After 250 Hours in the Borderlands Franchise, This Is How I intend to Play BL4’s Vex First

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Having invested over 400 hours into the Borderlands universe across Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Borderlands 3, and even Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, it’s become an integral part of my gaming repertoire. As one of my all-time favorite first-person shooters, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Borderlands 4. My excitement peaked when I got a sneak peek at a hands-on preview event in June, and that’s when I decided that I would embark on my official Borderlands 4 adventure with Vex, the new playable Siren. A significant factor in this choice is the unique gameplay experience she offers, not to mention her charming spectral tiger companion, Trouble.

Upon grasping the mouse and keyboard for the first time during the demonstration event, controlling Vex in Borderlands 4 felt instinctive to me, despite the novel traversal mechanics and Vex’s distinctive gameplay style. This iteration of Borderlands proves to be the most challenging yet, but the developers encouraged me persistently to tackle even tougher challenges, asserting that I was capable due to my past performance in Borderlands. Part of this confidence stemmed from my overall familiarity with the series, while also having prior experience with Vault Hunters akin to Vex, allowing me an advantage when it came to understanding her playstyle once the game was officially released.

I’m Going All In on Vex and Her Minions

Vex’s Reaper Minions Should Make Solo Play Much Easier

As a dedicated gamer, I can’t wait to jump into Borderlands 4 with my buddies whenever we sync our schedules! But let’s face it, life happens, and they won’t always be around when I am. To make sure Vex remains a force to be reckoned with during solo play, I’ve decided to maximize her staying power. And the best way to do that? Leveraging her Dead Ringer tree’s ability to summon a Reaper Phase Clone Minion!

These little badasses not only taunt enemies but also deal some serious melee damage, which means they’ll significantly boost my chances of survival when I’m flying solo. With Borderlands 4 being as tough as nails, having this added protection is crucial to my success.

In Borderlands 3, I discovered that using FL4K was incredibly helpful for me when playing alone, due to their pet tank ability that would provoke enemies. I believe Vex’s Reaper minions will take on a similar role effectively. Furthermore, by investing in Vex’s Phase Familiar tree, I can enhance the melee damage, damage resistance, and critical hit damage of her minions, thereby making the Reapers even more formidable at both sustaining and inflicting damage.

Vex’s Specter Minions Will Help With Crowd Control and Damage

The allure of Vex in single-player mode is enhanced by the ease with which you can summon Specter minions instead of Reapers. While Specters don’t move around, they still serve as extra targets and inflict more damage. In Borderlands 4, Reapers are excellent for boss fights; therefore, Specters would be ideal for crowd control. This unique ability sets Vex apart from previous Vault Hunters in the series. Given the challenging nature of any Borderlands game, especially Borderlands 4, when played solo, having plenty of support is crucial. Fortunately, Vex’s Specter minions offer that assistance.

I might delve deeper into Vex’s Phase Familiar skill tree in the future, mainly because I want to team up with Trouble a bit in combat. During the June preview for Borderlands 4, I opted for this playstyle and found it quite enjoyable when I summoned the powerful tiger. Nonetheless, upon closer examination of the Action Skills, Dead Ringer seems to be more suitable for my requirements due to its versatility.

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2025-09-10 22:26