Zane is a playable Vault Hunter in Borderlands 3, and here is a selection of optimized builds that utilize his Skill Tree, Class Mods, and Legendary Weapons and turn him into the ultimate operative.
Zane Build Guide
Zane is extremely proficient at slipping into combat, creating chaos, and sneaking back out as if he were never there. This basically makes him the James Bond of Borderlands.
Zane is the only Vault Hunter who can utilize 2 action skills; however, in order to do this, you have to sacrifice the ability to throw grenades. That said, you can grant your gadgets that ability, and therefore, the grenade mod slot won’t go unused.
Zane has various play styles that tap into different action skills and skill trees.
1 Action Skill + Grenades
Most people will run 2 action skills since this gives you a lot of benefits. However, early game, you might want to run just 1 action skill and really dive into that single skill tree to gain the most benefits early on. There was also a time that the Porcelain Pipebomb was massively overpowered and having that power at your fingertips is priceless.
Barrier / Drone
This setup became popular with the Calm, Cool, Collected and Seein’ Dead builds. 100% uptime of your barrier means that you are invincible when you use the “All-rounder” augment. Also, the Barrier provides your projectiles with AMP damage.
Drone / Clone
Personally, I really like this setup, however, it’s a very active playstyle. Being able to switch positions with your clone to flank enemies and to keep you and your clone alive. Having the SNTNL drone on top of that makes the chaos even more complete.
Clone / Barrier
The Barrier is used for protection, while the Clone is usually sacrificed to trigger other bonuses.
Cannon / Drone
The Designer’s Cut added the MNTS Cannon Action Skill. Its quick cooldown allows you to trigger anointments easily. This fast-paced setup is usually accompanied by the SNTL Drone, as this secondary action skill can support you on the fly.
Popular Zane Builds
Seein’ Dead Build
One of the most popular builds for Zane is a build that depends on the Seein’ Dead Class Mod. This COM can trigger all of Zane’s kill skills and since he has a lot of them, you can constantly proc them. This gives you the ability to deal a lot of damage but also keep your action skill up 100% of the time.
Calm, Cool, Collected Build
Before the Seein’ Dead build, a lot of popular streamers used the Calm, Cool, Collected skill to keep their action skill up all the time. It’s a relatively defensive setup but it depends on Cryo damage. Since Cryo deals good damage and Zane specializes in it, he can become very effective at freezing enemies and taking them out.
Speed Build
Speed Kills and that definitely is the case with Zane. With these builds, the faster Zane goes, the more damage he will do. Specific Skills, Gear, and Weapons are equipped to maximize this damage.
Playing Dirty Build
With these builds, you are heavily investing in the Playin’ Dirty skill. With this skill, you can double your damage with single projectile weapons. If you have the Seein’Dead Class Mod, you can achieve similar results, but you need the Moxxi’s Heist on the Handsome Jackpot DLC to obtain that COM. There are other Class Mods in the game that boost the Playin’ Dirty skill.
Doppelbanger Build
These builds heavily depend on Zane’s clone and his Doppelbanger augment. By sacrificing your clone by blowing him up and having a fast action skill cooldown, you can trigger various bonuses like the “on Action Skill End” anointments.
Eraser Build
Eraser is one of Zane’s most powerful skills. This build usually also takes advantage of the quick MNTS Cannon cooldown to trigger anoints and increase your damage.
