Borderlands 4 Vex build, skill tree, and abilities

What are all of Vex's skills and abilities in Borderlands 4? Gearbox has released tons of information on what to expect from the siren in the upcoming Borderlands game, including her full skill tree, background, action skills, capstones, and more.

Vex is Borderlands 4's siren and is described as being spooky, due to her necromancer skills and supernatural phase energy abilities. She's attuned to the elemental type of her current gun, so it's worth checking out all the Borderlands 4 legendary weapons for a good match, as she converts the action skill and melee damage into the equipped elemental damage type. She may end up being one of the FPS game's best characters.

The best Borderlands 4 Vex build is going to be largely up to how you like to play. Vex is a ranger necromancer, focusing on kinetic life-stealing abilities and skills. She's quite different from what we've seen from previous sirens in Borderlands, but so far looks like the best beginner-friendly and versatile Vault Hunter from the four Borderlands 4 characters.

Thanks to her support abilities, such as summoning specters or reapers, or using her pet Trouble to distract and maul enemies, Vex is a great option for solo players.

Borderlands 4 Vex action skills

Here's a breakdown of Vex's three action skills:

Dead Ringer: Charge Skill (3) - Spawn a Phase Clone Minion, choosing Specter or Reaper. Phase Clones lose an ever-increasing amount of health per second, and their damage type matches Vex's current attunement (elemental type damage) when spawned. Can spawn a Reaper that taunts enemies and deals melee attack damage, or a specter that deals gun damage and cannot move.

Incarnate: Vex creates a Phase Explosion, dealing damage to nearby enemies and fully restoring her health. While active, Vex can use Eldritch Blast and gain increased movement speed. Eldritch Blast fires a blast from her offhand, dealing damage to nearby enemies on impact, and dealing gun damage to reduce the ability's cooldown. You can end this action skill early to partially refund the cooldown.

Phase Phamiliar: Vex is joined by her minion, Trouble. When killed, Trouble respawns after a cooldown. The action skill button can teleport Trouble, dealing damage in an area. Trouble then transforms into a Badass, fully restoring health and gaining increased damage for a duration. Activating Phase Phamiliar respawns Trouble if he's currently dead.

Borderlands 4 Vex skill tree

Within each of the three action skills are skill trees that divide into three different branches, so it's worth looking ahead to see which skills you're after. Each skill provides either a passive effect or some augments enhance your action skills. Waiting at the end of each branch are capstones: powerful abilities that can modify or enhance action skills. You can equip only one capstone at a time, much like augments.

The Fourth Seal (Dead Ringer)

This skill tree focuses on buffing you and the specters and reapers you've summoned, such as gaining reload speed, increasing status effect damage, and replenishing health.

• Branch 1 capstone - Heirloom: Specters gain a copy of Vex's currently equipped gun for a duration. Only one specter can have a copied gun at a time, and spawning a new specter removes the fun from the previous specter.
• Branch 2 capstone - Grim Reaper: Press and hold ability to spawn a Grim Reaper that drains nearby enemies, dealing status effect damage over time and regens health for each drained enemy. When an enemy dies while being drained, there is a chance a new reaper spawns.
• Branch 3 capstone - Dark Pact: Vex can now equip two augments and gains the ability to use Dark Pact. Press and hold ability while a minion is active to fully restore health of all Phase Clones, as well as granting increased movement speed and attack speed for a duration. Phase Clones do not lose health over time while this is active, and health loss is reset when it ends.

Vexcalation (Incarnate)

Not for the weak, this is damage-focused skill tree that leans more into lifesteal kinetic abilities and constant damage output, keeping you in the fight with shield regeneration and buffs to elemental damage.

• Branch 1 capstone - Desecration: Phase Explosion and Eldritch Blast create Hazards, dealing damage over time for a duration. Eldritch Blast is now homing; if it hits an airborne enemy, it bursts after a delay, dealing damage to other enemies.
• Branch 2 capstone - Heartpiercer: Eldritch Blast now sacrifices health on use but becomes a piercing wave, enemies hit take damage and allies hit restore health. Gain bonus damage and healing based on sacrificed health. Eldritch Blast no longer has a cooldown.
• Branch 3 capstone - Vibe Check: Eldritch Blast is now a charge skill, and when activated consumes all charges to ricochet on hitting an enemy. It ricochets once for each charge consumed.

Here Comes Trouble (Phase Phamiliar)

A great support option, this skill tree focuses on Trouble, Vex's pet summon, which can attack and distract enemies. You can put points into Trouble's skills and damage output, such as giving him tail whip and illusion abilities, or pivot to ordnance damage or double down on your own gun damage.

• Branch 1 capstone - Trouble Bubble: Trouble gains Overshield whenever he deals damage. While Phase Phamiliar is active, Trouble gains an elemental aura, dealing Ordnance damage over time to nearby enemies.
• Branch 2 capstone - Double Trouble: Trouble now gains a chance to create an illusion near the enemy when dealing damage, and critical hits have double that chance. Illusions become Badasses while Phase Phamiliar is active.
• Branch 3 capstone - Unsealed: Trouble marks his current target, causing them to take increased gun damage from Vex. Kill Skill - When a marked enemy is killed, Trouble gains a stack of unsealed for a duration, granting health regen and increased damage. While Phase Phamiliar is active, unsealed effects are doubled and can be stacked.

That's what we've got for Borderlands 4 Vex's abilities, skills, and what a potential best build could look like. For more, check out whether Borderlands 4 is coming to Game Pass and if Borderlands 4 has crossplay so you can team up with pals online.