For those looking for a strong build for Rafa in Borderlands 4, focusing on a powerful shotgun can let you take down bosses with just one shot. But how does it work exactly?
Even though the release of Borderlands 4 was not long ago, more and more strong builds for the 4 classes are emerging, making the Vault Hunters quite powerful characters who can effortlessly take down bosses. You can see 2 of them here:
- Borderlands 4: Strong build for Vex takes down bosses in seconds
- Borderlands 4: A powerful build with Amon allows you to defeat opponents with just one hit
This is also possible with the character Rafa, as content creator Moxsy shows on YouTube. You just need the right shotgun and the appropriate build.
How to build a Rafa build with so much damage?
This is crucial for the build with Rafa: Like many builds with Rafa, this one relies on the red skill tree and the peace cannons. The focus of the build is the legendary shotgun Hot Slugger
from Jacobs. Since you will deal your highest damage with the first shot of a weapon, the Jacobs weapon, which only has one bullet in the magazine, is worth it. Additionally, Jacobs weapons cause ricochets on critical hits.
You will deal the highest damage in this build with ricochets and the indirect damage from your peace cannons. The build stacks damage for Rafa, but the source of this high stack is currently unclear, as Moxsy explains in his YouTube video. However, he believes it is due to the elemental damage caused by the build. In his video, you can see how strong the build can perform.
This is how the Rafa build works
The focus of the build is the red tree of Rafa. Moxsy has also tried it with other skill trees, as he explains in his video. However, he is most satisfied with this setup. Important for you as players is to stay in Rafa’s overdrive for as long as possible to gain the perks’ bonuses. This is the status Rafa is in when he activates his action skill.
Moxsy configures his skill tree like this:
Action skill: Peacebreaker Cannons
Red tree:
- Sitiar: 5 points
- Juerga: 5 points
- Instinto: Improvement for the action skill
- Maestro: 2 points
- El Valiente: 3 points
- Asymmetric Warfare: 5 points
- Errant Spark: 5 points
- Double-Ought Autoshot: Improvement for the action skill
- Lateral Plinking: 1 point
- Vitriol: 5 points
- Barrage: 5 points
- Devil-May-Care: 5 points
- Temerario: 2 points (ideally get additional skill points from the class mod)
- Ardid: 1 point
- (Saltado: ideally one point through class mod)
Switching to the green tree:
- Midnight Oil: 5 points
That covers all available skill points, and this is how it could look:
Weapons: The focus of the build is the shotgun Hot Slugger, as it activates the many effects you’ve skilled in the tree. You should be able to kill normal enemies during your action skill without problems. If you have Jacobs shotguns with a small magazine, the build can still work. However, the build is fundamentally designed around the legendary Hot Slugger.
When fighting bosses, a Dullahan (Jacobs shotgun that can drop in various rarities) is worth it: With its alternative fire mode, you get buffs on splash damage, which is especially powerful against bosses, unlike the Hot Slugger.
But even without the optimal weapons, you should still deal good damage as long as you use Jacobs weapons with low magazines.
If you’re in the endgame and don’t know how to build Rafa, with Moxsy’s build you definitely have a strong option to work towards. You can find more tips and guides for Borderlands 4 here: Borderlands 4: All guides, tips, and lists in overview
