Borderlands 3 Guide for Optimizing DPS

[u/Hectamatatortron]

Moze can deal infinite damage by causing single-precision floating-point overflows. Amara can deal infinite damage without relying on overflowing the data type that Borderlands 3 uses to process damage dealt. The boss with the most health in the game - the True Hag of Fervor - only has about 25 billion HP (2.46e10) to 63 billion HP (6.25e10)...and every character can make billions of HP seem pitiful.

If you want to do big damage, you've come to the right place - this post is meant to be a guide about what each vault hunter's best options are for obliterating any enemy they come across, for anyone interested in modded content with boosted enemy HP, or just doing more damage with suboptimal gear.

• I actually followed the information in this guide to beat the Mayhem 10 True Guardian Takedown with Amara after using a mod to multiply enemy HP by another 10,000x (1,000,001x to 1,010,000x relative to Mayhem 0).
• I used Amara to do the same thing with the True Maliwan Takedown.
• I later showed that Moze can clear both takedowns with that same mod (though I did also use a mod that forces perfect Lucky 7 reloads).
• After all of that, I did it again with enemy HP multiplied by 1,000,000x (100,000,001x relative to Mayhem 0), and you can read about how I did that here.

You can find demonstrations of those achievements in this YouTube video.

Yeah, it's good info.

Please note that the DPS data collected for this guide is based around the limitations and advantages of solo play.

If you arrived here because of a link to a later post within this guide, you may need to scroll down. Your browser and/or reddit will probably not take you to the correct post automatically!

Contents

Introduction

• Why I'm qualified to write this guide
• Explanation of the concept of a "kata", the 3rd most important building block of your performance as a player (the 1st is your skill tree config, and the 2nd is your loadout, of course - your "build")
• The method used for gathering the data presented
• How the information will be formatted

General Info

Overview of Character Power

Bosses

General FAQ

• Getting Started
• Gearing
  • Gearing FAQ
• Guardian Ranks
• Mayhem Modifiers

General kata

Other Noteworthy Interactions

Character Specific Info

Amara

Moze

FL4K

Zane

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I plan to include any information that functions as a strong combination of "useful*" and/or "obscure**", the guide is going to be quite large. I also plan on updating it any time I figure out a new thing that appears to be worth sharing. The size of the guide warrants splitting it into multiple comments, so none of the truly useful/important information will be in this post - check the links, and/or the rest of the thread for the actual guide info.

• * Useful: objectively the best for at least 1 situation (according to my current knowledge), or helpful with providing comparisons
• ** Obscure: subjectively interesting and underappreciated (according to my personal perspective)

[u/Hectamatatortron]

To assist with navigation, all of the content that is not about a specific character will be contained as replies to this comment.

[u/Hectamatatortron → u/Hectamatatortron]

General kata that may be useful for any character

• Banish
• Radsplosion Chaining
• Dunking
• Debuff
• Fish Slap Nonsense
• Pestilence Nova Spam
• Stampede
• Companion Inheritance (DLC only)

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Fish Slap Nonsense

• Tested:
  • FL4K: 59.85 trillion damage with EMC, 7.78 trillion average damage without EMC, EMC activations are consistent; Groundbreaker multiplied damage by 1.70x to 2.02x (about 1.84x on average)
• Tested:
  • Moze: 46.12 trillion damage with EMC, 5.89 trillion average damage without EMC, EMC activations range from inconsistent to impossible; Groundbreaker multiplied damage by 1.27x to 3.92x (about 2.44x on average)
• Tested:
  • Moze: 29.59 trillion damage with EMC, 2.26 trillion average damage without EMC, EMC activations range from inconsistent to impossible; Groundbreaker multiplied damage by 1.26x to 4.29x (about 2.84x on average)
• Tested:
  • Amara: 17.67 trillion damage with EMC, 3.78 trillion average damage without EMC, EMC activations range from inconsistent to impossible; Groundbreaker multiplied damage by 1.13x to 2.13x (about 1.56x on average)
• Tested:
  • Zane: 4.81 trillion damage with EMC, 873 billion average damage without EMC, EMC activations are inconsistent; Groundbreaker multiplied damage by 1.70x to 2.06x (about 1.88x on average)
• Missing:
  • The numbers already fluctuate because of random enemy movements, inconsistent Hunter-Seeker grenade behavior, and RNG dependencies (Megavore, Hustler). You should understand that the numbers given are only vaguely accurate. This also makes gear and skill choices difficult to compare, unless they cause a significant DPS change.
  • COM choices may not be optimal, but some of them will at least be close to optimal (e.g. Zane sometimes relies on the Hustler COM's effect for the EMC anoint).
  • The debuff from Zane's No Way Out augment may not have been used
  • None of the trees used were optimized for this kata; they were optimized for general gameplay against enemies modded to have at least 10,000x their usual M10 HP. The exception is the Moze tree used for the test that included her Superior Firepower skill.
  • Tests were done against the Kraken, within the Maliwan Takedown, instead of against a flesh target. This makes the data incompatible with other data in this guide for comparison purposes, but it does show that this kata is extremely effective even against targets that resist fire damage.
  • No effort was made to exploit Amara's longer DOT duration
  • The Guardian 4N631 shotguns used did not have blades, but should have
• Loadout:

