FL4K

FL4K
Character Type	Playable character
Race	Robot
Group Affiliations	Grand Archivist (formerly) Crimson Raiders
Game	Borderlands 3
Voice Actor	SungWon Cho

FL4K (self-named by shortening a meaningless 512 alphanumeric characters long factory designator) is the playable Beastmaster class in Borderlands 3.

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 they put 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

Skills

FL4K's Action Skills are Fade Away, Rakk Attack! and Gamma Burst.

FL4K's Skill Trees are Master, Stalker, and Hunter.

Fade Away

FL4K cloaks, turning invisible. FL4K can fire three shots while cloaked, and each shot is automatically 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

In addition to possessing three action skills, FL4K has the ability to command one of three pets to travel alongside them, each with varying abilities and attributes to assist in combat.

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.

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.

The Spiderant will occasionally produce ammo. (Fl4k will say things like "When did you eat that?" and 'Where were you keeping that?")

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%

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 will despawn the current pet and spawn the current one after a 3-second cooldown.
  • This works even if the pet is in Fight For Your Life, and can be used as a way to "revive" the pet. This does not work if the pet has already died.
• Choosing any pet during either cooldown (even the one who had just despawned) will cause that pet to spawn instead.

Trivia

• FL4K was leakedprior 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 their name, both sharing the "Tw0 F4ng" skill with same effect, use of cloak technology and both of them having only 4 digits for each of their hands.
• FL4K uses they/them pronouns, referring to themselves as "neither man nor woman." This appears to be a conscious choice, as other robots (Claptrap, GenIVIV) are shown to have assigned genders.
• 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 a small bit of binary code 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 them as a cyborg instead of a robot.
• 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.

Gallery

Media

Borderlands 3 - FL4K Character Trailer "The Hunt"