Need Verificarion on this Flak Rakk Build

Borderlands 3 FL4K the Beastmaster
#1

Disclaimer: I’m a noob Flak player. I main Moze btw.

So I’d been following some Flak builds in Youtube just to have an idea of what’s viable and possible.

My benchmark is solo true Maliwan takedown at M10. I had good success wirh Gypsy’s old lvl 57 Gamma flak build. Now at 65 I have incorporated Moxxy’s Gamma flak build with similar success. Success here means I completed takedown without sweating and swearing a lot.

I also tried a Rakk Peregrine Melee build. It’s awesome but I feel it’s a little bit cheesy wirh Fish Slap. Someone gave me a lvl 65 Fish Slap and it’s even more awesome but I feel that’s modded (big no for me)

So I found this other Flak Rakk buikd that promises ease of use and weapon variety. I got most of the stuff here minus the Frozen Heart: https://youtu.be/orN-LXLAvAw

Some things I don’t understand:

  • the creator claims this a tanky build with stop gap. Right at the first phase my Flak already goes down A LOT. There’s a gap within Stop Gap activation that makes Flak vulnerable.

  • Killing the first three guards takes two mags of Rad x3.Starved Beast or 1.5 mag of Rad Flipper both with 100% weapon dmg anoint. That’s way way slow compare to my Moze and Flak Gamma

  • If you read the comments there’s some people echoing the same thing.

  • On the pro side, doing main story is easy with this build but I don’t care about that.

So my question is what am i missing or this build is just pure BS and were craftily edited to make it look good. I don’t buy in the claim that every YT build is bad. Moxxy’s and Gypsy’s Flak worked for me.

#2

Hello friend, I will try to help as best as possible here. I have watched the video you posted so I can have a better understanding on what troubles may arise and to help as best as I can. I too run a similar Fl4k build from time to time and I have similar to equal results from that video.

For starters, the damage you inflict has many variables. Proper anointment, passives on gear, and Mayhem Modifiers will affect damage. Please check if any of these are affecting your output.

For anoints, I recommend ASE Weapon 100% or Splash 200% for the most part. As he said in video, Consec Hits for multi pellet high fire rate guns, like Monarch, works wonders. Have your grenade have ASE elemental anoint for more damage output. Try to get passive rolls that increase damage/dps as that would help as well. Try to roll for modifiers that aren’t to harmful for your damage. I saw that he runs Holy Crit which is very good if you can properly land crit shots but not so good with non crit spots or even splash damage most of the time.

Although he said that you are going to be spamming Rakks, there is a time interval when using with Stop Gap Action Skill Start anoint. You can’t really spam Rakks when you want with Stop Gap as the immunity phase doesn’t carry over or reset. So you can’t use Rakks when you are already immune. Wait until immunity is over then use Rakks. There are visual cues around the perimeter of your screen when it shows you are immune. Alternatively, use Rakks whenever you see yourself take damage. Whichever method works best for you. The main threats are, like he mentioned, being unaware of your surroundings (barrels, etc) and Launcher type enemies.

Not sure if I covered most bases, but hope this helps some way.

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#3

I haven’t heard great things about the particular YTer you got the build from. I definitely suggest
sticking with the guidelines laid out by Ratore and Pleni in the google doc.

As has been mentioned, you don’t spam Rakk with a stop gap. You need to cast it every 5 seconds to maintain immunity.

Also for anoints, 100 ASE isn’t that great anymore. N2M, URad, splash, or CH if need be are your best bets.

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#4

Well let’s just say I got most of the gear and proper anoints. He was usinf 125% anoint so it’s even weaker than my 100% ase on normal mobs.

I have been trying not to spam Rakks/Stop Gap but it’s really a big surprise that Flak goes down a lot with this build. TANKY is not the word I would use (which the YT author did).

My com has same skills with %crit weapon, weapon dmg, action skill cooldown rate.

Main Guns:

  • Hellwalker
  • Starved Beast x3
  • Flipper
  • Plague Bearer (I would say this is the only gun that makes him viable in this build)
  • Stop Gap ASS
  • Cloning Hunter Seeker
  • Pearl
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#5

Ok good to know. My initial try with this build was with CH build but I was too distracted by Flak’s fragileness and going ffyl a lot. I guess the YT authors promise of tankiness gave me the false impression of what to expect.

#6

I checked the guide but it shows 100% anointment is fine. I got most of the gear there for a Rakk build.

#7

For a Blood Starved Beast or Flipper though, you have a large enough mag size to sustain N2M, and splash is a way bigger damage increase for Flipper than ASE 100. It’s not a bad choice, but for those particular weapons you have better choices.

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#8

I looked at the other video you shared and again the guide, so it looks like with Rakks, best approach is go splash. It feels like I’m back to Moze lol

#9

Splash is this game’s slag, it just makes so many things so much better if you can utilize it.

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#10

Yea, as Boom mentioned, certain guns perform better with certain anoints.

I wouldn’t say its “tanky” but if you get the timing down pack, you can survive most if not all things thrown at you.

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#11

I guess if it was worded as “you need to time things to survive” instead of being “tanky” that would lessen the confusion. I consider tank like a beefed up Iron Bear hp

#12

I suppose. I too have a different concept of tanky but this build isn’t far off. Frozen Heart is great for mobbing. It does it all. Would recommend nabbing one if possible.