Borderlands 4 Harlowe the Gravitar Leveling Build Guide

Borderlands 4 introduces a new tech tree layout which may be daunting to interact with at first, especially during the leveling process. The following guide details a drop-agnostic setup aimed to work at any stage of the campaign.

Leveling and experiencing the game for the first time is an individual process where discovery and experimentation is encouraged.
This build is designed to accompany players regardless of their approach and speed.

Strengths

Strong nukes available on a very short cooldown
Great at mobbing, good at bossing
Does not require specific weapons, class mods or shields

Weaknesses

CHROMA Accelerator requires a certain degree of finesse

Skill Overview and Playstyle

The center piece of the build is Harlowe’s CHROMA Accelerator, an action skill that shoots a slow-moving projectile which by default deals Cold damage to any target nearby and can be activated again to release a much wider Radiation explosion.
Correct timing and positioning to hit as many enemies as possible are key to playing Harlowe, and allows you rain down destruction on your enemies.

Skill Point, Augment, & Capstone order

The following skill order prioritize quality of life and Immediate power gains over long term scaling in order to offer a smooth leveling experience.
The idea is to build around CHROMA Accelerator supporting talents and increase the frequency of casts while also retaining increased defenses, all while aiming for the Demon Core capstone to extend your reach and start chain reactions with Dirty Bomb.

Skill Point	Skill	Skill Tree
Action Skill	CHROMA Accelerator	Creative Bursts
1-5	PPE	Creative Bursts
Augment	Void Star	Creative Bursts
6-10	Field-Ready Prototype	Creative Bursts
11-15	Test Subjects	Creative Bursts
Augment	Field Research	Creative Bursts
16-20	Poisoned Sun	Creative Bursts
21-23	Chain Reactor	Creative Bursts
24-25	Fissile Launcher	Creative Bursts
Capstone	Demon Core	Creative Bursts
26	Dirty Bomb	Creative Bursts
27-31	Pulse Drive	Seize the Day
32-36	Make Extraordinary	Seize the Day
37-41	Mains Hum	Cosmic Brilliance
42-46	Neutron Decay	Cosmic Brilliance
47-49	Resonance Cascade	Cosmic Brilliance

The aforementioned sequence is designed towards a build that is as open as possible in terms of random drops and does not rely on specific weapons that synergize more with the Vault Hunter, as that approach is better suited for endgame setups instead.

Strategy

Early Game (0-15 Skill Points)

Early on, the focus is on increasing Shield defenses capabilities and the damage of CHROMA Accelerator, while simultaneously taking Voidstar augment as a means to offer some safety and burst damage.

By default, Harlowe’s Action Skill cooldowns are rather long, so the goal is to familiarize yourself with the ability itself in order to hit the desired target with both the Cold damage component and the Radiation explosion afterwards.
The ability is best used at mid-range due the nature of its slow-moving projectile and the minimum delay before being able to trigger the explosion.

Mid Game (16-25 Skill Points)

The midgame section is where swapping your augment to Field Research enables back-to-back CHROMA Accelerator resets.
Pathing down to Demon Core capstone increases the reach of the Action Skill.

Late Game (26+ Skill Points)

Dirty Bomb is an important pick in the red tree, as it adds even more AoE capabilities to the build.
Afterwards in the blue tree we can talent into more cooldown reduction and a bit more fun with Make Extraordinary which gives critical hit chance to Harlowe’s Skills.
The last 13 points are then spent in the green tree, to obtain some added defense and offense tied to the use of Radiation Weapons.

Teamplay

This setup is designed to offer the same viability in both single player and party content.

Gun and Gear Priority

The general philosophy is to play with the best you have dropped so far, and that is the main reason as to why the build is rather open when it comes to weapon and gear choices.
There is also the argument of personal preference where some may enjoy a certain type of weapon or a manufacturer that is in line with your taste.

In respect to both, here are few tips on what gear to look for:

Elemental damage is generally valuable to exploit health bar weaknesses, especially at higher difficulties;
Look out for underbarrel attachment on weapons, as they offer a burst of damage on a cooldown;
Harlowe synergizes with elemental debuff application and especially Radiation damage, particularly on a fast-firing weapon;
Shotguns with gyrojets of the appropriate element are very good bossing weapons regardless of the class or build;
Keep class mods with useful passives such as generic gun damage, or defensive options;
Energy shields offer more survivability, thanks to various talents;
Pay attention to repkits with the Accelerator perk.

Quick Tips

Look out for opportunities to funnel enemies in a line, or ambush them in a confined space;
Grenades or party member abilities that can vortex enemies will greatly augment your combo potential;
CHROMA Accelerator Radioactive damage does less damage against armor bars (yellow);
Air Dash, slides and the grapple are mobility tools that allow to avoid Area of Effect damage and melee hits.