The October 23rd Borderlands 4 patch notes are still a total doomsday scenario to me

I won't lie: when it came out Borderlands 4 developer Gearbox Software delayed the nerf to Vex's Infinite Bleed Build to October 23rd, I breathed a sigh of relief. I also text my group chat, “MY BUILD NERFED, THE NERF WAS DELAYED A WEEK.” And here we are, approaching that week, and I still can't be convinced that a nerf is even that necessary. If anything, this past weekend convinced me that the build isn't THAT broken. I guess it ultimately depends on what Gearbox does with this build, but my biggest fear is nerfing it into oblivion.

Borderlands 4 found a fairly permanent position in my friend's video game rotation, at least semi-permanent. We play every weekend, although last weekend we didn't have as much time as usual. Such is life. But I wrote about mine Borderlands 4 experiences from last weekend and I'm here to do it again. Finally, trying to wrap up all the achievements/trophies, my “broken” build didn't help under the circumstances. To summarize what we have been doing,

• Along with a little midweek gaming, my friend's Harlowe got back to level 50 after a BL4 the bug wiped out his SDU and specialization (he had to create a new character).

• We finally wrapped up all the side quests Borderlands 4.

• We also unlocked UVHM5 after playing UVHM2 the past few weekends.

• We also removed Bounties achievement/trophy.

• We also worked on the Gear Challenge by farming Foundry Freaks with Armored Bods.

We currently have all achievements/trophies except Catch-a-Ride, Gear and Manufacturer challenges, and Dave the Burrito. We will continue to work on this, but when we looked at Catch-a-Ride, we realized – as you may know – that you need to reach level 50 with each Vault Hunter to complete it. And despite that, the “broken” build of my Vex last weekend did little to “trivialize” the content.

Vex's Infinite Bleed Build is a one trick pony

Is Vex's Infinite Bleed Build broken? Yes, absolutely. Is the combination of Crit Knife and Bloodletter unintended? Yes. But some of the best things in gaming are unintended or unexpected; this is called emergent game design. Should this be fixed? Yeah sure. My biggest problem is that we don't have communication and expectations. All I need to be told is that Vex's Infinite Bleed Build will still be viable after the nerf, even though it is no longer “infinite”. That makes sense, but my biggest concern is that the game loop won't work anymore. It's no secret, but let's talk about what a Bleed Build is.

• The Throwing knife with penetrating extension is mandatory for construction. However, this is the basic world loot Borderlands 4with players reporting dozens of hours (if not directly on UVHM5) without seeing one. My friends and I (so in four player co-op) searched for it for at least 10+ hours.

• After that, there is some skill selection for the B-focused Vexloodletter and crit.

• You want a strong one-shot to pile on the damage of the Bleed build. Some people use a certain class mod + sniper rifle; I run and Hot Slugger + Rending Psion Class Mod. (I haven't even found a +4 Bloodletter mod that I know exists).

• I also use an Amp Shield, Amp Repkitand have a Jakobs improvement.

• This is enough to trigger Bleed from time to time, but players will want it Specialization in contamination to make it really work.

Bottom line, it takes a fair bit of grinding to get it all together. I don't remember if we managed to find it in a weekend or two, but we all worked hard on our builds that we wanted to make. Sure, power is a big draw for this build; I won't lie about it. But the game loop is so satisfying. I love throwing knives in general and have been using one ever since I jumped into it Borderlands 4-the fact that I could use a build with a Jakobs gun on top (best maker in Borderlands 4), really speaks to me.

Ultimately it depends on what the nerf does. I can live with this in a few scenarios, but in the name of “building diversity” I don't see why this specific gameplay loop has to die. It may not be the plan, but the point is that we don't know the plan. If I'm still viable, I'll be happy. I can use other Vex builds, sure, but I like this regardless of performance; I just want to be viable (sorry, trying to be clear here). In most scenarios, my friends and I already downplay the content without even counting it. Our builds can go through any boss together in seconds. I speed it up…when I can.

The thing is, the build isn't so broken that it universally trivializes the game, and it's not easy to get. If that were the case, Borderlands 4's patch would fix it by now. It's good against bosses, specifically bigger bosses. Players, at least me, have to power up, hit a target with a knife, and then hit them a few times (maybe that's an exaggeration). That's it, it's simplified. But unless it's a boss grind, its use is unreliable at best.

My Vex Infinite Bleed build didn't help much this weekend

Let's talk about it. We did a few grinds on the Driller site this past weekend, and while I'm useful against these bosses, I'm not really interested in using my Bleed Build against the mobs. If there's a pesky bigger enemy, sure, jump up and bleed them out. However, it takes a few seconds to set up, which is valuable Borderlands 4fight. I'll just run Vex's Reapers + Specters and use a different weapon in those scenarios because it makes more sense. Armored Bod is my primary other than Hot Slugger right now because you know gear issues.

Boss skating is where I shine, helping my friends get their loot without spending hopefully hours finding new and improved gear. But it wasn't my one-shot boss ability that put my friend's Harlow back to 50, not mostly. Fortunately, we were still working on side quests, so that's where most of his experience comes from. Yes, it helped against the bosses in each Borderlands 4 we wrapped up the side quest, but the mobs? No. Everything we did, I had a part to play; when there was time I unleashed my Infinite Bleed Build. But I didn't use it for most of this weekend because it's one trick per pony, and I never felt more useless than when we realized what we needed to do to make Catch-a-Ride a success.

Catch-a-Ride right from the Infinite Bleed Build

Catch-a-Ride success requires players to get each character to level 50. I have a level 41 Harlowe that I played with my wife, but that means doing Amon and Rafa and getting them to level 50. Jumping to level 30 should make it easier, right? That's right…As players know, the best farm level Borderlands 4 are Driller Sites and Vile Bounties. I'm not that effective at “trivializing” content either way, and we're still trying to figure out how to mix/merge level 50 with level 30 to do it effectively (spent the least amount of time). When we get to the bosses in the Driller Sites, if I don't solve the weapon challenges, sure. But that means fighting through it all the same, against mobs, which makes no sense to me to constantly try to Bleed.

Villa Bounties? Horrible enemies in general? You can't bleed them out. I mean, yeah, after I break all the Ordonite, but Vex isn't the most effective at it. My buddy Rafa uses gliders to beat them quickly but my build won't work so I have to switch weapons to counter them. Vex's Bleed build is broken, but not universally broken. I have a clear party role: grinding bosses. Other than that, it's just playing the game the way it was intended, plus having a good time with my friends.

I'm fine, I'm losing Infinite Bleed Buildbut I don't want to lose it Bleeding assembly. I understand everything Gearbox said about creating diversity and trivializing content, and I understand it's anecdotal compared to Gearbox's player data. I also understand that I could beef up my build if I wanted to, but I refuse that every build should die in the name of “build diversity” and that Vex builds “trivialize” all content. I would go so far as to say that trivializing the content is the best part Border games as I remember the Conference Call + Bee shield days. Namely, I'm assuming Gearbox doesn't want any builds downplaying the upcoming Invincible boss, and I mean, sure, fix the infinite part – just don't break the build in the opposite direction? Either way, what this all means is: Vex's Bleed build is broken, it should probably be fixed, but I hope the nerf doesn't kill the main gameplay loop. I guess I'll find out on October 23rd, or more likely this coming weekend when my friends and I have time to play again.

Released

September 12, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Crude Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction