Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel R4MB0-TP!!! A Fragtrap Build

The Problem-

Once you have every Vault Hunter's skill tree boiled down to its most efficient form, they all start feeling pretty similar- Get your favorite gun, Press F, kill everything, reload, lather, rinse, repeat. It's the Borderlands experience, but after you have a few hundred hours in each character, it can get stale.

The Solution-

I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite trees to ever grace the lands of border, Fragmented Fragtrap. No matter how you spec it, you can't be sure which gun you'll need to use, or which element. What I can tell you? It's gonna rock, regardless. A good roll turns you into a robo- tornado of bullets and one liners, and a bad roll only shorts you between 15% and 45% damage, before modifiers and other considerations. It's a net gain, it's hilarious, and you can't go wrong with being a pirate ship to reward your efforts.

The Build-

Sans a mod, it looks like-

Our main sources of damage will be sheer fire rate, and the damage bonus from One Last Thing. Winning the Fragstack roulette will also contribute quite a bit.

I have everything set up like this because it works best for me, and I'll explain why, but I'm not gonna send the Gestapo after you if you personalize it. Have some fun with it and feel free to respond with any questions, concerns, or tips you may have.

Boomtrap-

At the very bottom of the tree, we start with Drop the Hammer. It's 10% accuracy loss is not only never felt, it's over- compensated for by other abilities, so we get essentially get a free fire rate and reload speed boost. Next, we put five points into Killbot. Since OMGLEL-TP generally prefers health to shields, we stack up on this to keep him healthy and happy. Keep in mind that this also means that this will reset your shield recharge delay with each kill, so getting off amp shots and novas will be difficult in most firefights.

Coincidental Combustion is a pretty great ability if you have the points to spare. I pulled five from Killbot to activate it, and the extra damage really shows. We don't worry about Repulsive because, while it can be fun to watch guys fly backwards after poking you, it rarely actually mattered because most enemies use guns, and anyone else will be toast before it gets close enough to scratch your paint.

We pick up the only ability in the third tree, Second Wind [by Tediore]. I haven't noticed it doing much work in FFYL, but it is pretty fun, and it prevents me from needing to ditch a point in the tier two abilities to proceed up the tree.

At the fourth tier, we spend six points. The first point goes into I Am Rubber, You Are Glue. 25% of all bullet damage gets returned to sender, so our middling shields don't have to work so hard. Torgue Fiesta gets unlocked here as well, which hits close range enemies like a truck, just don't be too close when those grenades start popping. We spend our next five points in Start with a Bang. This is a debatable choice, since the range of it is so low, and it further thins our shield, but it seems to work well after a mod bonus. We disregard Load 'n' Splode because we don't use Coincidental Combustion, and most of our roulette spins will prevent us from taking advantage of these five points.

Nearing the top, we sink five points into One Last Thing. There's sadly only one mod out right now that gives this a bonus, a Sapper mod, which can boost it to around 800% damage on every last shot, but five points for a 400% damage bonus ain't too bad. We don't ditch points into Hyperion Punch, because this is not a melee build, and won't see much more damage here than a single sniper shot. Even with point investment, the Hype Punch has a fickle targeting system and may not hit anything.

We pick up the capstone, Livin' Near the Edge, because it gives us bonus reload and fire rate, up to double, for having damaged shields. Between enemies shooting and Killbot spinning up, our shields will nearly always be low, so this capstone can get some serious work done. Which is good, because we won't be bothering with the other two.

I Love You Guys!-

I really really do. But that's also the name of this skill tree which we're gonna sink 17 points into! I had to trim it down to give love to the other two trees. This was hard since I love team games, and D4NKM3ME-TP could benefit a lot from the abilities here.

I bypass Best Buds 4 Life here, not because it's a bad ability, but because I needed to save the points for more important abilities in this tree. I do, however, put five points into Maniacal Laughter. Many of our roulette abilities help h4h4N3RD-TP deal elemental damage, so using those abilities to also provide up to around 30% (per second) health regeneration can singlehandedly keep him from dying. Which is pretty cool, all said and done.

