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Borderlands 4

Rafa Leveling Build

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Borderlands 4 - Rafa Leveling Build

This is a red build guide for Rafa the Exo-Soldier with incredible gun DPS potential in Borderlands 4. See the best red build, skills, weapons, guns, and gear to use for Rafa, along with a leveling guide and character playstyle here!

All Rafa Guides
Best Builds Cosmetics Skill Trees and Voice Actor
Leveling Build Boss Farm Build Arc-Knives Build
Ricochet Build

Rafa Leveling Build Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses
✔︎Easy-to-use build
✔︎Can be used on both bosses and mobs
✔︎Great Shield upkeep
✖︎Gun handling may prove difficult
✖︎Lacking in HP recovery
✖︎Damage output based on weapon

This build's biggest strength is how easy it is to use, as you just have to activate and reactivate your Action Skill , giving you increased damage output and unlimited ammo that can take down both mobs and bosses. Additionally, this build provides great Shield upkeep via numerous Passive Skills.

Sadly, unless your gun has a Bipod or Motile Bipod, the decreased Gun Handling the build applies may greatly decrease your accuracy. Not only that, but your damage output is reliant on your weapon, so finding a powerful weapon is important. Lastly, although the build's Shield upkeep is great, it is lacking in HP recovery, only providing some Health Regeneration when Overdrive is active.

Rafa Leveling Build Best Skills

Best Action Skill

Action Skill Remote Agent Peace Breaker Cannons
Peacebreaker Cannons
Skill Tree: Remote Agent

For the best Rafa build, the Remote Agent skill tree (Red Tree) with Peacebreaker Cannons offers a powerful yet safe way to unleash constant streams of high damage with all your weapons at once. The cannons, together with your own gunfire, can handle both mobs and badasses with ease, providing reliable firepower in even the most chaotic fights.

Best Passive Skills

Remote Agent
People Person
Skill Tree Priority Skills
Peacebreaker Cannons IconRemote Agent
Sitiar Icon Deft Hands Icon Shield Barriest Icon Juerga Icon CYA Icon El Valiente Icon Everdrive Icon Temerario Icon Soltado Icon
Skill Tree Priority Skills
APOPHIS Lance IconPeople Person
Las Jaras Icon The Thrill (Rafa) Icon

The best skills for the Leveling Build revolve around maximizing turret damage and the Overdrive buffs that Rafa receives whenever he uses his Action Skill.

The passive skills you get from the People Person Tree will both help empower Rafa's Overdrive state, as The Thrill will increase his Fire Rate while Las Jaras provides Ammo Regeneration while in Overdrive.

Recommended Skill Progression

Recommended Skill Progression
Sitiar Icon Lvl 2 Sitiar Icon Lvl 3 Sitiar Icon Lvl 4 Shield Barriest Icon Lvl 5
Shield Barriest Icon Lvl 6 Shield Barriest Icon Lvl 7 CYA Icon Lvl 8 CYA Icon Lvl 9
CYA Icon Lvl 10 Juerga Icon Lvl 11 Juerga Icon Lvl 12 Juerga Icon Lvl 13
Resiliencia Icon Lvl 14 Resiliencia Icon Lvl 15 Resiliencia Icon Lvl 16 Everdrive Icon Lvl 17
Everdrive Icon Lvl 18 Everdrive Icon Lvl 19 Everdrive Icon Lvl 20 Everdrive Icon Lvl 21
Temerario Icon Lvl 22 Temerario Icon Lvl 23 Temerario Icon Lvl 24 Temerario Icon Lvl 25
Temerario Icon Lvl 26 Soltado Icon Lvl 27 Sitiar Icon Lvl 28 Sitiar Icon Lvl 29
Shield Barriest Icon Lvl 30 Shield Barriest Icon Lvl 31 CYA Icon Lvl 32 CYA Icon Lvl 33
Resiliencia Icon Lvl 34 Resiliencia Icon Lvl 35 Juerga Icon Lvl 36 Juerga Icon Lvl 37
Devil-May-Care Icon Lvl 38 Devil-May-Care Icon Lvl 39 Devil-May-Care Icon Lvl 40 The Thrill (Rafa) Icon Lvl 41
The Thrill (Rafa) Icon Lvl 42 Las Jaras Icon Lvl 43 Las Jaras Icon Lvl 44 Las Jaras Icon Lvl 45
The Thrill (Rafa) Icon Lvl 46 The Thrill (Rafa) Icon Lvl 47 The Thrill (Rafa) Icon Lvl 48 Las Jaras Icon Lvl 49
Las Jaras Icon Lvl 50

As a red build, prioritize Sitiar and Shield Barriest in the Remote Agent tree (Red Tree) for gun damage and shield regen, along with a point in CYA and Juerga for more shield regeneration and increased Action Skill Duration. Round this off with Resiliencia for increased damage reduction while Overdrive is active.

