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Choose your ideal Vault Hunter in Borderlands 4 by exploring unique skills, playstyles, and strengths of Rafa, Vex, Harlowe, and Amon.
Borderlands 4 continues the series’ trend of choosing from among four playable characters at the start of the campaign. Each vault hunter represents an archetype and features three distinct action skills with their own skill trees to spec into. Let’s take a detailed look at each of the characters to uncover their strengths and why you should pick them.
Borderlands 4: Which Vault Hunter To Choose
Rafa: The Exo Soldier
An AWOL soldier outfitted with the Deadframe exo-suit, Rafa’s action skills allow him to blast enemies from long range with the Apophis Lance arm cannon, deal burst damage with shoulder-mounted Peacebreaker Cannons, or slice through enemies in melee using twin Arc-Knives energy blades. These characteristic weapons are used through action skills, which are tied to their own skill tree.
| Skill Tree | Action Skill | Type |
|---|---|---|
| People Person | Apophis Lance | Laser |
| Remote Agent | Peacebreaker Cannons | Dual Shoulder-Mounted Cannons |
| This Year’s Gimmick | Arc-Knives | Dual Blades |
Why You Should Play as Rafa
- You can dual-wield the Apophis Lance with your equipped weapon and deal shock damage or laser down enemies over medium-to-long range.
- Rafa’s Remote Agent skill tree boasts the highest DPS action skill out of all vault hunters. The Peacebreaker cannons automatically target enemies within your field of view, shooting bullets, grenades, or rockets. They can also detach themselves and function like a turret.
- Mark enemies in melee and deal additional shock damage to them with Arc-Knives. Using ‘This Year’s Gimmick’ will switch the camera to third-person as you slash, dodge, and spin across the battlefield in a whirlwind of electric blades. Besides shocking marked targets, the ability can also spawn drones by damaging enemies.
Also Read: Borderlands 4: What Happened to Hyperion Weapons?
Vex: The Siren
A cynical yet empathetic vault hunter, Vex uses her Siren powers to summon minions or fuel explosive abilities.
| Skill Tree | Action Skill | Type |
|---|---|---|
| The Fourth Seal | Dead Ringer | Summon |
| Vexcalation | Incarnate | Power-Up |
| Here Comes Trouble | Phase Phamiliar | Familiar |
Why You Should Play as Vex
- Vex’s main appeal is her summoner playstyle. With Dead Ringer, she can spawn clones, reapers, or specters to draw aggro, deal elemental damage, and serve as front-liners.
- Equipping Phase Phamiliar will spawn her panther-like pet, Trouble, as a constant companion. Using Phase Phamiliar teleports Trouble to the target area, and it can grow into a Badass version of itself.
- Incarnate creates a large explosion on activation and empowers Vex with elemental damage and an Eldritch Blast in her off-hand.
Harlowe: The Gravitar
Harlowe is a cheerful scientist who unleashes her experimental weaponry to buff allies and crowd control with large AoE abilities. Harlowe is best used when playing co-op, but she can easily hold her own by speccing into the Creative Bursts skill tree.
| Skill Tree | Action Skill | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Creative Bursts | Chroma Accelerator | Energy Sphere |
| Seize the Day | Zero-Point | Stasis Bubble |
| Cosmic Brilliance | Flux Generator | Cryo Field |
Why You Should Play as Harlowe
- Harlowe supports run-and-gun gameplay with plenty of cryo and radiation damage at her disposal.
- Chroma Accelerator launches a large, moving energy sphere that deals cryo damage and freezes enemies. Using the ability again detonates the sphere, dealing radiation damage.
- Zero-Point is an entertaining skill that envelops the target in a stasis bubble and suspends them in mid-air. Pressing the action skill again slams the target to the ground, dealing bonus damage and impacting any other enemies nearby.
- You can support your squad using the Cryo Field, granting an overshield to any friendlies within its radius.
- All of Harlowe’s abilities apply Entanglement to hit enemies. All Entangled targets share any damage dealt to them. As a result, you can demolish large groups of mobs in very short order.
Amon: The Forgeknight
A monster-hunting melee specialist, Amon is a self-styled warrior-poet and the tanky-brawler archetype in Borderlands 4. The Forgeknight favors a close-range style, suiting players who like to get up-close and personal using shotguns, SMGs, and melee weapons.
| Skill Tree | Action Skill | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Calamity | Onslaught | Rocket Punch |
| Vengeance | Scourge | Off-hand Shield |
| Cybernetics | Crucible | Thrown Axes |
Why You Should Play as Amon
- Triggering Onslaught increases shield regeneration and applies fire damage to all weapons. It also allows you to boost into enemies with dash and overload the off-hand Forgefist for a Rocket Punch with melee.
- Equipping Scourge grants Amon a shield in his off-hand. The shield absorbs frontal damage and fills up the Vengeance meter, while reducing incoming damage further. Using the action skill drains the Vengance meter to launch a Forgewave, which deals AoE cryo damage in a straight line.
- If you aren’t into melee combat or shields, the Cybernetics skill tree supports a mid-ranged playstyle and offers the highest DPS out of the three. Crucible arms you with two throwing axes, one dealing fire damage, and the other cryo damage. They can also be combined into a two-handed axe for simultaneous fire and cryo damage.
- Perks like Tempered Ice and Tempered Lightning can spawn Forgedrones to autonomously attack nearby enemies.
- Amon’s abilities have the lowest DPS of all vault hunters, but his incredible durability makes up for the lack of burst damage potential.
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