MELEE AMARA (updating this week)
Thank you all for input. Everyone is welcome to give feedback and advice.
So, with a few weeks behind us people in the forum have shared plenty of information about what to use and the best methods to play.
Your aim is to get Anointed gear which further boosts the melee damage, especially the Weapon and Shield. Be sure to use the trade threads for items you find hard to get.
Calculated Melee Damage: (equation required - i’m too thick)
Let’s highlight some of the best gear (BiS) for Melee Amara:
Weapons
Face-puncher – A Hyperion shotgun that has a hidden boost which amps your bullet damage based on your ‘overall’ melee damage.
Psycho Stabber – Comes with 120% Melee Damage which makes it a go to for the slice n dice. Other COV weapons can come with the 120% (max melee on weapon).
Moar Linoge – A COV Pistol that can role with 120% melee damage, but has a multi-pellet Fire shot which is good if utilising Amara’s elemental damage skills.
Buttplug – It’s all in the name (giggles)… Hit em in the rear portions and do double damage. You don’t have to be stood behind to hit the rear, but it kinda helps with most enemy.
Versus Frozen Enemy – Melee damage against frozen enemy is tripled giving you a good incentive to freeze them mutha’s with nades or even the weapon your using. Having your co-op buddy chill’em out would be pretty sweet.
Shields
As previously in Borderlands 2, ROID Shields give melee bonuses whilst depleted. BiS is gonna be the Brawler Ward, with an Anointed version giving further bonuses.
Brawler Ward – This can be looted from the Grave Warden boss. Giving 300% melee bonus it’s the highest currently available.
Other – Until you have your Brawler Ward, or even whilst levelling, keep an eye out for other shields that may give you some good tasty melee action.
NOTE: Be aware of the issue regarding Shield Recharge in the Guardian Ranks. In the Survivor Tree there is s skill called Shield Reboot that will start your shield recharging on kill, negating the ROID bonus on the shield. Ideally Gearbox would allow us to have this localised for each Vault Hunter.
Class Mods
Various Class Mods can be used, but the Breaker gives Melee Damage and Damage Reduction making it s strong contender for BiS melee. But others can be used, so refer to builds guides and the gameplay videos linked.
You can refer to the Class Mod thread here – ( Amara - Master List of Class Mods )
Relics
Relics can offer some great varieties in Borderlands 3. For Melee Amara, you have to choose wisely between ‘Survivor or Damage’. This can be switched easily for any situation.
Life Steal Relics – Even a simple Green relic can be very good for surviving. They aren’t going to add any damage unless it’s in the additional perks (see below), but you can fill your health bar quick. The higher the level, the more perks you’ll get and more health you’ll recover.
Melee DPS Relics – These will have a couple of main inputs - Elemental and Melee Damage. Elemental Relics will come in all variations and Imbue your hits with that extra bonus.
- As Fire is the strongest element versus most unshielded enemy (not resistent) the one relic that ‘shines’ is the Unleash the Dragon relic which causes melee hits to burn the enemy with very high status effect. This is considered to be the BiS for DPS currently known.
Gameplay Videos
(have your gameplay linked in this section - Proving Grounds preferably)
@Dr_H0H0 -
- TVHM Mayhem 3 – Trial of Instinct – No Weapons Melee
Youtube Link – Skill Tree Link
Useful Forum Links
Melee Testing and info – by @Gentlemann
Actual Amara Melee Number Statistics! (what does increase the damage, and what does not)
Skills Overview and Ratings – by @DankRafft
[Guide] Amara's Skills - Analysis and Rating
Amara Builds List – by @Aaero
Amara Master List: Build Collection
External Google Doc for Gear - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fkCwu0zeX1BBGcNEzWGZDr2kQ0IOPSoZQK2FD-zpw1M/htmlview?sle=true#gid=0