Requesting Some Build Advice Please?

Borderlands 3 Amara the Siren
#1

Hi all,

Relatively new to Amara, but I’ve been levelling her slowly, and this is what I am using currently (as of level 35).

Aiming for a run-and-gun style, elemental, SMG build for the most part, sprinkled with plenty of Action Skill… err… Action?

I started with the FotE tree, which was insane(ly good) for mobbing, but boss fights were pretty slow going at times. Since then, I picked up a Phasezerker mod, and stripped back the FotE options with the intention of hitting the Mystic Assault capstone at 50. The points in brawl are solely to give me maxed Personal Space, and make Blight Tiger available.

So, some specific questions, if you’ll indulge me for a moment please?

  1. Is there something I’m missing to make Amara’s Phasegrasp options a lot more effective with bosses? Or is it simply a matter of switching to PhaseCast choices there?

  2. Are there any major synergies or interactions I’ve missed on the build so far? Any obvious issues or things you would change? For sake of reference, this is what I’m aiming for by Level 50

  3. And lastly, do you think more points will be needed for survivability (Brawl) by the time I hit Mayhem modes? Or can a build like this work by melting everything before that becomes an issue?

Sorry for the long-ish intro post and all the questions. Just trying to come to terms with the various synergies/interactions, aaaand long-winded happens to be one of my middle names. :grin:

All thoughts and options very much appreciated.

2 Likes
#2

There is that many different builds you can do with Amara. I literally change my build just about every time im online depending on what im doing.

My main that I use is the Mystical Assault tree with half of the FOTE tree. This build works really well with increasing elemental damage in an instance or over time (i’ll elaborate on this shortly). It does lack in tankiness/lifesteel because i have nothing in the Brawl tree. I use the phasegrasp with Stillness of Mind for mass enemies such as when doing slaughter shaft as both skills combined lift a heap of enemies at once. Then with Ties that Bind in the FOTE tree, It connects all lifted enemies. Moral is i rarely get attacked because they are always lifted. So no need for points in Brawl tree.

Getting back to Instant Damage and Damage over time (DOT)
I can switch my build by changing between phasegrasp and phasecast.

  • Phasegrasp build is my DOT build for mobs of enemies
  • Phasecast build is my Instant Damage for single boss fights (this also helps by having an annointed weapon which increases Damage by 250% after ASE)

I use the cutsmans in all elements for the phasegrasp build as their Elemental Damage/second is really high (this is where the DOT comes into play)
I mainly use an annointed crossroad for the Phasecast because of it increasing the damage by 250%. this would work even better if you have a annointed cutsman with 250% increased damage after ASE. (I’m still yet to find one)

If anyone would like to add me on XBOX my GT: CriticalHit26
Love to see what builds everyone has and how it works for you :slight_smile:

Feel free to ask any questions about my build or any tips what I could change

2 Likes
#3

Thanks so much for the detailed response and info, much appreciated. :blush:

This seems to be the direction I’m heading too. Mobbing with the FotE tree, and Ties That Bind in particular, is a total blast, though I’m yet to put Stillness of Mind through its paces properly as yet. Might give that a whirl next play session then. Appreciate the heads up, thanks.

Ahh… This is what I suspected, and makes perfect sense. So far, I’ve been doing much the same: Phasegrasp for mobbing, PhaseCast for boss fights.

I was mostly wondering if I was missing anything with Phasegrasp, as it does lose its shine for boss fights; but switching between the Action Skills is easy enough.

Appreciate the gear recommendations too. I already have some of those weapons, but I’ll start looking for some decent Siren annointed versions once I level up a bit further.

I’d happily add you, but I’m gaming on PSN, and don’t really do online co-op anyhow.

Once again, appreciate the reply and useful info however, thank you very much. :blush:

#4

No worries.

Now is the perfect time to be farming slaughter house as the annointed weapons week is on and pretty much every legendary that was dropping was annointed. If i remember i’ll take a photo of my skill trees and post them here tomorrow for you.

After their recent patch, it has really hindered my ability to one shot single bosses but it still works really well for mobbing. So i may have to make some adjustments.

1 Like
#5

Excellent. I’ll certainly be doing some farming over the coming week then, no doubt. :+1:

Appreciate the info once again, thanks. :blush:

#6

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This is my build and items that I use.
I find the Stormfront grenade really good as it chunks shields really easily. (any shock grenade should work fine)
A phasezerker class mod is crucial for this build as getting maxing out your stacks allows your cutsmans to do 200K+ damage
The fire cutsman i have has a way better charge % time than the others. So i built my AS around incendinary as the fire cutsman is my main go to weapon.

2 Likes
#7

Awesome! Thanks so much for the screenshots, they’re very helpful indeed. :blush:

It looks like I’m on the right track then, as what I have so far is reasonably similar to your own build.

