Recharger or stop gap

Borderlands 3 Loot and Weapons
#1

Im seeing tons of youtube vids with the stop gap as the best in slot shield, but I swear a recharger is better. I understand this is just my opinion. Im curious what the community thinks. Stop gap or recharger?

#2

I’m not playing with any of the serious meta builds, how is it being used?

Here are a couple of my thoughts, as I think about the exact same thing. Moze’s Tenacious Defense does not seem to work with the Stop Gap - like you don’t get the immunity nor the shield return. Maybe it’s fixed, or maybe it was just a series of flukes for me, but if you’re rocking a Shield of Retribution Moze, skip the Stop Gap (or, really, see if this happens to you and let me know :smiley:). I was really hoping it would work, under the theory that when Tenacious Defense fires, I get some immunity on top of the backfilled shield.

My other Moze (without that skill) uses the Stop Gap as a time saver for ‘oh crap, I need a second to recognize that my shield just died and to hop into my mech’, but I agree: seems like a completely-refilled shield (with the Recharger) would be better than a few seconds of immunity, but do post how they’re using these.

#3

prefer stop gap even if it isnt lvl1 , it let you actually survive a elements rocket and not die from dot immediately ?

#4

For Zane definitely stopgap. When used with clone it doubles its effects and is extremely useful for both Zane and the Clone. Then used with Distributed Denial it again multiples the effects. When Barrier falls off, it activates the Stopgap so this is an amazing thing for ASE builds if you use Distributed Denial.

For Fl4k I like re-chargers better.

#5

Wouldn’t the Recharger do this (and still leave you with quite a bit of shield left?

What’s this?

Do tell

How’s he using them?

#6

You get the effect when the clones shield breaks. Also the clone gets the effect of it.

I did tell in the orginal comment. :slight_smile: But, if you use Distributed Denial, every time Barrier expires, it activates the Stopgap. This means it’s a good buffer for using ASE builds and easily surviving until Barrier comes off cooldown.

For Fl4k I just like the last-stand and re-charger combo for insane survivability. Not doing anything special there.

#7

Oh weird… does the Recharger do the same thing (like refill your shield when his dies)… or anything the Clone is wearing (like Nova shields)?

Nice - when the Barrier breaks, you get immunity while you figure out, ‘oh crap, Barrier’s down and I just got slammed with a bunch of incoming fire’. Does it similarly proc other ‘on shield break’ triggers like Novas and whatnot?

#8

Never tested it with a re-charger tbh. Nova shields yes the clone activates it’s effects. A good shield to use for clone builds is Frozen Heart due to that.

Yeah so Barrier goes down, 5s immune. Once that ends and your shield gets broken 5s more. By then usually you have Barrier back pretty easily :D.

It works with some shields and not others. I don’t know specifically a lot more shields it does or does not work with. But for example it does work with Red Suits damage over time effect. It does weird things with Mendels Multi-vitamin giving the max hp bonus while it’s on the ground but not while picked up. It’s pretty fickle.

#9

I don’t know about OP, but I’ve got some new loadouts to try, thanks!

1 Like
#10

Recharger was my go-to with Amara for awhile but then I found a good Stop-Gap with a damage reduction boosters and a constant Novas while Phasegrasping Anointment that has carried me on her through Mayhem 3 and most of 4. I haven’t tried the Recharger on Fl4k yet, but on Zane and Moze they’re pretty good, though if you go Shields of Retribution for Moze, its usefulness falls off pretty fast. Stop-Gap seems to come out on top overall for Zane and I can see it working well for Fl4k.

Everyone falls back on the Transformer but its really only good for splash damage weapons in Shock for survivability. Granted you can pair it with the Alchemist for some really exceptional damage, especially on Amara.

I’m going to play through the DLC to get ahold of a Rico, it seems like it could have really good synergy at base with all the Vault Hunters, but probably even moreso with Zane if it works with Distributed Denial.

#11

This is my plan for my Rico, but I’m loathe to rebuild this Zane to put a point there (am hoping for an expansion that includes skill points). Do tell how it goes when you get this going.

#12

been using stop gap on flak ever since I first got one, then I also use a last stand artifact with it as well, so I basically have 2 immune phases. works really well, especially with healing rakk, pretty much never go down. if I do, it’s because I’m not paying attention and just going too aggro.

#13

Everyone seems to be under the misconception that Rico is somehow good. But, sadly it isn’t good at all. Reflected projectile bonuses does not mean you won’t take damage from the projectile. So you still get hit, it just reflects the damage back at the attacker as well. The thing about that is, the damage is almost always tiny and insignificant and definitely not worth giving up bonuses from any other shield you might be using instead.

The one niche I can imagine it having is with Distributed Denial and Seein Dead + Good Misfortune for free Action Skill uptime. Beyond that, it’s neigh useless imo.

#14

Stacking immunity charges with a Last Stand is good, though I prefer the rechrge because it gives you full shield back on break, and I don’t feel the need to carry two Last Stands.

#15

I would say the stop gap is better because being immune to damage always better than more shields/ health. It also scales infinitely (which is why people get so much use out of a lvl 1 version).

#16

Moze player here.

I think the stop gap is better because if usually when the recharger recharges itself, the shield is knocked back down almost immediately. The extra 5 seconds of immunity give you a chance to jump into Iron Bear / throw some grenades to get health back

#17

stop gap remain untouchable for 5sec , so it block more damage imo?

#18

Yeah, it seems to come down to what fits the circumstances best for the character, build, situation and tactics: 5 seconds of immunity or a completely refilled shield. Of course there’s only one answer, so I’m sure we’ll find the singular answer here shortly. :wink:

#19

I am an outlier here, but I use an anointed backham. My clone and I stay well alive. Tried stopgap but backham seems to fit my build best. Re-charger on my Fl4k.