The best Rafa builds in Borderlands 4: Exo-Soldier guide

Saying Borderlands 4's Rafa is the most similar Vault Hunter to the traditional soldier archetype we've seen before is true, but it's also a massive disservice to the ex-Tediore trooper. The best Rafa builds in Borderlands 4 range from the typical turret playstyle all the way to the other end of the spectrum as a lightning-fast melee-only assassin.

No matter what type of build you're looking for, Rafa can do it all; I'd say he's the most diverse Vault Hunter of the bunch. Below, I'll go over three different Rafa builds at max level, covering the skills, augments, capstones, and gear to pick up for them. I'll also give you a great levelling build to use before you reach the endgame.

Best Rafa builds in Borderlands 4

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Rafa's three skill trees are arguably the most distinct from each other than any other Vault Hunter in BL4, as each one specialises in something completely different:

• Remote Agent: Rafa's most gun-focused skill tree, with tons of buffs to your DPS (many of which also improve your shoulder-mounted Peacebreaker Cannons). There's a branch specifically for indirect projectiles, which is great for Tediore and Jakobs weapons (or weapon parts). There's also a major emphasis on Overdrive bonuses.
• This Year's Gimmick: Almost entirely designed for melee, which shouldn't be all that surprising considering it's the home of the Arc-Knives action skill. There are two main paths you can take this down: either a hybrid build with guns and ordnance mixed in with your action skill, or a very unique build where you're permanently running around with your blades out.
• People Person: While this is another gun-based tree, it differs from Remote Agent quite a bit, with more of a focus on infinite ammo and elemental damage. This tree is especially good for burst damage with fast Apophis Lance action skill cooldown.

Rafa's trait is Overdrive: Whenever you activate an action skill, enter a state of the same name which increases the damage dealt from all sources and boosts movement speed. While an action skill is active, Overdrive's duration doesn't decrease.

Now onto the best builds for Rafa, starting with his most consistently strong setup, Remote Agent/Peacebreaker. I've listed the skills, augments, and captones in the order you'll want to pick them up, though remember that you can always respec if you'd like to tweak things while levelling.

Rafa build: Bullet-Buddy

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• Primary skill tree: Remote Agent
• Action skill: Peacebreaker Cannons
• Best skills for class mods: Instigator legendary class mod
• Recommended items: Hot Slugger (legendary shotgun), Lucian's Flank (legendary assault rifle), Kaoson (legendary SMG), Instigator (legendary class mod), Firewerks (legendary shield)
• Firmware: Deadeye, Trickshot
• Specialisations: Now With Caffeine, I Am A Gun, A Honed Mind, Riddle You This

Is it a little bland compared to Arc-Knives? Yes. Is it very easy to get tasty returns? Also yes. Rafa's Peacebreaker Cannons are the most fire-and-forget action skill of the bunch, literally just switching on some cannons on your shoulders. However, it's perfect for both bossing and mobbing.

Before going into the skills, it's worth pointing out the reasoning behind the weapon selection. While you're mobbing, I recommend using Hot Slugger (the biggest winner from the Vitriol perk) or Lucian's Flank, but when you're fighting a boss, your first port of call should be the Kaoson. This is because you can unload a three- or four-magazine's worth of sticky bombs on a boss thanks to the Bullet Buddy Deluxe augment, which'll then explode when you eventually need to reload. It's overkill for normal enemies, and so it's not worth the hassle in these situations.

Naturally, it's a very gun-focused build, so we'll be maxing out perks like Sitiar for additional gun damage and Deft Hands to boost the fire rate of both Rafa and his turrets. Further down in the tree, pick up Vitriol to cause your first shot of a full magazine to deal bonus corrosive damage, which has a slightly janky interaction with indirect projectile skills and can lead to massive damage spikes with weapons like the Hot Slugger. From there, get Concentrated Build-Up to deal bonus shock damage and gain a stacking damage boost while aiming.

The other major source of damage in this build is, of course, our Peacebreaker Cannons. Since you'll also be in Overdrive while this skill is active, focusing on action skill duration is a priority. As such, pick up Juerga and Inspirado to regenerate your action skill from critical hits and status effects, respectively. Meanwhile, Maestro, Asymmetric Warfare, Errant Spark, Lateral Plinking, and El Alacran all combine to amp up your trusty shoulder cannons. Finally, max out Midnight Oil from the Arc-Knives tree to give your cannons bonus corrosive damage, which increases the longer they're active—coming full circle with Juerga and Inspirado.

Specialisations are especially important in this build. This cocktail begins with Riddle You This, which grants you a stacking gun damage buff. Meanwhile, I Am A Gun lets your cannons benefit from this buff too, and A Honed Mind boosts their critical hit chance and crit damage. Keep in mind that we're using the Double-Ought Autoshot capstone, which already has a high critical hit chance, leading to flaming ricochets. See what I mean about a cocktail?

