Beast Master Build
In Borderlands 3, Vault Hunter FL4K, the Beastmaster is a formidable character to watch out for. With unique skills like Fade Away, Rakk Attack, and Gamma Burst, the robot is an interesting character. Further, with pets like Jabber Sidekick, Spiderant, and Skag, the Beastmaster’s skills are only enhanced. Hence, there are a few superior builds that allow you to utilize FL4K’s best attributes in the game.
What is the Best Build for Your Play?
Every player’s manner of playing differs. It is best that the build you create is mindful of this. Different builds are tailored for those who play on the offensive and those that prefer defensive play.
Whatever your style, it is recommended that you pay attention to FL4K’s pets and their skill sets. Since FL4K’s primary abilities revolve around teleporting pets that fight for them, a build that uses this ability best is advised. Pets are a great asset in your build. Using them wisely adds power to your character.
However, creating an FL4K build may seem like a difficult task because Borderlands 3 demands that you upgrade both yourself and your pet. Hence, to create a build, it is better to first understand how FL4K’s skill trees can be employed to do the same.
Skill Trees
- Master Branch
This is the ideal skill tree for focusing on the skills of FL4K’s pet strength. The pet associated with this tree is Skag, who can assist FL4k substantially by enhancing damage potential.
- Hunter Branch
The pet associated with the Hunter tree is Spiderant, whose primary strength is assisting FL4K in boosting and regenerating health. The tree is known to enhance the sharpshooting skills in the game.
- Stalker Branch
The Stalker tree is an important one as it provides the character with a toolkit to face damaging encounters. The extremely useful skill Fade Away is also associated with this tree. The tree is also home to the pet Jabber. This pet has a gun of its own and enhances the movement speed of FL4K.
These skill trees and their branches are the foundation of the build for FL4K. When using builds that focus on skill trees, it becomes a powerful strategy for solo-play. However, it can even be used otherwise. Based on the skill trees, the following builds are useful.
1. Hunter Tree Build
By using the Hunter tree as the skill tree, you can focus on the Sniper built with Spiderant and Rakk Attack. This build is recommended for players who want to play on the offensive and focus on sniping as a strategy in the game. The recommended weapons here are the Sniper and Crit.
The Hunter tree is the primary tree, but skills from other trees are added as well. The build is designed to increase the damage potential of your character while maintaining ample distance from the enemy. Here, anyone who attempts to reduce the distance will face a strong Rakk Attack.
At this point, you want to use your sniper rifles, which are slow to fire but leave a high damage trail. This can be done by investing in the Hunter tree’s Two F4ng skill. Further, skills like Interplanetary Stalker and Ambush Predator are highly recommended investments. Other skills in the tree are worth looking at as well. At this stage, once you’ve picked your Hunter tree skills, invest in complementary skills from other trees that support your offensive strategy.
Once you’ve significantly progressed in the game, it is time to invest in the capstone skill Megagrove. Through this, you can focus on that part of your enemy that you want to crit on. You can invest in this once you pick up on secondary skills from other trees. Following this, invest in skills like Galactic Shadow, Leave No Trace, and others that contribute to a strong offensive skill set.
From the Stalker tree, it is recommended that you invest in Overclocked and Furious Attack. These are skills that give you a starting offensive advantage in the game. Another recommended skill from this tree is the Turn Tail And Run. This skill gives you relative protection when agile and increases damage potential when you standstill.
From the Master skill tree, you can pick up the Persistence Hunter that again enhances damage potential.
Since the Rakk attack is crucial, the following Action Skill Augments may prove beneficial. Flock ‘N Load is a great strategy that sends out two extra Rakk out to the enemies. Rakkcelerate is an additional augment that will increase the cool-down time for the Rakk. The augment also gives the Rakks extra charge.
2. Master and Stalker Tree Build
In this build, a combination of skills from the Master and Stalker trees becomes the primary build foundation. The focus is on a moderate balance between damage and survivability by relying heavily on pets. Pay attention to Class Mods while you invest in these skills. The Skag, along with the Gamma Burst skill from the Master tree, are crucial to this build.
From the Master tree, invest in the skills Ferocity and Persistence Hunter. While Ferocity will deal with an increase in damage, Persistence Hunter will increase the duration of the damage. Both are necessary for this build. Frenzy is another skill to add that increases potential damage. While you strengthen FL4K’s pets to increase damage, a balance of survivability can be introduced.
To do this, invest in He Bites! and Who Rescued Who. He Bites! is a great skill that spreads the damage received from the attacker by sending some back to them. Who Rescued Who makes for a great interdependent health regeneration system. By investing in this, both FL4K and the pet are benefited. Through this skill, when FL4K suffers damage, the pet regenerates health for a couple of seconds and vice-versa.
It is also recommended that you invest in Hive Mind, where interdependence again plays a role. Here, any damage is shared between the pet and FL4K. For similar health strategies, the Stalker trees skills are also worth investing in.
In this build, the Stalker tree’s skills Self-Repairing System and Eager to Impress are used as a duo. While the Self-Repairing System constantly regenerates and maximizes health, Eager to Impress works to reduce the Action Skill cool-down period. Together, both increase damage potential and survivability of FL4K.
