FL4K the Beastmaster is known for dealing a ton of critical hit damage while also having a cute (but deadly) pet companion. At Borderlands 3's launch, FL4K was probably the most overpowered Vault Hunter, yet you could only rely on Fade Away. Since then, all of FL4K’s skills have received a ton of work and all the skill trees can be used to great effect.

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With the newly released Designer’s Cut, Gearbox has added a fourth skill tree for each Vault Hunter. FL4K’s new Trapper Skill Tree adds much more variety that also synergizes with their other trees. Due to all the buffs and reworks, along with the new tree, FL4K’s best skills may look different than they did before.

10 Big Game – Hunter Tree (Tier 4)

FL4K's Skill Big Game in Borderlands 3
FL4K's Skill Big Game in Borderlands 3

The Big Game skill increases the effectiveness and even the duration of all kill skills in the Hunter tree. The three kill skills are Second Intention, Interplanetary Stalker, and The Most Dangerous Game, all of which are worth using.

Assuming you’re using those three kill skills (which you totally should), it’s absolutely crucial that you put points into Big Game. At three skill points, FL4K’s Hunter kills are 30% more effective and their duration is doubled. The Most Dangerous Game skill, especially, can utilize Big Game to its full potential, giving FL4K a huge damage increase that will last almost four minutes.

9 Throatripper – Trapper Tree (Tier 2)

FL4K's skill throatripper in Borderlands 3

The biggest draw to the newly added Trapper tree is that now the pets can be just as powerful, if not more, than FL4K. Thanks to the new Throatripper skill, FL4K’s pets now have a chance to do a critical hit, essentially giving them Megavore.

At three points, Throatripper gives the pets a 15% chance to score a critical hit. This includes literally anything your pet can do, including melee, grenades, and even shield breaks. This gives the pets way more possibilities than they’ve ever had.

8 Hidden Machine – Stalker Tree (Tier 4)

FL4K's skill Hidden Machine in Borderlands 3

Even in Borderlands, FL4K does have ways of playing “stealthy” on the battlefield. Fade Away turns FL4K invisible and the Pets draw enemy aggro. Since you’re constantly fighting enemies who aren’t always attacking, Fl4K’s Hidden Machine skill is a must-have.

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At five points, Hidden Machine gives FL4K 30% more damage against enemies attacking a different target or no one at all. This synergizes perfectly with Fade Away or Guerillas In The Mist as it permanently gives you that 30% damage bonus for your critical hits. Another hack with this skill is the Red Fang class mod where your pets taunt enemies while Gamma Burst is active.

7 Turn Tail And Run – Stalker Tree (Tier 3)

FL4K's skill Turn Tail and Run in Borderlands 3

FL4K isn’t the best when it comes to survivability since they don’t have any lifesteal abilities and they are forced to rely on health regeneration skills. The best of these skills is Turn Tail And Run, giving FL4K health regeneration and damage reduction while moving. The added bonus is that FL4K gains increased damage while still.

Since their pets give FL4K some room to breathe by drawing enemies away, FL4K can easily run away from a situation to get that health back. Once fully healed, FL4K can stop moving and do an extra 25% more damage. This is even better with Fade Away as enemies won’t even know you’re there.

6 Take This – Trapper Tree (Tier 3)

FL4K's skill Take This in Borderlands 3

The Take This skill from the Trapper tree now adds a new benefit to FL4K’s pet. The Pet will have a copy of FL4K’s equipped shield. This definitely adds a new way to truly build your pet capabilities.

The pet will have all the abilities granted by the shield. There are some truly unique ways to approach this. Perhaps your shield does amp damage, meaning your pet will gain that too. If you have a nova shield break equipped, the pet will also release that nova. A Frozen Heart is a perfect one to try out with a melee pet since it will freeze the enemy, giving your pet triple melee damage.

5 Barbaric Yawp – Master Tree (Tier 4)

FL4K's skill Barbaric Yawp in Borderlands 3

Thanks to the new Trapper tree, FL4K’s pets are a force to be reckoned with. For a pet build, it is necessary to max out the Barbaric Yawp skill in the Master tree. At five skill points, this will make all pet bonuses 200% more powerful.

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With so many pet bonuses in FL4K’s skill trees, especially in the new Trapper tree, Barbaric Yawp is way more useful than it was ever before. Most notably, your pet’s critical hit damage can be absolutely broken (in a good way) with the right build.

4 Capacitance – Trapper Tree (Capstone)

FL4K's skill Capacitance in Borderlands 3

FL4K got a ton of ways to stay alive thanks to the new Trapper tree. The Capstone of the tree is Capacitance. Whenever FL4K activates an Action Skill, their shield will double its capacity and immediately start recharging.

This synergizes best with Action Skills that have lower cooldown rates. This will also happen every time FL4K shoots out a charge of Rakk Attack, meaning your shield can easily be doubled and recharging at all times if you spec into that skill well enough. With a Stop-Gap shield, you can turn FL4K into an absolute tank.

3 Head Count – Hunter Tree (Tier 2)

FL4K's skill Head Count in Borderlands 3

The best way to play any Vault Hunter in Borderlands 3 is to find ways to always activate your Action Skill. For FL4K, their Action Skill cooldown rate can go down tremendously with Head Count in the Hunter tree.

Every time FL4K scores a critical hit, there is a chance that their Action Skill cooldown rate will go down. This works perfectly with FL4K’s critical hit skills such as Megavore and Leave No Trace. If you truly wish to spam FL4K’s Action Skill, Head Count is the perfect skill for you.

2 Lick The Wounds – Stalker Tree (Tier 3)

FL4K's skill Lick The Wounds in Borderlands 3

Lick The Wounds is almost a no-brainer when you see it in the Stalker tree. This gives your pet the ability to revive you when you go into Fight For Your Life. At one skill point, there’s no reason to not equip it if you spec into the tree.

You can also appreciate the hustle the pet gives when coming to revive you. They sprint full speed when you go down. This is noticeable when you get that quick two-second window you get before the Fight For Your Life bar starts going down.

1 Megavore – Hunter Tree (Capstone)

FL4K's skill Megavore in Borderlands 3

Megavore is definitely FL4K’s best capstone skill out of all four trees. When you’re not using Fade Away, you can still score critical hits most of the time with Megavore. This gives FL4K a 20% chance to score a critical hit no matter where they shoot. This works well with certain enemies that have low crit spots.

This skill is reserved for high fire-rate weapons that fire a ton of pellets. With the Headcount skill mentioned earlier, you can get your Action Skill back quickly thanks to scoring critical hits without even trying.

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