CLAPTRAP THE FRAGTRAP
BEST BUILDS ON ELPIS!
CLAPTRAP BUILDS
Leveling Up
Level 1 to 32
Showdown • Balanced
PLAYSTYLE
Claptrap is one of the most unique characters in the entire Borderland series, and that’s down to how his action skill behaves which picks a random action package with different bonuses, and potential debuffs as well. His randomness makes him one of the most fun characters to play because he’s basically a walking slot machine. That doesn’t make him a weak character though, because with the right build, he can do tons of damage, no matter what subroutine or action package he’s bestowed by Lady Luck.
SOLO
Claptrap is a really fun character to play with in solo, and there’s a lot of flavor to his gameplay that other characters simply don’t have. He excels at dealing explosive damage, which can often mean he’ll have to take on enemies up close and take some damage as well. Seeing the health bar go up and down is part of the routine, so that’s something you’ll have to get used to.
COOP
He’s always a great addition to any team, and the element of randomness can lead to some awesome co-op moments. If you want to make your playthrough exciting, there’s no reason to not bring the little fella along. He does not support from time to time because of his close-quarters playstyle, but overall, you don’t have to worry about keeping him alive, TOO MUCH.
SKILLS
Level 0 – 3: Unlock VAULTHUNTER.EXE
Level 3 – 6: 3 Points in Fuzzy Logic
Fuzzy Logic increases your critical damage by 30% whenever you get damaged.
Level 6 – 11: 5 Points in Drop The Hammer
Increases Claptrap’s fire rate and reload speed by 25% while reducing accuracy by 10% whenever you reload
Level 11 – 16: 5 Points in Kill Bot
Killbot transfers a portion of your Shield into Health after killing an enemy.
Level 16 – 21: 5 Points in Coincidental Combustion
Your Non-Explosive guns have a 35% chance to deal %115 Bonus Explosive Damage.
Level 21 – 22: 1 Point in Second Wind (by Tediore)
Second Wind (by Tediore) throws out a digistructed Claptrap that explodes near an enemy when you enter Fight for Your Life.
Level 22 – 27: 5 Points in Best Buds 4 Life
Extends your Fight for your Life Duration and during it, you gain increased Gun Damage. Whenever you gain a second wind or you revive an ally, both of you gain Health Regeneration and Damage Resistance for a short time.
Level 27 – 32: 5 Points in All The Things Are Awesome! Increases your Fire Rate, Weapon Swap Speed, and Maximum Health. Each ally further increases these Bonuses as well.
CyRoBot
Level 50
Cyro • Explosive
PLAYSTYLE
Do you like explosions? What about cyro-explosions? What about Claptrap running around the battlefield and causing these cyro-explosions while getting his shields blasted to smithereens but still surviving? If the answer to all these is yes, then this is the build for you. No one said playing Claptrap would be easy, but that’s also one of the reasons he’s so fun to play and explore as a character.
With this build, you’re going to be using the Too Scoops weapon quite a bit, because it’s one of the few weapons in the Pre-Sequel that does cyro and explosive damage. Jump around, keep shooting down enemies, and see them turn into frosted explosions as you deal tons of damage as well. Your health and shields will go down, and right back up before your very eyes, so it’s a risky, but equally rewarding build to enjoy.
SOLO
This is a great build for solo play, and at level 50, you’ll have a lot of fun with it. Its mobbing potential is through the roof, and even with Claptrap’s RNG factor, you’ll have gear that does devastating damage regardless of the subroutine you’re blessed or cursed with. If you’re down on health, you can just activate your skill tree, and get it all back. Most of the skill investment is to ensure that he remains alive for the most part.
COOP
Similarly, Claptrap can be a very useful ally when playing in co-op, and he has great potential to turn the tide of any battle. Since he’ll be losing his shield quite a bit, thanks to his up close and personal playstyle, it’s recommended that other team members support him whenever they can. He has a few skills in this build that directly help allies as well, and a random action package activation could be just what everyone needs.