There are a few key differences I’ve spotted, most notably, you have maxed Violent Tapestry, and Wildfire, whereas I’ve spent those points elsewhere (into reload, and accuracy/handling skills respectively).

I’ll certainly respec over to your build when I log in for a session later today, and try out what you have suggested. FWIW, I do have a Phasezerker I’m using at the moment, and just hit L44 yesterday, so not too far off a full build now. :blush:

Once again, really appreciate the helpful information, and screenshots, so thanks very much for your time in posting them.

#8

No worries

Have you tried the build… how’d you go?
Once you hit lvl 50 you will see a massive difference in damage because of the weapons and more skill points.

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#9

Sorry for the slow reply, I’ve been recovering from surgery and still a little spaced out, but feeling a bit more human again now. :+1:

I did indeed try your build, and found it pretty solid, thank you!

After messing around with it a bit more, and finally hitting level cap, I ended up making a few changes along the way. Most of them to tailor things to the gear I have at the moment, as I don’t yet have everything you mentioned in your post earlier.

This is what I ended up with after my last session

Though I’m still playing around with it at this stage.

#10

Ah yes, i do see what you have changed and I do see the meaning for it…

I like it. Maybe i might do some adjustments now :wink:

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#11

Haha! It’s a never ending process isn’t it? :joy:

I’d love about five more points or so. That way I wouldn’t have to keep deciding where the last few go all the time… Then again, it’s pretty fun switching things around a bit too.

I still can’t decide if the full three points is really needed in Indiscriminate or not. Don’t get me wrong, three points seems to decimate most mobs, but perhaps it’s overkill, and even just a single point might suffice.

Fast Hands adds some swap speed, and makes reloads a bit less dependent on Rush stacks, with little reload difference between the 3/2 split, or putting all 5 in Alacrity I think.

Remnant is nice for some of the high damage lower ROF weapons I use currently, so I squeezed a single point in there for funsies.

I think the main choices I skimped from your version we’re the points in Wildfire/Violent Tapestry, that didn’t seem to do as much for me as I’d like; and also in From Rest, because I don’t really have enough decent Maliwan weapons to make it worthwhile just yet. Will probably change my tune on the latter at some stage though… Give me about an hour. :joy:

I get a couple of points in Clarity from my Phasezerker too, which seems enough for now, otherwise I’d probably still drop a couple in there.

Ahh… The joys and justifications of skill point distribution. :joy:

#12

Hey, build’s looking pretty good as far as I can tell. I’ve tried a bunch of different stuff with Amara, some quite similar to what you’re doing, but there’s one thing I’ve been using recently that I would strongly recommend you try out.

So, there’s this blue unique gun from the Banshee Hammerlock target on Nekrotafeyo called the Shrieking Devil. It’s a Maliwan shotgun that shoots a self-damaging nova around you. If you get a shock one and pair it with the transformer, it heals you instead of doing damage. Bonus points if you get an anointed one with extra damage.

Basically, you just run around spamming phasecast/slam with your zerker com and blasting novas all over, killing anything near you. It’s a very different kind of playstyle, but it’s fun, strong, and pretty much fits in with the way you have your skills.

The only things I would really change is move the points from awakening to from rest (so you can charge it faster), and take some points out of the red tree (because I’ve found indiscriminate to be unnecessary) to spec into arms deal for more damage, and maybe even mindfulness so you can get from enemy to enemy faster.

Alternatively, if you really like phasegrasp for mobbing, pairing ties that bind and stillness of mind with a fire infused unforgiven and/or monocle pretty much deletes everything. For bosses, phasecasting with a cutsman or crossroad usually seems to work well. Just my two cents.

PS: sorry if this is long or unwarranted; its my first forum post. I really enjoy this game :grin:

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#13

Here’s what my skill tree currently looks like btw I could explain it more, if you’re curious.

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#14

Yeah, it does change a lot depending on the guns used. I seem to have more points in DOT skills because the cutsmans work so well with that. Hence why we have specked slightly different.

It’s all fun and games, no right or wrong which is what I like about it. Oh and yes, a few more points would be unreal, I believe they will come with DLC content like previous Borderlands.

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#15

That does sound like a lot of fun. I’m putting your words into picture and having a laugh :joy:
Definitely something I’ll have to try out.

If I can find the correct unforgiven I’ll have to give this a go also.

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#16

This build sounds very interesting mate. I’ll give it a go for something different once I’ve nabbed myself a Shrieking Devil. Shouldn’t take me too long to pick one up, as I’m pretty familiar with the rare spawn point. :+1:

Some great tips in your post too, so thanks for those as well. I’ll definitely take some of that info on board for the next respec. Much appreciated!

Also: Long is all good! The forums need more long, and informative posts I say. :blush:

Absolutely mate, I agree entirely, and appreciate your help. Roll on those extra points (and that DLC!). :blush:

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