All three of Rafa's build paths in Borderlands 4 are capable of causing serious mayhem, but if you're looking for something that's easy to use while still being extremely powerful, then the Peacebreaker route is likely going to be the best one for you.
Peacebreaker cannons may not seem like they do much at first, but once you get the right skills, they turn into what might just be Rafa's strongest assets so far in Borderlands 4. This build focuses on extending this Action Skill's uptime as much as possible while also cranking up its damage potential so much that they'll likely end up being stronger than your own weapons.
Every Siren Still Alive Going Into Borderlands 4
These are the sirens that could make an appearance in Borderlands 4.
Best Beam Team Peacebreaker Rafa Build in Borderlands 4
For this build, we'll be using the Beam Team Capstone skill that turns Rafa's Peacebreaker's into Shock/Corrosive beam weapons. This gives you an edge against Order enemies that often use both armor and shields together, and through one other skill, Peacebreakers will deal bonus Incendiary damage as well.
To summarize, this build will make you truly overpowered in Borderlands 4 by doing the following:
- Deal Shock, Corrosive, and Incendiary damage through two individually-targeting Peacebreaker cannons.
- Constantly restores 15% of your active Action Skill duration on crits.
- Greatly increases the damage of thrown guns, Action Skills, and Grenades.
- Increases survivability by providing damage resistance and healing Rafa through Action Skill/Thrown Gun Lifesteal.
- Allow non-weakspot crits.
Skills
The following is optimized for a Level 45 character, though the core functionality of this build will go online as soon as you get Instinto and Beam Team. Grab these skills in descending order:
|
Skill |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
Peacebreaker Cannons |
Activates two shoulder-mounted turrets that shoot at enemies for a duration. |
|
Sitiar |
Gain increased 25% Gun Damage. |
|
Deft Hands |
Rafa and his Peacebreaker Cannons gain 20% increased Fire Rate. |
|
Juerga |
Restore Action Skill Duration by 15% when Rafa critically hits enemies. This has a 4-second cooldown. |
|
Instinto (Augment) |
Peacebreaker Cannons gain 25% Critical Hit Chance. Activate Action Skill again while Peacebreaker Cannons is active to double their crit chance and gain increased Critical Hit Damage while also causing Action Skill Duration to drain faster. When Rafa kills an enemy, Action Skill Duration is restored by 10%, but it also drains faster. |
|
Confeti |
Rafa's Ordnanced deal bonus damage based on his current gun's element. |
|
Concentrated Build Up |
Aiming down sights makes Rafa's guns deal bonus Shock damage. Dealing damage while aiming increases the bonus Shock damage until Rafa stops aiming. |
|
Beam Team |
Peacebreaker Cannons now shoot Corrosive and Shock beams that can target enemies independently. Every time Rafa applies a Status Effect, he gains bonus Action Skill damage. |
|
Asymmetric Warfare |
Increases the damage of Indirect Projectiles by 45%. Indirect Projectiles include all Action Skill weapons, Thrown Guns, and any projectile not fired from your gun. |
|
Errant Spark |
All Indirect Projectiles deal bonus Incendiary damage. If the Indirect Projectile already deals Incendiary damage, double this bonus. |
|
Hostile Acquisition |
Rafa's Indirect Projectiles have 50% Lifesteal |
|
Inspirado |
When Rafa inflicts a Status Effect on an enemy, he gains increased Action Skill Cooldown Rate and reduced Action Skill Duration Rate. This effect stacks. |
|
El Alacran |
Targets hit by Peacebreaker Cannons have an increased chance to receive Status Effects. |
|
Resiliencia |
Rafa gains increased Damage Reduction when Overdrive is active. |
Max these skills out as soon as you are able.
To play this build, simply turn your Peacebreaker Cannons on and let them do all the work. Focus on avoiding hits and scoring critical hits so you can keep Peacebreakers up for as long as possible. This setup allows you to have your Action Skill active for the entire duration of most fights, including boss fights.
Specializations
The Daredevil Specialization tree is the perfect one for this build since it significantly buffs your Action Skill. Get 10 points into Sharpshooter and Runner ASAP, then max Daredevil out. This build is strong enough even without Specializations, and these will only make Rafa even stronger than he already is.
Alternatively, you can go with 20 Brawler to get the Riddle Me This skill, which grants you bonus Gun Damage whenever you deal Gun Damage. This won't buff Peacebreaker Cannons, but it'll give you a much-needed DPS boost.
Weapons and Equipment
Any weapon will do for this build, especially once you're leveling up. However, you'll want to use either fully-automatic or semi-automatic elemental guns with big magazine sizes to take advantage of your Skills and Specializations.
Ideally, you should be using either a Vladof, Tediore, or Ripper gun with Maliwan Licensed Parts. They can have any element, though Radiation and Cryo would be best since you already deal the other damage types through your Peacebreakers.
The Swarm Grenade and Filantropo Class Mod Legendaries synergize well with this build. The former quickly fills the screen with enemy-seeking darts, while the latter spawns an extra Swarm Grenade whenever you re-trigger your Action Skill. Copies of Legendary Class Mod can drop from almost every boss and chest, while Swarm Grenades can be farmed from Syndey Pointylegs in The Prospects, a Ripper Drill Site west of the Someday Rise Safehouse in Fadefields.
Class Mod Skills
When farming for a Class Mod, try getting one that gives any of the following bonus stats:
- Ordnance Damage
- Action Skill Duration
- Action Skill Damage
- Gun Damage.
As for bonus Skills, look for the following:
- CYA (Red Tree)
- Arriba (Blue Tree)
- El Soldado (Blue Tree)
- Brain Dump (Blue Tree)
- Midnight Oil (Green Tree)
- El Borracho (Green Tree)
Basically, anything that gives Rafa bonuses to his Action Skill is going to be great with this build. Skills that also improve his survivability will be very useful when pushing for higher UVH ranks.
Peacebreaker builds feel a lot like playing Zane in BL3 — turn your Action Skill on, and go in guns blazing.
If you can't get a copy of the Filantropo Legendary Class Mod, find one that has any of the bonuses listed above. The Filantropo mod isn't necessarily required for this build, but it does make fighting enemies easier when paired with a good Grenade mod. If you'd much rather use Ordnance weapons, then a purple Class Mod with good stats and bonus skills will be better than a Legendary class mod.
Gun Enhancements and Firmware
For your Enhancement item, make sure to use one that synergizes with your main weapon, or one that gives ideal bonus stats like Status Effect Damage or Gun Critical Hit Damage. Still, you'll want an Enhancement with a perk that works for your guns, like Vladof's Bullet Hose perk that gives every shot a chance to fire an extra projectile.
For Firmware, anything that increases your damage or survivability is good. Make sure to visit Zane's Firmware machines so you can keep your gear up to date.
Borderlands 4
- Released
- September 12, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - all platforms
- Prequel(s)
- Borderlands 3, Borderlands 2, Borderlands
- Franchise
- Borderlands
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unsupported
- PC Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- October 3, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
- Local Co-Op Support
- Yes
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
