With the skill trees for all four Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters officially revealed, players can finally get a full look at the options available to them when booting up the game on launch day. Given that each playable Vault Hunter in Borderlands 4 has their own gameplay style and build potential, players will want to weigh their options and consider their preferred playstyle, along with whether they are playing solo or co-op. While all Vault Hunters can be played in either situation, one seems like they are a requirement for co-op play.
The Borderlands series has always featured the ability to play solo or with friends via co-op, with groups of up to four players each taking on one of the four Vault Hunter roles. Historically, there have been Vault Hunters capable of being entire armies on their own, like Borderlands 2's Salvador or Borderlands 3's Moze, while others, like Borderlands 2's Maya or Borderlands 3's FL4K, excel at supporting a team. While Borderlands 4 already has a clear best Vault Hunter for solo players in Vex, thanks to her ability to summon minions, the most useful Vault Hunter for co-op play just became obvious with the recent gameplay reveal for Harlowe.
Borderlands 4's Harlowe is a Must-Use Vault Hunter for Any Co-Op Group
Harlowe's Skills Emphasize Crowd Control
A major part of Harlowe's recipe for co-op success is her ability to incapacitate groups of enemies, leaving them vulnerable for her teammates to deal with. Her Action Skills include a new Borderlands 4 mechanic called Entanglement, which causes enemies affected by her Action Skills to become Entangled and share damage received between one another. This allows multiple players to focus their fire on different Entangled enemies, but each contributes to quickly melting the group as a whole, thanks to the shared damage.
Aside from her Entanglement ability, each of Harlowe's skill trees offers a variety of different options for crowd-controlling enemies and providing support for allies. The three Action Skills not only provide Entanglement, but are also useful for stopping enemies in their tracks:
- CHROMA Accelerator – Fire an Unstable Energy Pocket from Harlowe's CHROMA Accelerator. The Unstable Energy Pocket passes through enemies and deals Cryo Damage to all enemies it passes near. Pressing Action Skill causes the Unstable Energy Pocket to explode and deal heavy Radiation Damage in a large area.
- Zero-Point – Press Action Skill to use Harlowe's HALO Accelerator to place an enemy in Stasis for a duration. Enemies immune to Stasis take Damage instead. Pressing Action Skill again causes the enemy in Stasis to be slammed into the ground in the direction Harlowe is facing, and creates a small explosion. Retriggering Stasis has a Cooldown.
- Flux Generator – Harlowe throws her Flux Generator in front of her, which projects an Energy Field, dealing Cryo Damage over time and Entangling enemies. Allies inside the Energy Field gain Overshield. Press Action Skill to pick up your Flux Generator and toss it again.
Harlowe's emphasis on dealing Radiation damage to enemies via her Creative Bursts skill tree and CHROMA Accelerator Action Skill is perfect for her allies to take advantage of since Irradiated enemies damage other nearby enemies and explode when killed, spreading more Radiation damage when they do. Her Zero-Point Action Skill and associated Seize the Day skill tree are similarly ideal for setting up allies for the kill with Stasis holding enemies in their place, similar to Maya's Siren abilities in Borderlands 2, and the skill tree's focus on Cryo damage puts enemies on ice.
Flux Generator also slows down enemies with Cryo damage while simultaneously granting allies Overshield. Its associated skill tree also features skills aimed at supporting allies, like Group Study, which grants each ally a HALO sidekick that grants increased Gun Damage, Fire Rate, and Reload Speed, or a passive like Confirmative Reality, which decreases the cooldowns of Harlowe and her allies' Action Skills for each Entangled enemy she shoots.
Regardless of Group Size, Harlowe Can Be a Game-Changer
While playing with a full group of four Vault Hunters means one person will have to play as Harlowe, there is a strong case to be made for including Harlowe in a two or three-player group as well. Even with one other player, Harlowe's ability to inflict restrictive elemental abilities on enemies can be a huge boon for a co-op partner. Harlowe seems like a solid solo pick as well, but her playstyle seems to really shine when she can share her Maliwan tech with friends.
Borderlands 4
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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
