Borderlands 3 - Captain Traunt boss strategy
How to ruin Captain Traunt’s invasion in Borderlands 3.
Captain Traunt is the fourth boss in Borderlands 3.
You'll meet Captain Traunt in The Impending Storm, the seventh mission of Borderlands 3, where he's trying to invade Athenas on behalf of Maliwan.
It's your job to ensure that this invasion doesn't succeed and do that you're going to have to kill Captain Traunt. Be warned, however, he's got some formidable elemental attacks on his side.
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Everything you need to know about Captain Traunt and his attacks in Borderlands 3
Captain Traunt is a Level 14 enemy. He is also a combination of the Heavy Gunner, Icebreaker Heavy and Pyrotech Heavy enemies you've previously faced on Athenas.
Traunt will have a shield up at the beginning of the battle. Once this shield has been knocked down, it will not regenerate.
He will begin the battle using Cryo (Ice) Elemental attacks; creating walls of ice to block your enemies and spikes of ice at you. He will also be able to freeze the main courtyard floor, which will both slow your Movement Speed and damage you.
When Traunt's shield has been degraded to roughly 50%, he will switch to Incendiary (Fire) Elemental attacks. This includes throwing balls of fire towards you, creating pools of lava on the floor and sending out meteor attacks across the battlefield.
Traunt can also create a ball of either ice or fire that will run around the battlefield, going up along the walkways. In accordance to your position at the beginning of the battle, these balls will move in an anti-clockwise direction around the arena.
Getting hit by this ball will take away a good portion of either your health or shield. It make be dodged by either a well timed jump or falling down to the courtyard below.
As you get closer to killing Traunt, he will begin to alternate between Cryo and Incendiary attacks. You'll be able to tell which attack he's planning on using next by the colour of its charge.
Finally, Assault Troopers will regularly appear throughout the battle. They tend to spawn on the right-hand walkway, using the elevated height to shoot down at you. Since these Assault Troopers tend to stay on this platform, however, they can be easily ignored.
Captain Traunt's weak spot in Borderlands 3
If you want to deal some good Critical Damage to Captain Traunt, then hit the power generator on his back.
There is also a chance you will be able to stun him for a few seconds if you hit him in the head. A shotgun or a sniper rifle with a high fire rate are both good choices if you want to attempt this move.
Borderlands 3 has arrived! Check out our skill tree guides for Amara, Fl4k, Moze and Zane.
If you're looking for more challenges to complete, check out our guides on the Dead Claptraps, Broadcast Towers, Eridian Writing,Hijack Targets, Legendary Hunts and Typhon Logs and Typhon Dead Drops. If you want some easy rewards, consult our Borderlands 3 Shift Codes and VIP Codes page. When you've finished Borderlands 3, visit our guides on Guardian Rank and Rewards, Mayhem Mode and True Vault Hunter mode to learn more about what you unlock in the post-game.
Captain Traunt boss strategy in Borderlands 3
The first order of business when fighting Captain Traunt is to get rid of his shield and get rid of it fast.
The best gun for this task is either one that deals Shock Damage or one that has been specifically made to take down shield.
To discover whether your gun has one of these abilities, visit your inventory and read the descriptions for your gun collection. If your gun does have a special ability, then it will be found underneath its set of stats.
Once you've taken down Traunt's shield, you can get busy knocking down his health through a combination of bullets and Action Skill attacks.
You may be tempted to alternate between a Cyro and Incendiary weapon to deal with Traunt, but he may resist these attacks. Instead, it's worth using either a Shock or Corrosive Weapon as they will deal good damage and possibly have a lasting elemental effect on Traunt.
Shotguns are also a good weapon for taking on Captain Traunt, since he is quite a big target.
When it comes to avoiding Captain Traunt's attacks, you'll want to stick to the lower, corner, areas of the platform and move out onto the main courtyard when its save. This position will allow you to attack Traunt and avoid his ice / fire ball attacks.
You will also have the chance to quickly run up onto the walkways if you need to, dropping down onto a save patch of the courtyard.
Traunt generally moves quite slowly, so use that to your advantage. Force him to one end of the battlefield, before quickly moving to another, allowing you to get some good hits in.
You can spend most of this battle ignoring the Assault Troopers that appear. It's worth keeping a few at a low health in case you enter a Fight for Your Life and tend to die quite quickly when shot with an Atlas assault rifle.
There is a kind of safe spot in the far-left lower platform between the set of four lockers and the wall.
We call it a 'kind of safe spot' because enemies can still come and attack you there. Yet, it will take them some time to reach you, allowing you to recharge your shields. The nearby lockers may also provide you with some important supplies.
Captain Traunt can be a very tough battle if you're not Level 14 or higher. If need to quickly level up your Vault Hunter, then take the time to find the spare Claptrap parts and the Typhon Logs that are hidden around Athenas.
It's also a good idea to complete the Holy Spirits side quest at the local Athenas brewery. Not only will this supply you with some EXP, but completing the Optional Objective will give you the chance to get some cool new guns.