Core Leveling Strategy
The Golden Rule
The golden rule of leveling in any Borderlands game remains true: focus on the main story quests.While side quests are enjoyable, the experience points (XP) from main missions are significantly higher and provide the fastest path to completing the campaign and unlocking Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
Save the side content for the endgame, when it will scale to your level and provide meaningful rewards for your endgame progression.
The Best Leveling Skill Tree: Dead Ringer
Why Dead Ringer?
For a smooth and safe leveling experience, the Dead Ringer skill tree is unparalleled. This tree allows Vex to summon clones of herself that distract enemies, draw aggro, and deal supplemental damage.
This survivability is invaluable, especially for solo players, as it gives you breathing room to learn enemy patterns and attack from safety. Your clones act as both shields and weapons, making the leveling process significantly smoother.
Key Benefits:
- High survivability for solo play
- Consistent damage output through clones
- Excellent crowd control capabilities
- Forgiving gameplay for learning enemy patterns
Skill Point Progression (Levels 1-25)
Your early points should focus on maximizing your clone's effectiveness and your own gun damage. This creates a solid foundation that will carry you through the early and mid-game content.
Levels 2-6: Cold Iron (5 points)
This is a straightforward gun damage increase that will make your early-game weapons feel much more powerful. This is your foundation for all weapon-based damage throughout the leveling process.
Level 7: Unlock Your First Action Skill Augment
At level 7, you gain access to your first Action Skill augment. Choose the augment that best complements the Dead Ringer playstyle and enhances your clone's effectiveness.
Levels 8-12: Grave Assault (5 points)
This kill skill boosts your fire rate, helping you clear out mobs of weaker enemies faster. The increased fire rate synergizes well with Cold Iron's damage boost.
Levels 13-17: Clone Enhancement Skills (5 points)
Invest 5 points into skills that improve your clone's duration or reduce its cooldown. This ensures maximum uptime for your spectral allies and consistent battlefield control.
Levels 18-25: Mid-Tier Dead Ringer Skills
Work your way down the middle of the tree towards the mid-tier capstone, picking up any skills that further enhance your clone's utility or your personal damage output. Focus on skills that provide consistent benefits rather than situational ones.
Skill Point Progression (Levels 26-50)
Now you'll push for the powerful capstone ability of the Dead Ringer tree, which will provide a major power spike for the final stretch to max level.
Levels 26-30: Complete Tier 2 & 3 Skills
Max out any remaining essential Tier 2 and 3 skills in the Dead Ringer tree. These provide the foundation for your capstone ability.
Level 31: Unlock the Dead Ringer Capstone
This will be a major power spike, significantly enhancing your clone army and marking the transition into your character's true potential.
Levels 32-50: Secondary Tree Investment
With your primary tree's capstone secured, you can now invest your remaining points into a secondary tree. The Incarnate tree is an excellent choice, as its early skills provide substantial boosts to elemental and gun damage that will synergize well with your existing setup.
Gear & Weapon Priorities
Key Principle
While leveling, don't get too attached to any single piece of gear. You will be replacing your weapons and shields every few levels as you find higher-level equipment.
Weapons
Look for reliable, fast-firing weapons like SMGs and Assault Rifles. Their high rate of fire works well with skills that trigger on hit or on kill.
- SMGs for close-range encounters
- Assault Rifles for versatile combat
- High fire rate over raw damage
Class Mods
Equip any class mod you find that boosts the skills you've already invested in, especially Cold Iron or Grave Assault.
- Cold Iron boosts for damage
- Grave Assault for fire rate
- Any Dead Ringer skill bonuses
Anointments During Leveling
Don't worry about finding perfect Anointments while leveling. Simply use the highest-level gear you find and focus on completing missions. Save the perfect gear hunting for the endgame.
Mission Complete: Endgame Ready!
By following this guide, you'll have a powerful, survivable Vex ready to tackle Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode the moment the credits roll. Your Dead Ringer foundation will serve you well as you transition into more specialized endgame builds.