St4ckbot viability

Borderlands 3 FL4K the Beastmaster
#1

Does Jakobs ricochet still reset the stacks? (Ive seen the bug megathread but most concerns were about DoTs)
I ONLY play w snipers and although I know you can “fast stack” with faster and multipellets guns, its kinda annoying (and counter intuitive if true) to build stacks just for them to reset in a few sniper shots. I want to try this because the class mod can create a really engaging mechanic for the sniper gameplay.

#2

I’m not sure, @NotQuag would likely be the best person to ask.

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#3

Oh I see… Thank you!
hope the person replies lol

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#4

I know that the extra elements from ASE anointments do reset the stacking effect of the Stackbot. That’s the biggest one to watch out for. Keep the ASEs off your shield, weapon, and grenade. There are a lot other things that reset it too, but as far as I know, the Stackbot works just fine with Jakobs ricochets and Jakobs is one of the best manufacturer gimmicks to use with the Stackbot IMO.

But I am no expert on it for sure. I am sure someone more knowledgable than me will chime in here.

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#5

Thanks! You did give a nice advice, since I was also thinking about the anointments and given how the ASE situation was one of the most controversial about the St4ckbot, its good to know that they dont pair well together.

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#6

I know you didn’t ask about melee interactions with the Stackbot, but the Stackbot on Fl4k probably works best to apply the Face Puncher special effect (shoot your melee). ASE melee comes on shield, grenade, and weapon anoints IIRC, so you can really stack it up. Plus you can get melee on COMs and artifacts too. Stack all those up and use a White Elephant and you should be good with any type of build, but especially a Fade Away build. The Stackbot gets insane for FP abuse. In my experience, that’s about all the Stackbot is good for - Face-Punchering. It can be used for other purposes, sure, but it generally is outclassed by the Cosmic Stalker and Bounty Hunter for those same purposes in most cases. But YMMV.

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#7

Got it…
I knew it helped but I didn’t know that it was the best use for the st4ckbot
(But I only use snipers so the face puncher will never be used LOL)

Did the white elephant nerf only really hurt Amara?

#8

I don’t really even think it hurt Amara that much honestly, but I am very far from an Amara expert. The only thing that was “nerfed” was supposed to be Remnant getting melee and some other bonuses, which shouldn’t have been a thing, assuming it was (which I can only do given that they released a hotfix just to address it). Amara still has tons of melee damage, so she’s still great with the FP and WE combo.

FL4k is good with the Stackbot in non-Mayhem levels for sure. I only play Mayhem 10/11 so I am not sure whether the Stackbot works well on non-M10/11. Last time I tried it, the Stackbot is great with the Face-Puncher but not so great with some other weapons due to the way it works and resets on “non-crit” hits. The Stackbot is a mess of a COM frankly, although it does work fairly well against bosses in a GITM build.

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#9

Yep… They literally got the design right with Aurelia’s “I never miss” skill, which was a improvement over Zer0s “critical ascension”, but they didn’t want to limit the st4ckbot usage (since I never miss is much more tactical and limited) so we got a hot mess.

#10

@luka777torms I do agree that I Never Miss is a better implementation of the Critical Ascension concept. It still seems to me that the Critical Ascension skill (Stackbot in this case) should work more like Gaige’s Anarchy and Discord skills though. You hit a crit, you get +1 stacks, you miss a shot or hit a body shot, you lose a stack - the stack count should not reset entirely. There already are plenty of stack counters in BL3, no reason why the Stackbot couldn’t have done that. Although I am sure someone will tell me a reason why this wouldn’t work. This would be a huge QOL change for the Stackbot and might make it more useful in normal gameplay.

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#11

From Ratore’s testing

  1. Stackbot
    • Non-crits from a gun: resets it.
    • Non-crit splash from a gun (like OPQ’s spawned explosion): resets it, but if it crits it won’t. In the case of OPQ that’s only achievable through Megavore.
    • Grenades in general: don’t reset it. - Hunter Seeker: resets because it counts as a gun damage source.
    • Barrels: if the impact that hit them was a crit (Fade/Megavore proc), it won’t reset (will actually stack). If it wasn’t, it’ll reset. The barrel’s explosion does not reset the effect anymore.
    • Shield Novas and Stinger: don’t reset it.
    • Reflect shields: resets it.
    • Melee/Face-puncher: melee does not reset it. Face-puncher can’t reset or stack it (even if on Fade), but benefits from the gun damage increase.
    • Artifacts: don’t reset it. Includes Static Charge, White Elephant and all the others.
    • Going into FFYL: resets it.
    • Fast traveling: resets it if between zones, but not on the same zone.
    • Mayhem Modifiers: needs testing.

