Onslaught is Amon's main Calamity skill tree (red), which heavily invests in melee styles of play. For those who want the best melee build in Borderlands 4, then the guide below is perfect for them. This guide has been optimized for the max damage and survivability all the way to Level 50, ensuring that players are punching their way through the competition. This build uses an assortment of skills to increase Amon's melee damage, gun damage, and maximum health, and we'll talk you through each skill used and the gear you want to run with it.

Best Skills for Onslaught Amon

The skills seen below have been listed in the order in which players should invest, with a total of 49 skill points (50 Levels).

Skill

Effect

Points Invested

Why It's Useful

Discombobulate

Amon gains +25% Melee Critical Hit Chance.

5/5

More Melee Critical Hit Chance means that Amon can deal more damage with each punch.

Pyroclast

Whenever Onslaughter is activated, Amon fully Restores his Health and Shield, and is surrounded by a Forgestorm that deals Incendiary Status Effect Damage to nearby enemies over time.

Killing an enemy inside of the Forgestorm restores Amon's Action Skill Duration, and increases Forgestorm's Damage.

  • Forgestorm Damage: 535 per second
  • Action Skill Duration Restoration: 20%
  • Forgestorm Damage Multiplier: 20% per kill
  • Maximum Damage Multiplier: 200%

n/a

Pyroclast is the most important Augment that Amon can equip, as not only will it restore his Health and Shield when in a pinch, but it will also provide an Incendiary swarm to damage enemies and extend the duration of his Action Skill.

Tritanium Knuckles

Amon gains increased +35% Melee Damage and +15% Skill Damage.

5/5

A further increase to Melee Damage is always a nice bonus.

The Best Defense

Amon gains 15% Overshield when he deals Melee Damage

5/5

Being able to earn Overshield for added protection with each punch is a great addition to the build.

Gut Punch

Melee Damage and Ordnance Damage have a chance to apply Weakness to enemies for a Duration.

Weakened enemies deal reduced Damage, and take increased Damage.

Weakness is affected by Status Effect Duration, and is itself considered a Status Effect.

  • Melee Chance: 60%
  • Ordnance Chance: 30%
  • Enemy Damage Dealt: -40%
  • Enemy Damage Taken: +20%
  • Duration: 8 seconds

3/3

Gut Punch is essential to Amon's abilities, as it means that with every punch or Ordnance use, he has a chance to weaken enemies to make them weaker against damage, and deal less damage, which really complements a close-range build.

Forged In Steel

Amon becomes immune to all Damage for 6 seconds whenever he activates a Forgeskill.

1/1

Activating the Forgeskill becomes a lifeline, allowing Amon to become immune to all forms of damage for 6 seconds, every 60 seconds.

Wield the Storm

Amon gains increased +30% Status Effect Damage and +30% Status Effect Duration.

5/5

With the right weapons, Amon will be dealing immense Status Effects, so increasing Damage and Duration is a must.

Into The Fray

Amon gains increased Damage Dealt and Damage Reduction based on his distance from the enemy. The closer the enemy, the greater the bonus.

  • Damage Dealt: +30% when close
  • Damage Reduction: 55% when close

5/5

Getting closer to the enemy as a melee character makes this skill essential, as players gain a 55% Damage Reduction at close-range, and deal an additional 30% Damage.

Rearm

Whenever Amon deals Damage with a Melee Attack, his current Gun has its Ammo partially refilled.

  • Ammo Refill: 20% of Ammo Capacity

1/3

Being able to punch and shoot without reloading provides great synergy between melee and guns.

Bloodlust

Whenever Amon's Shield Breaks, he gains Bloodlust for a Duration, gaining increased Reload Speed and Lifesteal.

Bloodlust is also activated on Action Skill Activation.

  • Reload Speed: +30%
  • Lifesteal: 15%
  • Duration: 8 seconds

5/5

Faster reloads and the ability to steal health from enemies is a great catch for losing shield or activation the Action Skill.

Brimming Vigor

Amon gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and deals increased Melee Damage the more full his Health.

  • Maximum Health Capacity: +35%
  • Melee Damage +35% when full

5/5

More health and more melee damage is a huge bonus.

Hoarcleave

Molten Slam is now Hoarcleave.

Press and old F to swing a Massive Forgeaxe, launching a Forgewave that deals Cryo Melee Damage and Freezes enemies it passes through.

Enemies killed by Hoarcleave cause a detonation, dealing Cryo Damage.

