BORDERLANDS 3 ZANE BUILD
LEVEL 1 TO 72 MAYHEM 11
The Ultimate BUILD Guide
This Borderlands 3 Zane build guide aims to help you get through Zane’s full progression from level 1 to 72, as well as some tips on how you can reach the highest Mayhem tier. We’ll be providing you with clear explanations on your skill choices, gear, and progression path.
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Normal Vault Hunter Mode – Level 1 to 36
Normal Vault Hunter Mode (NVHM) is the mode where you first beat the story in Borderlands 3. After finishing the campaign, you’ll unlock Mayhem mode, which lets you increase the difficulty in exchange for better EXP and loot drops. While in NVHM, focus on finishing the story and familiarizing yourself with Zane’s kit.
Before we begin, I highly recommend ignoring True Vault Hunter Mode (TVHM) after completing the main questline. In Borderlands 3, Mayhem is the endgame mode where you can get the best drops, with TVHM only being useful for high level mission rewards.
Recommended Skills
Action Skill 1: MNTIS Shoulder Cannon
Action Skill 2: SNTNL
Level 3-7: 5 Points on Violent Momentum
Your gun damage is increased while moving. This bonus grows as you move faster.
Level 8-12: 5 Points on Violent Speed
Killing enemies will grant you temporary movement speed.
Level 13: 1 Point on Drone Delivery
SNTNL will now periodically drop your equipped grenade for free.
Level 14: 1 Point on Seein’ Red
Activating your action skill will also activate your kill skills. This also increases the effect of your kill skill bonuses by 15%.
Level 15: 1 Point on Salvation
Killing enemies will grant you temporary gun damage lifesteal.
Level 16-17: 2 Points on Cool Hand
Increases your reload speed. Killing enemies will grant temporary reload speed.
Level 18-22: 5 Points on Violent Violence
Killing enemies will grant bonus fire rate and burst-fire delay.
Level 23-26: 4 Points on Playing Dirty
Killing enemies has a 40% chance to add an extra projectile to your next few shots.
Level 27: 1 Point on Good Misfortune
Killing an enemy will extend your action skill duration.
Level 28: 1 Point on Death Follows Close
Increases the effect and duration of your kill skill bonuses.
Level 29-33: 5 Points on Man of Focus
Activating action skills will grant you temporary accuracy and handling.
Level 34-36: 3 Points on Tunnel Vision
Gain bonus accuracy and handling while moving. This bonus grows as you move faster.
ProgRession route
Goal: Throughout NVHM, the main goalis to complete the main story as fast as possible. Ignore most of the side quests if you aren’t struggling with the enemies you’re currently facing, which may be a bit above your level at times. With how generous the game is with legendary drops, you should have a relatively easy time getting through the game with all of Zane’s passive bonuses.
Your leveling path will go something like this:
Level 1 to 30: Completing the main quests
- Literally speed through the story with the help of Zane’s blue skill tree, which gets you a ton of stacking movement speed and gun damage bonuses. Remember to stay mobile to benefit from Violent Momentum!
- SNTNL as your main action skill deals a decent amount of bonus damage as you run around. This does have much less utility than stuff like Digi-Clone, so be mindful of your health against badasses and bosses.
- A decent weapon to get throughout the campaign is Crit from Moxxi. All you have to do is tip her until she gives you one, and you can do this repeatedly as you rise through the levels.
Level 30 to 36: Starting the DLCs
- You should be done with the main story at around the level 30 range, and from here, you can start doing the DLCs in release order. This means starting with Moxxi’s heist of the Handsome Jackpot, which will eventually unlock a powerleveling method that’ll be used later.
- If you want, you can start playing at a low Mayhem tier for slightly better EXP. If it’s too hard, keep it off for now until you get a few more levels.
Best gears
Slot 1: Crit
Slot 2: Any good weapon that you can reliably hit with while constantly moving
Shield: Re-Volter
Grenade: It’s Piss (for bonus damage against bosses)
Class Mod: Anything that increases your fire rate and/or magazine size.
Artifact: Anything that increases your fire rate and/or magazine size.
Gear isn’t as important in early NVHM because of how easy it is to get upgrades and how fast you’ll outlevel your gear. However, you may want to hold on to certain items, such as mods and artifacts that buff your ability to spray at anything in your way. Movement speed buffs are welcome too, if you find any.
