Best Vex Reaper Build in Borderlands 4 (Dead Ringer)

Vex has a very versatile set of builds in Borderlands 4, and even within the blue skill tree for Dead Ringer, Vex the Siren is capable of even more uniqueness. For this build, we’ve invested fully into Dead Ringer and Vex’s Reapers, making this an extremely powerful and survival-oriented build that uses overshield, healing, and melee damage, all while Vex can sit back and shoot her guns and let her Minions do all the dirty work. Below, players will find all the information they need on a Vex Dead Ringer build that focuses on Reapers and melee damage.

Best Skills for Dead Ringer Vex (Reaper)

Skill	Description	Why It’s Useful
Fell Inscriptions (5/5)	Vex and her Minions gain increased Melee Damage and Maximum Health Capacity	Increase the Melee Damage of Reapers (and Vex), while also increasing Maximum Health for all.
Coven (Augment)	Spawning a Reaper grants Vex and her Minions Health Regeneration for a Duration.	Vex is going to spawn Reapers a lot for this build, so healing and overcharging shields is a must.
Cursed Blade (5/5)	Vex’s Melee Attacks apply Curse to hit enemies, making them take Kinetic Status Effect Damage any time they take Gun Damage.	Throw a Phase Knife to Curse enemies to make them take more damage.
Extra Cursed (1/1)	Curse Damage now triggers on Minion Melee Damage and deals increaesd Damage when it’s triggered by a Critical Hit.	Throw a Phase Knife as a Critical Hit and deal way more damage with Vex’s Reapers.
Grave Quickening (5/5)	Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Action Skill Cooldown Rate.	The more Vex kills, the quicker she can summon her Reapers.
Blood Sacrifice (1/1)	Activate Kill Skills whenever Vex’s Minions die.	If Vex’s Reaper dies, a Kill Skill is granted.
Obedient Fiends (5/5)	Vex gains increased Minion Damage. Minion Skills and Command Skills gain further increased damage.	More damage for Vex’s Reapers is always good.
Ancient Rites (5/5)	Vex gains a stack of Ancient Rites for each of her active Minions every second, increasing Minion Damage.	Simply by having Minions alive, their Damage increases to +40%
Dark Pact (Capstone)	Vex can now equip two Augments, and gains the ability to use Dark Pact. Dark Pact: fully restore Health of all Phase Clones, as well as granting increased Movement Speed and Minion Attack Speed for a Duration. Phase Clones do not lose Health over time while Dark Pact is active, and Health loss is reset when Dark Pact ends.	Vex can have two Augments, and she can hold her Action Skill to Restore Health of her Minions and grant them increased Movement Speed and Attack Speed for 12 seconds.
Hellish Harvest (Augment)	Minion Skill. Reapers gain the ability to use Hellish Harvest, dealing Melee Damage 3 times in a large area around themselves and regenerating Health for each enemy hit. Reapers will use Hellish Harvest on spawn, and every third time they Melee Attack.	Vex’s second Augment allows her Reapers to deal more Melee Damage and provide Health Regeneration for each enemy hit.
Diener (1/1)	Dead Ringer gains an additional Charge.	Vex can now have 4 active Minions.
Recurrence (5/5)	Whenever Vex deals Gun Damage or Melee Damage, gain a Stack of Recurrence, which increases her and her Minion’s Gun Damage and Melee Damage.	Deal damage to gain Stacks of Recurrence to increase damage for Minions.
Haruspex (5/5)	Melee Override. Vex now throws a Phase Dagger from her offhand that deals Melee Damage to enemies hit. Phase Daggers can Critically Hit.	Allows Vex to throw a Phase Dagger to have ranged melee attacks.
Pincushion (1/1)	Haruspex now throws 5 Phase Daggers from both hands in a fan pattern.	More Phase Daggers means more Melee Damage.
Reverburnations (5/5)	Melee Damage dealt by Vex or her Minions has a chance to deal Incendiary Melee Damage.	This great buff allows Vex’s Minions to deal Incendiary damage, which is super effective against Flesh (red health).
Blood Is Magic (5/5)	Vex deals increased Action Skill Damage the higher her Health.	Vex will never run out of Health, so a permanent +35% Damage from her Reapears is essential.

The way players will want to use this Vex Dead Ringer build is to constantly summon Reapers as a group of 4 so that they can track single enemies and gang up on them, killing them before they’ve even managed to get a shot off in the Reapers. When it’s ready, Dark Pact can be activated to basically make Minions immortal, and for each Reaper active, Vex gains Health Regeneration. With the skills above and the gear below, Vex will never dip into her Shields as she will constantly have Overshield, allowing her to apply Curse to enemies with her Phase Knife, while shooting targets and staying at a safe range, while the Reapers take all aggravation, while dealing brutal, stacking melee damage.