In the second tree, I avoid Kick Him While He's Down for two reasons. First, I do not want to hear that new dubstep song you wrote. And also, especially in solo play, if you roll this ability while there are no enemies in arms reach, or they're all flying enemies, you're dead. No passing go, no collecting 200$, just dead. But this tree also has two important abilities. Firstly, Through Thick and Thin, which is an easy, breezy, beautiful way for you to get to your next action package quicker. We also pick up All the Things are Awesome. This is a debatable choice, but the base 25% health bonus has made a huge difference, especially when opting for an Anshin shield.

Next, we grab You're... GOING TO LOVE ME!! for two reasons. The first is for the healing novas have a synergistic relationship with Killbot, and the chance to get Gun Wizard, which prevents you from firing for a moment while OOHMAMA-TP waves his hands about, in exchange for a temporary, but impressive boost to fire rate and reload.

Our final point in this tree goes into It's a Trap... Card. I am a big fan of nova shields, and since they're nearly impossible to use here, it makes me feel better to have an occasional nova to boost healing and get token damage on enemies in range.

Fragmented Fragtrap-

This tree often leaves more questions than answers, so I'll answer your first two questions right out of the gate. No, this ability is in no way tied to VaultHunter.exe, and will keep cycling regardless of its usage and recharge. And no, this can't possibly end well.

First, we pick up All the Guns. If you have the gun it calls for, you get damage, reload speed and fire rate. If not, your damage is sliced. Easy, sweet, and random. If I wasn't forced to take Safety First, I probably wouldn't, since this is an offense based build, and cutting damage to tank a couple extra shots slows us down, especially when Tripleclocked starts ramping things up.

At the next level, we disregard Rope-a- Derp because even with a 150% bonus, melee is still a substandard option. This can be modified by sinking more points into Boomtrap abilities, but ain't nobody got time fo' dat. Instead, we'll take Blue Shell. Since our shields are so thin, we'll be going into FFYL a lot, and a heavy bonus just for being there is pretty nice. Surprised? Stabilize! really only needs one point to counteract the 10% accuracy reduction from Drop the Hammer, but I've found that sinking an extra four really helps out, especially since we'll be switching from high fire rate weapons to a Torgue shotgun frequently.

Tripleclocked is an absolute must for this build. In a nutshell, the fewer stacks you have, the more powerful the current subroutine is, up to triple. By the same token, the downsides get tripled as well. So, for perspective, gun damage with a winning subroutine gets a 25% damage bonus. When you are at low stacks, that bonus is around 75%, giving One Last Thing another 50% to work with. Borderlands treats percentages in an odd manner, but it's still no small amount of damage. The problem with this, as I briefly mentioned earlier, Safety First gets the short end of the stick with this. A well boosted defense doesn't mean much when the trade is for our entire damage output to get cut almost in half.

Our last 11 points get burned in this fourth tier. The first one goes into Element of Surprise, mostly to add some extra juice to Maniacal Laughter, and give our elemental weapons some extra zip. We put five points into Grenade Vent, mostly to keep fragstacks up when we roll a subroutine we like. The grenade damage boost is a nice secondary boost, as well. We also pick up Death Machine here. This is one of my favorite abilities, and apparently one of the dev's favorite abilities as well, since it's boosted by almost every mod that S4DF4P-TP uses.

Side note, Cryogenic Exhaust Manifold is a viable alternative to Grenade Vent, letting you reduce time with subroutines you don't like, rather than extending the time with those that you do like. Since we only have those five points to move around, you need to shack up with one or the other, lest you be ineffective with both. It's another gamble. Novel concept.

Second side note, you've probably already noticed that I unabashedly ignored Rainbow Coolant. This is because, while I love the range of its nova, and the free Maniacal Laughter stacks it gets, I can't stand Laser Inferno. It never gets enough damage off to merit use, and worse yet, it darkens the area around you and prevents you from seeing anything in the upper portion of your screen. For example, the entire sky. Which can important when you're trying to kill that flying enemy that's peppering you with damage. If you don't believe me, pull the point from It's a Trap... Card to activate Rainbow Coolent, then do a run or two through the Pumping Station (The place where you did the, "Intelligence of an Artificial Persuasion" mission) and wait til you get your super disco ball out while some Stolen Dahl Jetfighters are hanging about.

