The release of Borderlands 4 is around the corner, and it’s about time you choose one of the four Vault Hunters. To make this decision a bit easier for you, we summarize the most important information about the classes here and compare them with other Vault Hunters.
What classes are there? In Borderlands 4, there are four Vault Hunters, each with different abilities and play styles:
- Vex – the Siren
- Rafa – the Exo Soldier
- Amon – the Smith Knight
- Harlowe – the Gravitar
What exactly the four classes of Borderlands can do, we have already summarized for you here: Borderlands 4: All classes with story and skills. Therefore, we want to focus more on the already known information. Since we have a large Destiny community at MeinMMO, we also provide a small outlook on whether these Vault Hunters resemble a specific Guardian class.
Vex the Siren
What makes Vex stand out? Vex is the Siren of Borderlands 4 and can adjust the elemental type of her action skill to the elemental type of the equipped weapon. In battle, she uses phase energy to create various minions, such as the deadly feline Rabatzi or phase clones of Vex, which use either firearms or scythes for melee damage. Additionally, the skill tree suggests that there will be at least one build that focuses on bleed damage.
Vex fits you if…
- you like to play Necromancer in other games and let minions or pets do the work for you.
- you preferred to play FL4K in Borderlands 3.
- you do not want to be limited to single elemental types with your action skills.
- you like to focus on bleed builds.
- you want not only classic weapons but also special abilities.
Does Vex resemble a Guardian from Destiny 2? So far, we see no resemblance of Vex to a Guardian in Destiny 2. However, this might make her interesting for Destiny players looking to experience something entirely new.
Rafa the Exo Soldier
What makes Rafa stand out? Rafa is a real soldier and therefore an expert in the use of weapons and combat equipment. Nevertheless, his skill trees suggest different play styles. With the arc blades, he is a fast melee fighter. The Peacekeeper cannons are a gadget that you can activate during a battle and then forget about, as they will shoot at your enemies on their own. The Apophis Lance, on the other hand, is a powerful cannon that could deal a lot of concentrated damage in critical situations.
Rafa fits you if…
- you enjoy playing the classic soldier in Borderlands without extraterrestrial or divine abilities.
- you like to spam gadgets like grenades.
- you want a cannon that deals a lot of damage in one hit, potentially in a boss fight (Apophis Lance).
- you prefer simple skills like automated turrets that you can activate and then forget about.
- you enjoyed playing Zane in Borderlands 3 or preferred Zer0 or Axton in Borderlands 2.
- you found Cyberpunk 2077 cool and were a fan of the mantis blades.
Does Rafa resemble a Guardian from Destiny 2? Rafa is comparable to the Hunter from Destiny 2, although there are, of course, significant differences – after all, these are two different games. The Blade Dancer Hunter is similarly melee-oriented as Rafa with the arc blades, and the Apophis Lance of the Vault Hunter could have a similar playstyle to the Gunslinger Hunter’s revolver.
Amon the Smith Knight
What makes Amon stand out? Amon, as the Smith Knight, is a versatile fighter. A look at his skill trees reveals that he can be used very variably due to his smithing skills. He can create various weapons like axes, hammers, swords, or a whip and a shield, all of which have specific elemental types like cryo, fire, and shock, or he can dive into battle with his bare fists. Depending on which skill tree and thus which weapons you choose, Amon is either a bruiser or a tank class. His skills are mainly designed for short to medium range.
Amon fits you if…
- you like to play aggressively and want to engage in melee combat with powerful abilities.
- you want to deal elemental damage regardless of your weapons.
- you enjoy setting your enemies on fire.
- you preferred to play Brick and Krieg in Borderlands 1 and 2.
- you like to freeze opponents that want to get close to you.
- you want to test different play styles and skills with a single Vault Hunter.
- you want to play a tank that deflects enemy fire with a shield.
Does Amon resemble a Guardian from Destiny 2? Amon has various skills that remind of the Titan in Destiny 2, especially the hammers, which he can throw like the Sunbreaker Titan. Additionally, he can carry a shield in front of him like the Sentinel Titan, which blocks attacks.
Harlowe the Gravitar
What makes Harlowe stand out? Harlowe is basically a fake Siren. She uses technological aids to deploy skills that were rather associated with Sirens in the predecessors. For example, she can trap enemies in a bubble and put them in stasis and then throw that bubble to the ground. Alternatively, with her CHROMA accelerator, she has a kind of mobile mini-nuke and can inflict massive radiation damage or use a flux generator that creates an energy field that traps enemies and deals cryo damage.
Harlowe fits you if…
- you want to deal massive AoE damage and enjoy crowd control.
- you prefer cryo and radiation damage.
- you enjoyed playing Sirens like Maya or Amara in the predecessors.
Does Harlowe resemble a Guardian from Destiny 2? Harlowe has a skill with the CHROMA accelerator and the energy pocket it generates that strongly resembles the Voidwalker Warlock, as she also shoots a kind of Nova bomb at enemies. Additionally, the bubble she uses with her “Null Point” action skill somewhat resembles a stronger version of the Vortex grenade.
In addition to the Vault Hunters, the respective antagonist is also of great importance in Borderlands. With Handsome Jack, the second part had an extremely popular villain. Those are big shoes to fill: The Shadow of Handsome Jack: We asked the developers of Borderlands 4 how high the pressure is to create new villains