It is also recommended that you invest in All my BFFs. This is a powerful skill where allies can share FL4K’s health regeneration while their pets’ regeneration is double the amount. Invest in Turn Tail and Run, which is a balanced skill in itself. At this point, it is wise to invest in Hidden Machine. Through this skill, your pet Skag is made hypervisible while you can carry out your attack without any return damage.
At this point, the goal is to reach the Stalker tree’s capstone The Power Inside, which will enormously increase your damage potential each time Gamma Burst is used. You can now supplement this with your Action Skill Augments from the Master tree. These work well while Gamma Burst is activated. For this, using Empathic Range is recommended. Further, using Endurance as an Augment will increase the duration for which Gamma Burst can remain active while it is in use.
The above combination makes the build exciting. While you use Gamma Burst, Skag is put in the middle of the action where its damage potential is unleashed on enemies.
While weapons are a part of this build, the central focus is on bringing a moderate balance between defense and offence. The key is to benefit both FL4K and the pet and position both strategically through the skills.
3. Hunter and Stalker Tree Build
This build is similar to the Hunter tree build but with an extreme focus on damage potential. Gun and Crit damage are the central goal of this build, and FL4K’s skills are invested in accordingly. The build is so oriented towards offense that it can even forego progress towards the capstone skill. It was created by Youtuber NickTew.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1l5kaWLrQwdPVBaAfVoEbQ)
To create this build, combine skills like Unblinking Eye and Guerrillas in the Mist. These are Action Skill Augments from the Stalker tree. Unblinking Eye is designed to repeat the hits on a chosen target. Guerrillas in the Mist allows FL4K to remain in Fade Away while attacking. However, a compromise is made, and Fade Away duration and critical hit damage tend to decrease. This increases gun damage manifold.
In addition to this, investing in skills from Hunter Tree is largely recommended. Invest in skills like Two F4ng and Head Count and Grim Harvest. From the Stalker tree, skills like Overclocked, and the Fast and the Furryous are great skills to invest in.
While the Hunter and Stalker trees are primary, investing in Persistence Hunter from the Master tree may be a good idea. This skill enhances gun damage by increasing the duration of gun damage action. The weapon kit for this build is extensive, and there is no limit to guns used in the offensive.
Goal-Oriented Builds
The above three builds focus on the skill trees and their combinations. You can go ahead and create other builds that focus on specific goals for FL4K.
1. Damage Maximization Build
You may want to create a build that combines Fade Away with maximum Crit damage. Such a strategy focuses on a single target and is heavily reliant on weapons. You can use either of the above three builds and tailor them to increase Fade Away and Crit damage potential.
You can also procure enough weapons to be able to do this. Do note that this strategy may not allow you to damage enemies in large groups. However, it can be extremely useful in killing powerful individual enemies and bosses.
To eliminate individual bosses, The Monarch is a great weapon at your disposal. It aims at creating serious damage and comes with a bipod mode. While using this gun, use a front-loader shield. This will ensure that FL4K’s health remains above 50%, keeping the gun working at maximum capacity. The best part about the weapon is that it is made to kill, whether the enemy is in Fade Away or out of it.
2. Survival Maximization Build
Similarly, the goal may be to use pets on the attack line while keeping FL4K safe at a distance. In this case, the Master tree build discussed above may be the key build for you. You can tailor it by adding a few skills and Action Skill Augments from other trees.
Here, skills like Lick the Wounds are crucial. Lick the Wounds lets FL4K’s pet to revive them and regenerate health. Other skills pertaining to health regeneration should be capitalized upon. Other Action Skills Augments like Not My Circus are also very beneficial. In this skill from the Stalker tree, the damage is reduced for FL4K following the Fade Away Period. This is done by the pet who stall enemies and attract attention away from FL4K.
Skills corresponding to Fade Away are especially important to keep FL4K free of damage. Do use the Front-Loader here to protect FL4K.
A Note on Weapons
While you create a build for FL4K, the weapons you use will be a crucial part of your build strategy. A sickle is a recommended weapon for FL4K. It is a shotgun that fires 10 pellets. It also has a reduced fire rate and is best used with Fade Away.
The Clairvoyance is another great addition to destructive rifles. It works to release a projectile on the first attempt marking the target. After a pause, it releases all accumulated projectiles on the same target. The impact involves the elimination of both the target and surrounding enemies.
You can also use the Bekah, which is a rare Legendary weapon, and a Jakobs Assault Rifle. It targets both individual bosses and groups. This is accomplished as the rifle fires a single pellet towards the target. While approaching the target, it splits into three different pellets. This makes it quite a dangerous weapon.
The above weapons can be incorporated into your build to increase damage potential and enhance survivability.
Endnotes
In Borderlands 3, builds and weapon strategy are the best way to bring the best out of your Vault Hunter. For FL4K the Beastmaster, the above builds cover the best Skill Tree combinations and the corresponding goals. By knowing your weapons, you can also choose to enhance the power of FL4K and the pets.