Once you have enough points to get to the next branches, focus on the third branch and rush maxing out Temerario and Everdrive to get the Volatile Hollowpoints Capstone and Soltado as soon as possible, as well as three points in Devil-May-Care. This combination of skills will buff Rafa's Overdrive Mode as much as possible.

With the core build established, continue investing in passives that enhance Fire Rate and provide Ammo Regen. In the People Person tree (Blue Tree), grab The Thrill for higher Fire Rate, and Las Jaras for Ammo Regen so you can fire more bullets before having to reload while outside of Bullet-Buddy Deluxe.

Best Augment

Augment Effects
Bullet-Buddy Deluxe Icon Bullet-Buddy Deluxe • Bonus Fire Damage
• Ammo Regen
• Turrets shoot explosive bullets when magazine is full
• Press Action Skill button to activate infinite ammo (drains Action Skill time)

Bullet-Buddy Deluxe greatly boosts your DPS with bonus fire damage and ammo regeneration. You can also burn through your Action Skill duration for temporary infinite ammo, making it a strong option for finishing off elite enemies.

Best Capstone

Volatile Hollowpoints Icon Volatile Hollowpoints
Tree Remote Agent
(Branch 3)
Effect
Rafa's Peacebreaker Cannons are replaced with Rockets that deal Splash Damage.

For the capstone, Volatile Hollowpoints turns the Peacebreaker Cannons even greater DPS machines, adding explosive rockets for even greater power. The splash damage provides stronger AoE and crowd-control potential compared to the standard cannons.

Rafa Leveling Build Best Equipment

Jump to a Section!
Weapons Repkit Ordnance
Class Mod Shield Enhancement
Firmware

Best Weapons

Best Legendary Weapon: Lucian's Flank

Legendary Gun Overview
Lucian's Flank Type: Assault Rifle
Manufacturer: Vladof
Trampled: Critical Hits refill up to 2 Ammo to the Gun's Magazine

Lucian's Flank is perhaps the best Legendary weapon for this build thanks to its high damage and fire rate, as well as its Trampled effect, which refills 2 Ammo to your Magazine whenever you perform a Critical Hit. This lets you shoot more bullets than your magazine allows, as long as you aim for weak points.

Additionally, as the weapon has the Extra Barrel attachment, you can further increase your fire rate, raining down as much damage as possible at the cost of Gun Handling.

Best Weapon Type for Rafa: Assault Rifles

Assault Rifles pair well with Rafa, offering a constant stream of damage at any range and large magazines to unleash bullets alongside the Peacebreaker Cannons.

Best Manufacturer for Rafa: Vladof

Vladof weapons are known for their high rate of fire, which synergizes well with the infinite ammo that Bullet-Buddy Deluxe provides. Even without Bullet-Buddy Deluxe, their high ammo capacity lets you deal a stream of damage to enemies. The downside, however, is that you will need to deal with the reduced accuracy and heavier handling that Vladof guns have.

When looking for a Vladof Assault Rifle, try to find one with the Motile Bipod to offset the heavier handling and gain high accuracy.

Best Repkit

Repkit Unique Trait
Shiny War Paint
Shiny War Paint
Chrome: On use, grants +30% Fire Rate and +30% Movement Speed for 15s, and reduces Repkit Cooldown by 2s each time Damage is taken.

The Shiny War Paint is the best Repkit for Rafa, thanks to its Chrome Legendary effect, which provides increased Fire Rate and Movement Speed. Additionally, it reduces Repkit Cooldown whenever Rafa takes damage, making it perfect for the close-to-medium range combat that Rafa excels in.

Best Ordnance

Ordnance Unique Trait
Transmitter Grenade Icon
Instigator
Message From The Void

The Transmitter is one of the best Grenades for Rafa as it acts like a turret when thrown. Simply throw the Grenade toward where you think enemies are, and it will stay in place and shoot projectiles at nearby enemies.

Best Class Mod

Rafa Best Class Mods

The Instigator is the best Class Mod for Rafa as it provides up to 100% additional Gun Damage at full stacks. This is especially perfect for bosses, as you gain stacks whenever the Peacebreaker Cannons attack the same target.

Alternatively, you can also use the Dancer Class Mod, which increases your Overdrive bonuses by 100%. The downside, however, is that Overdrive ends once your Action Skill deactivates, so you will need to make the most out of your burst window if you decide to use this Class Mod.

List of All Legendary Class Mods

Best Shield

Shield Unique Trait
Firewerks
Firewerks
Bundled: On kill, spawns Missiles that home in on nearby enemies and deal Damage.

The Firewerks is perhaps the best shield for Rafa, especially when clearing out hordes of enemies, as each kill will spawn homing Missiles that can potentially deal a lot of damage. This further increases Rafa's AoE capabilities, making it perfect for leveling.

Best Enhancements

Enhancement Effects
Vladof Enhancement Box Magazine - Guns with Vladof-licensed parts gain +20% Fire Rate and +20% Magazine Size.
Bullet Hose - Guns with Vladof-licensed parts have a 30% chance to add an extra Projectile.

