In this Borderlands 4 Rafa guide, we will take a look at his class trait, action skills, skill trees, augments, and more! Stick around if you need practical advice for leveling, gearing, and late-game Rafa builds! If you are still deciding which Vault Hunter to main at launch, this might help you see what makes Rafa unique.
Key Takeaways:
Rafa is Borderlands 4’s Exo-Soldier Vault Hunter. His playstyle rewards players who stay on the offensive, cycling Action Skills to keep Overdrive active for maximum DPS.
- Class Trait – Overdrive: Boosts movement speed and overall damage while an Action Skill is active.
- 3 Playstyles: Long-range ordnance (APOPHIS Lance), mid-range automatic fire (Peacebreaker Cannons), or up-close melee rushdown (Arc-Knives).
- Flexible Skill Trees: Choose between ordnance spam, shield-based sustain, or melee DPS with mobility.
- Strong Leveling Path: Early points boost gun damage, midgame adds crit scaling, late-game unlocks devastating capstones.
- Best Gear: Jakobs shotguns, high base-damage ARs, splash launchers, and the Firewerks shield for DPS scaling.
If you want to learn more about some of the Best Borderlands 4 Builds for Rafa, you can find our Best Borderlands 4 Builds guide here at Overgear!
4.9Borderlands 4 Rafa Class Trait
Rafa’s class trait is Overdrive, which activates whenever he triggers an Action Skill. While Overdrive is active, Rafa gets increased movement speed and bonus damage from all sources. Overdrive only drains when you have no Action Skills active.
This makes his gameplay fast, with good timing and cooldown management becoming very important. Proper cycling of skills not only keeps Overdrive up for longer but also leads to a consistent DPS increase. This allows Rafa to stay aggressive and pressure enemies throughout a fight. In coop, Rafa is at his best when coordinating with teammates to trigger skills in sync.
Borderlands 4 Rafa Skills
Apophis Lance
Peacebreaker Cannons
Arc-Knives
Rafa’s Action Skills help with his aggressive playstyle. You can only equip one skill at a time, but each has its own talent tree, augments, and capstones. Choosing the right Action Skill will dictate your entire build, so here we have prepared a short breakdown of all of them:
APOPHIS Lance (People Person)
This Action Skill gives Rafa an arm cannon, trading some gun handling for heavy, piercing shock ordnance. It is great for players who want big burst damage.
The main mechanics are:
- Tap to fire a quick blast, consuming one charge.
- Hold to charge a shot for increased damage, projectile size, and speed.
- Any unused charges convert into Action Skill cooldown when the skill ends, letting you re-enter Overdrive sooner.
Peacebreaker Cannons (Remote Agent)
Peacebreaker Cannons give Rafa shoulder-mounted auto-turrets with kinetic rounds. This skill is perfect for players who want a semi-passive DPS while they move around.
The main mechanics are:
- Automatically targets enemies in a frontal cone.
- You can manually end the skill early to refund part of the remaining duration as cooldown, letting you trigger Overdrive more often.
Arc-Knives (This Year’s Gimmick)
Arc-Knives turn Rafa into a close-range character. They summon twin energy blades that increase mobility and mark targets. Marked enemies take bonus damage from all sources. This makes it great for both single-target bursts and clearing enemy packs.
The main mechanics are:
- Melee attack with energy blades to apply marks.
- Dash forward for a shock-infused strike that hits multiple targets.
- Blade Fury, a powerful shock whirlwind that hits all marked enemies and ends the skill, dealing massive finishing damage.
Borderlands 4 Rafa Skill Trees
People Person
Remote Agent
This Year's Gimmick
Each of Rafa’s Action Skills has its own dedicated skill tree, with 5 augments and 3 capstones that change how the skill works. You can only equip one augment and one capstone per Action Skill, but you can freely mix points across trees to blend damage, survivability, and cooldown reduction.
People Person (Blue Tree)
This tree focuses on maximizing APOPHIS Lance damage, adding charges, and reducing Overdrive downtime. It’s ideal for players who like precision shooting and big burst ordnance damage.
Capstones
- PROJECT: Raiju: Converts the lance into a close-range taser arc that ramps up damage the longer you hold fire.
