The Borderlands 4 characters you’ll be able to play as are all completely original Vault Hunters ready to shoot and loot on Kairos. The recent PlayStation State of Play Deep Dive video for Borderlands 4 gave us a good look at Vex, the new Siren character showing off her Phase powers and a bit of her skill trees. But we also know that Rafa, Harlowe, and Amon will be joining her in the search for more vaults.
Each character also comes with a few Action Skills to choose from and plenty of passive perks on their skill trees. That means every Vault Hunter is highly customizable and there are plenty of unique there are plenty of build options and playstyles to pursue. Here’s what we know about the four Borderlands 4 Vault Hunter characters so far.
All Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters
As mentioned, there will be four characters available to play as when Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 this year. They are:
- Amon the Forgeknight
- Harlowe the Gravitar
- Rafa the Exo-Soldier
- Vex the Siren
As usual, you’ll pick one of these valiant Vault Hunters to play as at the start of the game and then will level up as you play to unlock Action Skills and perks. Every character has three Action Skills to choose from, each with their own attached skill trees packed with Passive perks and Augments that enhance your abilities.
While you can have only one Action Skill equipped at a time, it looks like you can switch between Action Skills at any time, so you’ll essentially have three unique builds ready to switch to on demand. And if you want to adjust your builds, you can apparently freely change your Augments and Capstone abilities or even fully respec your skill trees at specific areas as in previous Borderlands games.
All of the Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4 also get a unique Vault Hunter Trait, a passive perk that adds a little extra something, and a whole suite of movement abilities. As well as sprinting and sliding, characters can dash, double-jump, climb, glide, and point-grapple.
Borderlands 4 Amon
Little has been announced about Amon so far but as the Forgeknight, he looks to be Borderlands 4’s answer to a melee berserker, capable of blocking damage with a shield and charging in with elemental melee weapons as seen in the gameplay trailer – in one scene he is wielding two axes, while in another he is swinging a massive hammer over his head.
He is the sole survivor of a cult that worshipped Vault monsters, now vowing to slaughter all Vault-dwelling monstrosities as a warrior-poet. I reckon he’ll speak entirely in iambic pentameter rather than haikus like Zero.
Borderlands 4 Harlowe
As with Amon, Gearbox has not shared much about Harlowe’s capabilities and it’s harder to tell exactly what her different Action Skills might be. She clearly uses bubbles to trap enemies, holding them in place, though I’m not sure how else she can use these to her advantage. These bubbles will almost certainly be like a more advanced version of Maya’s Phaselock ability in Borderlands 2, but Harlowe’s “Gravitar” title suggests she might have other gravity-related powers to disrupt enemies with.
She’s a former Maliwan combat scientist and brings all sorts of gadgets to battle too – no doubt most of them use some sort of elemental power because of her Maliwan background.
Borderlands 4 Rafa
Rafa seems like the fighter-type class for Borderlands 4, making use of the advanced technology from an experimental exo-suit to dish out damage in all sorts of ways. With Tediore’s digistruct technology, he can wield various weapons in combat, presumably as Action Skills. He appears to be able to slice enemies into red mist with his Arc Knives and can pull out a high-power energy pistol to blast enemies.
With weakened bones and muscles from being born and raised in microgravity, Rafa opted to be surgically altered to fit the Deadframe exo-suit as way of getting to explore the universe, though this was in exchange for one tour in the military arm of weapons manufacturer Tediore. Having fled the never-ending military service, Rafa is now on the run as a Vault Hunter.
Borderlands 4 Vex
Vex is the Siren character in Borderlands 4, wielding her phase energy to wreak havoc on her foes. She has been hardened from her rough upbringing, making her cynical, pessimistic, and sarcastic, but will help the oppressed however she can.
She gone shown off a fair amount in the PlayStation State of Play Deep Dive so we know about her Action Skills and unique Vault Hunter trait:
- Vault Hunter Trait – Phase Covenant: Vex is Attuned to the element type of her current gun, converting all Action Skill and Melee damage into the same type.
- Actions Skills:
- Incarnate: Vex creates a Phase Explosion that deals damage to nearby enemies and fully heals her. For the remaining duration of Incarnate, Vex has increased movement speed and can use a new Eldritch Blast ability which lets her fire an exploding phase projectile. Dealing damage with your guns during Incarnate also reduces the cooldown of Eldritch Blast. Incarnate can also be ended early to reduce the cooldown.
- Phase Phamiliar: Vex is joined by a large cat-like creature called Trouble. When you use your Action Skill, Trouble teleports, dealing area damage, and then transforms into a Badass. This causes Trouble to fully heal and gain increased damage for the duration. Trouble can be killed at any time but will automatically respawn after a while.
- [Third Action Skill]: While I’ve not been able to see what this Action Skill is called it can be briefly seen in the gameplay deep dive. Vex summons what looks like a phase ghost of herself that wields a scythe, slicing enemies. Unlike Trouble, I assume this companion is summoned only when your Action Skill is used.
© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.
