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Borderlands 4

Ricochet Rafa Build

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Borderlands 4 - Ricochet Rafa Build

The Ricochet Rafa build focuses on maximizing Ricochet damage to deal the highest damage against bosses and mobs of enemies in Borderlands 4. See the best builds, skills, weapons, and gear to use for Rafa, along with the best skill tree abilities and character playstyle.

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

Ricochet Rafa Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses
✔︎Can melt both bosses and mobs
✔︎Minimal setup needed
✖︎Farming the weapon may take a while
✖︎Can damage and kill you

Thanks to the Kickballer Ricochets, this build can easily delete bosses, as well as mobs of enemies with its very high gun and explosive damage. Not only that, but the build needs minimal setup, only requiring you to activate your Action Skill and shooting.

As the build is reliant on a specific Legendary weapon, however, farming for it may take a while. Additionally, as the Kickballer shoots explosive rounds that ricochet, it can also damage and even kill you, especially in enclosed spaces. Using regular Jakobs weapons can mitigate this, but can lower your damage output.

Ricochet Rafa Best Skills

Best Action Skill

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

Peacebreaker Cannons summons two turrets on Rafa's shoulders, which then automatically shoot enemies around him. This build in particular focuses on the Shotgun version of the Peacebreaker Cannons, capable of shooting Pellets that can Ricochet.

Best Passive Skills

Remote Agent
This Year's Gimmick
Skill Tree Priority Skills
Peacebreaker Cannons IconRemote Agent
Sitiar Icon Juerga Icon Resiliencia Icon Maestro Icon Asymmetric Warfare Icon Errant Spark Icon Lateral Plinking Icon Vitriol Icon Pain Reaction Icon Everdrive Icon Temerario Icon
Skill Tree Priority Skills
Arc Knives IconThis Year's Gimmick
Midnight Oil Icon

The best skills for the Peacebreaker Ricochet Rafa Build revolve around maximizing Ricochet Chance and Damage. As such, most of the Skill Points will be invested in the Remote Agent Tree (Red tree).

Recommended Skill Progression

Recommended Skill Progression
Sitiar Icon Lvl 2 Sitiar Icon Lvl 3 Sitiar Icon Lvl 4 Sitiar Icon Lvl 5
Sitiar Icon Lvl 6 Juerga Icon Lvl 7 Juerga Icon Lvl 8 Juerga Icon Lvl 9
Juerga Icon Lvl 10 Juerga Icon Lvl 11 Maestro Icon Lvl 12 Maestro Icon Lvl 13
Maestro Icon Lvl 14 Resiliencia Icon Lvl 15 Resiliencia Icon Lvl 16 Asymmetric Warfare Icon Lvl 17
Asymmetric Warfare Icon Lvl 18 Asymmetric Warfare Icon Lvl 19 Asymmetric Warfare Icon Lvl 20 Asymmetric Warfare Icon Lvl 21
Errant Spark Icon Lvl 22 Errant Spark Icon Lvl 23 Errant Spark Icon Lvl 24 Errant Spark Icon Lvl 25
Errant Spark Icon Lvl 26 Lateral Plinking Icon Lvl 27 Everdrive Icon Lvl 28 Everdrive Icon Lvl 29
Everdrive Icon Lvl 30 Everdrive Icon Lvl 31 Everdrive Icon Lvl 32 Temerario Icon Lvl 33
Temerario Icon Lvl 34 Temerario Icon Lvl 35 Temerario Icon Lvl 36 Temerario Icon Lvl 37
Vitriol Icon Lvl 38 Vitriol Icon Lvl 39 Vitriol Icon Lvl 40 Vitriol Icon Lvl 41
Vitriol Icon Lvl 42 Pain Reaction Icon Lvl 43 Pain Reaction Icon Lvl 44 Pain Reaction Icon Lvl 45
Pain Reaction Icon Lvl 46 Pain Reaction Icon Lvl 47 Midnight Oil Icon Lvl 48 Midnight Oil Icon Lvl 49
Midnight Oil Icon Lvl 50

From Levels 1-30, your goal is to stack points in the Remote Agent Tree until you unlock Instinto and Double-Ought Autoshot. Once Double-Ought Autoshot is unlocked, with the skills leading up to it equipped, you should reach a point where you can effectively farm bosses alone.

From Level 31 onwards, take skills that will improve your runs significantly by increasing your Ricochet chances and damage. Pain Reaction will increase your Ricochet chances based on the enemy's Status Effects, while Temerario and Everdrive improve Overdrive's buffs and duration, respectively.

If you want more survivability, you can opt to forgo Midnight Oil and instead use those points in Ardid, which will provide Lifesteal to any Indirect Projectile, which includes your Action Skill and Ricochets.

Best Augment

Augment Effects
Instinto Icon Instinto • Gives Critical Chance to Peacebreaker Cannons
• Doubles Critical Chance and increases Critical Damage after retriggering skill
• Kills provide Action Skill Duration
Drains Action Skill Duration when retriggering skill or getting kills.

As this build relies on Ricochets from both your weapon and the Peacebreaker Cannons, Instinto is the best Augment that you can get as this provides Critical Chance to your Cannons. Additionally, retriggering the skill doubles Critical Chance and increases Critical Damage, making them hit even harder.

The only downside is that retriggering the skill or getting kills with it drains Action Skill Duration faster, although getting kills with the Action Skill does refill some Action Skill Duration.

Best Capstone

Double-Ought Autoshot Icon Double-Ought Autoshot
Tree Remote Agent
(Branch 1)
Effect
Rafa's Peacebreaker Cannons are replaced with Shotguns that deal increased Damage and have an increased Pellet Count. Additionally, Rafa's Turrets gain a chance to Ricochet off of targets. Ricochets deal Reduced Damage, and Critical Hits always Ricochet.