Here's where you should spend your skill points:

Rafa build: Arcstrider

• Primary skill tree: This Year's Gimmick
• Action skill: Arc-Knives
• Best skills for class mods: Tecnico class mod for points in Expedite, Blowout, and El Borracho
• Recommended items: Heavyweight/Timekeeper's New Shield (legendary shields), Slippy (legendary ordnance), Tecnico (purple class mod)
• Firmware: Action Fist, Reel Big Fist
• Specialisations: Bear Arms, Groundbreaker, Contamination, The Best Defence

Rafa's This Year's Gimmick skill tree lends itself to one of the most unique builds in the game: a 100% Arc-Knives build. While restricting yourself to melee damage won't be ideal in all situations, like bosses that fly or turn the arena into a game of 'the floor is lava', it's very good at what it does.

The build is focused almost entirely around the Dead Man Walking augment, which makes it so the Arc-Knives action skill no longer runs out. It will only end if you manually end it using Blade Fury (or die). Naturally, this pairs incredibly well with Midnight Oil, El Borracho, and Cruel Accrual, which all increase your damage based on how long your action skill has been active.

Of course, you'll need a way to counter the health sacrifices of Dead Man Walking and, later, the Inferno Protocol capstone, which deals constant fire damage to you in return for imbuing your Arc-Knives with fire damage. Dead Man Walking will give you an overshield when you attack enemies already, but Dial In, Saldar, and Sustainable Energy also help to keep you on your feet.

The last element of this build is actually ordnance damage. Since you'll be up in the enemy's grill, Booming Business's ability to drop grenades at your feet goes a long way. Plus, it also plays into Sinergia to further increase your melee damage.

Here's where you should spend your skill points:

Rafa build: Gunzerker

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• Primary skill tree: People Person
• Action skill: Apophis Lance
• Best skills for class mods: Genio class mod for points in Maestro, Asymmetric Warfare, Errant Spark, and Vitriol
• Recommended items: Hot Slugger (legendary shotgun), Lucian's Flank (legendary assault rifle), Kaoson (legendary SMG), Instigator (legendary class mod), Firewerks (legendary shield)
• Firmware: Deadeye, Trickshot
• Specialisations: Now With Caffeine, I Am A Gun, A Honed Mind, Riddle You This

Do you yearn for the days of Salvador's Gunzerking in Borderlands 2? If so, then this is the build for you, letting you effectively dual-wield for incredible damage potential without a reliance on Kill Skills.

The first half of this tree is all about buffing your own weapon power, such as The Thrill, which significantly increases your rate of fire, Las Jaras to regenerate ammo, and Rinse to reload weapons faster when you inevitably run out. Later on, you can pick up similar skills like Deadline and Sitiar to further amp up your gun damage. Of course, many of these perks are Overdrive Skills, so Jaque later on in the tree can enhance these already strong effects after dealing damage with Apophos Lance.

Naturally, then, the goal is to have Apophis Lance as active as possible. The Battery Subscription Service augment gives it an extra charge, which effectively increases its overall damage, and the Project: Gorgon capstone turns the weapon into a laser beam. Meanwhile, Prepardo recharges your action skill when you reload (which you'll be doing often with all the fire rate boosts), and Mate converts Jaque stacks into cooldown rate when Overdrive ends.

The cherry on top, though, is Per My Last, which has a chance to repeat any action skill damage, completely free of charge. What's not to love about getting a two-for-one deal on your action skill?

Here's where you should spend your skill points:

Borderlands 4 Rafa levelling build

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As fun as Arc-Knives can be, there's one obvious pick when it comes to a Rafa levelling build, and that's Peacebreaker Cannons. These shoulder-mounted turrets blast away at enemies alongside you, and they're highly versatile (ricochet shotguns, lasers, firebombs, you name it), making them great for levelling up. Plus, the Remote Agent tree also has some strong defensive options that come in handy while you're still levelling and finding gear.

With the increased focus on elemental damage in Borderlands 4, especially on hard mode, this build is designed to make countering easy. How? Because you'll constantly be dishing out multiple elemental status effects at once without needing to swap gear. It's simple, but it's incredibly fun to see just how absurd your turrets can become. Meanwhile, you're also dealing heavy damage with your own weapons.

This build doesn't need any specific gear to shine, though that's not to say there's nothing that will help. I would recommend farming for a handful of legendary gear every ten or so levels, some of which are from Terminus Range, so I'd head to this region over Carcadia Burn after leaving the Fadefields:

• Firewerks shield from Splashzone in the Riptide Grotto, Coastal Bonescapes, in Fadefields. Aim to get the incendiary version to benefit from the doubled bonus damage of the Errant Spark perk.
• Aegon's Dream assault rifle from Horace in Horace's Oversight, Hungering Plains, in Fadefields. This gives you a chance to apply both incendiary and cryo status effects.
• Hot Slugger shotgun from Callous Harbinger of Annihilating Death in the Craven's Nook Order bunker in the Bones of Sanctuary, to the east of Terminus Range.
• Instigator class mod from Vile Lictor in the Umbral Foundry, Windspear, in Terminus Range. You must complete the His Vile Sanctum mission at the end of this region's chapter to unlock this boss.

