How to Play Rafa the Exo-Soldier: Solving Skills in Borderlands 4

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The secret to Borderlands 4’s success lies in versatility, and Rafa offers plenty of customization options to face any challenge. As a cybernetic warrior, he’s one of the top Vault Hunters to choose, and there’s good reason for that. Here’s what makes him stand out, the best ways to build him, and which playstyles work best for both beginners and experienced players.

There’s a lot to cover, but we’ve got everything you need. This guide explains the Exo-Soldier class in Borderlands 4 and how Rafa can easily handle anything that crosses his path on Kairos.

Exo-Soldier Class Overview

[Image: Borderlands 4 Rafa, the Exo-Soldier, surrounded in blue]

The Exo-Soldier class focuses on gunslinging and speed for quick, chaotic battles. Rafa is highly adaptable, and the different skill trees available allow for customization based on your preferred playstyle. Whether you enjoy cooperating with others or taking on enemies solo, Rafa has a build for you. Here’s a breakdown of the top Exo-Soldier builds and the situations they’re best suited for—perfect for both newbies and veterans.

Rafa Skill Trees

People Person: Works well if you’re teaming up with friends, with Rafa targeting enemies and marking them for team damage boosts. It’s a bit complex, so beginners may want to start elsewhere.

Remote Agent: Perfect for solo campaigns or small groups, turning Rafa into a durable, high-damage gunner capable of healing himself while spraying enemies with bullets.

This Year’s Gimmick: A melee-focused build that unlocks the Arc-Knives, letting Rafa fight up close with stealth elements and quick burst damage. In multiplayer, be cautious about other Vault Hunters to avoid getting caught in crossfire.

Best Campaign Build for Rafa

Leveling through the campaign is time-consuming, but Rafa’s red skill tree can speed things up. This build emphasizes balanced power and range, helping to wipe out enemies and keep Rafa healthy. His action skill, Peacebreaker Cannons, automatically fires shoulder-mounted lasers dealing kinetic damage and knocking back enemies. Early on, using Peacebreaker early refunds part of its cooldown, making it a reliable tool.

Focus on the Remote Agent tree, prioritizing Sitiar and Shield Barriest for damage buffs and shield regeneration. Maintain Overdrive mode for increased speed, especially since Rafa naturally enters it after activating his action skill, boosting his mobility.

Choose the Bullet-Buddy Deluxe Augment to boost incendiary damage with ammo, allowing you to fire without consuming rounds while restoring skill duration with critical hits via Juerga. The Insta-Fort Battle System makes Peacebreaker Cannons detonate as turrets, increasing their damage output. The Volatile Hollowpoints augment turns these cannons into rockets with splash damage, making them excellent for high DPS.

If you prefer a more explosive approach, Double-Ought Autoshot ricochets shots for additional damage and critical hits, which helps refill Overdrive quickly. Pair with fast-firing assault rifles (like those from Vladof or Daedalus) for maximum efficiency.

Key Skills

Focus on passive abilities that increase gun damage, shield regeneration, and ammo efficiency. Top skills include:

• Sitiar: Boosts gun damage.
• Deft Hands: Improves fire rate.
• Shield Barriest: Enhances shield recharge.
• Juerga: Restores action skill duration on critical hits.
• El Valiente: Increases damage scaling with shield health.
• Everdrive: Extends Overdrive duration.
• Temerario: Further increases gun damage with active overdrive.
• Las Jaras: Ammo regeneration during Overdrive.
• The Thrill: Fire rate increase, especially during Overdrive.

Best Solo Build for Rafa

This build emphasizes melee with the Arc-Knives, focusing on quick damage and survivability in close combat. Using the This Year’s Gimmick tree, Rafa can unleash Blade Flurry for a final burst of damage before resuming his gun-fighting.

The goal is to maximize Arc-Knives damage and duration, with lifesteal essential since Rafa will be in melee range most times. Borrow skills from Remote Agent, like Altered Cabron, which restores health upon killing enemies with Arc-Knives, adding corrosive damage that stacks.

Augments like Thundercutter increase splash damage from melee attacks, while Galvanic Panic transforms Arc-Knives into damaging lasers that chain between enemies, scaling with the number of marked foes. Continuous melee combat with this build is effective for quick kills, especially when working with team members who can capitalize on the crowd control.

Key Skills

Support your melee focus with passive skills that boost damage and survivability, such as:

• Handshake Deal: Increase melee and gun damage.
• Midnight Oil: Adds corrosive bonus damage.
• Dial In: Critical hit chance increase with melee.
• Saldar: Lifesteal on melee hits.
• El Borracho: Increased corrosive damage during action.
• Resiliencia: Damage reduction when hit.
• Embrace: Increase melee damage and health regeneration.

Best Multiplayer Build for Rafa

For team play or matchmaking, build Rafa around support with People Person, utilizing the Apophis Lance offhand cannon that pierces enemies with shock blasts and explodes for damage. This setup allows Rafa to play a ranged role, marking enemies for increased damage and scaling his power with enemy marks.

Start with Sangre por Sangre, which reduces cooldowns after using the Lance’s charges, letting Rafa repeatedly fire the piercing blasts. Augments like Engorged Bore increase projectile radius and speed, while Project: Gorgon turns the Lance into a laser that chains damage across enemies, especially potent with incendiary effects.

In combat, stay at range using assault rifles (Vladof and Daedalus are prime options) to maximize damage while keeping enemies marked and controlled. This build is excellent for supporting allies by damaging multiple foes simultaneously, clearing out groups efficiently.

Key Skills

To support this playstyle, focus on:

• Abajo: Increases cooldown rate after grenade throws.
• Arriba: Boosts cooldown on enemy kills.
• Las Jaras: Ammo regeneration in Overdrive.
• Metal Management: No ammo consumption when activating skills.
• Pa’ Dentro: Health regeneration upon using action skills.
• Preparado: Faster cooldown after reloading.
• Fiesta: Action skills free from duration costs when applying effects.
• El Soldado: Gun damage increased during Overdrive, especially with projectile-focused builds.
• The Right Tools: Increased ordnance damage when reloading.
• Per My Last: Extra damage chance on action skill hits.

Summary

Rafa’s versatility shines through with multiple builds suited for different playstyles—whether you prefer solo melee combat, cooperative ranged attacks, or balanced hybrid gameplay. Equipping him with the right weapons, Augments, and skill trees allows him to excel in any situation—so gather your gear and adapt as needed.

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