Summary
Borderlands 3has four different Vault Hunters to choose from, with Gearbox not planning to add new ones anytime soon. Each of the existing Vault Hunters has its own dynamic playstyles, which is a big part of what makes the game so replayable. Each Vault Hunter is great in their own way depending on how players want to use them, so there really isn’t necessarily a “bad” playable character in the game.
Ranking the Vault Hunters is difficult because it really depends on the player and the gear that they can acquire. As stated above, each Vault Hunter has their strengths and weaknesses and so players owe it to themselves to use them all to find out which works best for them. Given the right gear, they can all be unstoppable, though certainBorderlands 3characters can utilize that gear much better than others.
Updated July 05, 2025, by Juliet Childers:The Borderlands moviefinally launched in 2024, sparking a resurgence in players for Borderlands 3. The success of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands also rekindled fans' love for the series with its ode to Bunkers and Badasses (and Roland); however, the Vault Hunters in Borderlands 3, as with other entries in the series except The Pre-Sequel, are all new and unique to that sequel. For those who are just starting and are still unsure of which of theBorderlands 3 charactersis right for them, this guide should help to make things a little clearer.
Favored Weapon Type
Any, but typically Sniper Rifles and Pistols
When used correctly, Zane can be extremely powerful and is great for bothdealing and dealing with damage. The only issue is that he’s by far theleast accessibleof all theBorderlands 3characters. Most of his skills require a moretactical approachto combat than his peers, meaning players will need to spend a fair amount of time familiarizing themselves with when and where to use them. He cansummon a cloneof himself, a drone, or animpenetrable shield, each of which can be invaluable in certain situations.
Most players typically speed into hisHitman skill treedue to the capstone skill,Seein’ Red. This allows Zane toautomatically activate every Kill Skill immediately after using his Action Skill.Zane’s Kill Skillsbuff just about every stat imaginable, including Fire Rate, Damage, and Movement Speed, but they require work to stack up. He alsoswaps using two Action Skills for being able to toss grenades. It makes him ajack-of-all-tradescharacter that isn’t as flashy as the other three. Zane should be given a chance, but he’ll probably be best suited to the more experiencedBorderlandsplayers.
Barrier (Under Cover)
24-second cooldown
Drops a Barrier to block incoming projectiles that Zane and allies can still shoot through for increased damage for 14 seconds. Pressing G or F while active will have Zane pick up and hold the barrier, reducing its size and bonuses.
SNTNL (Hitman)
60-second cooldown
Sends an automated SNTNL drone into battle that attacks enemies. Pressing G or F while active will make the drone attack any enemy in Zane’s crosshairs.
Digi-Close (Doubled Agent)
28-second cooldown
Spawns a Digi-Clone of Zane for 15 seconds that stays in place but fires at enemies to distract them. Pressing G or F will swap Zane and the Clone.
MNTIS Shoulder Cannon (The Professional)
12-second cooldown
Equips a mounted shoulder cannon with 3 max charges for 46 damage. Pressing the Active Skill button fires the cannon, consuming one charge.
Favored Weapon
Iron Bear
For players who just want to blow everything up, then Moze the Gunner is the perfect option. She’s also just incredibly fun to play. Who doesn’t love jumping into a mech? Speaking of Iron Bear, this mech is both a defensive and offensive tool to use in combat. If players are close to death, they can easily hop into Iron Bear and avoid it completely. Of course, Iron Bear is clunky, slow, and easy to hit; it also has a 110-second cooldown. Additionally, Moze wasn’t as powerful since her Iron Bear mech didn’t scale well in Mayhem Mode at the initial release. Thanks to recent updates, Iron Bear’s weapon damage is insane, being able to melt bosses in Mayhem 4 easily.
Each of her skill trees is worth using. That being said, most players love to spec in both herBottomless MagsandDemolition Womantrees. Bottomless Mags gives Moze so muchammo regenerationand Demolition Woman is justsplash damage galore. Those who like the idea of theirgrenades doing critical hitswill want to invest in Moze’sPull The Holy Pinskill, which gives grenades a30% chance of landing a critical. If players have a weapon that spams multiple grenades, then each of those also has a chance, leading to some satisfying and explosive results.
Overall, Moze is probably the best among the fourBorderlands 3characters for beginners since she excels at trashing weak mobs and bosses. She’s just an absolute blast (pun intended) to play as – especially for newcomers to the franchise.Her skills don’t require as much preparation and strategycompared to the others. However, she can be gear-dependent for maximum damage and/or tankiness, pushing her to the third spot on the list.
Shield of Retribution
Railgun (initial) Bear Fist (unlockable)
Iron Bear equips arailgunto fire electrified high-velocity projectiles, dealing shock damage after a charging period. Iron Bear equips aclose-range fistcapable of dishing out huge damage.
Bottomless Mags
Minigun (initial) Salamander (unlockable)
Iron Bear equips aminigunto rapidly fire sustained rounds quickly. The weapon can overheat and become temporarily inoperable. Iron Bear equips aflamethrowerto deal incendiary damage for as long as the fuel holds out.