As you will be using Vladof guns with a focus on raw firepower, the Box Magazine and Bullet Hose Enhancements are a must. Box Magazine increases your Fire Rate and Magazine Size, which will be useful when your Overdrive is inactive. Bullet Hose, on the other hand, gives your gun a 30% chance of dealing extra damage from the additional Projectile.

Best Firmware

Firmware Set Bonuses
Deadeye Gun Accuracy is increased by 30% Gun Critical Hit Damage is increased by 25% Every Critical Hit grants 15% Critical Damage per Stack (5 max stacks) for 10s
GOOJFC Action Skill Cooldown Rate is increased by 10% Action Skill Damage is increased by 15%

The Deadeye Firmware is the best Firmware for the Rafa Leveling Build as it buffs Critical Damage, making your weapons deal more overall damage. It also increases your Gun Accuracy, making it easier to hit an enemy's weak point for guaranteed Critical Hits.

Additionally, equipping GOOJFC will help increase your Action Skill Cooldown Rate, which will allow you to activate your Action Skill more often. Not only that, but it will also increase your Action Skill Damage, further increasing your damage output.

Firmware Sets Explained

Rafa Leveling Build Best Specializations

Specialization Effect
Riddle You This Icon Riddle You This Whenever the Vault Hunter deals Gun Damage, gain a Stack of Riddle You This, increasing Gun Damage.;Stacks are lost if a new Stack has not been gained for a Duration.
In The Zone Icon In The Zone While Aiming, the Vault Hunter gains increased Gun Damage and Critical Hit Damage per second. Bonuses are lost after 2 seconds of not Aiming.
I Am A Gun Icon I Am A Gun Action Skill Damage now benefits from increases to Gun Damage.
A Honed Mind Icon A Honed Mind Action Skills gain a chance to Critical Hit enemies, and also gain increased Action Skill Critical Hit Damage.

We recommend taking the following Specializations, investing first in Brute until you unlock Riddle You This. Afterward, invest ten points in Sharpshooter to unlock In The Zone, and another ten points in Runner to unlock the Daredevil branch. Once Daredevil is unlocked, invest twenty points in it to unlock I Am A Gun and A Honed Mind.

These Passive Skills will buff your Gun Damage, as well as the effectiveness of your Action Skill, making them hit harder whenever they are activated. Additionally, the points you invest in the different branches provide Gun Damage, Reload Speed, and Accuracy, as well as Movement Speed, Melee Damage, and Action Skill Cooldown Rate.

Once you have the needed Passives, invest more Specialization points into Brute for more Gun damage and Sharpshooter for better Reload Speed and Accuracy.

Rafa (Exo-Soldier) Leveling Guide

Use Action Skill as Often as Possible

Using Rafa's Action Skill puts him in Overdrive, which increases his movement speed and damage. As such, make sure to use his Action Skill as much as possible to maximize the uptime of Overdrive.

This allows you to move around quickly to dodge incoming fire, while dealing increased damage to quickly take enemies down.

Look for High-Capacity Shields

Rafa will need high-capacity shields during his adventures as a lot of his passive skills revolve around increasing their capacity, improving their recharge rate, or even directly restoring shields on kills.

Examples of good high-capacity shields include Tediore shields, which also provide multi-bar shields.

Complete Side Missions and Bounties

To farm EXP efficiently, accept Side Missions and Bounties whenever possible, instead of just aimlessly wandering the map.

Side Missions and Bounties reward you with EXP upon completion, and most of these require you to fight various enemies, allowing you to gain EXP from multiple sources per mission.

Rafa Leveling Build Playstyle

Endless Gun and Cannon Damage

With the Remote Agent skill tree, this build maximizes Overdrive and Action Skill duration to sustain high DPS and survivability while staying mobile. Your guns, cannons, and turrets deliver constant damage output, making the build highly versatile against both groups of enemies and tougher targets with nonstop shooting and explosions.

Borderlands 4 Related Guides

Borderlands 4 - Builds

Best Builds for Each Vault Hunter

All Character Builds

Character Build
Vex the Siren IconVex
Rafa the Exo-Soldier IconRafa
Peacebreaker Cannons IconBest Leveling Build
Amon the Forgeknight IconAmon
Harlowe the Gravitar IconHarlowe

Comment

6 Nathaniel Dotter Nathaniel Dotter 2 months

Bottled Lightning HWO works good with BB

5 Nathaniel Dotter Nathaniel Dotter 2 months

If you are following this, do not I repeat do not use the ordinance that they suggest, use a heavy weapon ordinance. I don't think these guide makers realize that Bullet buddy works in HWO, meaning if you pop your turrets than hit L for bullet buddy then instantly switch to your heavy weapon ordinance you can fire it for free until the BB runs out, meaning you have much more damage potential with a HWO. A fast rocket launcher can shoot about 50 rockets before BB wears off.

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