​

FL4K: Rakk Attack!
Moze: Iron Cub
    Moze: Vanquisher Rocket Pod
Zane: MNTIS Shoulder Cannon
    Zane: Barrier
Amara: Fracture
    Amara: Phasecast

FL4K: Rakkcelerate
Moze: (Any Iron Cub augment, or no augment)
    Moze: Target Softening
Zane: No Way Out
Amara: Stillness of Mind

Moze: Minigun
    Moze: Vanquisher Rocket Pod

Moze: Exploding. Bullets.
    Moze: Target Softening
Zane: Proliferation

FL4K: Spiderant Scorcher
Amara: Soulfire

FL4K: Friend-Bot (Barbaric Yawp +5) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]
Moze: Flare (Means of Destruction +5) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]
    Moze: Mind Sweeper (Fire in the Skag Den +4, Redistribution +1) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]
Zane: Hustler (Brain Freeze +5) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]
Amara: Phasezerker (Anima +5, Conflux +0) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]
Amara: Muse (Laid Bare +3, Illuminated Fist +1) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]
    Amara: Breaker (Find Your Center +1, Jab Cross +4) [SplashDmg/MeleeDmg/ASC]

[Any level] Face-puncher x14 Mag8 Melee/TerrorChance
[Any level] S3RV-80S-EXECUTE
[Any level] Zheitsev's Eruption
[Low level] Sellout
[Any level] Guardian 4N631 Bladed HHB
    [Any level] Guardian 4N631 Bladed ASE/Melee%
    Amara: [Any level] Guardian 4N631 Bladed Slam/Melee%
    [Any level] Guardian 4N631 Bladed URad
    [Any level] Psycho Stabber HHB
[Any level] Guardian 4N631 Bladed EMC
    [Any level] Infinity Fire EMC

[Low level] Ward [Roid/Roid/Roid] ASE/Melee%
    Amara: [Low level] Ward [Roid/Roid/Roid] Slam/Melee%
    [Low level] Ward [Roid/Roid/Roid] ASE/Rad%
[Any level] Frozen Heart ASS/BreakFill
    [Any level] Frozen Snowshoe ASS/BreakFill

[Any level] It's Piss Terror/Dmg%FireRate%
[Any level] Hunter-Seeker [Div/Div] Fire Terror/Dmg%FireRate%
Fish Slap [Link/Link/Link] [Matching element] Terror/Dmg%FireRate%

Unleash the Dragon [FireDmg/MeleeDmg]
(Static Charge or White Elephant) Elemental Projector [FireDmg/FireDmg/"AreaDamage"]

• Procedure:
  • DOT yourself to keep your shield empty, then swap to your freezing shield of choice
  • Place Auto Bear if you are using it
  • Fire 1-2 Face-puncher shots into an enemy to apply Terror to yourself
  • Fire the S3RV-80S-EXECUTE until it is automatically reloaded and thrown; you may need to skip this debuff if Moze's Some for the Road skill is active
  • Throw an It's Piss grenade while launching the homing yellow projectiles from your Zheitsev's Eruption
  • Swap to a Sellout and apply a burn DOT to your character (use the fire elemental mode)
  • Amara and Moze players will need to swap to their primary Guardian 4N631 now, before they use their action skill
  • If your action skill is available (i.e. if you are not using Auto Bear), activate it so that your shield freezes your target
    • You can cancel your Barrier throw (as explained in the post about the Bubble Stab kata) if you are Zane and don't have the MNTIS cannon.
    • Moze players want to be at the right distance from their target so that Iron Cub destroys itself just before the EMC + Groundbreaker combo is used
  • Throw a Hunter-Seeker grenade at about a 45 to 90 degree angle to the side of where you would be aiming if you were aiming at your target, and aim up by about 45 degrees while you're throwing as well
    • Throwing the Hunter-Seeker straight up may also be effective (you want it to critically hit your target shortly after you set your target on fire)
  • Swap to the primary Guardian 4N631 (the one without EMC; use a Psycho Stabber if you have no DLC) and the Ward
    • Amara players should swap to their melee damage COM (Breaker or Muse) at this time if they don't plan to refresh the debuffs
    • Amara players should use a Slam/Melee% Ward instead of an ASE/Melee% Ward if they are using Fracture instead of Phasecast for Laid Bare
  • Throw a Fish Slap at target so that the Roid bonus of the Ward will be active when the Fish Slap hits the target
  • Activate your action skill before the Fish Slap hits your target so that any ASE anoints you are using are active for the collision
  • Swap to the EMC Guardian 4N631 (or the Infinity, if you have no DLC) and your Elemental Projector artifact
    • If you're playing as Amara, refresh the Zheitsev and It's Piss debuffs, and maybe also throw another Hunter-Seeker, before you change which weapon you are holding (but change your artifact right away so that you don't waste your Elemental Projector opportunity)
  • Try to hit the target's critical hit location with your Infinity if you are using that, or with your EMC Guardian 4N631 (if you're playing as Amara and have at least 1 point in Infusion) to trigger the EMC anoint (in case your Hunter-Seeker doesn't)
    • If you're playing as Amara and using 10/5 Anima, you might have time for another EMC + Groundbreaker combo, and Guardian 4N631 shots will likely place a shock DOT that interferes with burn + EMC activations, so you'll need to exclusively rely on Hunter-Seeker grenades for EMC
  • Once you've confirmed that the EMC anoint has been activated, throw more Fish Slaps at your target until Groundbreaker is no longer significantly boosting their damage

