Borderlands 3 Character Guide: Essential Character Tips And The Best Skills To Unlock

Gearbox’s Borderlands 3 continues the series tradition with four unique Vault Hunters, including FL4K the beastmaster, Moze the gunner, Zane the operative, and Amara as the Siren class representative. If you’re drawn to powerful elemental abilities and aggressive close-range combat, Amara offers an exceptionally rewarding gameplay experience that stands apart from her predecessors.

As the primary elemental damage specialist among the Vault Hunters, Amara carries forward the Siren legacy while introducing a more combat-focused approach. Unlike previous Sirens like Lilith and Maya who emphasized support capabilities, Amara functions as an in-your-face brawler who thrives amidst chaotic firefights. Her design philosophy echoes Borderlands’ Brick and Borderlands 2’s Krieg, focusing on closing distance and unleashing devastation on multiple targets simultaneously. Your selection from her three skill trees fundamentally shapes how you’ll engage enemies and survive Borderlands 3’s most intense battles.

The Fist of the Elements skill tree centers around Amara’s Phasegrasp action skill, enabling her to immobilize enemies temporarily. This makes it an excellent starting point for newcomers to first-person shooters, as it provides crucial control in hectic combat situations. Early investment in skills like Steady Hands—which enhances weapon handling and precision—creates powerful synergy with Phasegrasp, transforming difficult targets into stationary practice dummies.

Prioritize allocating at least five skill points into Fist of the Elements to access the second tier, which grants the ability to convert Amara’s action skill from shock to incendiary damage. Since Borderlands 3 commences on Pandora with numerous flesh-based bandit enemies, securing reliable incendiary damage capabilities should be your initial campaign objective regardless of character choice.

Upon reaching the second tier, Fist of the Elements delivers two exceptionally valuable skills for the early game: Tempest (boosts all elemental damage output) and Illuminated Fist (enhances elemental melee damage while applying your action skill element to melee strikes). Beyond these foundational abilities, most Fist of the Elements skills follow straightforward enhancement patterns, primarily amplifying the elemental damage from Amara’s weapons or providing crowd control against the swarms of enemies inhabiting the game world. If you find yourself struggling with aiming precision or target acquisition, this tree significantly improves your combat effectiveness.

Advanced Tip: Combine Phasegrasp with weapons that have high critical hit multipliers for devastating results against immobilized targets. Many players overlook that Phasegrasp not only holds enemies but also exposes their critical hit zones more consistently.

While less visually spectacular than Fist of the Elements and Mystical Assault, Brawl arguably represents Amara’s most practically effective skill tree. It’s definitely the specialization you should heavily invest in if you anticipate primarily experiencing Borderlands 3 in solo play—since this tree incorporates Amara’s premier defensive capabilities and survivability enhancements.

Similar to Fist of the Elements, you’ll want to commit at least five points to unlock an additional elemental option for Amara’s action skill. Here, it’s corrosion damage—less critical during early stages but immensely valuable when armored adversaries begin appearing regularly around the campaign’s midpoint. Brawl’s skills connect to Amara’s Phaseslam action skill, where she leaps upward before crashing down in a powerful elemental ground pound attack.

Brawl features several outstanding first-tier skills: Root to Rise elevates Amara’s maximum health pool, Personal Space augments weapon damage at close proximity, and Clarity provides continuous health regeneration. The regeneration capability proves particularly worthwhile to develop early, as eliminating dependency on health pack purchases conserves substantial funds during the initial hours—resources better allocated toward ammunition and weapon upgrades.

Common Mistake: Many players underestimate the value of Clarity’s health regeneration, but consistent healing translates to fewer respawns and more time actively engaging enemies. For solo players, this often means the difference between frustrating deaths and triumphant victories against challenging bosses.

While the source material didn’t detail Mystical Assault specifically, this tree focuses on action skill cooldown reduction, elemental effect duration, and mobility enhancements. It complements the other trees by allowing more frequent use of your powerful action skills while enhancing your ability to reposition during combat.

Mystical Assault introduces Phasecast as its signature action skill—a projectile that deals massive damage to anything in its path. This tree excels for players who prefer maintaining distance while still leveraging Amara’s elemental capabilities effectively.

Optimization Strategy: Pair Mystical Assault with cooldown reduction artifacts and class mods to create a build that can use action skills multiple times per encounter. The tree’s capstone skill, Stillness of Mind, automatically Phasegrasps enemies when you enter Fight for Your Life mode, providing crucial second chances in difficult situations.

For team play, Mystical Assault offers excellent synergy with other Vault Hunters by providing consistent crowd control and burst damage opportunities.

Successful Amara builds often combine elements from multiple trees rather than focusing exclusively on one path. A popular hybrid approach invests heavily in Brawl for survivability while taking key skills from Fist of the Elements for damage amplification. This combination creates a durable close-range combatant who can withstand punishment while dealing significant elemental damage.

Pro Tip: Don’t neglect your action skill element switching as you progress through the game. Matching your elemental damage type to enemy weaknesses (incendiary for flesh, corrosion for armor, shock for shields) can double your effective damage output in many situations.

For endgame content, consider respeccing to maximize synergy with legendary gear. Certain class mods dramatically enhance specific skills, potentially transforming mediocre abilities into game-changing powers.

Time investment for mastering Amara varies significantly based on playstyle. Casual players may need 10-15 hours to feel comfortable with her mechanics, while min-maxing enthusiasts might spend 30+ hours perfecting their builds and testing various skill combinations.

No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Borderlands 3 Character Guide: Essential Character Tips And The Best Skills To Unlock Master Amara's elemental skills in Borderlands 3 with expert build strategies and combat optimization