Borderlands 4: Are the New Vault Hunters a Worthy Replacement for the Old Ones?

It's almost hard to believe, but Borderlands 4 is very nearly out! Set and primed to hit the stores on September 12, Gearbox's fancy new looter-shooter promises to correct all of the prior games' wrongs and deliver a never-before-seen kind of gameplay loop to the beloved franchise. That's a heck of a pitch in our book, and we can't wait to see it in action.

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On that note, one of the Borderlands games' most important features have always been its playable characters, the eponymous Vault Hunters. This roster of top-tier combatants has only grown form the early days of the franchise, with Brick, Lilith, Mordecai, and Roland leading the pack. Borderlands 4's dynamic cast features some of the most emblematic weirdos we've yet seen, and today we'd like to give each of them a bit of a spotlight.

Crucially, Borderlands 4's Vault Hunters need to be at the top of their game. Not just when it comes to in-game combat, of course, but also in regard to their general countenance, behavior, and quips. After all, who would genuinely want to play as as bunch of unlikable twats? We've already had a playable Claptrap, remember?

Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters: The Full List

Rafa, the Exo-Soldier

As the resident cool, edgy, and agile combatant, Yolt/Rafa is going to be the go-to choice for those who played as Mordecai, Zer0, and other such Vault Hunters prior. Functionally a swiss army knife of a character, Rafa can be fine-tuned into virtually any combat role thanks to his customizable exo-arms.

Specifically, Rafa is interesting because he's had a Deadframe exo-suit grafted to his skeleton, which effectively enhances every single one of his abilities on-the-go. The Deadframe comes equipped with a unique Apophis Lance arm-cannon, a pair of punchy Peacebreaker cannons, and twin Arc-Knife energy blades for close-quarters combat. Obviously, players can choose to spec Rafa into any of these gadgets or, conversely, into none of them. Each correlates to a particular skill tree:

• People Person: focused on leveraging the Apophis Lance and ample amounts of regular firepower via ammo regen, passive ability boosts, and various Kill Skill abilities.
• Remote Agent: focused on leveraging the Peacebreakers and running a reliable, survivable skill kit due to ample skill refresh and shield-gating mechanics.
• This Year's Gimmick: hyper-aggressive Arc-Knife skill tree that leans heavily into Rafa's elemental, speed, and damage bonuses.

All in all, Rafa is going to be an excellent option for those who want a reliable workhorse of a Vault Hunter. His kit almost exclusively leans into the Deadframe power-suit for its gimmicks, and we'd be hard-pressed to say it doesn't look downright marvelous.

Vex, the Siren

Sirens have historically been one of Borderlands' most unique concepts. Exceedingly powerful reality-breakers, Sirens wield what is this universe's closest equivalent to literal eldritch magic, and that makes them uniquely capable as Vault Hunters in particular.

Obviously, Borderlands 4 would've hardly been a Borderlands game if we didn't have a badass playable Siren! Vex might not have any fancy gadgets attached to her back, but she's an exceedingly powerful elementalist who can summon magical avatars to do her (usually violent) bidding. There's a magic cat summon, too, and who can resist one of those? Crucially, though, Vex's unique Vault Hunter Trait means she's always attuned to the specific elemental effect of the gun she's carrying at a given time. The same elemental effect is then applied to all of her Action Skills and Melee attacks. Handy stuff!

More specifically, here are Vex's three unique Skill Trees:

• The Fourth Seal: allows Vex to spawn-in Phase Clone Minions who can damage enemies, draw their attention, and do a variety of other things. Allows for the application of substantial damage buffs oriented around many different Kill Skill instances.
• Vexcalation: gives Vex literal wings and turns her into a vampiric elemental monstrosity that saps enemies' health to buff her own effects and damage output. Heaps of potential for damage-over-time effects and beyond.
• Here Comes Trouble: spawns Vex's Phase Phamiliar Trouble. Trouble is a super-powerful elemental cat creature that will draw the enemies' fire, deal damage, and cause area-of-effect attacks on command.

Sirens have always been exciting characters to play in Borderlands games, but Vex in particular looks like she's going to be a doozy!

Amon, the Forgeknight

Borderlands 4's resident tank/titan character archetype, the Forgeknight leans towards the more fantasy-focused Tiny Tina offerings for his skill-set. Another elementalist, much like Vex, Amon wields a massive variety of Forgeskill weapons alongside combat drones that can pulverize enemies at short-to-medium range.

While playing as the Forgeknight, players are going to be able to spec out his skill tree into three distinctive elemental weapons: the Forgehammer, the twin Forgeaxes, and the Forgeshield. As is the case with every other Vault Hunter, these active skills can be modified and attuned in a huge number of ways, and that's not even going into the specifics of Amon's unique Vault Hunter Trait. First things first, then, here are the Forgeknight's skill trees:

• Calamity: Leans into the Forgeknight's most basic weapon: his Forgefist. Triggers a constant shield regeneration with a movement speed buff, as well as adding Incendiary elemental effect to all gun damage. Hitting the active ability triggers Amon's Rocket Punch ability, staggering the majority of enemies he encounters.
• Vengeance: Amon's Forgeshield is the focal point for the Vengeance skill tree, allowing the Forgeknight to take more damage than virtually any other Vault Hunter at a time. Cryo elemental effect is the name of the game here, and this is going to be the go-to option for tank-minded players in particular.
• Cybernetics: Possibly the Forgeknight's most brutal skill tree, Cybernetics combines Amon's combat drones with an array of elemental throwing weapons to dish out ridiculous amounts of damage and elemental effects wherever and whenever possible. Affected enemies are also Primed, allowing you to Detonate them upon death or further damage application.

As a fancy warrior-poet and elemental blacksmith, Amon represents a curious evolution of the usual tank and berserker video game tropes. We think he's going to be a tremendous addition to Borderlands' stellar Vault Hunter roster, that's for sure.

Harlowe, the Gravitar

The designated soldier archetype, Harlowe is a former Maliwan combat scientist turned Vault Hunter, and she's a techie in all the ways that count. In a practical sense and in the context of Borderlands 4's core gameplay loop, this means that Harlowe - or the Gravitar, as she's known - is a gadget-heavy character with a penchant for support roles.

If you're a fan of crowd control, the Gravitar is the character for. Her Maliwan contraptions grant her ample Cryo and Radiation area-of-effect abilities that slow down and weaken enemies and she can empower her allies on the side. Here are Harlowe's dedicated skill trees:

• Creative Bursts: Harlowe equips her CHROMA Accelerator to fire a massively powerful Unstable Energy Pocket that passes through enemies and deals heaps of Cryo damage to everyone affected. Triggering the skill again has the UEP explode to deal massive Radiation damage in the same AoE.
• Sieze the Day: Harlowe equips her HALO Accelerator to put enemies into Stasis for a set amount of time. Enemies that cannot be affected by Stasis take heavy damage, instead. Triggering the skill again has the affected enemies slammed into the ground to explosive effect.
• Cosmic Brilliance: Harlowe tosses her Flux Generator gadget to project a massive Energy Field that deals Cryo damage to all affected enemies. All allies inside the Energy Field gain Overshield, instead.

All things being equal, Harlowe may well end up being the most fun Vault Hunter of the current troupe, what with her reliance on what is effectively old-school legacy tech by the time Borderlands 4 takes place. We'll have to wait and see how her gameplay loop behaves in practice once the game is available, however!