Borderlands 3: Zane Guide - Skill Tree & Abilities

Introduction

Borderlands 3 brought many new changes to the series such as new missions, world events, cosmetic items, and more. However, one of the most prominent change was the introduction of the four Vault Hunters - Amara, Zane, Fl4nk, and Moze. Each one of them is unique in their own way but they are all absolutely awesome. At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference.

Lore wise, Zane is a member of the so-called "Flynt" family and is an ex-hitman who uses his gadgets, tricks, and elusiveness to his advantage during the epic battles in Borderlands 3. He has a wide arsenal of different weapons which can be used depending on the situation.

A member of the notorious Flynt family, Zane is a semi-retired corporate hitman who uses gadgets and trickery to get the upper hand in battle.  One of Zane's strongest aspects is that he is super versatile. You can often use this Vauly Hunter as an amazing engaging unit, protector of the team or even a distraction whenever it might be needed. That's why many people opt to go for Zane, especially if they are fairly new to the game.

Another great advantage over the other Vault Hunters is that he is the only one capable of equipping two action skills at the same time. This allows the hero to have a lot of control and do insane amounts of damage if he times his skills correctly. Let's take a look at his skill trees and the abilities so you can decide which is the right choice for your gameplay.

Hitman - Zane's Skill Tree #1

The action skill here is called SNTNL and it allows Zane to launch an automated drone that flies over the battlefield while attacking all enemies along the way. In addition, if you press the action skill or the grenade bottom while this drone is active, it will force it to attack the enemies which are market by Zane. As you can tell, this can be very strong, especially if you have to deal with a particular enemy who is very annoying.

Skills

• Violent speed - after you kill an enemy, Zane will get bonus movement speed for a couple of seconds, which makes him move very swiftly through the battlefield.
• Core Bore - this ability increases his weapon swap speed. In addition, the next shot he fires also deals bonus damage.
• Violent Momentum - another movement ability but this time, it increases Zane's gun damage. In fact, the quicker he moves, the more gun damage bonus he gets.
• Cool Hand - this increases Zane's overall reload speed. However, if he kills an enemy, the reloading speed will be even greater, at least for  a couple of seconds
• Drone Delivery - upon using your action skill, the SNTNL drone has the chance of dropping a free grenade
• Seein' Red - this is what you call the "one-shot macro" which allows all of Zane's kill skills to be activated at once
• Salvation - whenever Zane kills an enemy, he will gain life-steal for a couple of seconds after that

• Playing Dirty - this is another kill skill that allows Zane's next five shots to do additional damage. This can be very strong, especially if you get a good momentum once you kill someone.
• Good Misfortune - when Zane kills an enemy, his action skill duration is increased by a couple of seconds, allowing the Drone to do even more damage
• Violet Violence - after Zane kills an enemy, he gets an increased fire rate for a couple of seconds
• Death Follows Close - this is an overall buff to all of Zane's effects and durations.

Double Agent - Zane's Skill Tree #2

Digi-Clone is probably one of the most recognizable action skills in Borderlands 3 right now. This ability allows him to spawn a Digi-Clone of himself which stays in once place and fires at enemies, which always distracts them. What's more, if you press the action skill button or the grenade one while he is active, it serves a "teleport", allowing Zane to swap locations with his Clone.

Skills

• Synchronicity - this skill allows Zane to gain increased gun damage for each active skill he has.
• Praemunitus - a rather cool skill that allows Zane and his Digi-clone to gain an increased magazine size.
• Dannybroack - whenever Zane kills an enemy his and the gun damage to his Dogo-Clone is increased. In addition, both of them also get a certain health regeneration for a couple of seconds.
• Borrowed Time - this skill increases the duration by a couple of seconds.
• Quick Breather - If Zane swaps his location with the clone, he will immediately start recharging.
• Fractal Frogs - Apart from shooting, this skill allows his Digi-Clone to throw grenades, depending on the grenade that Zane has at the given time. What's more, if the clone gets killed, it will drop a free grenade and if he kills anyone, there is an extra chance of throwing a bonus grenade.
• Duct Tape Mode - when Zane fires, there is a small chance of firing a grenade as well. Of course, the more grenades he has, the higher the chances.
• Pocket full of Grenades - whenever Zane kills an enemy, he will get a certain grenade regeneration for a couple of seconds
• Old-U - this skill allows you to basically "consume" your Digi-Clone, which immediately destroys is. Instead, you will get Second wind and full HP.
• Supersonic Man - Zane gets bonus movement speed whenever his action skills are active. This ability stacks, which means that if you have two action skills, you will have more speed.
• Like a  Ghost - this skill gives Zane and his clone the change to dodge bullets. This is a stacking ability which is increased whenever Zane uses his action skill.
• Boom. Enhance - this skill might seem pretty strange at first but it is very strong. Upon summoning his Digi-Clone, it consumes three grenades. However, for each one of them, it gets more damage, HP, fire and reload rate.
• Trick of the Light - Zane does more damage whenever his enemies are not targeting him in the battlefield

UnderCover - Zane's Skill Tree #3

The action skill here is called Barrier. As the name suggests, this drops a big barrier that blocks most of the incoming damage. In addition to that, Zane and his allies have the chance to actually shoot through it with increased gun damage. In addition, it is possible to even hold and basically move the barrier but when you do this, it's size as well as effectiveness get reduced.

Skills

• Adrenaline - this skill allows Zane to have an increased action skill cooldown. Unfortunately, the bonus is based heavily on the amount of shield he has, so be careful when you use them.
• Hearty Stock - this increases Zane's maximum shield capacity
• Ready for Action - improves Zane's shield recharge rate and delay at the same time
• Brainfreeze-  if Zane manages to hit a critical strike, there is a chance that the enemy gets slowed for a couple of seconds
• Stiff Upper Lip - this skill gives Zane a little bit of damage resistance whenever he gets attacked
• Rise to the Occasion - a skill that increases Zane's HP regen
• Confident Competence - Zane's gun damage and accuracy are increased whenever his shields are active
• Really Expensive Jacket - a very cool skill which can save you from the annoying elemental damage DOT effects
• Best Server Cold - If Zane manages to kill an enemy, he will create a cryo nova that deals damage to all nearby enemies. 
• Futility Belt - this gives Zane bonus resistance to the non-elemental damage types. What's more, all of the elemental damage he gets is automatically converted to another type, which makes this skill very useful.
• Refreshment - upon damaging a frozen enemy, Zane gets some of the damage done back as HP
• Calm, Cool, Collected - if Zane manages to freeze an enemy, his shield instantly starts recharging.
• Nerves of Steel - this increases  Zane's accuracy and handling.