GEARS
Slot 1: Unending Fighter
Slot 2: Excalibastard
Slot 3: Too Scoops
Slot 4: Thorny Ol’ Rosie
Grenade: Homing Storm Front
Shield: Grounded Black Hole
MOD: Foolhardy Sapper Class Mod
OZ Kit: Arctic Bomber Oz Kit
SKILLS
Drop the Hammer increases Claptrap’s fire rate and reload speed by 25% while reducing accuracy by 10% whenever you reload, and All The Things are Awesome also increases his fire rate by 15%.
Second Wind (by Tediore) throws out a digistructed Claptrap that explodes near an enemy when you enter Fight for Your Life. Killbot transfers a portion of your shield into health after killing an enemy.
Fuzzy Logic increases your critical damage by 30% for 5 seconds and resets every time you get hit, so it’s recommended to not worry about taking damage.
Bot Blitz
Level 50
Shotguns • Explosive
PLAYSTYLE
Claptrap is easily the most unique character in the Borderland series, thanks to the randomness associated with not only his action skill but his final skill tree as well. This complexity makes him a bit intimidating, but with the right build, he can be a force to be reckoned with in solo and a valuable ally in co-op. You just gotta have a little faith, and take the plunge into his madness. If you like explosions and want to finish enemies with a few shots, this is the build for you.
This build is built around shotguns and capitalizes on their small magazine size to deal devastating and explosive damage. You want to go in and start blasting away, but make sure you don’t mindlessly reload either, but fully empty out your clip to ensure you get a bonus from the last shot, and the eventual reload as well.
SOLO
This is a fantastic build for solo play because it allows Claptrap to become an explosive demon robot. He jumps around the battlefield and deals explosive damage to everyone around him, and even though you’ll see your health bar go down all the time, it’s not something to worry about because your action skill restores your full health, along with other skills that constantly provide him with defensive bonuses. Just keep shotgunning away, and laugh as everything explodes into nothing in your sight.
COOP
Claptrap is always a great character to bring in co-op, and he’s basically a walking slot machine of bonuses. He can often change the tide of battle with one of his random action packages, and even revive the entire team. He is a bit of a glass cannon, so you might want to provide him with constant heals so he doesn’t have to worry about his health all the time.
GEARS
Slot 1: Filled Quad
Slot 2: Excalibastard
Slot 3: Casual Flakker
Slot 4: Prudential Cyrophobia
Grenade: Homing Storm Front
Shield: Deadly Bloom
MOD: Audacious Sapper Class Mod
OZ Kit: Arctic Bomber Oz Kit
SKILLS
Killbot transfers a portion of your shield into health after killing an enemy. Organized Guns are Happy Guns increase your magazine size by 25%, while your teams’ by 10%.
Drop the Hammer increases Claptrap’s fire rate and reload speed by 25% while reducing accuracy by 10% whenever you reload, and All The Things are Awesome also increases his fire rate by 15%.
Second Wind (by Tediore) throws out a digistructed Claptrap that explodes near an enemy when you enter Fight for Your Life. Fuzzy Logic increases your critical damage by 30% for 5 seconds and resets every time you get hit, so it’s recommended to not worry about taking damage.
Circuit Smasher
Level 70
Balanced • Subroutine
PLAYSTYLE
Claptrap can be one of the more intimidating choices in Borderlands The Pre-Sequel because of the randomness associated with not just his action skill, which can be assigned a random action package, but also his subroutines that randomly swap out for different effects. This sounds complicated on paper, but it’s a lot of fun in practice, and this build focuses on all his trees to ensure that he gets a lot of damage despite the randomness factor along with health.
The game plan is pretty simple, you want to go in, start doing damage, and if you aren’t happy with a subroutine, you can switch it out outside of combat encounters by slamming to the ground, and changing and deducting your frag stacks which will then target a different weapon type.
SOLO
This is a great build for solo play because it turns Claptrap into a killing machine that does a ridiculous amount of explosive damage, and since we have a variety of weapons in our gear, we can switch to a different weapon type based on the current subroutine in place. This build also provides room for flexibility, so you’re never stuck with one strategy that’s forced down on you due to the randomness factor. Claptrap also gets tons of healing thanks to our investment in the I Love You Guys! tree.
COOP
Similarly, this Claptrap build introduces a decent amount of randomness that can contribute to a very fun playthrough, especially if someone is willing to experiment and adapt to the randomness thrown at Claptrap during combat encounters. He will need some healing from time to time, but inversely, Claptrap will provide bonuses to the entire team as well thanks to his Action Skill.
GEARS
Slot 1: Flying Fridgia
Slot 2: Casual Ravager
Slot 3: Wild Splitter
Slot 4: Kaneda’s Laser
Grenade: Longbow Quasar
Shield: Shield of Ages
MOD: Audacious Sapper Class Mod
OZ Kit: Arctic Bomber Oz Kit
SKILLS
Second Wind (by Tediore) throws out a digistructed Claptrap that explodes near an enemy when you enter Fight for Your Life. Tripleclocked multiplies your active Subroutine bonuses and Penalties by up to 3 while Fuzzy Logic increases your critical damage by 30% for 5 seconds and resets every time you get hit.
Drop the Hammer increases Claptrap’s fire rate and reload speed by 25% while reducing accuracy by 10% whenever you reload, and All The Things are Awesome also increases his fire rate by 15%.
Claptrapocalypse
Level 70
Melee • Survivability
PLAYSTYLE
Claptrap is arguably the most complex character in Borderlands The Pre-sequel, and this is due to how his subroutines function. You need to accept early on that RNG plays a big factor in this character, which is why he isn’t picked often. However, certain builds can leverage this positively, and make use of his strengths to the fullest. With this Level 70 build, our focus is to boost his melee damage by a considerable amount so no matter what subroutine you get, you’ll still do an insane amount of melee damage to basically bash your way to victory.
The playstyle is fairly straightforward, and despite the numbers flooding your screen, all you really need to do is open the enemy by dealing a bunch of gun damage and follow that up with melee strikes that take out enemies. When you’re down on health, just hit the action skill for a new subroutine.
SOLO
At level 70, this build absolutely shreds through mobs, and it’s one of the most fun ways to play Borderlands The Pre-sequel. You don’t have to worry about enemies dealing damage back at you because of the investment in defensive and regenerative skills. Claptrap is still a bit of a difficult character to master, but his randomness is part of his appeal. If you play it right, and abuse melee, then you’re in for a great time.
COOP
Similarly, when playing in co-op, it’s an even more viable build thanks because Claptrap does need a bit of support from his teammates, especially to stay alive. He’ll be fighting real close to the enemies, and there are times he won’t get the best subroutine, which is why it’s important to provide him with any healing, or defensive buffs so he hits enemies longer. This is especially important against boss fights because it takes more than one hit.
GEARS
Slot 1: Bladed Fridgia
Slot 2: Evisceration Probe
Slot 3: Excalibastard
Slot 4: Laser Disker
Grenade: Longbow Storm Front
Shield: Warming Avalanche
MOD: Stable Roboninja Class Mod
OZ Kit: Arctic Acrobat Oz Kit
SKILLS
HIGH FIVES GUYS, All The Things Are Awesome! and Pain
Simulator is Painful increase claptrap’s maximum health by 80%, while You’re…
GOING TO LOVE ME!! creates a health supernova that heals you and your allies
for 15% of missing health.
Killbot transfers a portion of your shield into health after killing an enemy.
Second Wind (by Tediore) throws out a digistructed Claptrap that explodes near an enemy when you enter Fight for Your Life.
