Borderlands 4 Best Rafa Build: Explained

Rafa is one of the most versatile Vault Hunters in the game, and Borderlands 4 best Rafa build should be your top priority. The best Rafa builds in Borderlands 4 cover everything from heavy gun damage and turrets to a melee-focused assassin setup, especially in missions like the Vault of Inceptus. Many players compare him to the classic “soldier” style characters from earlier entries, but that undersells just how much he can do.

No matter your playstyle, Rafa has a path that works. His three skill trees — Remote Agent, This Year’s Gimmick, and People Person — are all very different, and his Overdrive trait makes him even stronger by boosting speed and damage whenever you use an action skill.

Here are the three options that we think as the Borderlands 4 best Rafa build:

Borderlands 4 Best Rafa Build

Critochet (Remote Agent / Peacebreaker) – best gun-focused build.
Arcstrider (This Year’s Gimmick / Arc-Knives) – a full melee setup.
Gunzerker (People Person / Apophis Lance) – high fire-rate and ammo regen build.

Each one can work as a Rafa leveling build while you play through the campaign or as a max-level endgame setup. Let’s break them down.

Best Rafa Build: Critochet (Remote Agent / Peacebreaker)

borderlands 4 best rafa build best rafa build rafa leveling build — Image Source: Gearbox Software

This is Rafa’s strongest all-around build, focusing on his Peacebreaker Cannons and critical hits. It’s easy to use, powerful, and works well against both bosses and mobs.

Primary Skill Tree: Remote Agent
Action Skill: Peacebreaker Cannons
Favored Element: Incendiary

You’ll boost gun damage with Sitiar and Deft Hands, keep shields strong with Shield Barriest and Field Repairs, and ramp up critical hit power using Instinto and Juerga. Indirect projectile bonuses also make thrown weapons, ricochets, and action skill shots hit harder.

Here’s the recommended skill setup:

Skill Name	Points	Description
Peacebreaker Cannons (Action Skill)	NA	Shoulder cannons fire automatically at enemies. Ends early if deactivated, refunding cooldown.
Sitiar	5/5	Increased gun damage.
Deft Hands	5/5	Boosted fire rate for Rafa and cannons.
Instinto (Augment)	NA	Peacebreaker Cannons can crit. Activating doubles crit chance and crit damage.
Juerga	5/5	Critical hits restore action skill duration.
Shield Barriest	1/5	Faster shield recharge and lower delay during Overdrive.
CYA	1/5	Killing enemies restores shields.
Field Repairs	1/5	Using an action skill restores shields or grants overshield.
El Valiente	3/3	Bonus damage, doubled while shields are full.
Resiliencia	1/5	Damage reduction during Overdrive.
Asymmetric Warfare	5/5	Indirect projectiles deal more damage.
Errant Spark	5/5	Indirect projectiles gain fire damage. Double if already fire.
Ardid	1/5	Indirect projectiles gain lifesteal.
Lateral Plinking	1/1	Indirect projectiles can ricochet.
Everdrive	5/5	Extends Overdrive duration.
Temerario	4/5	Overdrive grants more gun damage over time.
Devil-May-Care	1/5	During Overdrive: move faster, heal. Outside: take more damage but reduce cooldowns.
Soltado	1/1	Doubles all Overdrive bonuses.
Las Jaras (People Person tree)	2/5	Regenerates ammo during Overdrive.
The Thrill (People Person tree)	2/5	Increases fire rate, even more while Overdrive is active.

Best Rafa Build: Arcstrider (This Year’s Gimmick / Arc-Knives)

If you love melee, this is the best Rafa build for you. It focuses on Arc-Knives with the Dead Man Walking augment, making the skill infinite until you cancel it. You’ll stack damage with Midnight Oil, El Borracho, and Cruel Accrual, while managing health loss with Saldar and Sustainable Energy.

Primary Skill Tree: This Year’s Gimmick
Action Skill: Arc-Knives

Here’s the setup:

Skill Name	Points	Description
Arc-Knives (Action Skill)	NA	Equip dual knives for melee combos, dashes, and Blade Fury finisher.
Handshake Deal	5/5	More gun and melee damage.
Dead Man Walking (Augment)	NA	Arc-Knives never expire. Loses health over time but restores overshield on hit.
Midnight Oil	5/5	Bonus corrosive damage over time while action skill is active.
Dial In	5/5	Melee hits build crit chance until a crit lands.
Saldar	5/5	Melee crits heal Rafa.
El Borracho	5/5	More corrosive damage during action skill.
Sustainable Energy	5/5	Health regen based on remaining Overdrive.
Galvanic Panic (Capstone – replaced later)	NA	Adds corrosive glider projectiles with Arc-Knives.
Cruel Accrual	5/5	All skill damage increases over time.
Collaborate Ignition	5/5	Elemental damage boost during Overdrive.
Booming Business	5/5	Crits can spawn grenades.
Inferno Protocol (Capstone)	NA	Arc-Knives deal fire damage, with stored damage released through Blade Fury.
Sinergia	1/3	Ordnance hits boost melee and gun damage.
El Diablito	1/5	Fire damage also counts as ordnance damage.
Blowout	2/5	Heavy marks cause corrosive explosions.

Best Rafa Build: Gunzerker (People Person / Apophis Lance)

This build is a throwback to Salvador from Borderlands 2. With ammo regen, high fire rate, and Apophis Lance lasers, it’s Rafa’s strongest DPS setup. Perfect for anyone who just wants to shoot non-stop.

Primary Skill Tree: People Person
Action Skill: Apophis Lance

Skill Name	Points	Description
Apophis Lance (Action Skill)	NA	Offhand cannon fires piercing shock blasts. Holding alt-fire charges stronger shots.
The Thrill	5/5	Faster fire rate, doubled during Overdrive.
Rinse	5/5	Faster reload speed.
Battery Subscription Service (Augment)	NA	Adds an extra charge to Apophis Lance.
Preparado	1/5	Reloading increases action skill cooldown speed.
Las Jaras	2/5	Ammo regen during Overdrive.
Arriba	2/5	Kills reduce ordnance cooldown.
Jaque	5/5	Damaging enemies builds stacks for stronger Overdrive bonuses.
Mate	2/5	Converts Jaque stacks into cooldown buffs.
La Garza	2/5	Improved handling during Overdrive.
Deadline	5/5	Faster fire rate and reload during Overdrive.
Project: Gorgon (Capstone)	NA	Apophis Lance becomes a piercing incendiary laser beam.
Per My Last	5/5	Chance to repeat action skill damage.
El Soldado	2/5	More gun damage during Overdrive, doubled when charging Apophis Lance.
Sitiar (Remote Agent)	5/5	Gun damage boost.
Deft Hands (Remote Agent)	5/5	Higher fire rate for Rafa and cannons.
Maestro (Remote Agent)	3/3	Skill damage boost.