The only thing worth “farming” at this stage is Crit, and that’s only to update its damage numbers if it starts falling off. The rest is completely replaceable at this stage.
Tips for NVHM
- Don’t spend too much time farming specific items. If something like It’s Piss or Re-Volter doesn’t drop after a few tries, just continue with the story. You can get better versions later on.
- Crazy Earl can sell the base game’s quest rewards, but not the DLC ones.
MAYHEM MODE – Level 37 to 72
When you first finish the main questline, you’ll unlock Mayhem mode for all current and future characters. It’s a difficulty modifier that will grant you better EXP and drop rates in exchange for tougher enemies and various other modifiers. Progressing through it is going to be weird at first, as it has up to 11 tiers that you can freely select. Let’s go over your skills first.
Recommended Skills
Level 37-41: 5 Points on Commitment
Killing enemies will briefly grant bonus gun damage and skill cooldown rate.
Level 42-46: 5 points on Headsman’s Hand
Killing enemies will briefly grant bonus critical damage.
Level 47: 1 Point on Fugitive
You can now shoot and sprint at the same time.
Level 48-52: 5 Points on Domino Effect
Whenever you score a critical hit, briefly increase your fire rate, reload speed, and burst-fire delay. Action skill critical hits double these buffs.
Level 53: 1 Point on Eraser
Your critical hits will now pierce once.
Level 54: 1 Point on Our Man Flynt
Aiming will add bonus damage to your guns. Critical hits will also now apply the gun’s status effect.
Level 55-59: 5 Points on Borrowed Time
Each active action skill will increase your action skill duration.
Level 60-62: 3 Points on Praemunitus
Increases your magazine size.
Level 63-67: 5 Points on Donnybrook
Killing enemies will briefly increase your health regeneration and gun damage.
Level 68-69: 2 Points on Duct Tape Mod
You are now immune to your own damage. Your first shot after reloading has a small chance to throw your equipped grenade.
Level 70-72: 3 Points on Supersonic Man
Each active action skill will increase your movement speed.
Action Skill 1: MNTIS Shoulder Cannon
Augment 1: No Way Out
Augment 2: Proliferation
Action Skill 2: SNTNL
Augment 1: Static Field
Augment 2: Boomsday
ProgRession route
Goal: With Mayhem unlocked, your leveling method is going to be the same as before. Continue through the DLCs until you are max level while periodically increasing the Mayhem levels whenever you feel comfortable doing so. Since all of the gear is scaled to the current Mayhem tier, you’re technically going to be undergeared every time you raise it.
To save you a bit of time, here are ways to get some extremely powerful weapons by skipping straight to Mayhem 10 or 11 before dropping it back down to a more comfortable level:
- Get Mayhem 10/11 scaled gear by checking vending machines and using your golden keys.
- Tip Moxxi for a new Crit scaled for Mayhem 10/11.
- Use the Eridian Fabricator that you get from the main story while at Mayhem 10/11 to spawn a set of starting gear to use. This only costs 10 Eridium per use.
Even if it’s an awful low rarity gun, a Mayhem 10 weapon will shred pretty much anything in lower tiers. By working your way through the Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot DLC first, you should have access to the Scraptrap Nest by the time your EXP gain slows down a bit.
For faster leveling, you can repeatedly clear this Scraptrap Nest with the highest Mayhem tier you can comfortably play in. Each run shouldn’t take you long, and grinding it will get you to max level much faster than if you were to continue doing quests.
Best gears
Slot 1: Crit
Slot 2: Unkempt Harold
Slot 3: Free Radical
Slot 4: Plasma Coil
Shield: Re-Volter
Grenade: It’s Piss
Class Mod: Infiltrator
Artifact: Victory Rush
With this gear loadout and (hopefully) varying elements, you should have enough variety to deal with anything in the game. As you approach the endgame levels and start grinding for specific items through the Mayhem tiers, you’ll be zooming around every fight and melting everything in your way.
It’s Piss adds a bit of “passive” damage amplification that will come in handy during boss fights. Re-Volter, Infiltrator, and Victory Rush all work together to buff both your damage output and movement speed. Survivability shouldn’t be that much of an issue with appropriately scaled gear, especially since most enemies will just drop dead anyway.
