Vex is a flexible Siren built around three distinct trees: Vexcalation (self‑buffed gunplay with Incarnate), The Fourth Seal (spectre/reaper minions with Dead Ringer), and Here Comes Trouble (pet gameplay with Phase Phamiliar). Her trait, Phase Covenant, converts action skill and melee damage to the element of your currently equipped gun, which makes element matching and attunement timing central to every build.

Best endgame builds for Vex (quick compare)

Build Action skill Core idea Augments & capstone Key skills (highlights) Notable gear Firmware / specializations
Incarnate “Infinite Bleed” (Vexcalation) Incarnate Stack lifesteal and kinetic gun damage to apply massive Bleed on crit, then keep Incarnate up. Grave Harvest (swap to Energy Vampire for bossing), Heartpiercer Leeching Attunement, Bloodletter, Material Components, Essence Leech, Blood Is Power; Enchantment; Portents of Suffering, Cold Iron, Grave Quickening Throwing knife (Penetrator), Hot Slugger, Seventh Sense, Triple Bypass; Psion class mod (points in Bloodletter) Deadeye + High Calibre/Trickshot; Riddle You This, In The Zone, One Shot One Kill, Contamination
Undead Eye “Blood Shot” (Incarnate, sniper‑crit) Incarnate Use Undead Eye to trigger Blood Shot on every sniper crit; scale HP/lifesteal for instant kills. Witchy Trigger Finger; Heartpiercer Leeching Attunement (or Grave Sights), Blood Shot, Blood Is Power Undead Eye class mod; Bod, Complex Root, Finnity XXX‑L; Timekeeper’s New Shield; War Paint; throwing knife (Penetrator) 3‑pc Deadeye + 2‑pc Bullets to Spare; The Best Defense, One Shot One Kill, Riddle You This, Bullet Train
Dead Ringer Summoner (The Fourth Seal) Dead Ringer Keep multiple spectres/reapers active for sustained damage, status stacking, and kill‑skill loops. Coven → Wither; Dark Pact Cold Iron, Fell Inscriptions, Obedient Fiends, Ancient Rites, Grave Fiends, Grave Quickening, Cursed Blade + Extra Cursed, Prismatic Ichor, Burning Attunement, Diener Hot Slugger, Hellfire, Firewerks; Illusionist or Alchemist class mod Deadeye + GOOJFC; Riddle You This, I Am A Gun, A Honed Mind, Contamination
Phase Phamiliar Ordnance Cryo (Here Comes Trouble) Phase Phamiliar Play around Trouble with heavy ordnance and overshield uptime; more relaxed mobbing. Violent Outburst; Trouble Bubble Grave Sustenance, Grave Command, Overprotective, Yowl and Bay, Mourning, Claw and Bang, Icy Attunement, Blast Rites, Blasted Fiends, Overspirited, Corporeal, Shiver Any strong cryo/splash ordnance, Hot Slugger, Hellfire, Firewerks; Weaver class mod Deadeye + GOOJFC; Tripwire, Full Spectrum Arsenal, Fragmentation Payload, Riddle You This
Tip: Vex’s attunement effects persist briefly after switching. Even in single‑element builds, quick swaps can carry short windows of extra crit chance, reload, or status chance into the next engagement.

Incarnate “Infinite Bleed” (Vexcalation)

This is the most reliable boss‑deleter: Bleed scales from gun damage and is applied by crits via Bloodletter. The loop is simple—stay attuned to kinetic, keep Incarnate up for doubled lifesteal and movement, and let the Penetrator throwing knife create a self‑refreshing crit chain that keeps Bleed ticking hard.

  • Prioritize Leeching Attunement → Bloodletter → Material Components → Essence Leech → Blood Is Power.
  • Borrow Enchantment (Phase Phamiliar) for bonus kinetic weapon damage while Incarnate is active.
  • From Dead Ringer, take Portents of Suffering (status damage), Cold Iron (gun damage), and Grave Quickening (cooldown on kill).
  • Augments: Grave Harvest is the default (soul orbs extend Incarnate and add safe AoE). Swap to Energy Vampire for single‑target burst and overshields.

Why you don’t spam Eldritch Blast: in this setup, gun damage outpaces Eldritch’s damage. Treat Incarnate as a mega‑buff window, not the primary nuke.

