk of taking splash damage but can be mitigated with the Duct Tape Mod
Players can visit prominent BL3 build-er Moxsy's youtube demonstration for a detailed look at the workings of this explosive Zane build. Essentially, this one is largely centered around the Eraser skill and various splash damage weapons. These are in turn meshed with the Hustler class mod, which together, yields chains of explosions and stacking that can melt many foes.
Tack this on with the legendary artifact Toboggan to bump this DPS up even further. Just be sure to utilize the Duct Tape Mod to avoid getting the blowback from all this splash damage. Players will want to really emphasize the purple (Professional) as well as the blue (Hitman) skill trees, with a bit of red (Doubled Agent) sprinkled in.
12 Rakk Attack (FL4K)
- Relatively minimal in terms of needing gear to complement it
- Particularly effective against flesh targets
- Ample use of the Action Skill, but relies on getting criticals
This unique hybrid build, which Moxsy demonstrates here, relies on a blend of the Rakk Attack Action Skill damage as well as gun damage to melt the health of various mobs. Players will want to spam fast-firing guns during the cooldown period and try for many criticals to get the most out of it. These will be boosted by Galactic Shadow buffs while Head Count reduces cooldown time.
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Using this sequence and alternating between guns and Rakk Attack will allow FL4K to effectively spam large mobs with loads of DPS. Assault Rifles like Rowan's Call or Lucian's Call are great complements to this build. Skill tree-wise, the green (Stalker) and red (Hunter) are heavily utilized here. This is more of a beginner's build, but it's nonetheless effective in the early and middle portions of the game.
11 Amara Shockra
- Well-balanced and relatively easy to use
- Tons of elemental damage and debuffs to wear down many foes
- fairly versatile — good against both weaker mobs and bosses
This build utilizes many of Amara's strengths and stresses elemental damage as well as crippling debuffs and status effects. As one might expect, Shockra must be initiated, as well as Deliverance and Soul Sap to quickly wear down enemies in her path. Be sure to max out or heavily emphasize skills like Wildfire to maximize and spread these status effects.
The red (Fist of the Elements) skill tree is emphasized here in order to bump up these debuffs and enemy damage. The blue (Mystical Assault) skill tree, which is even more heavily used, deals more damage and focuses on buffing Amara.
10 Fettuccine Fl4k
- Very versatile build when it comes to weapons
- Requires a specific shield and grenade to be effective
- Has a huge damage output
Though the name is pretty funny, this Borderlands 3 build created by Moxsy is one of the best out there for Fl4k. This build is very versatile when it comes to the player's choice of awesome weapons. The downside to this build is that there are a few requirements when it comes to shields and grenades.
The best grenade for this build is the Mesmer because of its ability to turn enemies against each other, while one of the best weapons is Rowan's Call. This is complemented and enhanced further by the augment Not My Circus, which will act as another focal point to draw more aggro. It's like having Fl4k's Dominance skill without needing to have it for the build.
This build relies heavily on the green (Stalker) and red (Hunter) skill trees while also using a little bit of the blue (Master).
9 Nuclear Revolt Zane (2.0)
- Heavily relies on the Lightshow
- Build is very anointment specific
- Uses both the shoulder cannon and sentinel drone
Ki11er Six is great at creating Borderlands 3 builds and it shows with the Nuclear Revolt Zane build. This build focuses heavily on using one of the best legendary guns in the game, the Lightshow. It's a particularly satisfying build that allows Zane to multitask and unleash ample damage swiftly.
Players will mainly want the sentinel cryo anointment on each of their weapons so they can gain some extra bonus damage with their sentinel robot. Along with the sentinel, this build uses Zane's shoulder cannon with some added benefits from the Re-Volter shield. Much of the focus here will be on the purple (Professional) tree and the blue (Hitman) tree — with skills like Commitment and Playing Dirty maxed out to add to the speed and chaos.
8 Iron Maiden Moze (3.0)
- Focuses on amping Iron Bear's damage
- Great for mobbing and tanking damage
- Keeps Iron Bear active for longer than any other build
For players who are sick of playing the gunner Moze while ignoring Iron Bear, Moxsy has created a build that focuses heavily on using Iron Bear. This build makes Iron Bear so strong that it can destroy enemies in seconds. This build takes advantage of Moze's new class mode the Heat Exchanger.
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The Heat Exchanger increases Iron Bear's miniguns and makes them deal wild amounts of damage. While in Iron Bear, players will want to use the Dark Army. The reason for this is that it will still spawn drone weapons that will attack enemies.
Players will want to lean largely on the green (Bottomless Mags) and blue (Demolition Woman) trees, with moderate use of the orange (Shield of Retribution) tree.
7 Khaos Queen Amara
- Pretty versatile with weapons
- Extremely powerful for mobbing
- Very anointment focused
Another build by Moxsy is the Khaos Queen Amara build. This all-around build has been updated to be one of the best Borderlands 3 builds out there. This build uses Amara's Phasegrasp action skill in combination with the skill Vigor to amp Amara's movement speed so she can deal more damage.
