FL4K is a playable Vault Hunter and known as the Beastmaster class in Borderlands 3. This robotic leader lives for the hunt and is accompanied by loyal beasts who are eager to please them and follow their master’s every command. This robotic leader of the pack has access to both an Action Skill and an autonomous Pet that fights by their side and obeys commands to pounce on specific targets. Their preferred prey? Unsuspecting bandits, those poor suckers.
An emergent AI driven by an ongoing quest for self-discovery, FL4K wanders from world to world accompanied by beasts. While they feel a connection with the primal wisdom of animals, the social construct of humans is strange to them. On their endless hunt, FL4K’s loyal Skag, Spiderant, and Jabber companions help them track and claim their quarry, be it human, Vault Monster, or anything in between.
FL4K is a wandering robot who always brings one of their three loyal pets into battle to buff stats and attack enemies. Their action skills let them send forth dive-bombing Rakk, teleport Gamma Burst-irradiated pets through rifts, and even Fade Away to temporarily become invisible while moving faster and regenerating health.
Action Skills
FL4K’s Action Skills are Fade Away, Gamma Burst, Rakk Attack, and Gravity Snare. They can augment the mechanics of their Action Skills in their Skill Trees.
Fade Away
FL4K cloaks, turning invisible. FL4K can fire 3 shots while cloaked, and each shot is automatically a Critical Hit. While cloaked, FL4K has increased Movement Speed and Health Regeneration.
Duration: 15 Seconds Cooldown: 45 Seconds Move Speed: +25% Max-Health Regen: +3% per Second Critical Hit Damage: +200%
Gamma Burst
FL4K creates a Rift at a target location, teleporting their pet through the Rift and dealing Radiation Damage to nearby enemies. Additionally, FL4K’s pet becomes irradiated, growing in size and dealing bonus Radiation Damage when it attacks. Using Gamma Burst while FL4K’s Pet is downed or dead will revive the pet at the targeted location with 30% of its health, but will double Action Skill Cooldown Time.
Duration: 20 Seconds Cooldown: 30 Seconds
Rakk Attack
FL4K sends forward 2 Rakk to dive-bomb enemies. This skill has multiple charges.
Cooldown: 18 Seconds Skill Charges: 2
Gravity Snare
FL4K tosses out a Trap that Knocks Up and temporarily Stuns nearby enemies. After deployed, the Trap periodically continues to Knock Up and Stun enemies for the duration. While standing near the Trap, you can pick it up and end the action skill early which will refund a portion of the remaining duration.
FL4K can equip one Action Skill and one Companion by his side. There is one of each at the top of each Skill Tree, and additional Pets and Action Skill augments on the sides of each Skill Tree are unlocked as you level up.
Green Skill Tree: Stalker
FL4K Stalker Skill Tree – Borderlands 3
Action Skill: Fade Away Pet: Jabber Sidekick
Evasion and resilience are the hallmarks of the Stalker skill tree. If FL4K is ever in a bind, using the Fade Away Action Skill will facilitate a quick getaway by instantly cloaking them and affording them increased movement speed and health regeneration. Once FL4K maneuvers into a better position, they can fire off three shots that are guaranteed critical hits, completely turning the tide in a tough fight. Your furry Jabber Pet provides bonus movement speed, and even has its own adorable little gun to fill your enemies with lead.
You’ll find plenty of ways to up your survivability in the Stalker skill tree; maybe you’ll opt to simply increase FL4K’s maximum health, or choose a passive skill that shares FL4K’s health regeneration with allies and doubles the bonus for their Pet. Staying healthy is a major part of maximizing your effectiveness with the Stalker skill tree, which includes such life-saving skill as:
Lick the Wounds lets your Pet attempt to revive you whenever you’re downed in the Fight For Your Life state. You’ll appreciate your Pet that much more after they pull off a clutch revive during a heated firefight, and it’s a great option for staying alive in solo play.
The Fast and the Furryous gives FL4K increased gun damage and movement speed whenever they’re above half health. It sounds simple, but trying to preserve your health and maintain your buffs becomes a metagame in and of itself.
The Power Inside makes FL4K and their Pet gain increased damage after FL4K activates an Action Skill—but if FL4K is at full health, that damage increase is doubled. Triggering that doubled bonus is easy to do before a fight, but good luck pulling it off once you’re in the thick of all the ensuing chaos.
Increase your odds of survival even further with Action Skill Augments, like gaining damage reduction after Fade Away ends, or giving your Pet the ability to taunt enemies to grab their attention. Your choice of delightfully coiffed Jabber evolutions will change their gun of choice, along with adding maximum health or critical hit damage buffs on top of the increased movement speed. You’ll be damn difficult to take down when specializing in the Stalker skill tree, giving FL4K and their Pet plenty of ways to outlive their prey.
Blue Skill Tree: Master
FL4K Master Skill Tree – Borderlands 3
Action Skill: Gamma Burst Pet: Guard Skag
Establish your dominance over the battlefield with the Master skill tree. Bend reality in your favor using the Gamma Burst Action Skill, which creates a rift that instantly teleports your Pet to a target location with a burst of radiation damage. In a pinch, you can also use Gamma Burst as a quick revive when FL4K’s Pet is downed or dead at the cost of increasing your Action Skill cooldown timer. Your Skag Pet buffs your damage and will ravage enemies with vicious bites and projectile vomit. Good boy!
