Borderlands 3 is pretty much Gearbox Software’s ultimate (so far) co-op shooter. Billions of guns, and probably nearly as many options for team compositions. Since the first Borderlands, a full party of Vault Hunters always felt like it leaned too far towards favoring one class archetype over the other. Not enough support or elemental damage, or the character roster had too many long range options while the infighters got the short end of the stick.
Instead of releasing multiple classes with three trees each, Gearbox tightened their formula up and kept it to four characters but granted each of them an extra talent tree instead. This tighter response to deepening the roster resulted in a much more involved development of appreciated roles rather than harping on the same archetype two or even three times. Like how Borderlands 2 had four damage classes and only one lone support type that only barely straddled that role and instead was a hybrid with Maya the Siren.
In Borderlands 3, your options for kitting your character out are much more varied, even if it doesn’t seem like you have more options for talents and class abilities. Party composition can largely be very much a freeform choice with no right or wrong answers, but there are some crucial points to be mindful of with each class. When figuring out the best team roles, here are some good tips for each of the four characters.
Borderlands 3 best team compositions
How to build Zane the Operative
The sassy, motormouth Irish assassin and three-time champion of “Galaxy’s Sexiest Hitman” will largely be your sniper specialist or a burst damage monster. Zane’s strongest abilities include his Digi-Clone ability and the fact that he can equip not one but two active abilities simultaneously. Most of the time, Zane will largely be equipped with automatic fire guns, and occasionally pistols that require manual trigger pulls.
Zane’s Digi-Clone also, when built properly, can serve as a tank role due to its ability to pull enemy attention away from you and towards it. Combined with the ability to swap positions with it, it’s a beastly survivability tool that can be viable for group play and makes Zane one of the best solo classes in the game. The main things to pay attention to would be what guns you use when activating the Digi-Clone to duplicate, as this can make for insanely powerful combinations, like summoning an extra party member. Look largely to automatic, sustained-fire weapons for the Digi-Clone as they always deal the most damage compared to pistols or sniper rifles with slower rates of fire. There are some exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between, or they require an extremely dedicated build to get the best results.
How to build Moze the Gunner
Moze, with her trusty Iron Bear mech, is largely meant for taking and dealing lots of damage very quickly. The talents surrounding Iron Bear give Moze a cooldown ability that allows her to absorb lots of damage and dish it back out, depending on your build. The Iron Cub ability, which shrinks the Iron Bear down to a miniature-sized autonomous partner not unlike one of Fl4k’s beasts, is more for dealing damage than taking it, but it can serve as a source of gaining aggro from surrounding enemies if you need to break off from a fight.
Moze’s Demolition Woman tree can result in lots of builds that rely on splash damage from all sources and boost sources of splash damage to ridiculous levels. When specialized right, Moze excels the best with Torgue-branded weapons and rocket launchers, though she tends to perform well with anything that deals damage in an area. If you want to lean harder into explosive damage, take note of the bottom half of the Demolition Woman tree that emphasizes grenade radius, damage, and capacity.
For sustained damage, build into the Bottomless Mags tree that gives Moze the ability to constantly fire without needing to reload or a nearly limitless ammo supply. Combined with the Shield of Retribution tree, which has the ability to grant overshields to both Moze and the party, she serves a secondary support role very well.
How to build Fl4k the Beastmaster
The self-aware robot with a thirst for murder is an all-rounder class, though they will lean more into damage dealing roles the most. With various skills placing importance on their pet, Fl4k’s main gimmick is knowing when and where to use action skills. Or, if you specialize in the Stalker tree and Fade Away skill, Fl4k will be one of your hardest-hitting damage dealers with the ability to move around the battlefield silently and springing out at any time for a huge burst of damage. Fl4k is best equipped with sniper rifles and shotguns but can also excel with sub machineguns and other automatic fire weapons.
If you want to use the pet of your choice as a secondary source of damage, concentrate on the Hunter tree with its stacking bonuses. Combined with the Master tree, this will make pet damage a huge part of your kit. Fl4k’s command skills and talents relating to using the Gamma Burst skill can make placing the pet in the right place a crucial way to increase survivability by having the pet grab attention at a moment’s notice if timed right.
For a hybrid of damage and tank, look deeper into the Trapper tree (only available as part of the Director’s Cut DLC), which has many options for giving both Fl4k and their pet overshields and dealing damage when shields are depleted. An important skill here is Bind With Anger, which makes Fl4k’s Trap skill confuse enemies caught in the blast radius attack other enemies for several seconds at a time. When used right, this is a crucial skill for solo and group play at endgame levels.
How to build Amara the Siren
Crime fighter turned gun for hire, Amara, like other Sirens before her, is all about using elemental damage to the absolute maximum. Unlike her predecessors, Amara leans further into a pure damage dealing and even a tank role depending on your build. Being strong with elemental damage, Amara will do best when equipped with Maliwan-branded weapons or other Legendary weapons that deal lots of elemental damage, such as the Long Musket, Sand Hawk, or Hellwalker. Some builds with Amara can also be focused on elemental Nova shields with the ability to spread elemental ailments around very quickly, so loot accordingly.
In terms of specialization, for a strong tank-like role, look to the Assault and Enlightened Force (DLC-exclusive) trees with lots of talents built around health and shield regeneration, movement speed boosts, and melee damage increases for close-quarters fights. If you prefer to stay at range, equip Amara’s Phasegrasp for immediate crowd control or Phasecast for a ranged area of effect attack. Phaseslam is best for tank builds and use in close-in fights when you want to be in the thick of the action, but be sure to build strongly for survivability at endgame levels. The Brawl tree can also be useful for increasing blast damage from elemental sources and damage boosts while in close.
Published: Sep 15, 2019 01:11 am