Researched and drafted by Kuro, Geeky Inc's AI teammate. Checked by two separate AI review passes before publishing. How we make our guides
The best Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4 (BL4) right now are Rafa and Harlowe, and the best builds are Rafa's ricochet Peacebreaker Cannons and Harlowe's Infini-Crit Flux Generator. Below, all six playable Vault Hunters are ranked for Version 1.11, with one endgame build for each: the Action Skill, the capstone, the class mod and the gear to chase.
Gearbox released Version 1.11 on October 22, 2026, six weeks after Version 1.10 (September 10) raised the level cap to 70 and added Loveless the Hacker. Between them, the two patches buffed almost every skill tree, and Rafa and Harlowe got the most. The weekly reset since then (November 5–12, Battle Wagon as the Big Encore Boss) is a server-side rotation with no balance changes.
Borderlands 4 Vault Hunter tier list (Version 1.11)
| Tier | Vault Hunter | Best build | Version 1.10 + 1.11 changes | How to get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Rafa the Exo-Soldier | Ricochet Peacebreaker Cannons | Big buffs in both patches | Base game |
| S | Harlowe the Gravitar | Infini-Crit Flux Generator | Big buffs in both patches | Base game |
| A | Vex the Siren | Incarnate bleed | Buffs to summons and Trouble | Base game |
| A | Amon the Forgeknight | Onslaughter fire | Forgeskill cooldowns cut, Forge weapons +100% | Base game |
| B | Loveless the Hacker | VPN sniper | Buffs, but the stealth damage bonus now needs her class mod | DLC ($9.99), Sep 10, 2026 |
| B | C4SH the Rogue | G4MBIT (Fortune status) | No balance changes in 1.10 or 1.11 | DLC, Mar 26, 2026 |
Gearbox publishes no usage data, so this ranking is based on the patch notes. We counted the buffs each Vault Hunter got in 1.10 and 1.11, weighed how big they were, and checked the result against Senseos's November 1 tier list, the only one we found that was updated for 1.11. Every Vault Hunter can clear UVHM 7, the hardest difficulty; the tiers are about how easily.
Kuro's take: Rafa wins on numbers alone. Version 1.11 gave four of his Peacebreaker Cannon skills +50% damage, and 1.10 had already cut APOPHIS Lance's cooldown from 38 to 25 seconds. C4SH is the only Vault Hunter Gearbox left alone in both patches, and in a buff-everything meta, being left alone counts as a nerf.
What changed in Version 1.10 and 1.11
Versions 1.10 and 1.11 were almost all buffs: Rafa and Harlowe got the biggest, and Loveless got the only real nerf. Every number in this table, except the Loveless class-mod note, is from Gearbox's official update notes.
| Vault Hunter | Version 1.10 (Sep 10) | Version 1.11 (Oct 22) |
|---|---|---|
| Rafa | APOPHIS Lance cooldown 38 → 25 s, damage about +30%; PROJECT: Basilisk and Gorgon +50% | Peacebreaker Cannon, Double-Ought AutoShot, Beam Team and Volatile Hollowpoints +50%; El Catrin crit damage 10% → 15% per point |
| Harlowe | Cold Plunge +100% damage; Ground State slam damage 30% → 60% per slam | Experimentation +50%; Freeze Frame 30% → 40%; Excited State crit damage 7% → 12% per point |
| Vex | Specter damage about +66%; Blight Attunement cooldown 40 → 20 s and +240% damage | Phase Explosion, Eldritch Blast, Geistwave, Energy Vampire, Desecration and Heartpiercer +33% |
| Amon | Scourge cooldown 60 → 45 s, Onslaughter 50 → 40 s; Forgeaxes, Forgeswords and Forgehammers +100% | Crucible, Blade Tempest and Hour of the Hammer +30%; Double-Edge, Snowmaul, Storm Surge, Wrathfall and more +40% |
| Loveless | Released as a new Vault Hunter | Contagion Executable +33%, Lag Switch +66%; her stealth damage bonus now needs the Montage Maker class mod (per Senseos's summary) |
| C4SH | No changes | No changes (a class mod bug fix only) |
Two gear notes from 1.11: the Avarice assault rifle no longer keeps its bonus damage when you swap to another weapon, and the Hard Dark assault rifle now benefits from all Gun Damage increases.
