MyMMO editor Dariusz Müller tested Borderlands 4 before its release. In his solo run of the main story, he played Amon. Here he presents his build.
What kind of build is this? I played Amon as a kind of axe-throwing barbarian, using the green cybernetic skill tree. Here, Amon creates a frost and a flame axe that deal the corresponding elemental damage.
The gameplay focus of the build is therefore not on melee attacks or on intercepting projectiles with a shield. I charged into enemies and dealt as much damage as possible in a short time.
I’ve thought about the build, but I didn’t engage in any elaborate theory crafting. Thus, it’s probably not a perfect build, but one that I had a lot of fun with and managed to easily get through the story as a solo player on normal difficulty.
You can see how the picture turned out in a boss fight against Idolator Sol here in the video:
Amon Brings Winter Over Kairos, But Also Heats Things Up
What distinguishes the build? Amon can use his various abilities very frequently with the build and benefits from the effects of various passive skills.
With his action skill “Crucible”, the vault hunter creates a flame axe or a frost axe that he can throw at enemies. Hit enemies are then considered “prepared” and detonate when they take damage from a forge skill or die. The detonation also damages nearby enemies.
The forge skill played is called “Double Blade”. When using the skill, Amon combines both axes into a single one, resulting in blades at both ends of the axe. This resulting axe can also be thrown by Amon. Unlike the single blades, however, the double axe returns to Amon and hits enemies on the way out and back.
Amon as an Axe-Throwing Barbarian Level 0-25
Which skills are equipped? I invested the first 15 skill points into the left side of the general skill tree. The focus was on strengthening my forge skill and my firearms.
As an improvement, I initially played “Endless War”, which allowed me to deal at least 15% increased damage with firearms to enemies that were prepared by my axes. Each prepared stack brings an additional 15% damage.
- Cast Iron – 5/5
- Forge skill cooldown: +25%
- Firearms handling: +30%
- Destruction Machine – 5/5
- Forge skill damage: +25%
- Detonation damage: +30%
- Air Supply – 5/5
- When using the forge skill, Amon temporarily gains increased firearms damage
- Firearms damage: +35%
- Duration: 8 seconds
- When using the forge skill, Amon temporarily gains increased firearms damage
During the campaign, I then switched my improvement to “Biting Cold” in the right skill tree. This skill freezes enemies when they are hit by the frost axe. This proved especially useful in fights with many enemies for crowd control. In boss fights, however, it may be wise to switch back to “Endless War”. You then throw one or more axes at the enemy and shoot at their weak points with your firearms to deal as much damage as possible in a short time.
To strengthen “Biting Cold”, I invested 5 skill points in “Permafrost”. This creates a cryo hazard that deals cryo damage whenever an enemy is frozen – every time. I complemented this with the passive skill “Reactive Armor”, which partially restores Amon’s shield and weapon cooldowns when detonating prepared enemies.
- Biting Cold – 5/5
- Frost axes freeze on impact
- Flame axes penetrate enemies
- Reactive Armor – 5/5
- Shield restoration: 35%
- Cooldown restoration: 30%
“Reactive Armor” rewards aggressive pushing, as the frequent use of axes regularly refills the shield. This makes it easier to survive in heated battles.
The Floor is Lava – Level 25-30
After 25 levels, I finally got to choose my final skill: “Burning Inferno”.
“Burning Inferno” causes my “Double Blade” to deal burning melee damage and leaves a fire trail on the ground. Additionally, the radius of “Double Blade” is increased by 33%.
- Burning Inferno
- Double Blade deals burning melee damage in both directions
- Radius: +33%
- leaves a fire trail on the ground that deals burning damage over time
- Fire trail damage: 131 per second
- Fire trail duration: 5 seconds
- Cooldown restoration: 10%
- Double Blade deals burning melee damage in both directions
The next two skill points went into “Temperate Flame” and “Heated Minds”. This spawns flying axes, known as axe-forging drones, which then autonomously attack enemies and deal burning and cryo melee damage. Initially, I consciously did not increase the damage of the drones because I wanted to use them primarily as a distraction.
With the last three skill points I collected while playing through the campaign, I skilled “Fierceness”, which increases Amon’s danger and status effect damage.
More Shock and Drones – Skills from Level 30
During my story run, I found an epic forge knight class mod for Amon called “Quick Stormcaller”. With this class mod, points have already been invested in the three skills “Lead Fast”, “Bolt Effect”, and “Herald’s Call”. Therefore, I initially saved further investments in these skills, as the points already distributed by the mod were sufficient for me.
However, I noticed that this trio is a good and sensible complement to my frost and flame axes to compensate for a potential weakness against shields. This way, I can effectively deal shock damage against shields even with weapons of another element – I just need to reload briefly. In levels 30-50, I therefore want to further develop these 3 skills. Likewise, I would like to upgrade “Temperate Flame”. I want to maximize those skills.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Overall, the build has some strengths but also a clear weakness. For me, it was particularly suitable due to the skill “Biting Cold” for crowd control, allowing me to keep enemies off my back in stressful situations while also shredding many foes with Burning Inferno.
Possible problems arose in boss fights. Even with “Burning Inferno”, my “Double Blade” does not create a huge hole in the enemy’s health bar. I managed most bosses at least by the second attempt, but some fights dragged on a bit because the build lacks a skill that deals absurd damage in one hit. Instead, it’s important to keep an eye on the low cooldowns, to strategically use firearms and combat items, and to take advantage of various passive skills.
Despite the weakness, I had a lot of fun with Amon and the build, as the combination of freezing and then burning really suited my play style. If you love the elements as much as I do, this build might be worth a try for you.
The build does some things really well and others rather poorly. The same goes for Borderlands 4. The test showed that the loot shooter has a big problem, even though it’s a lot of fun. You can read my entire impression here: Borderlands 4 reminds me of Destiny in the test, making it a fantastic loot shooter