The Weapons-

Your weapon sets will change rapidly, so I'll go over the four weapons I prefer to start off with, and the others that I keep on standby.

The BIGF0UR-TP-

- Shooterang (Pistol)

Not only do you get the crazy fast reloads of a Tediore pistol, along with boosted damage and magazine size, your reload can be used to hit groups of enemies that otherwise would have gone un- maimed. With this, you have the option of throwing it with a high magazine to hit enemies and build stacks of Maniacal Laughter, but you can also empty it out, get your One Last thing bonus, and still get token damage on a throw. Beware though, rapidly firing and reloading will cycle Start With a Bang, and kill OMFGCAT-TP in short order.

- Fast Talker (Cryo SMG)

High fire rate, thick magazines and fast reload means some intense dps, just be sure to get one in a Cryo element. The argument can be made for a Fatale in this spot, but I'm rarely in the mood to both be a roulette and aim that carefully.

- Vibra- Pulse (Electric Laser)

It's damage can't compare to other lasers, such as Ol' Rosie, but the Moxxi effect it brings can prop up your health in difficult situations. Combining this with Maniacal Laughter and a Laser or Electric subroutine will finish up just about any firefight in short order. Also remember that it's damage boost after a full magazine will serve to magnify One Last Thing, if you can control it's stability at that point.

- Flakker (Explosive Shotgun)

Okay, calm down. I know. Flakker was a sad excuse for a shotgun in in Borderlands 2, and it shouldn't have any right to be decent here. Even with all our bonuses, it's fire rate is abysmal, and it's reload speed is worse. But bear with me for a moment. I know the Flakker is just a waste of ammo against one enemy, but I practically just got done saying this build was better against crowds than single opponents. When you have Shotgun or Explosive subroutine up, and a handful of dudes like up to shoot you, two trigger pulls kill anything without the word "Badass" in their name, and the third pull, boosted by One Last Thing, will usually take down anything that does. As far as it's strange range requirement is concerned, treat it like slow SMG. Don't be too close, or you'll get out- damaged, but don't be too far away, or you'll miss entirely.

Spare guns-

- Longnail (Sniper)

It's important to keep a sniper rifle on hand, should that bonus get rolled, and this little lady will happily use said bonus to had out death with every shot. I prefer a cryo for the sake of versatility, but use what you can find. Woe be to you if you find one in electric, though, as it inherently ignores shields anyway.

- Major Tom (Assault Rifle)

Against single opponents, this gun's 2 bullets per shot cost is much too cumbersome to be workable. But against crowds, a couple burst from this Veruc reskin can turn you into a ROFLMAO-TP. If single enemy killin' is your game, farm for a Hail (Corrosive). It's a little hard to get used to, but it's more ammo efficient, and gets a 150% crit bonus, melting any enemy, just the way that our robo- lord and savior JSUS-TP intended.

- Kaneda's Laser (Rocket Launcher)

Rolling Rocket Launcher subroutine is pretty rare, but when you do, you may as well take advantage of your damage, accuracy, fire rate, and crit bonuses. A lot of others can fit in this spot, but I like having a laser instead of a rocket, to pick off flying and fast targets up easier.

- Ravager (Explosive Shotgun)

Still not on board with the idea of the Flakker? I don't like you anymore, but here's the beasty for you. High damage, and a workable accuracy and fire rate, thanks to your abilities. I recommend jumping and firing downwards on your enemies, so they have a chance of getting hit by pellet AoE, instead of you just missing entirely. A glitched version can be found in the Claptrap DLC, or a Luneshine version from farming moonstone chests, giving you extra bonuses over the average purple Ravager.

The Kit-

Shield- Rerouter

I know I said not to use amp shields, but this one has the unique ability to refresh your health whenever it uses your shields to boost your damage. Prismatic Bulwark is a fan favorite here, too, since it boosts laser damage, absorbs laser damage, and lets you fully recharge and use your nova more often. Reogenator can work here too, as it boosts your health and helps against DoT, but it won't see much use out of it's passive regen, as it stops when your shield is down. And it will be down often.