Tips for MAYHEM
- Gear scaled for Mayhem 10 is usable on lower Mayhem levels. If you’re power leveling lower tiers, grab even just a common Mayhem 10 gun before dropping the difficulty to speed up your grind.
- You can reroll anointments at Crazy Earl’s Reroll Machine for 250 Eridium per try.
- The Eridian Fabricator scales with the current Mayhem level. You do not need to reacquire it.
- If you’ve already completed the campaign, you can skip straight to the Mayhem and grind with a new character.
MORE ZANE BUILDS
HITMAN
Level 50
No DLC* • Kill Skills
PLAYSTYLE
Zane is the fastest character in Borderlands 3, and his agility is one of the reasons he’s usually the first pick for many new players. That and his excellent voice-acting. Zane isn’t as complex as someone like FL4K, but he does a lot of damage and can have two active skills that make him an excellent character at every level in the game. This build focuses on maximizing his speed, and gun damage by getting direct bonuses from kill skills.
Zane isn’t a difficult character to play with, and all you really have to do is stay on the move and liberally activate your action skills. Both your SNTNL and digi-clone should be deployed as soon as the combat encounter starts, and it’s important to stay on the move while dishing out gun damage. At level 50, Zane becomes strong enough to down most bosses easily, and his kill skills are a vital part of it.
SOLO
At level 50, this is one of the best builds for Zane, and there isn’t anything you can do to mess it up. The game plan is simple, the bonuses are vast, and you technically have two additional allies with you. With this build, it’s still very important to finish off enemies, which in return will activate all your kill skills, not only that, but you want to liberally use the action skill because Seein’ Red activates all your kill skills with a 15% boost to all.
COOP
Zane isn’t a support unit, nor is he a tank, but an incredible damage dealer who uses his speed to move around the map without breaking a sweat. Any occasional support is appreciated, but Zane has enough in his toolkit to survive most enemy and boss encounters. He’s a valuable asset to the team thanks to his two active skills, so it’s always a good idea to have him in any team composition.
GEARS
Slot 1: The Butcher
Slot 2: Queen’s Call
Slot 3: One Pump Chump
Slot 4: Lyuda
Grenade: Recurring Hex
Shield: Ward
MOD: Infiltrator
Artifact: Fire Stone Otto Idol
SKILLS
Violent Momentum boosts gun damage while you’re on the move, and Violent Speed increases movement speed if you score a kill. Each action increases your movement speed by 12% with Supersonic Man.
There are over 6 kill skills in total here, which all get activated when you use your action skill thanks to Seein’ Red.
Borrowed Time and Good Misfortune increase your Action Skill’s duration while Synchronicity increases gun damage for each active action skill.
Action Skill 1: SNTNL
Augment 1: Static Field
Augment 2: Bad Dose
Action Skill 2: Digi-Clone
Augment 1: Which One’s Real?
Augment 2: Digital Distribution
ZANELIZED
Level 50
DLC* • Speed • Accuracy
PLAYSTYLE
Zane is easily one of the most fun characters to play with in Borderlands 3, and one of the reasons is his incredible speed and agility. This build focuses on that aspect while also adding a few key skills from the DLC tree into the mix. If you’re a fan of fast characters who zip around the map and do tons of gun damage, this is the build to go with.
Your game plan is pretty simple for the most part. Zane has two active skills here, which you’ll want to deploy as soon as the combat encounters start. This will give him some leeway, and allow him to start doing some ridiculous gun damage. Make sure you finish off enemies to activate your kill skills and don’t be afraid to move and shoot because you can.
SOLO
This is a fantastic build for solo play because Zane is a speed freak who can routinely switch places with his digiclone. He’s never alone thanks to the SNTNL drone, and there aren’t many enemies that stand a chance against his gun damage. Even in a tricky situation, you can get out of things by simply running away, or even swapping places with your clone. Gun damage is your main source of damage output, and it’s important to finish enemies to activate kill skills.
COOP
Similarly, this build is perfect for co-op as well. Zane is an assault unit that will be doing tons of damage to enemies and bosses without a need for direct support. Giving him occasional heals and shield boosts are definitely appreciated, but Zane can stand his own ground for the most part. Being able to move around the battlefield at his speed means that he can’t be cornered, and won’t need constant saving.