Undead Eye “Blood Shot” (Incarnate, sniper‑crit)

Blood Shot provides instant, front‑loaded strikes when you can force reliable crits. Undead Eye converts sniper critting into consistent Blood Shot procs; multi‑projectile options (like Bod or Complex Root) multiply those opportunities. The build scales off maximum health and lifesteal.

  • Class mod: Undead Eye (aim for high points in Blood Shot).
  • Weapons: Bod (counts as all weapon types and as a sniper while in the relevant mode), Complex Root, Finnity XXX‑L (excellent for bossing with the right enhancement). For general play, Bod is the standout.
  • Shield: Timekeeper’s New Shield (flat HP is valuable for Blood Shot scaling).
  • Repkits/utility: War Paint (Enrage for damage). Note: lifesteal on repkits doesn’t feed Blood Is Power.
  • Specializations: Riddle You This → The Best Defense → In The Zone → One Shot One Kill (or the author’s listed order). Firmware: 3‑pc Deadeye + 2‑pc Bullets to Spare.
Tip: A Penetrator throwing knife makes landing crits trivial and smooths both mobbing and bossing.

Dead Ringer Summoner (The Fourth Seal)

This is the most forgiving path for moment‑to‑moment play and remains strong in endgame mobbing. The goal: maintain multiple spectres (gun) and reapers (melee/taunt) to layer gun damage, melee triggers, and status effects—then use Blood Sacrifice and Dark Pact to keep kill skills rolling and clones alive.

  • Early picks: Cold Iron (gun damage), Fell Inscriptions (melee/max health), Portents of Suffering (status damage), Grave Assault (fire rate), Sanguine Fiends (regen).
  • Kill‑skill core: Blood Sacrifice (minion deaths trigger your kill skills), Grave Fiends (damage), Grave Quickening (cooldown).
  • Status engine: Cursed Blade + Extra Cursed (turn melee hits into kinetic status procs on gun damage), Prismatic Ichor (bonus random element on status), Burning Attunement (crits/status chance while attuned to fire).
  • Augments: start on Coven (crit chance on spectres, regen on reapers), then switch to Wither (spectres apply a damage‑taken debuff).
  • Capstone: Dark Pact (two augment slots and clone sustain window). Take Diener for +1 Dead Ringer charge.

Variations you can lean into:

  • All‑reaper style: Keep Coven, drop Hellish Harvest in, and stack your personal crits.
  • Gun‑summoner: Replace Dark Pact with Heirloom to arm spectres with your weapon; keep Coven for crit.
  • Hybrid Bleed: Pull a handful of points into Leeching Attunement, Bloodletter, Material Components to fold kinetic Bleed into the minion core.

Phase Phamiliar Ordnance Cryo (Here Comes Trouble)

This is the laid‑back partner build: Trouble does steady work while you cycle ordnance and keep overshields up. It’s a safer mobbing package, though it currently trails the other trees on raw output and the pet AI can be inconsistent.

  • Damage & uptime: Claw and Bang (melee/ordnance), Blasted Fiends (ordnance; portion shared as minion damage), Icy Attunement (ammo and ordnance cooldown on kill while attuned to Cryo), Overspirited (explosive remnants on ordnance/action‑skill kills).
  • Survivability & flow: Overprotective (overshields on kill), Blast Rites (overshield + fire rate on ordnance activation), Corporeal (bigger overshields and damage while overshielded), Yowl and Bay (minion health; gun damage after commanding Trouble), Mourning (stronger kill skills).
  • Augment/capstone: Violent Outburst (command—Trouble explodes for ordnance damage and heals you), Trouble Bubble (Trouble gains overshields on hit and an ordnance aura during Phamiliar).
Tip: If you prefer shock‑centric or crit‑centric branches in this tree, pivot augments and capstones to match (e.g., Beast Mode or Unsealed for shock; Vorpal Fang/Double Trouble for crit), then backfill key Incarnate/Dead Ringer picks via class mods or future level caps.

Leveling build (2–50): Spectre spam with multi‑element status

Dead Ringer is the cleanest campaign path. Summon spectres, rotate attunements to seed multiple elements, and let Prismatic perks spread extra status. This not only shreds mobs, it also sidesteps higher resistances on harder settings by attacking with more than one element at once. It’s light on gear requirements and doesn’t need kill chains to get moving thanks to Blood Sacrifice.