Oz Kit- 3DD1.E

Here's the cycle, you get bonus damage from Rerouter, another enemy breaks your crippled shield, you get your It's a Trap... Card nova, 3DD1.3 fills your shields, and you repeat until your battlefield has turned from a killing floor to a parking lot, flat and devoid of life. Additionally, if you have a bad roulette spin, you can switch to a laser weapon and abuse 3DD1.3's bonus to help survive until your next subroutine re- roll. Moonlight Saga is often the go- to for the average Fragtrap, since they don't need oxygen, and they do need health, but RAMB0-TP isn't your average Fragtrap, and doesn't need to be a shimmery little vampire punk to get the job done. If you're in the niche where you're facing a lot of flying enemies, the Ack- Ack can be pretty fun, tearing up flying units, and boosting your damage output at the same time.

Mod- Sapper/ Factory Second/ Overclocker

It's really up to your play style to choose which mod to use, as almost all of them can be worked into this build. Eridian Vanquisher and Celestial Fragtrap naturally fit in, so you can opt for them if you find one. The only mod that I've found to boost the raid boss ability, One Last Thing, is Sapper. For normal mission completion, Overclocker or Factory Second will be sure to impress.

Grenade- Leech (Longbow Cryo)

I love the instant return on investment that Leech gives over the normal healing streams of the more powerful purple Transfusion grenades, but you can opt for them or a Kiss of Death if that's your poison. The idea here is to throw grenades to restore Fragstacks, while making sure you don't die in the process of trying to use them. Honorable mention here goes to Singularity grenades, namely the Meganade and Quasar, for their ability to bunch up enemies for your crowd clearing weapons to get their full effect.

Alternate Weapons-

Don't think I'm being facetious here, but any blue or higher grade weapon you come across can get the job done. Just make sure to have access to a Shotgun, Assault Rifle, SMG, Pistol, Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle, and Laser from your inventory. Bonus points to the Fridgia for freezing easily, and getting mean crits with it's x2 bullet firing mechanic.

Avoid Jacobs weapons here, as they're mostly single fire and non- elemental, preventing us from abusing our astronomical fire rates and elemental machinations. As you collect weapons, try to maintain a decent elemental spread. Between Torgue and Maliwan, you should have no trouble finding a Corrosive, Incendiary, Shock, Explosive, or Cryo version of your favorite guns.

Glitch and Moonstone versions of your weapons can be found. These weapons are sometimes more effective than a purple or legendary counterpart, so keep an eye out for them. This won't be readily apparent, but glitch weapons also have randomly cycling abilities, such as faster fire rate, higher damage, etc. You'll know one is coming because, after a reload, your gun will change color (Blueish is the norm). It won't take you long to figure out which colors have which effect.

Alternate Kit-

Many of the items I've previously recommended are pretty hard to farm for. Here are some alternatives to keep you rolling, in case you're not the hardcore sort.

Shield- MORQ

Due to BBQBAE-TP having such a reliance on health, an Anshin shield is the logical choice. The best in the game is the Reogenator, but it's difficult to farm for. A close second is the MORQ, which is much easier to find, as it just spawns in the big chest in the Claptrap DLC.

Mod- Factory Second

Unless you plan on farming for the rare mods, or using Sapper to lay the pain on a raid boss, Factory Second will serve admirably. In blue or purple rarities, it'll always be there to keep you rolling. That said, there are several mods out there that prop up abilities that our great H3R0-TP uses, so feel free to experement with them.

Grenade- Transfusion or Singularity Grenade (Cryo)

You'll mostly be spamming for Grenade Vent, but to maximize your effectiveness, grouping enemies or healing up will hold promise. I opt for cryo here because I like explosive weapons, which get a bonus against frozen enemies. A lucky shot against a frozen enemy can kill them, letting you survive despite having a bad roulette spin.

Oz Kit- Precision Strike/ Hyperventilator, Bomber, etc.

Really, any of these can be worked into your strategy. My favorites were Precision Strike and Hyperventilator. Precision strike gives you free accuracy and crit damage to abuse with your fire rate, and since you don't use oxygen, Hyperventilator can give maximum output in the vacuum of space, where around a third of the main game takes place. I also enjoyed the Bomber kit, because it allowed for more throws, which meant more Fragstacks.