Best Weapons and Gear for Dead Ringer Vex (Reaper)

Weapons are entirely dependent on what you’re most comfortable running with, but we found great success with Wombo Combo (Rippa Roadbirds, “Saw’s Clench” Ripper Drill Site, Ruined Sumplands, Carcadia Burn). This Assault Rifle has a great rate of fire, and it also randomly fires Rip Rockets from the underbarrel to basically double the damage with a combo of Elemental and Kinetic. This is great for building damage to prepare for a Groundbreaker Phase Knife throw, but again, anything works. To increase the effectiveness of this weapon, use Vladof Enhancements with Box Magazine or Bullet Hose to increase the Fire Rate, Magazine Size, and grant a random chance to fire an extra Projectile. However, anything that increases Damage or effectiveness with Assault Rifles (or your preferred weapon) also works.

For the Shield, we found the most effective one was the Super Soldier Shield (Vile Lictor, Umbral Foundry, Windspear, Terminus Range) thanks to its special effect that grants Overshield when it’s filling, and grants additional Fire Rate, Movement Speed, and Ammo Regeneration when the Shield is full. These stats, paired with the skills above, ensure that Vex always has her Shield active.

Pairing perfectly with the Shield is the Class Mod: Teen Witch (Primordial Guardian Radix, Arch of Radix, Grindstone of the Worthy, Carcadia Burn). The Skill bonuses aren’t that important, but Lifesteal is provided here, meaning players can constantly regenerate Health, Shield, and even Overshield thanks to Vex’s Reaper damage.

Players can always make this build extremely OP if they use a Penetrator Augment Throwing Knife, but that’s not necessary. Any explosive Ordnance will do, but Slippy (Shadowpelt, “Whistler’s Maw” Auger Mine, Cuspid Climb, Terminus Range) is great, as it’s a powerful Grenade that deals more explosive damage based on Melee Damage. Lastly, there is the Repkit, which doesn’t entirely matter as Vex is never really going to need it for healing. However, look for one that increases buffs like Melee Damage or Action Skill when used.

Best Specializations for Dead Ringer Vex (Reaper)

Specialization Perk	Description	Points Required
Bear Arms	Melee Damage now benefits from increases to Gun Damage.	1 in Runner
Groundbreaker	Non-Melee Attack Damage and Slam Damage are stored. Melee Attacks and Slam deal Bonus Kinetic Melee Damage based on Stored Damage, and consume it.	20 in Runner
The Best Defense	The Vault Hunter gains increased Damage Dealt based on the fullness of their Shield or Health, whichever has higher Maximum Capacity.	20 in Survivor
I Am A Gun	Action Skill Damage now benefits from increases to Gun Damage.	10 in Daredevil (10 in Sharpshooter + Runner)

The Specializations for this build are melee-oriented. As such, investments into Runner and Survivor are required, as are additional points in Sharpshooter to unlock Daredevil. With Bear Arms, The Best Defense, and I Am A Gun, players will have Gun Damage bonuses that can stack well over +100%, simply by using melee and Action Skill. Groundbreaker is also the most essential here, as Gun Damage will be stored and released with the next Melee Attack to deal a whopping Bonus Kinetic Melee Damage attack. Basically, players just have to shoot things and throw a knife to see a great

Best Firmware for Dead Ringer Vex (Reaper)

Firmware	Bonuses	Slots
Action Fist	Melee Damage is increased by +15% Action Skill Damage is increased by +10%	2
GOOJFC	Action Skill Cooldown Rate is increased by +10% Action Skill Damage is increased by +15%	2
Reel Big Fist	Melee Damage is increased by +15%	1

Firmware

Bonuses

Slots

Action Fist

Melee Damage is increased by +15%

Action Skill Damage is increased by +10%

GOOJFC

Action Skill Cooldown Rate is increased by +10%

Action Skill Damage is increased by +15%

Reel Big Fist

Melee Damage is increased by +15%

Since Vex’s Phase Knvies and Vex’s Reapers rely on Melee Damage, we decided to pick Action Fist and Reel Big Fist, as these will all increase the total Melee Damage and Action Skill Damage. We also went with GOOFJC, as it’s nice to increase Action Skill Cooldown Rate so that Vex can summon her Reapers faster, and the additional Action Skill Damage is always a treat.