Demolition Woman
V-35 Grenade Launcher (initial) Vanquisher Rocket Pod (unlockable)
Iron Bear equips a semi-automaticgrenade launcherthat fires bouncy projectiles that detonate after a delay or when coming into contact with a target. Iron Bear equips arocket launcherthat fires unguided explosive rockets rapidly. When not being fired, it automatically reloads.
Bear Mother
Iron Cub
Summons theIron Cub– an automated, smaller version of Iron Bear requires less fuel but deals less damage. It equips 2 of the 6 available weapons from the 3 skill trees such as two instances of the Railgun. Iron Cub follows Moze to target and attack enemies and benefits from shields on Iron Bear.
Pets
Jabber, Spiderant, Guard Skag, and ION Loader
FL4K is theBeastmasterclass who always has apet companionby their side. Each of their Skill Trees has a specific Action Skill and Pet attached to it. Fun fact: the game lets players name FL4K’s pets! As far as pets go, theSkagis the most practical, since itincreases FL4K’s damageas long as players have it with them. FL4K is best reserved for boss melting thanks toFade Away.If players are taking down Wotan, it’s best to have an FL4K in their group as they can easily chew down the health bar in a short few seconds.
The biggest problem with FL4K, however, is thatFade Away trumps all other Action Skills in Mayhem Mode.Fade Awayallows FL4K to turn invisible for a few seconds with the next three shots being guaranteed critical hits. Once players have unlocked FL4K’sGuerillas In The Mist Augment(which gives FL4K unlimited critical hits for a short few seconds at the cost of less critical damage), they’re really not going to want to use any otherAction Skill. With less build variety, some players may view FL4K’s kit as limited. In contrast, others feel like FL4K is the best Vault Hunter in the game, which is understandable consideringFade Awaycan be super overpowered.
18-second duration
18-second cooldown
Summon 2 Rakk to dive-bomb enemies for 35 damage that scales with player level. The skill provides multiple charges.
15-second duration
45-second cooldown
Cloak FL4K, making him invisible with increased health regeneration and movement speed. They can fire 3 shots while cloaked for guaranteed critical hits.
20-second duration
30-second cooldown
Create a rift at a target location and teleport your pet through the rift, dealing 56 radiation damage to enemies nearby that scales with player level. The pet also becomes irradiated, deals bonus radiation damage with attacks, and grows in size. Using this skill when a pet is downed or dead revives it with 30% health and doubles the skill cooldown time.
16-second duration
36-second cooldown
Toss a snare to knock up and stun enemies periodically for the skill duration. Pressing E while standing close to the snare picks it up and refunds part of the cooldown duration.
Favored Weapons
Fists
Amara is the Siren forBorderlands 3and she is essentially a combination of Lilith and Maya from the previous games with some melee thrown in for funsies. Amara’s skill trees let players choose oneAction Skill, an element, and anAction Skill Augment. They get to choose from eitherFire,Shock, orCorrosionfor the elements. The great thing is that all theAugmentswork foreach of her Action Skills, which isn’t the case with the otherBorderlands 3characters. As such, Amara is a great character forcrowd control.
She has a ton of abilities that allow her to takefull controlof the battlefield. For example, herTies That Bind Action Skillis the same as herPhasegrasp, except this time, nearby enemies are linked and they all share a portion of the damage dealt. When doing theMaliwan Takedown, it’s great to have an Amara and bring down the number of enemies in quick succession. She also has amelee buildoption, but this still needs a few buffs to be worth taking on Mayhem 4. Since she’s the Siren class, she’s best utilized for her massive elemental damage output.
Her most overpowered (and overlooked) skill isRemnant. This shoots out atracking elemental orbafter killing an enemy. The orb’s damage is based on any overkill damage from the previous enemy, resulting in a ton of kills that can chain together without even trying. Amara is best used if players want aton of DPSwithout having to shoot as much.
35-second cooldown
Damage: 98
Jump into the air and slam down on the ground to deal damage to all enemies nearby, also knocking them up into the air.
Phasegrasp (Fist of the Elements)
7-second duration
16-second cooldown
Grasp Immune Damage: 40
Summon a huge fist that breaks through the ground, locking a target enemy in place for a time. If an enemy is immune to grasp, they take immediate damage instead.
Damage: 92
Send forward an Astral Projection of Amara to deal damage to everything in its path.
30-second duration
48-second cooldown
Impact Damage: 27 Area Damage: 5/second
Summon an Orb of Elemental Energy to deal consistent damage to enemies nearby. Press “V” to send the Orb flying toward an enemy, damaging them. If Amara melees the Orb, it gains accordingly boosted damage. Press “F” to return the Orb to Amara.
How Borderlands 3 Skill Trees Work
Every playable character inBorderlands 3has tons of different skills and ways to augment those skills. That’s why players can create such unique and distinctive builds that play totally differently. Here’s a breakdown of the core aspects ofBorderlands 3characters and their skill trees.
