If you like spooky ghosties, element stacking, and watching bosses evaporate in technicolour numbers, this Dead Ringer Element Spectre Vex build is for you. Designed around summoning three element-attuned spectres that pour on status effects while you chip in, this blue-tree Vex build leans into status damage, survivability, and absurd sustained DPS. It’s equally delightful for boss farming and trivialising drill-site-style fights — especially when you tune your elements to the enemy. Here’s everything you need to know to build, gear, and play it well.

Why this build works

· Triple spectres = exponential damage: Each spectre deals massive DPS (300–400k shown in examples), and three of them together shred bosses quickly.

· Status stacking + crit synergy: Multiple sources of status (elemental DOTs, bleed) feed keen suffering and prismatic effects, so ticks crit often and explode into huge damage spikes.

· Tankiness and sustain: With the right rep kit, shield, and class choices, you’re hard to kill; spectres also overshield you on damage with certain shields/skills.

· Flexible weapon choice: Any elemental gun works — you only need four to cover elements. That makes the build accessible and fun to customise.

Core skill choices (Blue / Dead Ringer tree)

(Use the blue Dead Ringer tree as your base and prioritise these nodes)

· Cold Iron — 5/5: Flat gun damage for you and your spectres. Free DPS.

· Portance of Suffering — as high as possible: Amplifies status DOTs — huge for this build.

· Idle Hands — 3/3: Reload speed for you and minions to maximise uptime.

· Engrave Fiend — 4/5 + Blood Sacrifice — 1/1: Damage + kill skills on spectre death (optional distribution discussed below).

· Prismatic Icor — 5/5: Applies an extra status periodically — more DOTs = more damage.

· Keen Suffering (star node): Status ticks crit some of the time — massive multiplier for status builds.

· Prismatic Weaponry: Bonus damage while attuned, affects both you and minions.

· Ancient Rights / Dark Pact vs Heirloom: Dark Pact is recommended — it gives attack speed amp (30%), extra spectre uptime via a heal mechanic (hold F), and access to two powerful augments: Coven (30% crit chance for you & spectres) and Wither (increase damage taken by boss). This combination outclasses a simple gun clone option for min-maxing.

· Incarnate tree: 10 points into it; put 5/5 Grave Sights (or Splash Damage if you prefer projectile weapons). Then pick Blood Letter stacking for bleed.

· Specializations: Riddle You This (gun damage), I Am A Gun (gun damage affects action skill), Statute Effect application and Compounding Afflictions, then pour remaining points into Killer.

Optional tweak: If spectre uptime is an issue in mobbing content, swap the 4 points in Engrave Fiend (+1 Blood Sacrifice) into Sanguine Fiends (heal spectres) and Grave Quickening (faster cooldowns) to improve mob performance.

Weapons & Elements

· Concept: Use elemental weapons to control the spectre attunement. You want at least four weapons covering cryo, shock, fire, and radiation to handle the common boss health types.

· Recommended weapon: Wombo Combo (example) — fires rockets (kinetic) plus elemental payloads, giving splash and steady kinetic while applying the chosen element for spectres. It spawns in all elements and pairs perfectly with this playstyle.

· Element choices:

  · Fire vs flesh (e.g., Saul) — great damage over time.

  · Corrosive/Radiation vs armour/shield segments — radiation is versatile for shield + flesh combos.

  · Cryo works nicely where you don’t want DOT loss vs mixed types since it freezes/crit-boosts without major DOT downsides.

· Kinetic is neutral — nice baseline damage from rockets while elements handle statuses.

Gear & Loadout

· Rep kit: Look for enrage/30% damage on a short cooldown. AF-1000 style rep kit (20s duration / 7s CD) is ideal for consistent uptime.

· Grenade: The “knife” style grenade remains top pick for pure damage when you don't need a special utility nade.

· Shield: Super Soldier with siphon + shield booster is recommended — provides survivability and converts spectre damage into overshield for you.

· Enhancements: Aim for Vlad enhancements (crit damage, status effect chance/damage, extra projectiles, mag size) — prioritise status/crit rolls over utility rolls like accuracy unless needed.

· Class mod: Alchemist (purple) or Illusionist (legendary), depending on available rolls. Alchemist with ranks into Portance of Suffering / Keen Suffering / Prismatic is excellent. Look for pluses to suffering/prismatic.

· Firmware: 3/3 Dead Eye for accuracy & damage. Choose between High Caliber (gun speed/damage) or Bullets to Spare based on your weapon. Dead Eye is non-negotiable.

Playstyle & Tactics

1. Set up — Approach the boss, summon all three spectres and spread them if the boss has big cleave AOEs.

2. Manage spectre health — Use hold F (Dark Pact) before they die to heal and extend them; this gives a big DPS uptime boost and increases durability.

3. Pop rep kit — Keep enrage/rep kit up for maximum damage window while spectres fire.

4. Use element matchups — Pick the element best suited to the boss health types (fire vs flesh, shock vs blue health, radiation vs shields/flesh mixes).

5. For waves/drill sites — Stagger spectre summoning to preserve cooldowns and keep one available when a boss spawns. Consider moving points into Sanguine Fiends / Grave Quickening to help mob uptime.

6. Safety — Avoid hugging explosive weapons like Wombo Combo (splash hurts you). Use movement & positioning to let spectres do the dirty work.

What about the Crit Knife?

This build intentionally avoids relying on the controversial crit knife (the “crit kneness”). None of the showcase footage uses it — the build is already powerful without it. That means if devs nerf the crit knife, this build remains strong; if the crit knife gets nerfed and still usable, it becomes an optional power spike on top of an already busted kit.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

· Insane boss DPS and fast clears.

· Highly tanky with proper kit and shield.

· Extremely flexible — swap elements and weapons to counter enemies.

· Not dependent on a single overpowered gadget (works without a crit-knife).

Weaknesses

· Spectre uptime can be clunky in prolonged high-AOE mobbing without the optional tree tweaks.

· Requires decent gear rolls (good alchemist mod, Vlad enhancements) to hit top numbers.

· Projectile bugs or weapon handling nerfs may change projectile speeds — keep an eye on patch notes.

Quick build checklist

· Dead Ringer tree: Cold Iron, Portance of Suffering, Idle Hands, Prismatic Icor, Keen Suffering, Dark Pact, Coven + Wither.

· Incarnate: 5/5 Grave Sights (or Splash), Blood Letter stacking.

· Specializations: Riddle You This, I Am A Gun, Status application, Compounding Afflictions.

· Gear: AF-1000 style rep kit (enrage), Wombo Combo + 3 element weapons, Super Soldier shield (siphon), Alchemist/Illusionist class mod, Vlad enhancements.

· Firmware: Dead Eye 3/3, + High Caliber or Bullets to Spare.

Final verdict

Dead Ringer Element Spectre Vex is a wonderfully satisfying and thoroughly powerful build: spooky, colorful, and devastating. It’s a rare kind of Borderlands 4 Items that’s both accessible (use any elemental weapons you like) and deep (skill tree/gear choices influence playstyle significantly). Whether you’re farming bosses or trolling through drill sites, summoning your spectral army and watching bosses disintegrate is pure Borderlands joy.