FL4K is one of four characters that you can pick in Borderlands 3. He is the beastmaster and relies on his pets to help him in combat. In this Borderlands 3 FL4K build guide, we are going to go over the best builds for this character. In doing so, we are also going to cover the different levels of the character and his abilities.
FL4K is an AI who is searching for the reason for his existence. He can be called a hunter class in the game but he is officially called the beastmaster because he can choose from three different pets to assist him in combat.
The different pets have different abilities and you can command them to attack enemies. You can only pick a single one to be alongside you at a time. When playing as FL4K, you can create a build to make your pet a supporting character or you can build completely around your pet.
Borderlands 3 FL4K Build
One of the interesting ways to play FL4K is to ensure that your pet does the most damage possible and applies negative status effects on the enemies. In this build guide, we are going to mix and match skills from the Master skill tree and the Stalker skill tree.
The following is the build that we recommend for FL4K in Borderlands 3:
| Ability / Skill Tree | Skill Type |
| Gamma Burst [Master] | Action Skill |
| Great Horned Skag or Eridian Skag [Master] | Pet |
| Atomic Aroma [Master] | Action Skill Augment |
| Endurance [Master] | Action Skill Augment |
| Ferocity [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Persistence Hunter [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Go for the Eyes! [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Who Rescued Who? [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Frenzy [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Psycho Head on a Stick [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Mutated Defenses [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Pack Tactics [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Dominance [Master] | Passive Ability |
| Self-Repairing System [Stalker] | Passive Ability |
| Eager to Impress [Stalker] | Passive Ability |
| Lick the Wounds [Stalker] | Passive Ability |
Master Skill Tree
The following is the build that we recommend when playing as FL4K in Borderlands 3:
Action Skill And Pet
This skill tree has two action skills that FL4K can use. You can select an actual ability and a pet. This combination can come from different trees so you can mix and match. The following are the skills and pet that are available:
| Skill / Pet | Action Skill Effects |
| Gamma Burst | Creates Rift where you aim at by teleporting your pet there. The Pet will deal radiation damage to all nearby enemies when he appears. Pet is also irradiated and does radiation damage in subsequent attacks. |
| Guard Skag | Call a Skag pet that attacks enemies and spits acid. It also increases your damage by 5% when playing as FL4K. |
Action Skill Augments
Augments can be used to improve your action skills. In this case, the Gamma Burst. The following are the ones that we recommend for this FL4K build:
| Requirements (Points) | Augment Name | Augment effects |
| 5 | Atomic Aroma | Pet surrounds itself in a radiation aura that deals damage to all nearby enemies. |
| 10 | Empathic Rage | Damage bonus of 20% while Game Burst is active. |
| 15 | Endurance | Killing an enemy yourself or with your pet grants 10% attack boost for the pet and increases the duration of the Gama Burst by an additional 3 seconds. This can be stacked 4 times up to 50% attack boost and 15 seconds of Gama Burst duration. |
| 20 | Burst Aid | Rift will remain visible when Gamma Burst is activated. Standing close to it will heal you 20% per second. |
Upgraded Pet
After you unlock a better pet, you can replace the Guard Skag. The two options that you need to choose from are increased damage or a better firing rate.
