Far Far West Builds: Three Loadouts Worth Copying

A build is not a list of good items. It is a machine where each part feeds the next, and Far Far West makes that literal: three upgrade tracks, three Joker budgets, and a card pool larger than any one weapon can hold.

That is why copying a "best loadout" screenshot usually disappoints. The person who posted it had a specific trigger frequency in mind, and without that rhythm the same cards fire half as often.

The three budgets you are actually filling

Every character carries three Joker pools: primary, secondary, and hero. Community planners put each at roughly 15 slot points before prestige bonuses, with cards costing 1 to 5 points by rarity and Unique cards scaling with power level instead of sitting at a flat cost.

Two consequences. First, the hero pool is the only one that helps every build you will ever run, so it is never wasted investment. Second, a single expensive Unique can eat a third of a pool; if it does not change how you play, it is a stat card wearing a costume.

Build one: the wave clear loop

The Frostburn melee package is the most self-contained build in the game, because it generates its own defense and converts that defense back into damage.

Weapon: Knuckles or Lasso in the primary slot. Melee weapons have no ammo; every hit fills a charge meter that powers the right-click ability. Knuckles hits a wide cone and can be charged for knockback or attack speed. Lasso reaches further, and its charged attack grants flight — which also solves traversal.

Secondary: anything that covers range. Melee builds die to the enemy they cannot reach.

School: Frost, specifically Breeze for the frontal freeze and Blizzard once you have it. Blizzard follows you, damages around you, and shields allies for its duration, so it doubles as a defensive layer while you are inside a pack.

The engine: reported as Cold Blooded (melee attacks freeze, spending shield points) plus Frost Bite (melee kills on frozen enemies return shield points). Together they let the build fund its own shield bar without casting anything.

The payoff: All Mighty converts held shield into damage at roughly +1% per point, capped around +80% at a full bar. Avalanche adds +15% while shielded. Double Down reportedly increases shield gain by 30%, which shortens the ramp.

The condition to watch: your shield bar should be near full during fights, not near empty. If it is draining, you are killing too slowly or standing too far away. The full shield rules are on /guide/shield-guide.

Build two: the single-target answer

Bosses care about one thing: damage into a single hitbox while you dodge.

Weapon: a lever-action or scoped rifle in the primary slot — high per-shot damage, slow cycle. Pick by time-to-kill on a single target, not by name; /weapons/all-weapons-list explains why names are a bad way to plan.

Secondary: a revolver with an Acid assignment. Acid primes the target; your rifle exploits it. The cheapest two-part combo in the game, and it works whether or not your squad cooperates.

School: Voodoo for the mark, plus one trigger. A marked target takes amplified damage from everything, which is exactly what a slow rifle wants. If nobody in your group runs Voodoo, you do — it is the highest-value support a damage dealer can bring.

Cards: reported crit and weak-spot amplifiers such as Eagle Lever, plus Glass Cannon (a large damage multiplier for a chunk of your health). Add Second Wind if you play solo, because a build that dies to one mistake has no damage output.

The condition: your first shot after a swap must land on the primed target. If you are spraying, the build is a worse version of build one.

Build three: the support anchor

Support in this game is not healing. It is making the other three players' builds function.

Weapon: Banjo in the secondary slot — the only melee weapon built for the secondary, and it heals you and nearby allies in a zone. Its Unique cards change the shape of that heal, but the base aura is the point.

School: Frost with Bridge and Blizzard. Bridge lays an ice path that shields allies crossing it and reaches places normal movement cannot; Blizzard keeps shielding while it follows you.

Cards: cooldown and economy. West Wizard is the classic trade — -30% spell cooldown for -30% health — and Cast Away reportedly shaves seconds off your other spells when you cast one. Soul Siphon keeps you topped up from pickups so your healer never has to heal the healer.

The condition: your teammates should be taking less damage than they did before you joined. If they are not, you are playing a worse DPS.

Reading a build before you copy it

For where the currency to finish a build comes from, see /guide/xp-tickets; for the single-weapon upgrade order, /weapons/weapon-upgrades-guide; for spell reactions, /spells/best-spell-combos.

The short version

Fill the hero pool first, because it survives every loadout change. Pick one trigger — shield gain, acid prime, or cooldown cycling — and build the other two slots around feeding it. A card that never fires is inventory, not a build.