Best Vex the Siren Builds in Borderlands 4: A Massive Contender?

Last updated on November 18th, 2025 at 11:39 am

All you have to do is look, it took me getting Borderlands 4 three weeks ago and never having played a Kingdom Hearts game. Went Vex because the concept of conjuring monsters and hurling elemental damage sounded cool.

What I didn’t expect? Wasting the majority of my time being confused about which abilities and skills actually stacked with each other, as well as why I felt like I was doing no damage shooting a bunch of marshmallows while watching YouTube videos where people would melt bosses in seconds.

Here’s what I have discovered after far too many respecs and failed boss attempts.

How I Got Out: Why Trouble Saved My Life (Literally)

When you are new to Borderlands, everything is trying to kill you. I died more than I care to admit in my first two hours with the game because of my playing it like this was any other shooter and wanting to goddamn face-tank these dudes.

Then I find the Phase Phamiliar build with Trouble – yeah, that big cat-like critter that essentially becomes a bullet sponge. Game changer. I maxed out Hasty Fiends because of its bonus movement speed and damage reduction, followed by points in Sanguine Fiends so when I got kills with Trouble it would also heal me. Suddenly I wasn’t using that massive portion of my time in the respawn menu any more.

The best part? Big fancy legendary weapons are not required here of you. You can play it whatever you fall in on. I used this build all the way from lvl 1 to 30 and it did not feel weak at any point. Trouble tanks, you shoot. Simple.

The Gear Grind Reality Check

I was around level 25, when I started seeing videos for this so-called “Bloodletter infinite bleed build” that apparently shits all over the game. The Penetrator knife it’s this throwing knife that makes all your damage critical hits but for five seconds.

It took me 8 hours of farming for it. Eight. Hours.

Was getting the tail end of Splashzone like 50 times and nothing to show for it. This is the thing no one tells newcomers: legendary drops in this game are rough. The Penetrator knife is a world drop, so it can come from anywhere, and that also means it comes from nowhere when you really want it.

I eventaully got one off of a random enemy in Carcadia and yeah it lives up to the hype. But here’s what I’d recommend: Don’t base your entire plan on something you don’t currently have. Spent the entire evening looking up a half-assed bleed build that sucked because of only 1 missing item to it.

What ACTUALLY Works In Low Gear

After that, in a fit of frustration I respeced into what the community calls the Elemental Spectre build. This one’s way more forgiving.

You’re essentially calling up these ghost clones (Specters) that can shoot enemies as you switch between different elemental weapons. The winning skill here is Prismatic Ichor it puts some random extra elemental effect on every time you proc a status. So you smack someone with fire and suddenly they’re getting shocked or corroded, too.

I always had 4 guns equipped: One fire, one shock, one corrosive and finally a kinetic. Swap depending what kind of thing you’re fighting. Shields? Use shock. Armor? Corrosive. Everything else? Fire works fine.

The clones deal respectable damage on their own, and if you go for the Dead Ringer skill tree you can have up to three of them. They don’t need you to hold their hand just set them on or near enemies and let them go to town while you concentrate on keeping yourself alive and your weapon repertoire fresh.

This build carried me through the main story without any legendary class mods or anything fancy though. Pure weapons with elemental punch.

The Bleed Build (When You’ve Got The Knife)

So, yeah, I eventually did get that Penetrator knife. And yes, the bleed build is ridiculous.

How it works: chuck the knife at a boss and switch to your best weapon, scoring headshots. For 5 seconds all hits are critical and deal bleeding damage. Those bleeds pile up fast 20, 30, 40 stacks and counting, and they keep ticking after you stop shooting.

I have melted a Terminus Range boss in roughly 15 seconds with this build. That boss took me 10 minutes the first time I fought him with my noob build.

But there’s a catch. Gearbox said they’re going to tweak this build on Oct. 16th as its “a bit too strong.” It took me four full days to get to enjoy it before the nerf arrived. It actually still works after the patch, just not as effectively at “delete everything instantly”.

The lesson? If something feels laughably overpowered, there’s a good chance it isn’t going to be as such for long. Develop strategies not carry through exploits.

My Current Recommnendations for New Players

If you are new to Borderlands 4 and start with Vex, here is what I wish I knew Day 1:

Begin with Phase Phamiliar and Trouble. A maxed Hasty Fiends and Sanguine Fiends. Let the cat tank and learn enemy patterns, improving your aim. Don’t be concerned with fancy builds just yet.

In mid level 30s you should begin trying Dead Ringer clones. Snatch up weapons with different elemental types you don’t to need legendaries, just variety. Switch the elements by enemy type (read the colour of their health bar: blue = shields = shock, yellow = armor = corrosive).

If you luck into legendary drops such as the Penetrator knife, awesome respec into a bleed build. If not, stick to minion builds that make your summons do half the work and allow you to focus on positioning yourself and surviving.

And here’s the top thing I discovered: that YouTube footage of crazy damage? They are consistently well over level 50 with perfect gear, maxed specialization trees, and specific legendary class mods. Don’t measure your level-20 experience on that. It’ll come to you, but it takes time.

The Grind’s Worth It (Mostly)

I’m now around level 47 at week three with a strange hybrid of Trouble and Specters build. It’s likely not “optimal” by hardcore standards, but it gets my content done and I’m not dead every five minutes.

Vex is fun when you stop overthinking it. Pull things to absorb fire, adapt your weapon element type for enemy weaknesses and don’t chase legendary gear you don’t have. Construct around what comes down, not what you hope will drop.

Still got that Penetrator knife in my inventory. I use it sometimes. But honestly? The Elemental Spectre build I played for two weeks taught me 10 times as much about the game as one that just deleted bosses in 10 seconds ever could.

Read:

Borderlands 4 Character Builds Guide: The Meta Builds That Actually Matter