| Requirements (Points) | Pet Name | Pet Features |
| 10 | Great Horned Skag | Can charge enemies and throw them in the air. FL4K gains 10% weapon damage bonus. |
| 15 | Eridian Skag | Pulls enemies. Fl4k gets a 5% rate of fire bonus. |
Passive Abilities
The passive skills that you can unlock when playing as FL4K in Borderlands 3 are as follows:
| Requirements | Skill Name | Passive Skill Effect |
| 0 points | Ferocity | Pet does increased damage. 10% increase for each level unlocked. |
| 0 points | Persistence Hunter | FL4K weapon damage boost. Action Skill time increases by 15% per level. |
| 0 points | Go for the Eyes! | First close-combat pet attack will be a critical hit for sure. |
| 5 points | Who Rescued Who? | FL4K gains health regen for a short duration when the pet damages an enemy. Pet will regain health when FL4K damages an enemy. |
| 5 points | He Bites! | 5% damage per level dealt to pet by the enemy is reflected to the enemy. |
| 5 points | Frenzy | When pet deals damage the pet and FL4K gain the Frenzy status. This increases the strength of attacks. |
| 10 points | Psycho Head on a Stick | Every time FL4K kills an opponent, the pet gets a movement speed and damage boost for 8 seconds. |
| 10 points | Hive Mind | When Fl4k gets damaged some of it is shared with the pet. |
| 15 points | Barbaric Yawp | All bonuses granted to the pet are increased. |
| 15 points | Mutated Defenses | When the HP of the pet is low, it will receive less damage and will regen health. This skill takes a very long time to cool down. |
| 20 points | Pack Tactics | FL4K get increased damage and health boost. |
| 20 points | Shared Spirit | When Fl4k’s HP is low, substantial damage is reflected to the pet. |
| 25 points | Dominance | FL4K’s melee converts the enemy into an ally for a short duration of time. The duration is doubled if the converted enemy is a beast. The converted unit will take damage until it id dead. |
Stalker Skill Tree
Next, we have the Stalker skill tree. The following is what you need to know about it.
Action Skill And Pet
FL4K has two action skills in the same tree. You can select an actual ability and a pet. This combination can come from different trees so you can mix and match. The following are the skill and pet that are available:
| Skill Name / Pet Name | Action Skill Effects |
| Fade Away | You have the ability to go invisible. You can launch 3 missiles and these will deal 200% bonus damage. |
| Jabber Sidekick | Summon a Jabber pet that can attack opponents with a gun and can throw irradiated barrels. It also provides FL4K with a 50% movement speed bonus. |
Action Skill Augments
Augments can be used to improve your action skills. In this case, the Fade Away skill. The following are the ones that we recommend for this FL4K build:
| Requirements (Points) | Augment Name | Augment effects |
| 5 | Guerrillas in the Mist | Invisibility will not end after three attacks. Critical hit strike does decrease and Fade Away time decreases to 8 seconds. |
| 10 | Not My Circus | When Fade Away wears off, the pet will attract nearby enemies. The damage that it receives will decrease dramatically while it is attracting enemies to itself. |
| 15 | Until You Are Dead | The Fade Away health regen and movement speed buff continues for 10 seconds even after the effect wears off. |
| 20 | Unblinking Eye | Hitting the same target will increase critical hits by 75%. This ability will reset after 3 hits. |
Upgraded Pet
After you unlock a better pet, you can place it in the same slot as the Jabber Sidekick. The two options that you need to choose between are a combination of rifle and melee weapon or SMG and rocket launcher.
| Requirements (Points) | Pet Name | Pet Features |
| 10 | Beefcake Jabber | This pet has a shotgun rather than a pistol. It also can use a melee weapon that knocks enemies back. FL4K gains an HP boost of 10%. |
| 15 | Gunslinger Jabber | This pet uses an SMG rather than a pistol. The pet is able to use a rocket launcher when you activate the action skill. FL4K will get a 5% increase in critical damage. |
Passive Abilities
The following are the passive skills that are available to FL4K as part of this skill tree in Borderlands 3:
| Requirements (Points) | Skill Name | Passive Skill Effect and Comment |
| 0 | Self-Repairing System | Max HP increase of 6% per level. HP will regen itself slowly. |
| 0 | Sic ‘Em | You can command the enemy to attack more often. Pet also does increased damage. |
| 0 | Furious Attack | Get Furious Attack status after shooting a target. This improves weapon handling and gives a damage bonus. |
| 5 | Eager to Impress | Every time you kill someone, the cooldown of the action skill is going to reduce. Pet attacks can have the same effect. |
| 5 | All My BFF’s | Your team can to a certain extent heal with Fl4k. Pet gets double HP regen. |
| 5 | Overclocked | Gain increased fire rate after reloading. |
| 10 | Lick the Wounds | Then you are down and in Fight For Your Life mode, your pet will try to revive you. |
| 10 | Turn Tail and Run | HP regens continuously when moving. Incoming damage is also reduced. Gain increased damage and fire rate when not moving. |
| 15 | The Fast and the Furryous | When HP (not shield) is more than half, you get increased damage and movement speed bonus. |
| 15 | Hidden Machine | Deal increased damage when the enemy does not have a target or changes targets. |
| 20 | Rage and Recover | FL4K and pet regen HP for a short duration after killing a target. |
| 25 | The Power Inside | When action skill is active, both FL4K and pet will get increased damage bonus. Damage will be 2x if FL4K’s HP is full. |
Hunter Skill Tree
This skill tree is not part of our recommended Borderlands 4 FL4K build that we have mentioned above but it is available and hence worth looking into. The following is our recommendation for this skill tree.