The Master skill tree offers plenty of ways to increase your Pet’s damage output, like a passive skill that causes their first melee attack against an enemy to be an automatic critical hit. Beyond providing cover fire, FL4K can directly aid their Pet through skills like:
Who Rescued Who? strengthens the symbiotic bond between FL4K and their Pet. Whenever their Pet deals damage, FL4K regenerates some health, and whenever FL4K deals damage, their Pet will be healed for a portion of the damage dealt.
Psycho Head on a Stick, which sounds like a fantastic chew toy, is a Hunter Kill Skill that buffs FL4K’s Pet with increased movement speed and damage for a few seconds whenever FL4K kills an enemy.
Dominance emphasizes the ‘master’ in Beastmaster. This new melee attack lets FL4K convert an enemy to their side for a short time, with doubled duration if your dominated target is a beast. Dominance is also a means for dealing damage to your temporary ally: your target loses health until the effect ends or they die fighting for your cause.
FL4K can improve the utility of their Gamma Burst by giving their Pet a radiation aura on activation or providing health regeneration whenever FL4K and their allies are near the rift. The Skag Pet evolutions can give FL4K increased gun damage or fire rate, along with teaching the Skag some destructive new tricks you won’t see at any dog show. Power up your Pet to the fullest with the Master skill tree, then fight alongside your beast as they dutifully do your bidding.
Hit your enemies precisely where it hurts with the Hunter skill tree. When FL4K deploys the Rakk Attack! Action Skill, which has multiple charges, Rakk will soar into the air and swoop down to divebomb nearby enemies. While your Rakk are doing work, FL4K can sic the Spiderant Pet onto their prey, which attacks with globs of acidic goo, spinning charge attacks, and strikes from their pincer and prosthetic drill arm. As an added bonus, FL4K constantly regenerates health while the Spiderant is out.
Critical hits are crucial to the Hunter skill tree, with plenty of passive skills that reward you for hitting your quarry’s weak points. You may get a chance to restore ammo to your magazine after a critical hit, or potentially reduce your Action Skill cooldown. Other options provide boosts to your Hunter Skills – a special type of skill found in all of FL4K’s skill trees. Here are some other helpful picks from the Hunter skill tree:
Ambush Predator is perfect for snipers who prefer to fight from afar: while there are no enemies nearby, FL4K’s weapon handling and critical hit damage are increased.
The Most Dangerous Game is a Hunter Kill Skill that literally pays dividends if you go after tougher targets. Whenever FL4K kills a Badass or stronger enemy, they gain increased critical hit damage, gun damage, and handling for an extended period. Additionally, they receive a cash reward from the Intergalactic Bureau of Bounty Hunting, which clearly recognizes that FL4K deserves a tip for their hard work.
Megavore is a game-changer, giving FL4K a chance to score a critical hit with weapons against any part of enemies. Even if you miss a headshot here and there, Megavore can make a bullet to the butt just as lethal as one to the brain.
Action Skill Augments in the Hunter skill tree give you more ways to wreak Rakk havoc, like adding extra Rakk to the pack or making them deal cryo damage. Meanwhile, you can evolve your Spiderant Pet to deal incendiary or corrosive damage and provide buffs on top of the baseline health regeneration. If you love to carefully line up your shots from a safe distance and execute your target with a few critical hits, the Hunter skill tree plays to your sniping prowess.
Purple Skill Tree: Trapper
FL4K’s Trapper Skill Tree – Borderlands 3
Action Skill: Gravity Snare Pet: ION Loader
Take control of the battlefield and your companion with the Trapper Skill Tree. FL4K’s Gravity Snare is the ultimate crowd control ability as it can trap enemies and lift them up in the air.
FL4K’s new companion is a small Hyperion ION Loader bot who is armed with a Shock Sniper Rifle and Homing Shock Orbs that can be shot to trigger a Shock Nova. While accompanied by the ION Loader, FL4K gains increased Elemental Damage Resistance. FL4K can initiate an Attack Command, which causes the ION Loader to fire a powerful Eye Laser at the enemy.
The ION Loader can be upgraded to a BUL Loader that is armed with a shotgun and increases FL4K’s Shields, or a WAR Loader that is armed with an Incendiary Shotgun and Grenades and increases FL4K’s Fire Rate.
Lethal Force Authorized: Whenever FL4K’s Loader Bot goes into Fight For Your Life, it turns into an EXP Loader instead and seeks out a nearby enemy before self-destructing.
Blind with Anger: FL4K’s Trap no longer Knocks Up or Stuns enemies. Instead, the Trap confuses nearby enemies, causing them to attack their allies for a short time.
Capacitance: Whenever FL4K activates their Action Skill their Shield is recharged and strengthened.
Notes
Passive Bonuses:
Splash Damage and Grenade Damage bonuses are great for Rakk Attack.
Increased Radiation Damage is great when you use Gamma Burst.
Any weapon damage buffs are great for Fade Away.
Increased Fire Rate and Magazine Size are useful while using Guerillas in the Mist.
Shield: FL4K is the Glass Cannon character, use weapons or shield components to keep you in the fight. Hyperion Shields will often do the trick.
Trivia
Early fan theories speculated that FL4K could be Loaderbot from Tales from the Borderlands but Randy Varnell confirmed that isn’t the case during an interview with IGN.
The canisters strapped across FL4K’s chest aren’t grenades and contain food for the pets.