- PROJECT: Basilisk: Fires corrosive blobs that split on detonation for wide-area coverage.
- PROJECT: Gorgon: Transforms the lance into an incendiary beam that chains between enemies.
Remote Agent (Red Tree)
This tree turns Rafa into a walking turret, focusing on shield sustain, tankiness, and DPS scaling. It is perfect for players who like steady damage uptime with a more defensive playstyle.
Capstones
- Double-Ought Autoshot: Converts cannons into ricocheting shotguns for close-range shredding.
- Beam Team: Replaces cannons with twin elemental beams that lock onto targets.
- Volatile Hollowpoints: Converts cannons into rocket pods that deal heavy splash damage.
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This Year’s Gimmick (Green Tree)
This tree is all about mobility, rewarding players who stay in close range and take risks to deal massive damage. It also allows near-endless Action Skill uptime when played well.
Capstones
- Huracan Especial: Blade Fury creates a shock singularity, pulling in enemies and refunding cooldown on kills.
- Inferno Protocol: Converts incoming damage into DOT; Blade Fury consumes stored damage for a huge fire burst and self-heal.
- Galvanic Panic: Melee attacks spawn corrosive gliders; kills restore Action Skill duration.
Borderlands 4 Rafa Augments
Augments are a mechanic that allows customizing Rafa’s exo-suit and tailoring how his Action Skills perform in different scenarios. You can modify APOPHIS Lance for bigger blasts or extra charges, turn Peacebreaker Cannons into stationary turrets or homing missile pods, or upgrade Arc-Knives with dash explosions and corrosive novas.
When choosing augments, focus on what your build needs most. If you are running a Peacebreaker build, prioritize augments like Instinto for extra critical damage. APOPHIS Lance players will want Battery Subscription Service for more charges and Ojo Rojo for stacking crit bonuses. Arc-Knife builds should consider Altered Cabron for lifesteal or Acid Drop for corrosive hazard zones.
Borderlands 4 Rafa Leveling Tips
Leveling Rafa goes faster when you keep Overdrive active and scale your Peacebreaker Cannons as quickly as possible. Your first priority is grabbing early gun damage so you can clear mobs faster. Start by maxing Sitiar for a damage boost, then pick up Instinto at level 6 to give your cannons extra crit damage. Choose between Deft Hands or Juerga for your next few points and grab the other by level 11.
When you reach level 16, begin working down the left side of the red tree. Investing in Asymmetric Warfare will supercharge indirect projectile damage, which includes your Action Skills and thrown weapons. Around level 23, pick up Ardid for lifesteal and stack points into Errant Spark for fire damage.
At level 28 you should unlock Double-Ought Autoshot. From here, put points into Everdrive to keep Overdrive running longer and Temerario for more gun damage. By level 40, make sure to grab Soltado to double your Overdrive bonuses after every kill. The last few levels can be spent on utility like The Thrill or cooldown reduction from Expedite. Borderlands 4 Leveling can take quite some time before you can get to the endgame, and this is why we are here to help!
Borderlands 4 Best Rafa Weapons
Rafa players should prioritize weapons that keep Overdrive active to deal heavy sustained damage. Torgue shotguns and rocket pistols are perfect for stacking splash damage bonuses, while Vladof and Dahl weapons work well. Farming the best Legendary Weapons for Rafa can take a lot of time, but we can help you get them fast so you can focus on playing.
Here are the gun types you should be looking for:
- Torgue Shotguns – For massive splash damage during Overdrive.
- Vladof ARs – To maintain sustained fire and stack passives.
- Dahl SMGs – To pair with crit-boosting skills for consistent DPS.
Class Mods should focus on Action Skill cooldown and splash damage, while Repkits like Magnum Opus keep your ammo economy stable. Legendary Weapons can be very difficult to farm as the drop chance is low, but we can do it for you in the shortest time possible.
4.9Rafa is one of the most flexible Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4, letting you choose between heavy ordnance, sustained gunfire, or high-mobility melee builds. His Overdrive mechanic rewards players who keep their Action Skills rolling and stay aggressive, making him a great pick for anyone who likes a fast-paced, skill-chaining playstyle.