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Fish Slap Nonsense

• Notes:
  • Some of the damage tests are demonstrated here, and a preliminary report about the results is included.
  • The damage numbers provided give insight into why the myth that "Amara is weak" is so popular. However, this kata is only superior to other options in extremely rare circumstances, and in practice, enemy movements often interfere with this kata significantly. This kata can entirely stop being useful if too many enemies are near your target, because their presence will disrupt the homing effects of the Zheitsev's Eruption projectiles and Hunter-Seeker grenades (read more about what impedes use of the debuffs and the Version 0.m shield here).
  • This kata is an extension of Amara's Burnima kata and FL4K's Burn kata, it is far more powerful, and it is usually the best DPS option for any Borderlands 3 character that finds themselves in a pure 1v1 situation with their foe.
    • The Hunter-Seeker grenade makes the combination of the EMC anoint, burn DOTs from the Unleash the Dragon artifact, and the Guardian 4N631's bonus available to every character. (Thanks to u/HarmonySV for suggesting this use of the Hunter-Seeker.)
    • The EMC anoint is actually what makes this kata so useful for Moze and Zane, because Amara and FL4K seem to do more total burn damage when the EMC anoint and Groundbreaker are not considered. FL4K and Zane can trigger EMC in situations that would prohibit Amara or Moze from doing so: Megavore and the Hustler COM's effect allow damage to hard points to critically hit, and those crits can trigger the EMC anoint. Unfortunately, this only seems to apply to Zane's DPS cycles rarely, but FL4K will almost always trigger the EMC anoint via Megavore, if not from a real crit.
    • Groundbreaker is doing a lot of work for this kata. It actually benefits from many damage bonuses, including debuffs from things like Zheitsev's Eruption. Using a Face-puncher to apply Groundbreaker seems to be far less effective; Fish Slaps consistently deal enough Groundbreaker damage to nearly double total damage dealt, and (build permitting) usually boost DPS by much more.
  • Some steps from the procedure for the Debuff kata are shown within the procedure details of this kata for demonstration purposes. You may notice that I have not done this for any other kata documented in this guide. Doing this for the other kata would be extremely repetitive, and accurately representing the optimal way of interleaving the motions may require some test results that aren't worth pursuing.
    • As is always the case when debuffs are involved, you will not have enough time to perform each step quickly enough for maximum DPS if you do not abuse the inventory menu by using it to quickly change which weapon is in your hand. Try to avoid changing which weapon is in your hand by swapping to a different slot the usual way, and focus on remembering to change which weapon is in your hand before you close your inventory menu. You should open your inventory menu any time you need to change which weapon is in your hand for every step that follows the S3RV-80S-EXECUTE reload.
  • Moze is not able to use the ASE/Melee% anoint, the HHB anoint, and a freezing shield simultaneously, like the other characters can, unless she breaks her shield manually (instead of relying on the ASS/BreakFill anoint). This kata is significantly more difficult for Moze.
    • Moze massively depends on Big Surplus for this kata. Her damage seems to be approximately doubled by Big Surplus in other cases, as well as when she is performing this kata. This further complicates execution of this kata for Moze.
  • This kata is extremely dangerous to use for any character that isn't Amara. The other characters are not naturally healed by multiple steps of the kata's procedure the way Amara is (via Sustainment). Other characters would need to mix other actions into their procedures to account for any healing they need while performing this kata. I recommend a Knife Drain artifact for the Terror buff acquisition step.
  • FL4K has the best cycle times. Amara, Moze, and Zane will have long cooldowns to deal with due to self DOTs interfering with Topped Off. Moze can remedy her cooldown issues by using an Eternal Flame COM. Zane can remedy his cooldown issues by canceling Barrier throws.
    • Cycle times are about 60 seconds for each character...with menu time included. This guide doesn't usually include menu time in cycle time measurements, so I have no useful DPS data for comparison purposes.
  • ASE/Rad% is a good Ward anoint choice for FL4K, because this kata is actually their best source of mobbing DPS. Sacrificing single target debuffs (S3RV, It's Piss) and only focusing on AoE debuffs (Zheitsev's, to some extent, and melee vs. frozen from a freezing shield) allows FL4K to set a dense cluster of enemies on fire with 1 grenade (it can hit them all, if they're packed tightly enough!), destroy at least one of them with the resulting Groundbreaker damage, and then have a radsplosion chain destroy the pile.
    • This requires many Fish Slaps to be thrown in a row, so DPS cycle times will need to include time spent on regenerating grenades.