The fastest gun in the galaxy, Zane sacrifices grenades for a second action skill, speed equals damage, his Digi-Clone can wield your strongest weapon, Barrier amps all shots, and SNTNL rains grenades, honestly Zane has the weirdest progression curve in the game because he starts out feeling kind of meh and then once you get Seein' Dead and the right anointments he suddenly becomes the best character and it's not even close, and I remember when I first realized you could have both the drone and clone active at the same time forever I just started laughing because nothing could stop me, the combination of infinite action skill uptime plus movement speed converting directly into gun damage makes him feel like you're playing a completely different game from everyone else and it's awesome, idk maybe he's not the absolute strongest at max gear but he's definitely the most fun character to actually play once everything clicks
Skill Trees
Hitman
Kill skills and speed, every kill triggers multiple stacking bonuses, and Seeing Red activates all kill skills on action skill use with no kills needed. This tree is the engine that makes Zane work and without it you're just a guy with a gun who runs a little fast, like the difference between having Seeing Red and not having it is literally the difference between Zane being playable and Zane being actually good.
| Tier | Skill | Effect | Max Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Violent Speed | Kill skill: increased movement speed | 5 |
| 1 | Cold Bore | Weapon swap gives next shot bonus cryo damage | 5 |
| 2 | Violent Momentum | Gun damage increases with movement speed | 5 |
| 2 | Drone Delivery | SNTNL occasionally drops a free grenade | 1 |
| 3 | Salvation | Kill skill: lifesteal on all damage | 5 |
| 3 | Death Follows Close | Kill skill duration and effectiveness increased | 1 |
| 4 | Playing Dirty | Kill skill: next 5 shots fire an extra projectile | 5 |
| 4 | Good Misfortune | Kill skill duration extended on kill | 5 |
| 5 | Nano-Bark | SNTNL creates radiation explosion on kill | 1 |
| 6 | Seeing Red | Activating action skill triggers all kill skills | 1 |
Under Cover
Shield and cryo, Barrier provides near-invincibility and amps shots that pass through, and great survivability and team support. This tree is basically Zane's tank option and it's surprisingly effective for solo play too, probably the tree I'd recommend if you're struggling to stay alive while learning the character.
| Tier | Skill | Effect | Max Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrenaline | Increased action skill cooldown rate based on shield | 5 |
| 1 | Hearty Stock | Increased magazine size | 3 |
| 2 | Ready for Action | Faster shield recharge rate and recharge delay | 5 |
| 2 | Brain Freeze | Crit hits slow enemies, eventually freeze | 5 |
| 3 | Rise to the Occasion | Health regen based on missing shield | 3 |
| 3 | Stiff Upper Lip | Increased damage resistance while shields are active | 3 |
| 4 | Really Expensive Jacket | Reduced status effect duration, elemental resist | 1 |
| 4 | Confident Competence | Gun damage and accuracy while shields are active | 1 |
| 5 | Futility Belt | Resistances to cryo and radiation damage | 1 |
| 6 | Barrier Distribution | Barrier amps all shots that pass through for bonus shock damage | 1 |
Double Agent
Clone synergy, Digi-Clone can wield a copy of your weapon, swapping places with it triggers massive bonuses, and Duct Tape Mod adds grenade utility. You get the idea, this tree makes your clone go from a distraction to a second gun that does real damage and honestly seeing your clone solo a badass with Double Barrel is one of the funniest things in the game.
