Best Vex Bleed Build in Borderlands 4

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Okay, so I’m completely obsessed with Borderlands 4, and let me tell you, Vex is a powerhouse! I’ve been messing around with her builds, and her Bleed build is absolutely insane. Seriously, using the Bloodletter skill from her Incarnate tree, I can take down any boss in seconds. It’s ridiculously strong!

Vex’s Incarnate skill tree focuses on landing critical hits and benefiting from status effects. The Bloodletter skill is particularly strong because it combines both – it applies the Bleed status effect with critical hits. Since you can significantly increase Vex’s chance to land critical hits in *Borderlands 4*, Bleed will be constantly triggered. Here’s a powerful Vex build centered around Bleed in *Borderlands 4*.

Borderlands 4 Vex Bleed Build

These are the skills you should unlock to maximize your Bleed damage with Vex in Borderlands 4.

Skill Description Why It’s Useful
Leeching Attunement (5/5) Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched. Lifesteal will boost damage thanks to other skills.
Bloodletter (5/5) Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. The heart of the build. Bleed is crazy strong.
Material Components (5/5) Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage. This gives more gun damage and boosts Bleed damage since it’s a Kinetic status effect.
Grave Vitality (5/5 Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. More health equals more HP, you can Lifesteal from enemies.
Essence Leech (5/5) Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active. Lifesteal is a cornerstone for this build.
Blood is Power (3/3) Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns based on her current Lifesteal when her Health is full. Bleed scales with Gun damage, so this makes it even better.
Enchantment (5/5) Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. Bleed scales off Gun damage, so this makes Bleed even stronger.
Idle Hands (3/3) Vex and her Minions gain Reload Speed based on the fullness of her Health. With Lifesteal active, you’ll have very little downtime wasted on reloading.
Cold Iron (2/5) Vex gains increased Gun Damage. Higher Gun damage means more devastating Bleed effects.
Portents of Suffering (5/5) Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Status Effect Damage. Bleed is a status effect, so this improves it.
Grave Quickening (5/5) Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Action Skill Cooldown Rate. Lifesteal is doubled when an Action Skill is active, so this will help you maximize its uptime.
Prismatic Ichor (1/5) When Vex or her Minion(s) apply a Status Effect, apply another random Elemental Status Effect. You can deal even more damage on top of Bleed from Kinetic weapons.

These abilities work great together. The ‘Bleed’ effect gets stronger with increased Gun damage, and all of these skills improve both Vex’s Gun damage and how effective ‘Bleed’ is.

This setup also gives Vex lifesteal, increasing her reload speed and damage. Skills like Enchantment and Essence Leech further enhance these benefits while her Action Skill is active. Because of the skill Grave Quickening, which significantly reduces the cooldown, you’ll be able to maintain these buffs almost constantly.

Okay, so I’ve been experimenting with builds, and let me tell you, using Grave Harvest as your Augment is *amazing*. Basically, grabbing those Soul Orbs not only extends how long your Action Skill lasts, but they also heal you, which is huge. Keeping Vex healthy means your Lifesteal really kicks in and pumps up your damage thanks to Blood is Power. And if you’re using the Heartpiercer Capstone skill? Forget about it – the extra health from those orbs just makes that skill even more devastating. Seriously, it’s a really strong combo!

Best Weapons and Gear for Vex Bleed Builds

To get the best results with this build, you’ll want to use a Kinetic weapon – so steer clear of anything that deals elemental damage. Jakobs weapons are always Kinetic and focus on dealing high critical hit damage, making them the perfect choice for this Vex Bleed build.

If you’re building a character around causing Bleed damage, a weapon with a Spread Launcher attachment is incredibly helpful. The Spread Launcher itself does a lot of damage, and it also makes your Bleed effects even more powerful.

For this Vex Bleed build, a powerful Jakobs shotgun is highly recommended. The ‘Bod’ shotgun, dropped by Axemaul in The Toil of Spoiling Vis, is an excellent choice. You can’t go wrong with ‘Hellwalker,’ the unique shotgun from the Meathead Riders in The Old Scrape, either. ‘Hot Slugger’ is also a great option, as it increases your damage with each kill, and it’s obtainable from the Callous Harbinger of Annihilating Death in Craven’s Nook.

When choosing a throwing knife for Ordinances, prioritize one with the Penetrator Augment. Hitting an enemy with a Penetrator knife ensures all damage they take for the next five seconds will be critical. This is beneficial because critical hits cause Bleed damage.

To maximize damage, look for Class Mods and Enhancements that increase your gun damage and critical hit chance. Class Mods that boost skills like Bloodletter are also helpful. If you’re using a Jakobs weapon, an Enhancement that makes it ricochet bullets twice on critical hits can significantly increase your damage.

For this Vex Bleed build, any Kinetic weapon that causes Bleed will work great. It’s a really powerful build – possibly one of the strongest in *Borderlands 4* – so it might be adjusted in a future update to balance things out.

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2025-09-21 11:05