Check out Amara and FL4K's new skill trees coming to Borderlands 3 in the Designer's Cut!

Freeze enemies solid and fight alongside a loyal Loader Bot in the Designer's Cut DLC launching November 10 for Borderlands 3, available as part of Season Pass 2 or individual purchase. This new add-on gives you access to all kinds of fresh mayhem, including the new Arms Race mode and an additional skill tree for each Vault Hunter, with new Action Skills to wield and a world of possibilities for your next great build.

We spoke with Gearbox Software's Creative Director Graeme Timmins and Game Designer Tommy Westerman to highlight the key strengths of these new Action Skills and passive abilities.

First up, we're taking a look at the Enlightened Force skill tree for Amara the Siren and the Trapper skill tree for FL4K the Beastmaster, which introduce new ways to play both of these bona fide badasses. Check out the breakdowns below, then peruse these new skill trees in full with the interactive skill tree character builders over on the Amara the Siren and FL4K the Beastmaster pages.

AMARA'S "ENLIGHTENED FORCE" SKILL TREE

Action Skill: Phaseflare

When using Amara's Enlightened Force skill tree, the entire galaxy is your personal bowling alley and those opposing you are the soon-to-be-annihilated pins.

First, freeze anyone foolish enough to get in your way with Cryo elemental effects, which round out Amara's toolkit of natural elements she can affix to her Action Skills. Then knock their blocks off using the Phaseflare Action Skill, which creates an orb of pure elemental energy you can push around and  detonate using melee attacks. The orb constantly damages any enemies nearby, but its full potential comes from the damage it does colliding with targets like a lethal bowling ball.

"Up until now Amara had 'fire and forget' Action Skills, but with the new Phaseflare, she's capable of even more damage when properly managing the skill," says Graeme. "This also opens up a whole new set of Action Skill Active Anointments that previously hadn't synergized too well with her other skills."

Those who master Phaseflare and pair it with the right gear will be able to bounce around the battlefield like a Siren possessed, slaughtering enemies by slamming an energy orb to and fro.

The passive abilities in the Enlightened Force skill tree also help you maximize your elemental damage and slow enemies so they have no hope of outrunning your Phaseflare.

Here are some highlights:

• Trust in Yourself is a huge boon when Amara wants to fight up close and personal. Whenever an enemy breaks Amara's shield, she gains increased Reload Speed, Charge Speed, and Weapon Speed, with doubled bonuses if her shield was broken by a melee attack.
• Combo Breaker makes it so that killing an enemy with melee damages reduces Amara's remaining Action Skill cooldown by half. When combined with the boosted melee damage effects from other passives, you can chain together skills almost nonstop.
• Clear the Mind is a must-have Kill Skill for tougher enemies you need to freeze, burn, electrocute, or poison in a hurry. After killing an enemy, Amara's attacks ignore all elemental resistances for a short time (this doesn’t override elemental immunities, however).

Further down the Enlightened Force skill tree, you can gain access to more Action Skills that put a new spin on Phaseflare's signature orb. For instance, heal your allies with the Glow Up Action Skill that can grant an instant Second Wind if you smack it into a downed teammate.

For all you Siren pugilists who love to punch anything that moves, the Enlightened Force skill tree lets you crack skulls like never before.

FL4K'S "TRAPPER" SKILL TREE

Action Skill: Gravity Snare

"To FL4K, something doesn't need to be warm, fuzzy, and poop out their mouths to be a pet," says Tommy. "To FL4K, anything can be a pet, including a Hyperion Loader Bot."

Using their new Trapper skill tree,  FL4K can control the battlefield from near and far. With the new Loader Bot pet variations and area-of-effect Gravity Snare Action Skill, FL4K lovers can enjoy a new ways to play.

"The ION Loader comes with a powerful sniper rifle to keep it and FL4K safe from a distance, while the BUL Loader comes with a shotgun and a bulldozer to get right up in enemies' stupid faces," Tommy explains. "Or just go with the WAR Loader and burn everything to the ground with its radiation missiles. Whatever floats your boat. FL4K's new Trapper skill tree isn't all about robot rampages, though—it also provides FL4K and their pets with powerful shield bonuses."

To help you and your trusty pets get the perfect positioning during a skirmish, FL4K can drop a Gravity Snare for some reliable crowd-control. This long-lasting Action Skill periodically tosses any nearby enemies into the air, interrupting their attacks before painfully slamming them back into the ground. While they’re tied up, you and your animal/metal companion can go to town on your helpless prey or focus on high-value targets.

The passive abilities in the Trapper skill tree give FL4K and their pets huge survivability increases via shield bonuses or added damage through increased critical hit effects.

Check out these choice picks:

• Take This! gives FL4K's pet a copy of their shield, which can turn your companion into a nigh-unkillable tank.
• Monkey Do gives FL4K's pet increased critical hit damage, but the real power comes from its other passive effect. Whenever FL4K scores a critical hit on enemies, their pet's next attack is a guaranteed critical hit—and best of all, this passive has a short cooldown.
• Capacitance is FL4K's failsafe survival skill: when activated, FL4K gains greatly increased Shield Capacity for a short time and immediately begins recharging shields. With its short cooldown, proper use of Capacitance can make you practically immortal.

"I can't wait to see what kind of interesting shield-focused builds are made possible by the Trapper skill tree," says Graeme. "The Loader Bots also contribute to a sense of cooperative play that really makes FL4K feel like a pack leader."

If you love luring enemies to their doom and withstanding damage that would make lesser robots crumble, FL4K's Trapper skill tree has what you need.

These new skill trees are part of Borderlands 3's Designer's Cut DLC launching on November 10, 2020. Designer's Cut requires a copy of Borderlands 3 to play, and can be purchased individually or as part of Season Pass 2. Be sure to come back when we reveal the new skill trees for Moze and Zane this Thursday, October 22!