Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex Build
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The Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex build focuses on Kinetic Damage and Bleed for Vex in Borderlands 4. See the best builds, skills, weapons, guns, and gear to use for Vex, along with the best skill tree abilities and character playstyle.
| All Vex Guides | |
|---|---|
| Leveling Build | Vex Cosmetics | Boss Farm Build | Bleed Build |
| Vex Skill Trees and Voice Actor | |
List of Contents
Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex Build Guide
| Jump to a Section! | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill Tree | Skill Progression | ||||
| Weapons | Ordnance | Shield | |||
| Class Mod | Enhancements | ||||
Vex Best Skill Tree and Action Skill
| Skill Tree |  Vexcalation |
|---|---|
| Action Skill: Incarnate | |
The Vexcalation Skill Tree contains the Bloodletter skill, which allows Vex to deal a new Kinetic Status Effect to enemies that are hit by Critical Gun Damage.
This Build also focuses on multiple Kinetic Damage buffs from the skill tree, while using the Action Skill Incarnate to trigger various buffs which improve Vex' overall DPS.
Vex Best Skills
| Jump to a Section! | ||
|---|---|---|
| Skill Tree | Skill Progression | |
| Passives | Capstone | |
Best Passive Skills
| Skill Tree | Priority Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vexcalation |  Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched.  Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack.  Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage.  Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health.  Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack.  Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health.  Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active.  Blood Is Power Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns based on her current Lifesteal when her Health is full. |
| Skill Tree | Priority Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 The Fourth Seal |  Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage.  Cursed Blade Vex's Melee Attacks apply Curse to hit enemies, making them take Kinetic Status Effect Damage any time they take Gun Damage. |
| Skill Tree | Priority Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Here Comes Trouble |  Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. |
Recommended Skill Progression
| Recommended Skill Progression | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched. Lvl 2 | Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched. Lvl 3 | Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched. Lvl 4 | Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched. Lvl 5 |
| Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched. Lvl 6 | Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack. Lvl 7 | Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack. Lvl 8 | Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack. Lvl 9 |
| Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack. Lvl 10 | Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack. Lvl 11 | Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage. Lvl 12 | Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage. Lvl 13 |
| Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage. Lvl 14 | Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage. Lvl 15 | Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage. Lvl 16 | Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack. Lvl 17 |
| Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack. Lvl 18 | Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack. Lvl 19 | Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack. Lvl 20 | Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack. Lvl 21 |
| Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active. Lvl 22 | Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active. Lvl 23 | Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active. Lvl 24 | Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active. Lvl 25 |
| Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active. Lvl 26 | Blood Is Power Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns based on her current Lifesteal when her Health is full. Lvl 27 | Blood Is Power Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns based on her current Lifesteal when her Health is full. Lvl 28 | Blood Is Power Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns based on her current Lifesteal when her Health is full. Lvl 29 |
| Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health. Lvl 30 | Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health. Lvl 31 | Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health. Lvl 32 | Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health. Lvl 33 |
| Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health. Lvl 34 | Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. Lvl 35 | Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. Lvl 36 | Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. Lvl 37 |
| Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. Lvl 38 | Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active. Lvl 39 | Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health. Lvl 40 | Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health. Lvl 41 |
| Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health. Lvl 42 | Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health. Lvl 43 | Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health. Lvl 44 | Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage. Lvl 45 |
| Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage. Lvl 46 | Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage. Lvl 47 | Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage. Lvl 48 | Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage. Lvl 49 |
| Cursed Blade Vex's Melee Attacks apply Curse to hit enemies, making them take Kinetic Status Effect Damage any time they take Gun Damage. Lvl 50 | |||
From Levels 1~30, focus on unlocking the Heartpiercer Augment, specifically taking the skills that improve your Kinetic Damage, Gun Damage, and Lifesteal. Following our recommended skill path allows you to melt down bosses as early as Level 30.