  • Forgewave Damage: 5,862 per second
  • Detonation Damage: 5,532
  • Cooldown: 65 seconds

Hoarcleave has a lower cooldown than Molten Slam, and Molten Slam is only really good against Flesh enemies, whereas Hoarcleave is effective against Shields and Armor, and it can freeze enemies.

The Thrill

Amon gains Missing Health Regeneration.

Every time Amon takes or absorbs Non-Status Effect Damage, he gains a Stack of Resolute for a Duration, which increases this effect.

  • Missing Health Regeneration: +4%
  • Increased Missing Health Regeneration: 20% per Stack of Resolute
  • Stack Duration: 14 seconds
  • Maximum Stacks: 20

2/3

Taking damage and healing it back makes Amon a walking tank.

Battleborn

Amon gains increased Gun Damage the more Full his Health.

This effect is Doubled while Amon is at Maximum Health.

  • Gun Damage: +9% when Full

3/5

The more gun damage, the merrier, especially when Amon is constantly going to be healing from getting hurt.

Scar Tissue

Amon gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Repkit Healing.

  • Maximum Health Capacity: +32%
  • Repkit Healing: +32%

4/5

An extra amount of health and Repkit healing is a great bonus for avoiding fatal hits.

The best way to play with this build is to get up close and personal with enemies. The closer you are, the more damage you deal, and the better the damage reduction. Players are still going to want to shoot their guns, and their melee strike is best used to get ammo back and weaken enemies to make them deal less damage and take more damage. Action Skills should also be reserved for ad-dense areas, or when players need to get health in a pinch.

Best Weapons and Gear for Onslaught Amon

Truthfully, players can use any weapons and gear that they're comfortable with when it comes to Onslaught Amon. However, since players are going to be close-up to enemies, Shotguns are the preferred weapon of choice. The best Shotgun players can get for Onslaught Amon is Rainbow Vomit, from the Weekly Wildcard Mission, A Lot to Process. This Shotgun features Color Spray, which is the ability to shoot 3 Elements at once. This is great for dealing with all enemy damage types, and it's fast-firing with a quick reload.

For Ordnance, anything works, but we've had the best experience with Rocket Launcher Heavy Weapon Ordnance, even if they're too dangerous to use up close. These provide the best stellar DPS against all enemy types.

Another important aspect of the build is the Shield used. We used the Timekeeper's New Shield from the Timekeeper, as this provides a whopping 7,000+ Health, 350+ Health Regeneration per second, and reduces Damage Taken by 33%. This Shield is incredible for tanking damage.

Players should use any Repkit they enjoy, but anything that has 2 charges and even has a bonus to melee damage upon use, or overcharge, is great, since it just means that players can rely more on their healing properties when their damage reduction is getting destroyed. The same goes for Enhancements, but anything that increases Gun Damage is really going to help.

Lastly, there is the Class Mod. Players should focus on Class Mods that extend some of their active Skills, but they are also going to want to use a Class Mod that provides decent bonuses, like an extension to Melee Damage and Damage Reduction.

Best Specializations for Onslaught Amon

Amon Specializations

Amon's Specializations are hard to re-invest into, as each respec costs 5,000 Eridium. As such, players who start earning Specialization points should begin investing a few points into Runner for more Melee Damage, and also for the Bear Arms skill, which provides a 50% increase to Gun Damage after using Melee Damage. Then, invest in Survivor for more health. 20 points here will allow for Bullets Are Scared of Me to provide greater Damage Reduction at full health, along with The Best Defense for greater Damage Dealt at full health. Players can use their last skill to invest back into Runner for Bullet Train to gain 15% more Damage when Walking, or pump some points into Brute for more Gun Damage.

Best Firmware for Onslaught Amon

Amon Firmware

Players have a few Firmware choices to pick from, but here's what we invested in:

Firmware

Bonuses

Pieces Equipped

Baker

  • Shield Capacity is increased by +10%
  • Repkit Cooldown Duration is reduced by +15%
  • Maximum Health is increased by +25%

3

Real Big Fist

  • Melee Damage is increased by +15%

1

Rubberband Man

  • Damage Reduction is increased by -5%

1

Baker is great, simply because the Maximum Health increase is too good to deny. Melee Damage is also nice, which is why Real Big Fist or Action Fist is a great choice, and thirdly, is Rubberband Man, used for an additional 5% Damage Reduction to help Amon tank more hits.

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Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
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Released
September 12, 2025
ESRB
Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s)
Gearbox Software
Publisher(s)
2K
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Genre(s)
Looter Shooter, Action, Adventure, RPG