Other than these, just keep an eye out for Jakobs and Maliwan weapons, and either a Mercenario or Genio purple class mod, as these'll help you out a ton as you level.

Here's how the levelling process looks for this Rafa build:

Levels 2-6:

1. Starting in the Remote Agent tree, put five points in Deft Hands, effectively increasing the DPS of both Rafa and his action skill through a faster rate of fire.
2. Activate the Instinto augment to buff up your Peacebreaker Cannons' critical hit chance and damage.

Levels 7-11:

3. Spend five points on Juerga to improve Peacebreaker Cannons' uptime whenever you land a critical hit. This is also a great way to counter the faster drain whenever Instinto is triggered, making it much more efficient.
4. With a few points under your belt, now's the time I'd recommend farming Splashzone for a Firewerks shield, as it's a great help early on. As mentioned, you'll want a fire resistance version, as this makes the rockets it fires incendiary too, synergising with the Errant Spark skill at level 23 onwards.

Levels 12-16:

5. Put two points in Resiliencia to gain damage reduction while Overdrive is active, pairing nicely with Juerga.
6. Spend three points on Sitiar to increase your gun damage. We'll come back to this perk later, don't worry.
7. Now is a great time to farm for a legendary weapon like Aegon's Dream from the main story boss Horace.

Levels 17-21:

8. Sink five points into Asymmetric Warfare to boost indirect projectile damage, which includes your Peacebreaker Cannons but also thrown weapons and other projectiles not directly fired from your gun.

Levels 22-26:

9. Spend one point on Ardid to cause indirect projectiles to heal you. In other words, while your turrets are active, you'll heal for 10% of their damage, which adds up quickly.
10. Put four points into Errant Spark to give all your indirect projectiles (most importantly, your Peacebreaker Cannons) hefty bonus fire damage.
11. Activate the Double-Ought Autoshot capstone to give your Peacebreakers Cannons additional damage.
12. Now that you have more perks focused on indirect damage, I recommend farming Splashzone for a new, higher-level Firewerks shield (preferably fire resistance).

Levels 27-32:

13. Pick up Lateral Plinking for one skill point to give indirect projectiles a chance to ricochet. Remember, your Cannons count, and you'll heal for any damage they deal thanks to Ardid, so this perk doubles up as a damage and survivability boost.
14. Spend five points to max out Vitriol. While this might seem niche, it synergises well with one-shot weapons like the Hot Slugger or ones with a high fire rate.
15. If you've gone to Terminus Range after the Fadefields, then you've likely completed this region's story and unlocked the Vile Lictor boss, who you can farm to get the Instigator class mod for Rafa.

Levels 33-37:

16. Put five points in Concentrated Build-Up to significantly boost your damage the more shots you land while aiming. Plus, this is yet another source of bonus elemental damage, this time shock, letting you deal with a wider range of resistances without swapping gear.
17. Activate the Beam Team capstone (instead of Double-Ought Autoshot) for additional status effects (corrosive and shock) and stacking action skill damage whenever you apply a status.
18. Activate the Bullet-Buddy Deluxe augment (replacing Instinto). While you can use either, I find the bonus fire damage plays very well into the status effect perks we have so far, and its ability to keep your magazine full leads to more damage with Vitriol and even some broken interactions with Torgue sticky weapons.

Levels 38-41:

19. Spend three points to max out Inspirado to help with Rafa's reliance on his action skill.
20. Put one point into El Alacran to simply increase the chance of inflicting status effects, which synergises well with the Beam Team capstone and Inspirado.

Levels 42-46:

21. Head over to the This Year's Gimmick skill tree and spend five points on Midnight Oil. This gives Peacebreaker Cannons yet another blast of elemental damage, stacking the longer the skill is active.

Levels 47-50:

22. Return to the Remote Agent tree and dump three points to max out El Valiente for increased damage from all sources, the more full your shields are. When paired with Resiliencia and a strong shield, it's very easy to maintain some strong damage stacks, and it's great for opening a fight.
23. Put your final point into Sitiar to increase your gun damage again. It's simple, but it's effective.

As for where you go from here, you can fully convert to the Remote Agent endgame build above, or stick with this and look for more gear, like the amazing Rainbow Vomit or max-level class mods and enhancements. The main difference between the two Remote Agent builds is that this levelling setup has more of an emphasis on elemental damage to cover for weak spots you're likely to have with your equipment when you're frequently swapping things out for whatever has the higher numbers.

Once you're finished with this Rafa levelling build, your skill tree will look like this:

Borderlands 4 Shift codes: The new key connection.
Borderlands 4 Black Market location: New legendaries, no grind.
Borderlands 4 vault key fragment locations: Crack open Kairos.
Borderlands 4 characters: Meet your new Vault Hunters and find out who's strongest.
Borderlands 4 Harlowe builds: The amped-up Gravitar.
Borderlands 4 Vex builds: The spooky Siren.
Borderlands 4 Amon builds: The fierce Forgeknight.