| Tier | Skill | Effect | Max Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Synchronicity | Gun damage per active action skill | 5 |
| 1 | Praemunitus | Clone gains magazine size and accuracy per point | 3 |
| 2 | Donnybrook | Kill skill: gun damage, health regen per stack | 5 |
| 2 | Duct Tape Mod | Chance to fire a free grenade on first shot | 1 |
| 3 | Borrowed Time | Increased action skill duration per active skill | 5 |
| 3 | Pocket Full of Grenades | Kill skill: grenade regeneration | 3 |
| 4 | Old-U | Clone can revive Zane on Fight For Your Life | 1 |
| 4 | Supersonic Man | Increased movement speed per active action skill | 5 |
| 5 | Like a Ghost | Clone and Zane have chance to ignore bullets | 3 |
| 6 | Double Barrel | Clone wields a copy of your current weapon | 1 |
Best Zane Builds
Clone + Cannon - MNTIS Spam
The highest DPS Zane build, MNTIS cannon spams action skill start/end anoints while Clone solos with Double Barrel, and it's just beautiful chaos watching your clone use a Sand Hawk while you spam cannon shots, probably my favorite build in the entire game if I'm being honest
Primary tree Double Agent with Double Barrel capstone, secondary Hitman for Violent Momentum and Seeing Red, action skills Digi-Clone plus MNTIS Cannon, class mod Seein' Dead where kill skills have chance to activate on damage, shield Re-Volter with ASS anoint or Old God, artifact Company Man or Ice Breaker Victory Rush, weapons Light Show Free Radical Kickcharger Plasma Coil and honestly anything works when your clone is also shooting it
Barrier + Cannon Speed Build
Violent Momentum converts speed to damage, Barrier gives near-invincibility and amps every shot, and this is the build where you feel truly unkillable while still doing solid damage, it's probably the safest Zane build for high Mayhem levels
Primary tree Hitman with Seeing Red and Violent Momentum, secondary Under Cover for Confident Competence and Barrier Distribution, action skills Barrier plus MNTIS Cannon, class mod Executor for increased crit damage and accuracy and status effect chance, shield Re-Volter with ASS break for +200% shock, weapons Hyperion SMGs like Redistributor and Bitch, Dahl ARs and stuff
Cryo Freeze Zane
Brain Freeze freezes everything, frozen enemies take increased damage and can't fight back, and it's the most underrated Zane build tbh, people sleep on cryo but frozen enemies are basically free kills
Primary tree Under Cover with Brain Freeze and Confident Competence, secondary Hitman for Violent Momentum, action skills Barrier plus SNTNL, class mod Seein' Dead, artifact Ice Breaker Victory Rush for +50% damage to frozen and freeze efficiency, weapons cryo element and Dahl Night Hawkin or whatever freezes best and stuff like that, you get the idea with this build and honestly freezing a whole room and then just walking through it is stupid fun
Best Weapons for Zane
| Weapon | Type | Synergy | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redistributor | SMG | 7th shot chains amped by Barrier for room clears | Hyperion |
| Light Show | Pistol | Playing Dirty doubles 4 projectiles to 8 | Jakobs |
| Plasma Coil | SMG | Highest DPS SMG, MNTIS procs anoints | Maliwan |
| Sand Hawk | SMG | 9 projectiles in bird pattern, amped by Barrier | Dahl |
| Carrier | AR | Homing missiles on hit, Clone synergy | Atlas |
| Kickcharger | RPG | Charged shot one-taps bosses, Clone can wield | Vladof |
Zane Leveling Guide
Starting out go Hitman tree with Violent Speed and Violent Momentum because that's your core synergy and everything builds from there, the movement speed to damage conversion kicks in immediately and feels great. Then dip Double Agent for Synchronicity and Donnybrook which are huge at this stage and honestly Donnybrook is probably underrated by most players. After that rush Hitman capstone Seeing Red for permanent kill skill uptime which is the biggest power spike Zane gets in the entire leveling process and once you have this the character completely transforms. In the later levels fill Double Agent for Double Barrel or Under Cover for Barrier depending on your preferred playstyle, both are good and honestly neither is strictly better it just depends on whether you want more offense or defense. And for Mayhem farm Seein' Dead class mod before doing anything else because it's build-defining and Zane without Seein' Dead at Mayhem 10 is just painful, I did it once without the class mod and it was honestly one of the worst gaming experiences I've had, and then focus on getting action skill start anointments on your shield and grenade since those are always active with Zane's kit, and once you have the full gear setup Zane becomes arguably the strongest character in the game and stuff like that, and honestly the journey from weak early-game Zane to endgame god-mode Zane is one of the most satisfying progression arcs in any Borderlands game imo