Just going to post I what I put on reddit.
I’ve been working on a melee build good enough for the guardian takedown, and this was the result. Here is the gear and build overview;
GEAR (Guns):
(Slot 1) Trick Unforgiven (Phaseslam 200% Melee Damage): Best for taking advantage of Groundbreaker. Having this out while slamming with the Spark Plug and the element beam from Downfall can land critical hits naturally. This in turn can make your melee damage increase to ridiculous amounts. A COV Pistol with the 120% Melee attachment won’t be as strong (no critswap) but can still be very affective.
(Slot 2) Facepuncher (Phaseslam 300% Weapon): Great addition to any melee build, as some target cannot be simply punched. Gets both boosts from Melee and specific Gun/Weapon damage bonuses. Bullets are considered Melee damage, and so it can work with a variety of melee artifacts that Amara can take full advantage of.
(Slot 3) Zhev’s Eruption (75% Weapon Status Affect Damage): I recommend 300% Phaseslam Anointment, as the debuffs from the reload animation get boosted by this anointment. The reload animation can be cancelled with either grenade throws, slams, or even melee. These debuffs can stack, making your attacks even more deadly. Caution is advised when using this with Blitz, as it will cause Amara to leap into the debuff darts from the reload, downing her instantly.
(Slot 4) Backburner (300% Phaseslam Weapon Damage). This can be whatever you’d like, but I enjoy using this for certain bosses in case I run low on Shotgun ammo. Great for clutch heals with sustainment.
(Shield) Brawler Ward (ASE 50% Shock): This was one with 180% Melee Damage, but 300% Melee is recommended. Works best with Amara, as it can boost melee damage to great amounts. 200% Phaseslam Anointment can work as well, but the element anoint works very well with the Facepuncher and Spark Plug.
(Grenades) Shock Recurring Hex (ASE 50% Corrosive): Very good for heals during Phaseslam, especially with downfall. This can be both a blessing and a curse. This is due to how it can proc dot on yourself that can get you downed, but it can also get your cooldown back when using a golden rule.
(Class Mod) Golden Rule: Best classmod for Phaseslam, as it can reduce your cooldown depending on how many DOTs you incur on yourself. 1 DOT can cut your cooldown in half, 2 DOTS will make it even shorter, and so on and so forth. Rolls on mine are 3/3 to Laid Bare and 2/3 for Mindfullness, which is very recommended. White text is just elemental resistances and Melee damage, but the best rolls on white text would be Action Skill Cooldown Rate, Action Skill damage, Melee Damage, and Splash Damage.
(Artifact) Spark Plug Static Charge: Very good artifact for keeping Amara alive during Phaseslam and Meleeing, and can absolutely meme certain bosses like Scourge. Elemental stones work just as well if you do not want to spam slam like a madman and just want to do straight melee or just Facepuncher shenannigans (i.e bossing like Wotan). White elephants are also viable.
Skill Trees: BRAWL TREE (In the video, I had 3/3 into personal space in order to proc Groundbreaker with Backburner. This is not as eefective as simply using the Facepuncher, which is a gun that doesn’t beneifit from this. These points can be moved elsewhere, and these are my recommendations); 2/5 Roots to Rise and 3/5 Clarity OR 5/5 Clarity OR 5/5 Roots to Rise: Taking advantage of Healthgate is top priority, and so having good health and healing abilities will be essential. 3/3 Samsara: Doing damage with our action skills can give both gun damage with our Facepuncher and better healing capabilities overall. 4/5 Arms Deal: Improves Amara’s tankiness and increases splash damage. This applies to slams, launchers, and white elephant artifacts. 4/5 Helping Hands: Damage reduction on a melee build is a must. 1/1 Find Your Center: Increases melee damage and melee range. Great for both meleeing and Facepuncher. 3/5 One with Nature: More health and element resistance to action skill element is very benficial. When attuned to fire, this makes Amara very hard to take down when shields are down. 4/5 Jab Cross: This procs with both Slams and Melee, giving some gun damage and greatly boosts Action Skill Damage. 1/1 Guardian Angel: 1 point wonder. Makes Amara even harder to take down. Must have for many Amara Builds. 1/1 Blitz: More Melee damage. Makes quick work of enemies when Groundbreaker is active.
FISTS OF THE ELEMENTS: 4/5 Anima: Great for DOTs incurred, and can help reduce cooldown when they are applied on Amara with the Golden Rule. 3/3 Steady Hands: Helps Facepuncher accuracy. 4/5 Infusion: Gives Facepuncher the ability to apply attuned melee elemental damage, and lets it proc sustainment. 1/1 Illuminated Fists: Melee does elemental damage of action skill element, and can be applied to Facepuncher with Infusion 4/5 Tempest: Multiplicative boost to Amara’s Damage overall. Applies to Amara’s guns, melee, grenades, and slam/slide artifacts. 4/5 Wildfire: Without indiscriminate, this is the next best thing, as helps proccs DOT from both slams, weapons, and action skills. 1/5 Sustainment: Only 1 point is needed, as M10 weapon damage is high enough. Melee and grenades can also activate this.
MYSTICAL ASSAULT: 3/3 Fast Hands: Being able to switch to the right weapon for hmthe right occasion is always welcomed. Fast reloads are nice, but may hurt Zhev’s Eruption’s effectiveness. 2/5 Do Harm: Nice boosts to Action Skill damage, but Phaseslam is generally strong enough to carry itself. 1/5 Violent Tapestry: Only 1 point is needed to build Rush Stacks. 3/3 Transcend: Accuracy is nice, Crit damage boosts spark plug damage and even melee if one were to punch a crit spot (Facepuncher can benefit from this with white elephants, or even static charge and the right crit weapons parts but I could be wrong. Further testing is needed. Can stack twice. 1/5 Alacrity: Makes Facepuncher more efficient, but hurts Zhev’s Eruption even more. could move to Restless. 1/1 Ascendent: Boosts Action Skill Augements to great amounts.
GENERAL PLAYSTYLE MOBBING: (Downfall+Allure): Can pull aggro into your sparkplug as you levitate, creating a potential crit boosted, groundbreaker sitatuation. Easily stacks Samsara. Can be risky, but very fun playstyle IMO. Very long cooldown, but can be shortened with a well placed grenade. Works well in Slaughter Shaft, general mobbing areas and even in certain parts of both current Takedowns.
(Phaseslam/Fracture+Glamour/Soul Sap): Generally the safest playstyle. Doesn’t get the crazy crit potential from Downfall but can still get good Groundbreaker bonus. Fracture is the weakest version of Phaseslam, but the fastest cooldown. Glamour is godsend in Guardian Takedown.
BOSSING: (Phaseslam/Fracture+Glamour/Soul Sap): See above
M10 Modifiers: [EASY] Speed Demon (Great Movement Speed) [MEDIUM] Floor is Lava (NGL, kinda annoying, but can proc Golden Rule cooldown) [HARD] Chain Gang (See above) [VERY HARD] Not the Face (Laughs in Unforgiven/Melee)
Hope y’all enjoy!