After dominating Borderlands 4 meta since launch, the game's best build for Vex is no longer behind the latest buff to the infamous chalk knife, the Vivisecting Throwing Knife. This Borderlands 4 The Vex build essentially allowed players to stack the bleed damage from her Bloodletter skills on critical hits, meaning a weapon like this knife can melt enemies with an increased crit chance that also bleeds them dry. In the wake of this reworked damage interaction, many players are jumping in and looking for alternative gear for their order slot.
New to Borderlands 4 are other ordinance options beyond simple grenades. In addition to knives as a new throwable, players can also equip Borderlands 4's Heavy Weapons in their ordinance slot as an alternative to a throwable. With the critknife Vex build now dead and buried, the Siren still has some impressive order options to take the Vex build to the next level, but they require a departure from the throwable gameplay of the critknife build.
After the Crit Knife Nerf, Borderlands 4 players should check out these heavy weapon ordinances
There are a handful of powerful legendary heavy weapon ordinances in Borderlands 4 which can make solid alternatives to the crit knife with the right build surrounding them. Vex players may need to adjust their skill tree investments on the Respect Machine found in Borderlands 4s large faction cities, but the payoff is more than worth the cost. Choosing a heavy weapon to build around is the next step, but luckily there are three options that synergize very well with potential Vex builds.
Disc Jockey Legendary heavy weapon with corrosive damage
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Drops from Sidney Pointylegs
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Bouncing Crackers – Energy Disc Projectiles bounce up to 5 times and take +20% damage per bounce. Scales up to +100 damage on final bounce.
The Disc Jockey is a fantastic heavy weapon for clearing out large packs of mobs, such as those contained within Borderlands 4s Ripper Drill Sites. With its projectile damage scaling by 20% per bounce as the energy discs ricochet around the arena, players can quickly clear enemy hordes as the damage scales up to +100 for the final bounce. In particular, players will want a version of the disc jockey with corrosive damage, as this elemental damage type synergizes with Vex's Necrosis and Blight Attunement skills.
Sprezzatura legendary heavy weapons with fire damage
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World Drop
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Gungnir – Launches a laser-guided rocket that enters the live laser site. On impact or after 5s it explodes dealing 100% damage to elemental splash guns over a large radius.
Similar to The Spear from Call of Duty franchise, Sprezzatura launches a rocket rocket into the air before crashing down and hitting enemies in the targeted location. What makes this heavy weapon so powerful is the elemental splash damage it deals on impact. For this purpose, Borderlands 4 Vex players will want to find one with Burn Damage to synergize with her Burning Attunement and Burnt Offering skills.
Ravenfire Legendary heavy weapon with radiation damage
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Drops from Inceptus
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621 – Explosions radiate outward from the point of impact.
Ravenfire is a heavy weapon that excels in both mobbing and bossing Borderlands 4with its legendary ability to launch explosions in an outer radius around the initial impact. To beat one Borderlands 4 the boss with Ravenfire's projectile can quickly melt his health bar when paired with Radiation Damage to turn this ordinance weapon into a miniature nuke. Vex's Radiant Attunement and Havoc skills buff this elemental damage type to the point where enemy shields are no longer an issue, and the combination of Radiation's crowd-damaging capabilities and Ravenfire's additional AoE bursts make this a lethal combination for dealing with an onslaught of Rippers or Order forces.
- Released
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September 12, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