Level range Add these Why it matters
2–6 Cold Iron 5/5; equip Coven Boosts gun damage for you and spectres; Coven grants spectre crit chance/reaper regen.
7–11 Grave Assault 3/5; Portents of Suffering 2/5 Fire rate and status damage ramp your clear speed.
12–16 Blood Sacrifice 1/1; Grave Quickening 4/5 Kill skills trigger on minion deaths; faster action skill cycling.
17–21 Prismatic Weaponry 5/5 Gun crits add bonus elemental damage, scaling with active attunements—swap elements often.
22–26 Obedient Fiends 5/5; Dark Pact; Wither augment Big minion damage; two augments; spectres apply a damage‑taken debuff.
27–32 Diener 1/1; Prismatic Ichor 5/5 Extra Dead Ringer charge; every status you apply adds another random element.
33–36 Portents of Suffering +3; Grave Quickening +1 (to 5/5) More status damage and better uptime.
37–41 Leeching Attunement 5/5 (Vexcalation) Lifesteal and reload while attuned to kinetic; survivability spike.
42–46 Bloodletter 5/5 (Vexcalation) Gun and skill crits can apply Bleed (kinetic status), benefiting from your status stackers.
47–50 Keen Suffering 3/5; Burning Attunement 1/5 Status now crits; extra crit damage/status chance from fire attunement carries across swaps.

Suggested campaign pickups (optional but high value):

  • Firewerks shield (Splashzone, Riptide Grotto, Coastal Bonescapes, Fadefields)
  • Aegon’s Dream assault rifle (Horace, Horace’s Oversight, Hungering Plains, Fadefields)
  • Hellwalker shotgun (Saddleback & Immortal Boneface, The Old Scrape, Cuspid Climb, Terminus Range)
  • Avatar class mod (Primordial Guardian Inceptus, Arch of Inceptus vault, Fadefields)

From 50 onward, either keep refining the summoner (class mod rolls, enhancements, firmware) or respec into Incarnate Bleed/Blood Shot for faster boss clears.

Targeted farming (where key items drop)

Item Type Source and location Builds that love it
Bod Multi‑mode sniper/shotgun hybrid Axemaul, Auger Mine, Carcadia District Blood Shot (multi‑projectile crit engine)
Finnity XXX‑L High‑rate sniper Battle Wagon, Ripper Drill Site, Stoneblood Forest Blood Shot (bossing focus)
Complex Root Beam/sniper hybrid Mimicron, Order Bunker, Idolator’s Noose Blood Shot (multi‑hit crits)
Timekeeper’s New Shield Shield Timekeeper, The Timekeeper’s Order, Terminus District Blood Shot (flat HP scaling)
Undead Eye Vex class mod Vile Lictor, Umbral Foundry, Windspear Blood Shot (mandatory)
War Paint Repkit Saddleback, Ripper Drill Site, Cuspid Climb Blood Shot (damage burst via Enrage)
Hot Slugger Shotgun Legendary world/drop sources Bleed, Summoner, Trouble
Hellfire SMG Legendary world/drop sources Summoner, Trouble
Firewerks Shield Splashzone, Riptide Grotto, Coastal Bonescapes (Fadefields) Summoner, Trouble, Leveling
Note: A Penetrator‑augmented throwing knife is a quiet MVP across the gun‑centric endgame setups—use it to front‑load crits, reset cycles, and safely tag priority targets.

Why attunements and status stacking carry these builds

Phase Covenant lets you convert Incarnate and melee into your gun’s element, so swapping attunements at the right time stacks more benefits than it seems at first glance. For summoner leveling, rotating elements to spawn different spectres and leveraging Prismatic Weaponry/Ichor ensures you’re always applying overlapping statuses. That multi‑element pressure erases resistances on tougher modes without changing your weapon every fight.

The practical split today is simple: if you want the fastest boss kills, run Incarnate Bleed or Undead Eye Blood Shot. If you want low‑stress map clears and a smooth campaign, stay on Dead Ringer with spectres (and pull in a few kinetic picks later). The cat build is fun for crowd play and survivability, but it currently trails the other two on burst—treat it as the comfort pick when you want a buddy on the field.