Level Progression-

Here's what my build looks like at level 50- http://thepresequel.com/Claptrap/550010140510530000000001310051015000/irrmadtrap,lv50

And at level 60- http://thepresequel.com/Claptrap/550010150510550510100001310051015000/irrmadtrap,lv60

I went with a madtrap mod to boost my damage output for mobbing, but go for a sapper if you plan on farming sentinal.

Up to level 3- Get a gun and don't die. Dying is expensive.

Levels 4 through 8- Pick up All the guns, Fuzzy Logic, the Safety First. Easy.

Levels 9 through 13- All into Blue Shell. It'll save your life, and it scales for the rest of your run.

Levels 14 and 15- Tripleclocked and Element of Surprise. Get that roulette a' spinnin'!

Levels 16 through 20- +5 for Death Machine. Speed and damage, for those special occasions.

Levels 21 through 30- Killbot, then Drop the Hammer. I prefer the damage these bring, so I wait on spending the 8 points towards I Love You Guys.

Levels 31 through 35- Second Wind (by Tediore), I Am Rubber, You Are Glue, the 4 into Start with a Bang. These increase your damage output and survivability, just be conservative with Tediore reloads from now on.

Levels 37 through 42- Finish up Boomtrap with One Last Thing and Livin' Near the Edge for the damage boost and the MUTHA' HUMPIN' PIRATE SHIP!

levels 43 through 50- I prefer 5 into Maniacal Laughter to boost our elemental subroutines and and 3 into Through Thick and Thin to make our cooldown a little more manageable, but neither seem absolutly essential, so I hold them off until the end.

Levels 51 through 58- Finish up Start With a Bang and Through Thick and Thin to help them scale to your level, then put 5 into All the Things are Awesome, since its fire rate and health bonus will help with survivability.

Levels 59 and 60- You're... GOING TO LOVE ME and It's a trap... Card to make yourself really hard to kill in the face of badasses and mobs.

Levels 60 through 70- Put five points each into Surprised? Stabalize! and Grenade Vent to finish up the build and give you some extra battlefield control.

Questions And Answers-

What's that Head and Skin, and where do I aquire them?

The skin is Ock Aye! and the head is CMD0-TP. Feel free to google their locations

how does claptraps skill work i dont understand it~ from ✡Triceracop✡

It lets him randomly use psudo- versions of other vault hunters, at first (ie- tiny blight pheonix, tiny mecromancer, annoying psycho, etc). Then, as you unlock abilities in his skill tree, other non- vault hunter abilities (Gun Wizard, Torgue Fiesta, Laser Inferno, etc.) get thrown in the mix. Think of it more as an aid to your guns, instead of a replacement. You sorta just need to play with it for a while to get a feel for it.

I have an idea to improve this build. Should I add you to talk about it?

Na bruv, just comment it. If it's cool, I'll add you and we can spitball. If you plan on being insulting, at least be funny. If you make me laugh, I won't delete it.

Why did it take you so long after the games release to start this series?

Long story short? Life just happens, m8. But I'm all caught up now, so no worries.

I'd really like to try this build, but I don't have time to farm all that gear. Would you mind duping for me?

As a matter of principle, I'd rather not, sorry.

How does this build fair against bosses?

Well. Hasn't lost yet, these bosses aren't exactly invincible.

Do you have any other guides?

Yes I do, ta very much for asking. A link to them should be in the notes by now. Be sure to leave in the comments which class you'd like me to write about next.

Feel free to ask things in the comments and I'll post them, along with a long- winded answer. If you feel like trolling instead of asking intelligent questions, I'll post those too, if they make me chuckle.

Notes & Changelog-

6.22.2015

- Guide Spawned

- Was super- duper bored

6.24.2015

- Guide Finished

- Several grammar, spelling and continuity fixes

6.25.2015

- Guide Posted

- Several grammar, spelling, and continuity fixes

Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you enjoy this build as much as I do.

If you'd like, check out my other guides here: http://steamcommunity.com/id/opheliologist/myworkshopfiles/?section=guides

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=466959470

R4MB0-TP!!! A Fragtrap Build