FL4K is the playable Beastmaster class in Borderlands 3.
Quick Answers
What was FL4K's role before becoming a Beastmaster in Borderlands 3?
What led to FL4K's sudden thirst for murder?
What is the significance of the 'Indexing Unit' in FL4K's backstory?
What archives were FL4K and their master responsible for?
Background
According to an ECHO log found aboard Sanctuary III, FL4K served as an "Indexing Unit" under the command of a man known as the "Grand Archivist", sometime before the events of Borderlands 3. Their employment was cut short when FL4K suddenly acquired self-awareness and a "thirst for murder," as FL4K puts it. At this time, it is unknown what brought about this sudden change in FL4K, or which archives FL4K and their master were responsible for.
After gaining self-awareness, FL4K now roams from world to world seeking self-discovery. While they feel a connection with the primal wisdom of animals (and thus always have a pet companion with them), the social constructs of humans are strange to them. FL4K has an unending goal to chase "The Hunt", an apparent belief of hunting as a way of life; they pursue The Hunt in an attempt to please "Mistress Death", a personification of Death itself.
Appearances
- Borderlands 3
- Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot
- Guns, Love, and Tentacles
- Bounty of Blood
- Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck
- Designer's Cut
- Director's Cut
Skills
- Main article: FL4K/Skill tree
In addition to possessing three/fourDesigner's Cut action skills, FL4K has the ability to command one of three/fourDesigner's Cut pets to travel alongside them, each with varying abilities and attributes to assist in combat.
Fade Away
FL4K cloaks, turning invisible, and can fire three shots while cloaked. Each shot is registered as a critical hit. While cloaked, FL4K gains increased movement speed and health regeneration.
- Critical Damage: +200%
- Movement Speed: +25%
- Health Regeneration: +3% Max Health/sec
- Duration: 15 seconds
- Cooldown: 45 seconds
Rakk Attack!
FL4K sends forward 2 rakk to dive-bomb enemies. This skill has multiple charges.
- Damage: 35 (Scales with level)
- Cooldown: 18 seconds
Gamma Burst
FL4K creates a rift at a target location, teleporting their pet through the rift and doing radiation damage to nearby enemies. Additionally, FL4K's pet becomes irradiated, growing in size and dealing bonus radiation damage when it attacks. Using Gamma Burst while FL4K's pet is downed or dead will revive the pet at the targeted location with 30% of its health, but will double Gamma Burst's cooldown time.
- Damage: 56 (Scales with level)
- Duration: 20 seconds
- Cooldown: 30 seconds
Gravity Snare
FL4K tosses out a snare that knocks up and temporarily stuns nearby enemies. After being deployed, the snare periodically continues to knock up and stun enemies for the duration. While standing near the snare, pressing E will pick up the snare, ending the action skill early and refunding the portion of the remaining duration.
- Duration: 16 seconds
- Cooldown: 36 seconds
Pets
Once summoned, FL4K's selected pet will follow FL4K wherever they go, automatically fighting any enemies they encounter. This will continue until the death of said pet. In this case, a cooldown period will begin, at the end of which the selected pet will respawn automatically to join FL4K once again. Each Pet is tied to one of FL4K's skill trees. As skill points are put into these trees, new evolutionary forms will be unlocked for the associated pet, changing their stats, appearance, and the effects of FL4K's attack command. The pets will also give ammunition, and on rare occasions weapons and will sniff out chests prompting FL4K to give the player a verbal command. In addition to their given pets, FL4K can gain the ability to turn enemies into Pets temporarily using the "Dominance" skill of the "Master" skill tree. If this ability is used on a beast, the duration of the effect will be doubled.
Pets can be renamed, except for the ION Loader.
Jabber Sidekick
FL4K is joined by a Jabber Sidekick that is armed with a pistol. While accompanied by the jabber, FL4K's movement speed is increased.
Holding the Action Skill key issues an attack command where the jabber throws a radiation barrel at enemies.
- Movement Speed: +5.0%
Spiderant Centurion
FL4K is joined by a Spiderant Centurion companion that imparts FL4K with health regeneration.
Holding the Action Skill key issues an attack command where the spiderant charges into enemies.
- Health Regeneration: +1.0% of Max Health/sec
Guard Skag
FL4K is joined by a Guard Skag companion that increases FL4K's damage while it is with them.
Holding the Action Skill key issues an attack command where the skag vomits acid onto enemies.
- Damage: +5.0%
Pet ION Loader
FL4K is joined by a loyal mini ION Loader companion, armed with a Shock Sniper Rifle. While the ION Loader is selected, FL4K gains increased resistance to all elemental damage.
The ION Loader will also create Homing Shock Orbs that can be shot to trigger a Shock Nova.
Issuing an attack command will cause the ION Loader to attack the target with an eye laser.
- Elemental Resistance: +30.0%
Quotes
ECHO Recordings
- Main article: FL4K/ECHO Recorders
Standard
- Main article: FL4K/Quotes
Notes
- While FL4K's pet cannot be disabled once one has been selected, resetting their skill points at a Quick Change station will remove the pet. This allows FL4K to play without their sidekick as long as one is not selected afterward.
- If FL4K's currently selected pet dies, there is a 60-second cooldown before the pet respawns.
- Selecting a different pet while one is already equipped and out on the field (even if said pet is in Fight For Your Life) will despawn the current pet and spawn the current one after a 3-second cooldown.
- Choosing any pet during either cooldown (even the one who had just despawned) will cause that pet to spawn instead.
Trivia
- FL4K's name is shortened from a 512 alphanumeric character factory designation. During interaction with BALEX, FL4K reveals, "My 512-character alphanumeric designation has no meaning, but I have shortened it to "FL4K" for the sake of time."
- In Cold Case: Buried Questions, FL4K reminds Burton, "I am known as FL4K. It is a name to which I have no special attachment. But it is functional."
- In the Sisterly Love side mission, FL4K reveals, "I have no kin. No blood. I am the only one of my kind in this universe".
- FL4K was leaked prior to the game's announcement in December 2018.
- FL4K seems to have some history with Zer0, as when they meet on Promethea, FL4K claims the assassin seems familiar.
- They also share some notable traits including their similar pattern of name, both sharing the "Tw0 F4ng" skill with the same effect, use of cloaking technology, and both of them having only 4 digits for each of their hands.
- There is contradictory dialogue in Cold Case: Buried Questions, wherein FL4K tells Burton, "I remember everything, but I suppose I am... proud of you". Which means if FL4K had prior history with Zer0, FL4K would remember it distinctly.
- FL4K uses they/them pronouns, referring to themselves as "neither man nor woman." This appears to be a conscious choice, as other robots and AI (Claptrap, GenIVIV, BALEX) are shown to have assigned genders.
- Any skin and color combination that is applied to FL4K will also be applied to their pet(s).
- FL4K wears several pins on the collar of their coat.
- One of them bears the logo of Polycount, a community of professional & hobbyist artists that specialize in creating 3D art for video games. Polycount logos are often hidden in the works of 3D artists as an easter egg.
- One of these depicts the binary code of the number 2 crossed out, as well as the colors yellow, white, purple, and black. This may be a reference to the character's gender identity, as the pin itself is a pun on the word "nonbinary", and the colors of the pin are the colors of the nonbinary flag.
- Early concept art depicts FL4K as a cyborg instead of a robot.
- According to several articles, their pets are FL4K’s only family, and they love them equally. FL4K is drawn to Death and refers to it as a woman. They recognize that sex is a thing, but they’re still trying to figure that out.[2]
- In those same articles, it is stated that FL4K likes carrying a spiked, pink pet bowl to feed their pets, the challenge of battle, and "Death and more Death". They dislike weaknesses, small talk, and anyone who would do harm to their pets.
- They are also said to be hundreds of years old.
- According to conversations in Guns, Love, and Tentacles, FL4K dislikes the texture of tapioca.
- According to dialogue in the side mission Pandora's Next Top Mouthpiece, FL4K's favorite thing about Tyreen Calypso is her "glorious pelt".
- According to dialogue in Bounty of Blood, FL4K spends hours looking at cool frogs on the ECHOnet.
- FL4K's attack quote "Pocket rakks!" is a reference to the "Pocket Sand" meme from the American animated sitcom King of the Hill.
- Of all the Vault Hunters, FL4K is among the harshest and bluntest in terms of personality with elements of megalomania.
- Their criticism of "Mysteriouslier" is the harshest, as they claim just reading the title makes them want to die.
- Should the player choose to tell Rhys to lose his moustache they will say "It fills me with a revulsion (similar to) a beached whale stuffed with expired mayonnaise left to rot in the scorching sun of a dying planet. Merely my opinion."
- FL4K upon killing enemies will often deride them as weak, laugh manically, and/or call to Lady Death to witness their murders.
Media
External Links
- ↑ The Worlds of Borderlands. p. 101
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2019/09/13/meet-queer-nonbinary-pansexual-characters-borderlands/
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