Once you reach Level 31, focus on taking skills that improve Gun Damage, while also remembering to take Enchantment which gives you a +37.5% Kinetic Damage buff.
Cold Iron and Cursed Blade from the Fourth Seal tree provide minimal buffs, and can be re-invested instead in other Skills if you wish to increase Vex' Mobility or Action Skill cooldown rate instead.
Vex Best Augment
 Geistwave
|
||
| Tree | Vexcalation | |
|---|---|---|
| Effect | ||
| Instead of causing a Phase Explosion, Vex launches a Geistwave, dealing Ordnance Damage to enemies it passes through. Each affected enemy takes increased Damage for a Duration. | ||
Geistwave removes Incarnate's Phase Explosion, and instead replaces it with a forward facing Geistwave, which makes afflicted targets take +30% more damage received.
This allows Vex to simply pop her Action Skill while facing a Badass or Boss, and all the damage you deal towards the target will be increased by 30% for the next 15 seconds.
Vex Best Capstone
 Heartpiercer
|
||
| Tree |
Vexcalation
(Branch 3) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Effect | ||
| 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. | ||
For this build, Heartpiercer is the only Capstone you will unlock, but it offers no functional buffs for your intended gameplay.
You can still take this capstone and use Eldritch Blast when you need more healing, but it would be more ideal for this build to instead go for Critical Hits with Kinetic Weapons to quickly recover HP through your Lifesteal.
Vex Best Weapons
| Jump to a Section | ||
|---|---|---|
| Legendary Weapons | Best Manufacturer | Best Weapon Type |
Best Legendary Weapons for Incarnate Vex
| Legendary | Gun Overview |
|---|---|
 Hot Slugger
|
Type: Shotgun Manufacturer: Jakobs Blazing Barrel: On kill, deal +30% Damage for 10s for a Maximum 3 Stacks |
| Borstel Ballista |
Type: Sniper Rifle Manufacturer: Jakobs [Alt-Fire] Shotgun: Fires a Shotgun that deals damage per shot |
These Legendary Jakobs Weapons have the best damage potential when using this build.
Both the Hot Slugger and the Borstel Ballista have high single shot damage, with the only condition you need to satisfy is to aim for weak spots to guarantee a crit.
Best Manufacturer: Jakobs
Jakobs weapons are known for their high Kinetic damage, which makes it perfect for this build.
Jakobs weapons also have augments and modifiers for Critical Hits, allowing it to synergize well with this build, regardless of what gun parts you have on your Jakobs weapons.
Best Weapon Type: Any Kinetic Gun
Since this build relies on Bleed and Kinetic Damage, you can use any Kinetic Gun and it will synergize well with this build.
As much as possible, avoid elemental weapons, as these will not synergize well with your Skill loadout.
Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex Best Ordnance
Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife
| Ordnance | Type and Overview |
|---|---|
| Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife |
Grenade Ordnance Penetrator Augment: Damage to the impacted target are automatic Critical Hits for 5s |
The Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife which comes with the Penetrator Augment enables this build exceptionally well, due to its guaranteed critical hits for 5 seconds.
Currently, the guaranteed critical hit from Penetrator allows bleed to Critically Hit, resulting in insane amounts of damage after it procs.
Vex Best Shield
Firewerks
| Shield | Type and Overview |
|---|---|
| Firewerks |
Armor Shield Bundled: On kill, spawns Missiles that home in on nearby enemies and deal damage each Kinetic Element Recommended |
Firewerks is the best offensive shield option for the Bleed Vex Build, due to its Bundled augment, which spawns missiles upon killing an enemy.
When used alongside Jakobs weaponry, you can randomly get kills when dealing critical hits, since Jakobs weapons usually have the augment that ricochets critical hits, which will then enable your Missiles, resulting in additional DPS.
Vex Best Class Mods
Teen Witch
| Class Mod | Effects |
|---|---|
| Teen Witch |
Recommended Skills:
Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack.
Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage.
Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active.
|
| Legendary Bonus | When Vex has Maximum Health, her Lifesteal partially applies to Shields. When Vex has Maximum Shield, her Lifesteal partially grants Overshield. |
Teen Witch amplifies the Lifesteal Buffs you gain from Blood is Power, and Gun Damage from Conjunction.
This also massively boosts Vex' survivability, granting you Overshield when you deal damage while both your HP and Shield are full.
Vex Best Enhancement Mods
| Enhancement | Effects |
|---|---|
| Jakobs |
・Bounce Pass - Guns with Jakobs-licensed parts increase the number of possible Ricochets by 1. ・Sequencer - Guns with Jakobs-licensed parts grant consecutive Critical Hits a stacking +5% Bonus Damage, for a Maximum of 8 Stacks. |
Equipping a Jakobs enhancement with either Bounce Pass or Sequencer greatly improves your DPS when using this build.
Bounce Pass allows your Critical Hits to bounce to more targets, further enabling Firewerks missiles, while Sequencer increases your overall damage, allowing you to deal more damage with your gun and bleed.
Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex Build Overview
Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex Build Summary
| Skills | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vexcalation |
Cold Iron Vex and her Minion(s) gain increased Gun Damage.
Leeching Attunement Attunement Skill. While Vex is Attuned to Kinetic, she gains Lifesteal and increased Reload Speed. These effects persist for a Duration after Attunement is switched.
Enchantment Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns while her Action Skill is active.
Cursed Blade Vex's Melee Attacks apply Curse to hit enemies, making them take Kinetic Status Effect Damage any time they take Gun Damage.
Bloodletter Gun and Skill Critical Hits have a chance to apply Bleed, causing Kinetic Status Effect Damage over time for a Duration. Bleed is affected by Status Effect Application Chance, and is itself considered a Status Effect. This effect can stack.
Material Components Vex gains increased Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Status Effect Damage.
Conjunction Vex gains increased Gun Damage the more full her Shield and gains Damage Reduction the less full her Health.
Grave Vitality Kill Skill. Vex gains increased Maximum Health Capacity and Health Regeneration. This effect can stack.
Blood Shot When Vex uses a Repkit, her next Gun Shot will become a Blood Shot, converting Damage Dealt into Kinetic Damage and dealing Bonus Damage based on her current Health.
Essence Leech Vex gains Lifesteal. Double this effect when an Action Skill is active.
Blood Is Power Vex gains Bonus Kinetic Damage with Guns based on her current Lifesteal when her Health is full.
|
||||
| Weapons | |||||
| Hot Slugger | Bonni and Clyde | ||||
| Borstel Ballista | Any | ||||
| Repkit | Ordnance | ||||
| Any | Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife | ||||
| Class Mod | Shield | Enhancement | |||
| Teen Witch | Firewerks | Jakobs | |||
Vex' Incarnate Bleed build specializes in Kinetic Bleed damage, using Jakobs Weapons to trigger the effect.
This Build also features multiple Lifesteal and Healing effects, which both amplify Vex' damage, and improve her survivability.
Best Bleed Vex Build Playstyle
UVHM Ready
Due to the extremely high damage this build can output, this build is viable for all end-game content, including Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
Even without the Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife, this build will still be viable due to its high DPS and Survivability, but the rate at which it can clear bosses will be significantly slower.
What is Ultimate Vault Hunter?
Bleed Focused Build
Since this build relies on Vex' Bleed mechanic, it is extremely important to land critical hits as much as possible.
With the Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife, your Bleed will also Critically hit, allowing for rapidly stacking damage to even bosses, like shown in the clip above.
Borderlands 4 Related Guides
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All Character Builds
| Character | Build |
|---|---|
 Vex |
|
 Rafa |
|
 Amon |
|
 Harlowe |
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Lifesteal Incarnate Bleed Vex Build
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