‘Abuse It While You Can’: The ‘Bloodletter’ Build is Obliterating Borderlands 4 Bosses

The hunt for the most overpowered build in Borderlands 4 has officially ended, at least for now. A recent discovery by the community has uncovered an “infinite damage” build for the new Vault Hunter, Vex, that is so broken it can melt the toughest endgame bosses in a matter of seconds. Dubbed the “Bloodletter” build, this potent combination of skills and gear exploits a powerful interaction that allows for damage to scale exponentially, making even the most challenging content trivial. As the gaming world lights up with videos of bosses being vaporized, the consensus is clear: this will be patched, and players should “abuse it while you can.”

This news comes from a surge of new videos and guides from prominent content creators and gaming outlets, who have been documenting the build’s absurd power. The core of the exploit lies in a specific interaction between a legendary throwing knife and Vex’s passive skills, creating a feedback loop of critical hits and status effects that no enemy can withstand. While many builds can deal high damage, this one is on another level, bypassing the game’s intended power curve entirely.

The Vex ‘Bloodletter’ Build Explained

At the heart of this game-breaking build is a legendary weapon and a few key skills from Vex’s skill trees. The combination creates a simple but devastating chain reaction:

• The Penetrator Augment: The build’s foundation is the Vampiric Vivisecting Throwing Knife, which comes with the ‘Penetrator’ Augment. Landing a hit with this throwing knife on any enemy guarantees that all subsequent damage to that target becomes a critical hit for five seconds. This is the crucial step that sets the infinite damage loop in motion.
• Bloodletter Passive Skill: Vex’s ‘Bloodletter’ passive allows her gun and skill critical hits to have a chance to apply the Bleed status effect. When combined with the Penetrator knife, every single hit on the enemy now has a chance to apply this effect. The game treats Bleed as a form of gun damage, which allows it to scale with a variety of other skills.
• Contamination Passive Skill: This is where the damage gets out of control. Vex’s ‘Contamination’ passive causes critical hits to increase the chance of applying a status effect. Since the Penetrator knife ensures every hit is a critical, the chance to apply Bleed quickly and infinitely stacks up to 100%. This means you are constantly applying new instances of Bleed with every single damage tick.

Once this loop is established, the damage numbers become absurd. Each tick of the Bleed effect is a critical hit, which in turn feeds back into the loop, creating more Bleed stacks. The damage snowballs, growing larger with every passing second until even the tankiest of bosses simply melts away. Videos of the build in action show high-level bosses with an additional 350% health being defeated in less than ten seconds, a feat that would be impossible with a normal, balanced build.

The Impact and Inevitable Nerf

This discovery has already had a ripple effect in the Borderlands 4 community. Players are now racing to farm for the specific legendary knife needed to make the build work, with popular farming spots being the focus of many videos and guides. The exploit has also sparked a debate about game balance and the role of “broken” builds in a looter-shooter. Some players argue that it is a fun, temporary way to feel overpowered, while others believe it completely undermines the game’s core progression and challenge.

While developer Gearbox Software has yet to officially comment on the build, the history of the franchise suggests that a patch is inevitable. Previous games in the series have seen similar game-breaking builds and exploits quickly addressed in hotfixes. It is widely believed that this particular interaction was an oversight in the game’s complex damage formulas and will be fixed to prevent players from trivializing endgame content. For now, however, players have a window to experience what it feels like to be a god of damage in the world of Borderlands 4, and they are taking full advantage of it.