The main anointments players need to focus on with this build are consecutive hits and next two mags. This build is pretty versatile when it comes to weapons, but players should focus on using potent DPS weapons.
In terms of the skill trees, red (Fist of the Elements) and blue (Mystical Assault) are heavily emphasized, with moderate use of green (Brawl).
6 Destroyer Of Worlds Fl4k
- More gear-focused build
- Uses the Monarch to regen action skill faster
- Slower build that gets more damage from moving slowly or not moving at all
Fl4k has always been a character that is hard to make a build for. That's why fans are lucky to have YouTubers like Ki11er Six who have created an extremely powerful build that focuses on using Fl4k's Fade Away skill.
This build focuses on using the Monarch assault rifle to mow enemies down and get Fl4k's action skill back as fast as possible. Surprisingly, this build does not use the purple tree. Instead, it focuses on putting points mainly into the green and red skill trees while using a little less of the blue skill tree.
5 Fire Hoze Moze
- Great for dealing elemental damage
- Very versatile build
- Lack of survivability without grenades
This Moze build comes from Moxsy. It's an updated version of an older build he created but with more damage potential. He shows himself killing multiple bosses with a pistol, rocket launcher, and a slew of additional weapons. All of this without the use of Iron Bear. He even states during the video that almost anything can be used on the build, but a few items will be necessary. One of these items is the Blast Master class mod.
He does make a note about the Mind Sweeper class mod as well, but it ultimately doesn't do as much damage. Moxsy has continued to update this Borderlands 3 build and has made it one of the best builds out there for Moze. With the inclusion of the fourth skill tree, players get even more elemental damage while Iron Cub/Bear is on cooldown.
Playing around with the anointments, Moxsy has discovered that the consecutive hits anointment gives this build the best damage. He also states that this build has gotten him some of the best times when running the Takedowns. Now that the level cap has increased, players can take advantage of the green skill tree even more and never run out of ammo when playing as Moze.
4 Mozerker Forever
- Great build for mobbing
- Deals wild amounts of splash damage
- Takes advantage of Moze's infinite ammo capabilities
This build, brought to everyone by Ki11er Six, is in its eighth and perhaps final iteration thanks to the level increase. As far as builds go in Borderlands 3 this is one of the most powerful thanks to Moze's capability to have infinite ammo. This build relies more heavily on the Flipper compared to other builds, but it takes down enemies in no time at all.
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This build, like the Fire Hoze Moze build, takes advantage of Moze's wild splash damage capabilities with the Blast Master class mod. Of course, this build uses the green and blue skill trees the most while also dumping some points into the red and purple skill trees.
3 Slam Witch Amara
- Versatile build but does require a Face Puncher
- Focused on melee damage
- Able to one-shot many enemies
Of course, YouTuber Moxsy has more builds for Borderlands 3. He has more recently crafted a melee Amara build that can annihilate enemies easily. Since this is a melee build, players will want to focus on using the Face Puncher shotgun.
This has been combined with the skills Infusion and Body and Mind. These skills cause a huge number of procs to happen when an enemy is shot and ultimately ends up destroying them. Even the action skill on this build is able to one-shot bosses.
In summation regarding skill trees, purple (Enlightened Force) and blue (Mythical Assault) are heavily stressed. Yet, players will also want to max out Tempest from the orange (Fist of the Elements) tree, which bumps up elemental (especially shock) damage.
2 Summoner Fl4k
- Very gear-specific build
- Uses the O.P.Q System to summon tons of drones
- Takes advantage of gear to deal loads of damage with drones
The Summoner Fl4k build is a new build from Moxsy that takes advantage of the O.P.Q System's ability to spawn drones. Essentially, this build can consistently summon drones while using this weapon or the Dark Army.
This build is very gear-specific and uses the Messy Breakup shield along with skills from the purple skill tree to maximize the damage of all the summoned drones. Despite being so specific with items, this build can easily take down strong enemies thanks to the large number of drones that will be summoned that all have amped damage.
1 Chain Zane
- Relies heavily on the Redistributor
- Great for survivability and mobbing
- Not as strong against bosses
Moxsy created yet another Zane build that is based on an old one. Players might remember the original Chain Zane build, now it is more powerful than ever before thanks to the Vault Hunter's fourth skill tree. The new version of this build relies heavily on both the purple and blue skill trees (some points still go into the red tree).
Like most Zane builds, this one harnesses the Seein' Dead class mod's ability to activate kill skills. One of the most useful skills for this build is the Eraser skill because of the bonus damage it allows players to deal.
Chain Zane is one of the Borderlands 3 builds that just keeps coming back. Moxsy has continued to update this build and now that the level cap has increased, it has become even better than before. The new skill points end up going partially into the green skill tree for some extra damage. There hasn't been much change in the weapons because this build relies heavily on the Redistributor.
Borderlands 3 is currently available on PC, macOS, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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