The Double-Ought Autoshot turns Rafa's Peacebreaker Cannons into Shotguns that can shoot Pellets that Ricochet. This makes it perfect for the Ricochet build, and can easily deal a lot of damage in the correct conditions.

Ricochet Rafa Best Equipment

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

Best Weapons

Best Legendary Weapon: Kickballer

Legendary Gun Overview
Kickballer Type: Shotgun
Manufacturer: Maliwan
Force Bunt Legendary Mod

The Kickballer is an Elemental Shotgun that shoots bouncing Elemental projectiles that can hit the enemy multiple times. If it has a Jakobs-Licensed Accessory as well, then the Critical Hits from the Kickballer will Ricochet Projectiles to nearby enemies. If you are fighting a solo boss, they can get hit by the Ricochets multiple times.

If you don't have the Kickballer, a good alternative Jakobs Legendary Weapon is the Bonnie and Clyde, which lets you swap between Assault Rifle and Shotgun mode, with increased damage with each kill. This gun can also Ricochet thanks to it being a Jakobs gun.

List of All Legendary Weapons

Best Manufacturer for Rafa: Jakobs

If you do not have the Kickballer or the Bonnie and Clyde, you can use a Jakobs Weapon instead, as these guns will Ricochet on Critical Hit. This makes it easier to start stacking Ricochets on enemies as long as you can keep performing Critical Hits.

Best Weapon Type for Rafa: Shotgun

For the best weapon type, we highly recommend using Shotguns as each of the Shotgun's Pellets can Ricochet. That means you can potentially cause a lot of Ricochets in one shot as long as you target the enemy's weak spot.

Elemental Weakness Chart and Damage Guide

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 that Rafa can use thanks to its increased Fire Rate and Movement Speed. This lets you shoot your weapon faster, resulting in more ricochets. Additionally, it provides survivability thanks to the movement speed and Repkit Cooldown reduction whenever damage is taken.

Best Ordnance

Ordnance Unique Trait
Transmitter Grenade Icon
Instigator
Message From The Void

The Instigator is the best Ordnance for Rafa as it shoots Indirect Projectiles, which the Ricochet Build empowers. This gives it the potential to not only deal more damage, but also Ricochet between targets, dealing even more damage.

Best Class Mod

Dancer Class Mod
The Dancer Class Mod is the best one to use for this build as it increases all Overdrive Bonuses by 100%. This will double the Fire Rate, Damage Reduction, and Gun Damage that he will receive whenever he enters Overdrive.

One thing to take note of, however, is that his Overdrive mode ends once his Action Skill ends, so make sure to maximize the damage you deal during the burst window.

Best Shield

Shield Shield Effect
Firewerks Icon
Firewerks
Bundled: On kill, spawns Missiles that home in on nearby enemies and deal Damage

The Firewerks is the best Shield for Rafa as the missiles themselves count as Indirect Projectiles, which this build buffs. If possible, try to get one with the Missile Swarm effect, as that makes the shield launch Missiles on Armor Segment break.

Best Enhancement Mods

Enhancement Effects
Jakobs Enhancement Bounce Pass - Guns with Jakobs-licensed parts increase the number of possible Ricochets by 1.
Leaper - Weapons with Jakobs-licensed parts gain +40% Chance to Ricochet non-critical bullets.
Piercer - Guns with Jakobs-licensed parts have a 20% Chance to grant Critical Hit.

For Enhancement Mods, you will want to aim for Jakobs Enhancement mods. If you are using the Kickballer, the Bounce Pass Enhancement is your best choice, as it can potentially make your weapon Ricochet more.

If you are using other Jakobs guns, Leaper or Piercer are your best bets. Leaper gives non-critical bullets a chance to Ricochet, while Piercer gives your gun a 20% Chance to Crit. Both of these Enhancements potentially increase your Ricochet amount, just in different ways.

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
Airstrike Splash Radius is increased by 20% Splash Damage is increased by 20%

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

Firmware Sets Explained

Ricochet Rafa 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.

Ricochet Rafa Gameplay Guide

Start Fights with Your Action Skill

At the start of the fight, use your Action Skill immediately so that it can start ramping up its damage. After activating your Action Skill, start shooting the enemy as well to help create more Ricochets.

Some Bosses Have an Invulnerability Window

Invulnerable

Some bosses in the game, such as Idolator Sol or the Oppressor, start fights either invulnerable or out-of-range. For these fights, you must perform the mechanic to make them vulnerable, or wait for them to enter your range to avoid wasting your Action Skill window.

Aim for Enemy's Weak Spot

As Critical Hits produce Ricochets on Jakobs guns and weapons with Jakobs parts, always aim for an enemy's weak spot to guarantee a Critical Hit.

These weak spots are usually the head for humanoid enemies, and any large, glowing part for non-humanoids.

Ricochet Rafa Build Playstyle

Multi-Purpose Build

Be it for levelling Rafa, or for farming bosses, this build can do them both. Once you get the Ricochets going, you will be able to take down both bosses and groups of enemies with ease.

If you are facing difficulties in using this build for either of these purposes, consider checking out our dedicated Leveling Build and Boss Farm Build!

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 IconPeacebreaker Ricochet Build
Amon the Forgeknight IconAmon
Harlowe the Gravitar IconHarlowe

Comment

2 Anonymous Anonymous 2 months

use crit knife ignore that part think thay messed up

1 Anonymous Anonymous 2 months

Why does this have Rafa's ordinance listed but post a class mod? Thats very confusing. I would be interested to know what your recommendations for the grenade ordnance would be.

Author

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