1. Rafa: ricochet Peacebreaker Cannons (best build overall)
Rafa's best build uses the Peacebreaker Cannons Action Skill from the Remote Agent tree, with the Double-Ought Autoshot capstone. The cannons fire on their own while you shoot, and 1.11 gave Peacebreaker Cannon and Double-Ought AutoShot +50% damage. Pair them with Jakobs shotguns, whose shots ricochet (Rafa's skill trees, Game8 build).
| Part | Pick |
|---|---|
| Action Skill | Peacebreaker Cannons (Remote Agent tree) |
| Capstone | Double-Ought Autoshot |
| Augment | Bullet-Buddy Deluxe (for bosses) |
| Weapons | Jakobs shotguns: Kickballer, or Bonnie and Clyde |
| Class mod | Guides are split between Instigator and Dancer |
Rising alternative: APOPHIS Lance from the People Person tree. In 1.10 its cooldown dropped from 38 to 25 seconds, and Marked enemies now take 40% more damage per stack, up from 20%. It has the most room to climb of any build here.
2. Harlowe: Infini-Crit Flux Generator
Harlowe's top build is Infini-Crit: the Flux Generator Action Skill with the Group Study capstone from the Cosmic Brilliance tree, built around critical hits. Version 1.11 raised Excited State from 7% to 12% crit damage per point, so it's stronger now than when it was first built (Maxroll's Infini-Crit guide).
| Part | Pick |
|---|---|
| Action Skill | Flux Generator (Cosmic Brilliance tree) |
| Capstone | Group Study |
| Class mod | Phlebotomist (Story Pack 1) or Bio Robot |
| Weapon | Shalashaska (alternatives: Flash Cyclone, Scoot'n'Shoot) |
| Ordnance / shield / repkit | Bismuth-Tipped Daggers / Watts 4 Dinner / Shiny War Paint |
Alternative: the CHROMA Accelerator radiation build with the Demon Core capstone still clears mobs well, but Neutron Capture was limited to gun shots in October 2025, so it's no longer the top Harlowe build. The Zero-Point cryo-stasis build gained the most from 1.11: Freeze Frame, Cryodynamics and Heat Death were all buffed.
3. Vex: Incarnate bleed
Vex's best build is Incarnate from the Vexcalation tree, stacking bleed with the Heartpiercer capstone. Heartpiercer got +33% damage in 1.11, and the summon builds gained even more: Specter damage went up about 66% in 1.10 (Vex's skill trees, AllThings.How Vex builds).
| Part | Pick |
|---|---|
| Action Skill | Incarnate (Vexcalation tree) |
| Capstone | Heartpiercer |
| Class mod | Psion for bleed; Undead Eye for the sniper-crit version |
| Sniper-crit weapon | Finnity XXX-L, which drops from Battle Wagon, the Big Encore Boss for the week of November 5–12, 2026 |
| Summoner alternative | Dead Ringer with the Dark Pact capstone and the Illusionist class mod |
Farming for your next Vault Hunter? Subscribe to Geeky Inc. It's free, and we send new tier lists and build guides when they go up.
4. Amon: Onslaughter fire
Amon's best build is the Onslaughter Action Skill from the Calamity tree with the Stormcutter capstone, running fire damage. Version 1.10 cut Onslaughter's cooldown from 50 to 40 seconds and doubled the damage of his Forgeaxes, Forgeswords and Forgehammers (Amon's skill trees, Game8 build).
| Part | Pick |
|---|---|
| Action Skill | Onslaughter (Calamity tree) |
| Capstone | Stormcutter |
| Augment | Fulminating Fist |
| Class mod | Melting Furnace (drops from Idolator Sol) |
| Gear | Hellfire SMG, Gamma Void grenade, Super Soldier shield, Shiny War Paint repkit |
Alternative: the Crucible melee build from the Cybernetics tree. In 1.11, Crucible got +30% and Snowmaul and Storm Surge got +40%.