Action Skill And Pet
FL4K has two action skills in the same tree. You can select an actual ability and a pet. This combination can come from different trees so you can mix and match. The following are the skill and pet that are available:
| Skill Name / Pet Name | Action Skill Effects |
| Rakk Attack! | Two flying Rakks bomb opponents and deal fire. The skill has two stacks which allows you to use it again. |
| Spiderant Centurion | This beast attacks enemies and charges at them. Also regens FL4Ks HP by 1% each second. |
Action Skill Augments
Augments can be used to improve your action skills. In this case, the Rakk Attack! skill. The following are the ones that we recommend for this FL4K build:
| Requirements (Points) | Augment Name | Augment Efects |
| 5 | Rakk Open a Cold One | Flying Rakks can freeze targets with cold damage. |
| 10 | Falconer’s Feast | Attacks by Rakks recover up to 7% of FL4K’s HP. |
| 15 | Flack ‘N Load | Adds 2 Rakks. The game lets you have a max of 4. |
| 20 | Rakkcelerate | Active skill cools down 20% faster and you gain 1 extra stack, allowing you to summon 3 Rakk groups. |
Upgraded Pet
Once you have unlocked a better pet, you can place it in the same slot as the Spiderant Centurion. The Scorcher is more offensive while the Countess is defensive.
| Requirements (Points) | Pet Name | Pet Features |
| 10 | Spiderant Scorcher | Deal more fire damage. FL4K gains 10% increased elemental damage. |
| 15 | Spiderant Countess | Spiderant dig into the ground and do corrosive damage rather than charging at enemies. FL4K gets a 5% reduction in damage. |
Passive Abilities
The following are the passive abilities that FL4K has access to as part of this skill tree:
| Requirements (Points) | Skill Name | Passive Skill Effect |
| 0 | Interplanetary Stalker | Gain bonus damage for each enemy you kill. Can stack up to 3 times. |
| 0 | Leave No Trace | Get a chance of gaining an extra bullet in your mag after dealing a critical hit. |
| 0 | Second Intention | Gain reload speed bonus when killing an enemy. This bonus is 2x if it was a critical hit. |
| 5 | Hunter’s Eye | When fighting against different types of enemies, gain reduced damage, critical hit and armor bonus. |
| 5 | Head Count | 10% chance of reducing action skill cooldown when dealing critical hits. |
| 5 | Ambush Predator | Get a critical hit and weapon handling bonus when there are no targets nearby. |
| 10 | Two F4ng | 5% chance of firing an extra bullet. |
| 15 | Big Game | Skills from the Hunter category become much more effective and last up to 1/3 longer. |
| 15 | The Most Dangerous Game | Killing challenging enemies rewards you with critical hit, weapon handling and weapon damage bonuses. |
| 20 | Galactic Shadow | Enemies will attack FL4K less often and he gains a 15% critical hit bonus. |
| 20 | Grim Harvest | Weapon damage and action skill damage buff. |
| 25 | Megavore | 20% chance to land a critical hit with a weapon. |
That is all for our Borderlands 3 FL4K Build guide. If you are interested in learning more about the game then you can check out our tips and tricks guide that will help you get started.
