Borderlands 4 Amon guide — full Calamity tree tiers and ranks, plus measured overshield values
| Name | Amon |
|---|---|
| Class | Forgeknight |
| Playstyle | Tanky bruiser who fights with fire and cryo forge weapons while seeding autonomous drones |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Available in | Base game (12 September 2025) |
| Action skills | Crucible / Scourge / Onslaughter |
| Skill trees | Calamity / Vengeance / Cybernetics |
Amon is a base-game Vault Hunter running the Forgeknight class, built around a smithing theme. 2K describes him as a warrior and a poet — outwardly severe, actually warm. Mechanically he is the tanky one, swinging fire and cryo forge weapons while drones work the field around him.
The three action skills
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Crucible | A thrown axe carrying fire or cryo. Multiple charges, and picking it back up cuts the cooldown. Enemies it hits become Primed |
| Scourge | A forge shield that absorbs incoming frontal damage and converts it into a resource. Once the meter fills it switches from absorbing to reducing |
| Onslaughter | Overloads his fists — shield recovery, incendiary on your gun, movement speed, and a charging rocket punch melee |
The three skill trees
| Tree | Anchor action skill | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Calamity | Onslaughter | Rocket punch, movement speed, melee |
| Vengeance | Scourge | Cryo-centric boss killing |
| Cybernetics | Crucible | Drone volume and chained elemental detonations |
What only Amon does — Forgeskill
Amon’s trait is Forgeskill, a second ability on a held action-skill input. What comes out changes entirely depending on which action skill you have equipped.
| Equipped action skill | Forgeskill | Confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Crucible | Double-Edge (thrown axe) | 2026-07-25 |
| Onslaughter | Molten Slam (hammer slam) | 2026-08-11 |
| Scourge | Firewall | 2026-07-24 |
Capstones then overwrite that second ability. Taking Hoarcleave at the end of Calamity branch 1, for instance, turns Molten Slam into a piercing wave of ice. Where other Vault Hunters’ capstones add damage, Amon’s swap out the ability.
What we confirmed in-game
Calamity — every node with tier and maximum rank
This is the most complete tree in our data: every node’s tier and maximum rank confirmed on 2026-08-11.
| Section | Skill | Tier | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Impetus | T1 | 3 |
| Common | What Burns Within | T1 | 5 |
| Common | Discombobulate | T1 | 5 |
| Common | Heavy Plate | T1 | 5 |
| Common | Wield the Storm | T2 | 5 |
| Common | Gut Punch | T2 | 3 (a passive, not an augment) |
| Common | Tritanium Knuckles | T2 | 5 |
| Common | Forged in Steel | T3 | 1 |
| Common | Bullet Storm | T3 | 5 |
| Common | Metal Urge | T3 | 5 |
| Common | The Best Defense | T3 | 5 |
| B1 | Berserk | T1 | 5 |
| B1 | Bloodlust | T1 | 5 |
| B1 | There is Only Red | T2 | 3 |
| B1 | Rimebreak | T2 | 3 |
| B1 | Brimming Vigor | T2 | 5 |
| B1 | My Touch is Death | T3 | 3 |
| B1 end | Hoarcleave | T3 | 0 pt capstone |
| B2 | Into the Fray | T1 | 5 |
| B2 | Burning Ramparts | T1 | 5 |
| B2 | Harbinger | T2 | 5 |
| B2 | Rearm | T2 | 3 |
| B2 | Maiming Strike | T2 | 3 |
| B2 | Mortal Flare | T3 | 3 |
| B3 | Catastrophe | T1 | 5 |
| B3 | Dragon’s Breath | T1 | 5 |
| B3 | Judgment | T2 | 5 |
| B3 | Fists of Stone | T2 | 5 |
| B3 | Crackling Aegis | T2 | 3 |
| B3 | Electrical Fire | T3 | 1 |
Measured overshield values
Amon generates overshield from melee, so the real numbers are readable on the stat screen. All measured 2026-08-30.
| Maximum overshield | 10,914 |
| Effective duration | 8 seconds, counted from when gains stop, refreshed on each gain |
| The Best Defense conversion | +3% of melee damage dealt per rank (+15% at 5/5, linear) |
| Heavy Plate at 5/5 | Max shield capacity +50%, max overshield capacity +60% |
The Best Defense is a direct grant, so it works with your shield broken. It is separate from the recovery-driven cascade that requires a full shield, which makes it a defence that shows up exactly when you are in trouble.
A per-node prerequisite
Mortal Flare (B2 T3) will not unlock without 1 point in Maiming Strike in the same branch (confirmed 2026-08-11) — the tier cost alone is not enough. The same shape appears on Rafa and Harlowe; it is covered in the unlock mechanics article.
Where written guides were wrong
- Blast Furnace is not the Cybernetics capstone. In game it is a max-5 passive at branch 2 T1 (confirmed 2026-07-25)
- Four effect descriptions in Vengeance were wrong (confirmed 2026-07-26). Machinist restores ordnance cooldown on kill rather than boosting ice damage; Ancient Way boosts cryo damage; Battleborn scales gun damage with how close to full health you are; Thrill regenerates missing health when you take damage
Other confirmed trees
Cybernetics (2026-07-25 to 26) and Vengeance (2026-07-24) have confirmed in-game names and tier positions. Confirmed capstones include Snowmaul and Storm Surge in Cybernetics and Glacial Rapture in Vengeance.
What we have not confirmed
- Whether overshield actually caps out at 10,914 in combat is undecided. If it pins, The Best Defense is over-invested; if it never gets there, Heavy Plate’s +60% ceiling is doing nothing. Either answer frees up points, and we do not have the answer
- Whether overshield accumulates per hit or overwrites — which the above depends on
- There is Only Red’s maximum rank is unresolved (3 or 5). Treating it as 3 makes our current point total add up exactly, but it needs a final in-game check
- Honed Point’s maximum rank reads 5 in game and 3 in written guides
- Apart from The Best Defense and Heavy Plate, no skill coefficient is verified
- Calamity’s augments and its B2/B3 capstones are not yet collected (not unresolved — simply not captured)
- The Cybernetics branch 3 capstone is unresolved
FAQ
How high does Amon's overshield go?
We measured a maximum of 10,914 with an effective duration of 8 seconds. The duration counts from when you stop gaining overshield and refreshes on every gain, so it holds as long as you keep hitting things (measured 2026-08-30).
How much overshield does The Best Defense generate?
3% of melee damage dealt per rank, so 15% at 5/5. It is a direct grant, which means it still applies while your shield is broken (measured 2026-08-30).
Is Blast Furnace the Cybernetics capstone?
No. Many written guides list it as one, but in game it is a max-5 passive at branch 2 T1 (confirmed 2026-07-25).