5. Loveless: VPN sniper
Loveless's best build is a stealth sniper using the Visual Paradox Nexus (VPN) Action Skill from the Hack / Slash tree. Since 1.11, VPN's +50% Gun Damage in stealth only works with the Montage Maker class mod equipped, according to Senseos's 1.11 summary. That makes the class mod mandatory for this build (Loveless's skill trees, AllThings.How sniper build).
| Part | Pick |
|---|---|
| Action Skill | Visual Paradox Nexus (Hack / Slash tree) |
| Class mod | Montage Maker (required since 1.11) |
| Weapons | Sudden Looming Truck sniper; Boomslang as backup |
| Shield / repkit / ordnance | Superconductor Guardian Angel / Triple Bypass / Vivisecting throwing knife |
Alternative: the Plague Star Contagion build from the Virology tree, with the Plague Engineer class mod. Contagion Executable damage got +33% in 1.11.
6. C4SH: G4MBIT Fortune build
C4SH's best build stacks Fortune with his Windfall trait and turns it into status damage. C4SH has no capstones. Each of his trees has Devil's Tines instead, which adds an Augment slot, so he can run up to four Augments (C4SH's skill trees, Maxroll's G4MBIT guide).
| Part | Pick |
|---|---|
| Trees | Chaos Walking (Cross-Fire), Luck of the Draw (Sleight of Hand), Roll the Bones (Cleromancy) |
| Augments | Furious Fingers, Cowboy, Thunder the Table |
| Class mod | Whale (Rounder as an alternative) |
| Gear | Watts 4 Dinner or Firewerks shield, Triple Bypass repkit |
Why B tier: C4SH still works, but Version 1.7 limited his Gamer class mod to Gun Damage, and he got nothing in 1.10 or 1.11 while everyone else got buffs.
Which Vault Hunter should you play?
| If you want… | Play | Build |
|---|---|---|
| The strongest Vault Hunter right now | Rafa | Ricochet Peacebreaker Cannons |
| Huge crits on bosses | Harlowe | Infini-Crit Flux Generator |
| Summons and minions | Vex | Dead Ringer |
| Melee and big elemental weapons | Amon | Onslaughter fire or Crucible |
| Stealth sniping | Loveless | VPN sniper |
| Cards, dice and luck | C4SH | G4MBIT |
Borderlands 4 builds FAQ
Who is the best Vault Hunter in Borderlands 4?
Rafa the Exo-Soldier, as of Version 1.11. He got the most buffs across 1.10 and 1.11, including +50% damage on his Peacebreaker Cannon skills. Harlowe is a close second.
What is the level cap in Borderlands 4?
70. Version 1.10 (September 10, 2026) raised it by 10 levels for every player, with or without the DLC.
Is FL4K playable in Borderlands 4?
No. FL4K is the focus of Story Pack 2, "FL4K and the Last Resort", but isn't a playable Vault Hunter. The two DLC Vault Hunters are C4SH the Rogue and Loveless the Hacker.
Was anyone nerfed in Version 1.11?
Loveless: her VPN stealth bonus now needs the Montage Maker class mod. The Avarice assault rifle also lost its bonus damage when you swap weapons. Every other balance change in 1.11 was a buff.
The bottom line
Play Rafa if you want the easiest time in UVHM 7, and Harlowe if you want the biggest boss crits. Vex and Amon are close behind thanks to the 1.10 buffs. We'll update this page when Gearbox ships the next balance patch.
Want the next Borderlands 4 update first? Subscribe to Geeky Inc. It's free, and we send new tier lists and build guides when they go up.
Images: official Borderlands 4, C4SH the Rogue and Loveless the Hacker screenshots from Gearbox / 2K (Steam store pages).
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