If the ricochets don’t crit they more than likely reset it, but @Ratore would know for certain.

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#12

Slightly off-topic, but can you share some tips on Sniper-only Fl4k? I recently started one, and still figuring out how to play in that way. For instance:

  • Which snipers work best for your play style
  • How do you deal with crowds that rush you or small rooms
  • Pet or no pet?
  • Do you use alternative fire mode on Vladof snipers?
  • Ammo management etc.
  • Relics/grenades/shields etc.
#13

Red Fang, Not My Circus and Dominance have some really great synergy with sniping. I don’t see any benefit from not utilizing the pet unless trying to use ST4CKBOT.

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#14

Snipers that work best for me: anything Jakobs, especially the Skullmasher and Unseen Threat. A Muckamuck works just fine if you are not doing Mayhem levels. Dahl snipers (Asp, Diamondback) also are really good on non-Mayhem levels. I personally don’t like Maliwan snipers, but the ASMD is really underrated as well. A lot of people also have forgotten about the Krakatoa.

Dealing with “close encounters” or tight quarters: Usually I pull out the Skullmasher, as it works kind of like a shotgun at close range and all those pellets have a chance to crit with Megavore. That said, I generally will run a main sniper or 2 snipers and a Jakobs shotgun for close encounters (Stagecoach, Hellwalker, Dakota, Garcia) but I will also sometimes run the Maggie for close encounters also, especially if I have Jakobs crit on my COM (which I usually do if I am sniping).

Pet: Yes, always. You need the aggro relief.

Alt mode on Vladofs: I do not use Vladof snipers as they seem to be too ammo-hungry and not quite powerful enough for my tastes.

Ammo management: I don’t typically run into ammo issues when I am sniping, but you definitely would have that problem with Vladof snipers. Get a Cutpurse Launch Pad or Rocket Boots and that will help. Or a Cutpurse Static Charge I guess would work too.

Gear: I like a double amp roll Big Boom Blaster, but shields that have absorb also work well for sniping. My sniping setup is a Gamma Burst Urad Deathless build, so I go Deathless with mag size, AOE, and either movement speed or radiation damage. Red Fang for your COM with as many points in He Bites as you can get. Use the Great Horned Skag as your pet and spec Barbaric Yawp and the damage boost is very noticeable IMO.

Just a few tips I have picked up.

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#15

One argument I’ve heard for ditching a pet is that then it is easier to sneak up on enemies and not aggro them until you get to a nice high point or something. @Adabiviak does this, I believe.

#16

I do. (I also wish there was an easier toggle for the pet instead of respeccing and not choosing one, but I get that this isn’t a popular meta). I rock the St4ckbot COM, but I’m also comfortable ditching all non-weapon, non-elemental sources of damage, and only firing from Fade Away to maintain a good stack. I’m not trying to get a zillion stacks to one-shot some boss, just using that meta to take the edge off so I can rotate in a fun COM or shield, so one’s definition of viability may vary here.

Mostly I enjoy the game mechanic of stacking damage like that.

If someone’s definition of viability is, “can I steamroll a Takedown at MM10 with a St4ckbot COM”, probably not. If someone’s definition of viability is, “does it add enough damage to make up for some weaker weapon being used for general mobbing”, yes.

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#17

Stupid question - ‘absorb’ adds ammo type of the gun you are holding or the one you’ve been shot with? :slight_smile:

#18

@CharmlessBee Hmmmm, I am not 100% on the answer to that question. I think it’s based on the weapon you’re shot with but I am not 100% on that. I view the shield absorb not as an ammo thing, but rather as a survivability thing, so I have never really paid too much attention to the type of ammo added.

#19

DUUUUDE Ive asked so many times for a stack counter… It would make things much clearer indeed

#20

I am aware of the testing, but unfortunately it doesnt address the thing directily :frowning:

OMG I wonder if one of the old Gods would reply to my thread :scream: