Barbie Dahl

SKILL TREE NOTES

Some extra points are given to purple tree for some melee synergy. No Mistakes In Nature will boost the Kensei's bonus element, and that bonus element can proc Combo Breaker if it gets a kill. Otherwise, it does not deviate much from a traditional gun build.

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Dread is hugely important for reloading your guns automatically, preventing guns like the Sleeping Giant, Lucky 7, and Tankman's Shield from losing their buffs.

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ACTION SKILL

Ties That Bind. You can use Phasecast with 250% Phasecast gun damage anointments for faster boss melting.

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ACTION SKILL ELEMENT

Whatever element is suited to your content that also goes along with the element of your gun. Note that the skill tree has 5 points into Infusion, making 40% of your damage potentially different from the element of your gun. Additionally, Kensei damage is essentially a 160% bonus element (10% on the card x16 melee mayhem scaling) that will match your action skill element. With Kensei active, 200% of your 260% damage will be your action skill element, not the element of your gun. The element of your gun is secondary. Perhaps even tertiary with Re-Volter shock damage active.

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SLEEPING GIANT

With Consecutive Hits anointment, or Terror Crit if you can aim well. With all buffs active, this gun shreds, especially when critting. Unfortunately, it can be hard to tell when you have all of the buffs. Test on the Jack dummy in Sanctuary before heading out. There are 4 levels of damage; stop shooting *and don't reload* when you're sure you're shooting for the highest damage. Or use a hotfix that guarantees all of the buffs after every reload.

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With Terror Ammo Regen and enough mag size boosts, it's hard to run out the mag on this gun and lose your buffs by reloading.

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TORRENT

With Consecutive Hits anointment, or Terror Crit if you can aim well. Another gun that gets overlooked because of ammo problems. Terror Ammo Regen allows you to use the Torrent for as long as you like. You can even drop the Terror Ammo Regen for Terror Dmg/Fire Rate when at the end of an activity or for a boss, where you won't use up all of your reserves. But that aspect of gearing will be covered later.

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LUCKY 7

With Terror Crit anointment. The most powerful gun with this build. I still have a couple time trials placements with this build using the Lucky 7. Terror Ammo Regen, a Jakobs Company Man with two mag size boosts, and mag size on your Kensei will make it relatively easy to keep all of the Lucky 7 buffs, if you have a little bit of trigger discipline. Try using a hotfix to make the Lucky 7 roll all of its buffs with every reload.

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TANKMAN'S SHIELD

With Terror Crit anointment. This gun is very hard to use, but worth it. For every enemy you kill with it (and it must be a direct kill by the gun), the next magazine gets 40% more gun damage, stacking up +250% gun damage. The problem is that you lose the stacks if you go into FFYL. This gun is best suited to a longer form activity where you can stay relatively safe, such as Slaughterstar 3000 or Scaled Maliwan Takedown.

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Pair it with a Hyperion Company Man with double mag size boosts for extra assurance you can gain/keep stacks without reloading. Terror Ammo Regen may not be necessary if you're making good use of Dread to refill your magazine.

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GUARDIAN ANGEL

Usage #1 is with Killstack anointment. This gun does silly things with Ties That Bind and Indiscriminate, and Kensei will help buff the initial shot as well. There's no need to run Terror Ammo Regen with this gun; instead run Terror Dmg/Fire Rate.

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Usage #2 is with Terror Cryo anointment. There are only a few melee effects that the Kensei bonus element can proc, and the Shooting Star shield is one of them. Shoot enemies with the Guardian Angel with the Kensei active and your shield depleted and your dozens of Guardian Angel projectiles will spawn dozens of Shooting Stars, all buffed by the Guardian Angel's bonus damage. If the Shooting Star worked on all maps, this would be the most powerful Amara gun build by quite a margin. There is a hotfix available that makes the Shooting Star shield work on all maps.

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SAND HAWK

With Terror Crit anointment. Using this gun in semi-auto mode will make your ammo last much longer, if you have a Dahl Company Man with double mag size boosts and Terror Ammo Regen. You will eventually run out, though, simply by killing grasped enemies, because Dread pulls ammo from reserves. Spec out of Dread if you want to run with only the Sand Hawk for a while.

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THEMATIC GUNS

Two more guns fit the bill of never reloading, even though they're relatively weak on this build: The Butcher and the Super Shredifier. The former does not need Terror Ammo Regen (run Terror Dmg/Fire Rate instead) and the latter, with Terror Ammo Regen and enough mag size, will never reload no matter how hard you try.

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META GUNS

Any strong gun will also work on this build. Free Radical, Skullmasher, Kaoson, etc. Choose between these three anointments: Consecutive Hits, Terror Crit, 250% Phasecast gun damage.

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CLASS MOD

Kensei, with skill points in No Mistakes in Nature and/or Joyful Freedom. The six second bonus element that this provides is enough to get you rolling or phase a boss.

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SHIELD

Re-Volters, one with Terror Ammo Regen and another with ASE Apply Terror. This means you must occasionally take damage to let the Re-Volter proc naturally. Run Ammo Regen for the guns that need it. Run ASE Apply Terror when you need Terror Dmg/Fire Rate on your grenade.

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Shooting Star, in various elements, with ASE Apply Terror anoint. This is for pairing with your Terror Cryo Guardian Angel, as explained above. When using this shield, turn off Shield Reboot and Emergency Response Guardian Rank perks.

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You can use the Infernal Wish, with ASE Apply Terror, for a bit easier time with the Tankman's Shield.

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ARTIFACT

A Company Man of the appropriate manufacturer, with double mag size rolls (one on top and one on bottom). Backup option would be a Pearl of Ineffable Knowledge with a mag size roll.

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GRENADE

Fish Slaps, with ASE Apply Terror (if using Terror Ammo Regen) or Terror Dmg/Fire Rate (when you don't need ammo regen and have ASE Apply Terror on shield). There's some melee damage specced with this build, so the Fish can do some work. You can even swap to the Guardian Angel when throwing it.

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Alternatively, an It's Piss (with those same anointments) for dealing more damage with just your guns.

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GAMEPLAY LOOP

Choose your loadout carefully. Does your gun need ammo regen? If so, make sure your grenade has ASE Apply Terror. What element do you want your gun to be, and what is your action skill element? For guns like the Sleeping Giant or Lucky 7 where you can't change the element without losing buffs, you can change the element of a lot of your damage by changing your action skill element. Keep in mind that shock damage is usually covered by the Re-Volter.

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Is the right Company Man equipped? If you're using the Shooting Star, are two of your Guardian Rank perks disabled? Have you switched to Phasecast if you're using a 250% Phasecast gun damage anointment? There's a lot to consider when you decide to play with a certain gun.

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Terror anoints won't kick in until your action skill ends, so start off using your action skill. Kensei damage will help you kill your grasped enemy without emptying your mag. Let yourself take damage every now and then to proc Re-Volter. Have some trigger discipline when using the Sleeping Giant and Lucky 7, especially when you have that Re-Volter fire rate.

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