Well, everyone knew this day was coming, and it's finally here. What was once Borderlands 4's most OP build has been reduced to ash, no doubt leaving Vex players who once relied on it now looking for better options. The build in question, coined "Infinite Bleed" by the community, has otherwise previously been called "unintended" by Gearbox, and although the developer has never pointed directly at said build when mentioning impending nerfs for Borderlands 4, it's so powerful that it's clear which one Gearbox was always referring to.
To Gearbox's credit, it's actually surprising how long the build has lasted. Shortly after Borderlands 4's launch, creative director Graeme Timmins reassured players that the team wasn't going to "knee-jerk react to anything," in reference to early OP builds. Given how long Vex's Infinite Bleed build survived, it appears Gearbox kept that promise. If that weren't enough, the patch was expected to arrive earlier during the week — potentially on Monday or Tuesday — but the developer surprised players with a minor delay to the Borderlands 4 nerf. However, it only delayed the inevitable, as today's patch finally made it official.
Vex's Infinite Bleed Build Is No More
Before getting into the specifics of the patch, it helps to understand why Vex's Infinite Bleed build has been such a talking point in the Borderlands 4 community. The build took advantage of how her Bloodletter skill applies Bleed on critical hits and then uses a gear interaction to turn that Bleed into compounding damage. It might look fairly simple, but with the right pieces in place, the damage would scale at a rate that could essentially delete bosses in Borderlands 4.
Here's how Vex's Inifinite Bleed build worked in Borderlands 4:
- Use a throwing knife with the Penetrator Augment so that, for a short window, all damage becomes critical hits.
- With the skill Bloodletter, critical hits have a chance to apply the Bleed status effect.
- Combine Bleed with the skill Contamination, which upgrades status-effect application chance when players crit, letting each Bleed tick potentially trigger more Bleed.
- Gear/skill synergy focuses on kinetic weapon damage, lifesteal, and crit/status chance to fuel the loop.
- Rotation: throw the knife > trigger crit window > shoot a high‐damage kinetic/crit gun > Bleed begins stacking and cascading > enemy melts.
How the Patch Effects Vex's Bleed Build
While the latest patch comes with a host of changes, the expected "Vex-killing" change is perhaps some of its biggest news. Of the four Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4, Vex actually received the least number of adjustments, and the fix for her unintended Infinite Bleed build is simple enough that it only required one line.
- Bleed from Bloodletter has been updated so it no longer recursively triggers itself, preventing unintended damage loops.
That's actually all it takes for Vex's Infinite Bleed build in Borderlands 4 to be in the grave at this point. With the fix in place, Bleed effects applied via Bloodletter can no longer cause themselves to re-proc additional Bleed stacks purely from their own damage ticks. In other words, once the Bleed is applied and is ticking, its own tick damage will no longer count as a crit or damage event that triggers the Bleed again. As a direct result, the loop nature of the build is significantly dampened. Players can still get Bleed from critical hits, but the infinite loop effect is removed. Instead, players now have a more standard Bleed over time effect without the self-triggering aspect.
On the bright side, it does make more room for Vex's other abilities to shine for once, with Trouble, in particular, even receiving a damage and duration buff from Borderlands 4's latest patch. Additionally, as previously mentioned, the update also brings significant improvements to other builds, essentially leveling the playing field even more for the four Vault Hunters. And finally, Borderlands 4's limited-time Horrors of Kairos event begins with the release of this patch, and the game has received a considerable number of quality-of-life improvements as well — including changes to gear sorting that fans have been requesting for quite some time now.
Borderlands 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