GEARS
Slot 1: The Butcher
Slot 2: Queen’s Call
Slot 3: One Pump Chump
Slot 4: Lyuda
Grenade: Recurring Hex
Shield: Ward
MOD: Infiltrator
Artifact: Fire Stone Otto Idol
SKILLS
There are over 6 kill skills in total here, which all get activated when you use your action skill thanks to Seein’ Red.
Violent Momentum boosts gun damage while you’re on the move, and Violent Speed increases movement speed if you score a kill. Fugitive allows Zane to sprint and shoot at the same time, while Tunnel Vision improves weapon handling and accuracy while Zane is moving.
Playing Dirty adds a 30% chance to add 1 extra projectile to each of your next 5 shots after killing an enemy.
Action Skill: SNTNL
Augment 1: Static Field
Augment 2: Bad Dose
Action Skill: Digi-Clone
Augment 1: Which One’s Real?
Augment 2: Doppelbanger
FLYNT AWAY
Level 72
DLC* • Digi-Clone
PLAYSTYLE
Zane is a bit of a straightforward character who doesn’t have gigantic cosmic hands, a mech, or the ability to call on beasts. He can, however, put out a clone of himself, has the fastest movement in the game, and does tons of gun damage without breaking a sweat. If you’re looking for something a bit simple, but also super satisfying to play around with, this Zane build is meant for you.
The build also utilizes Zane’s DLC skill tree which improves his maneuverability, and critical damage, and incentivizes using action skills. Your approach is simple. Start every combat encounter by placing a digi-clone, and start shooting enemies. Your main weapon, the Free Radical is perfect for taking on mobs, and thanks to its lightning-fast reload speed, you’ll be emptying out your magazines as the vault Gods intended.
SOLO
This is an excellent build for solo play because you’re still technically bringing your clone. Zane’s damage potential is through the roof here, and he’s the fastest vault hunter in Borderlands 3. This means you can escape tough situations, reload, and start shooting back. It’s hard to actually get hit while playing with this, but the off chance you do get hit, it’s not the end of the world because getting a second wind is very simple thanks to Zane’s splash damage, and he has multiple abilities that lifesteal.
COOP
Similarly, Zane plays a more of general assault role while in co-op. He doesn’t really need any direct support from his teammates, but keeping him alive should be a priority because he will be doing a lot of damage around the battlefield, and because of his speed, he’ll routinely break formation, and do his own thing. The abilities here don’t actively support the team, but he’s still a valuable member who is very capable of holding his ground.
GEARS
Slot 1: Free Radical
Slot 2: Plasma Coil
Slot 3: Anarchy
Slot 4: Sand Hawk
Grenade: It’s Piss
Shield: Re-Volter
MOD: Suave Spy
Artifact: Victory Rush
SKILLS
Violent Speed, Supersonic Man, and Violent Momentum directly improve Zane’s movement speed. Fugitive allows Zane to shoot, and sprint at the same time, while Seein Red activates all of Zane’s kill skills when using the action skill.
Death Follows Close increases the effect and duration of all kill skills bonuses. You can sacrifice the clone to gain full health thanks to Old-U, and Salvation grants gun-damage lifesteal after you kill an enemy.
Action Skill: Digi-Clone
Augment 1: Which One’s Real?
Augment 2: Doppelbanger
Action Skill: MNTIS Shoulder Cannon
Augment 1: No Way Out
TERMINATOR
Level 72
No DLC* • Kill Skills • Balanced
PLAYSTYLE
Zane has great movement speed, excellent gun damage, and the ability to use two active action skills. This makes him a formidable vault hunter who can pretty much stand his ground, and do tons of damage regardless of the level, or team composition. This all-rounder build tries to maximize his potential to provide a balanced experience that’s easy to play, and leaves room for mastery.
Your game plan is pretty simple here. You can deploy your SNTNL and Digi-clone right off the bat, and start doing gun damage, swapping places with your digi-clone when required. Being on the move is essential though, and ensuring that you actually land kills is also important. Simply reducing the overall health of an enemy isn’t useful to Zane because we have over 8 kill skills that give Zane tremendous bonuses, boosting his damage, reload speed, fire rate, active skill duration, and a lot more.
SOLO
This is by far one of the best ways to play as Zane at level 72. You have plenty of kill skills, two of the best action skills active, and a few abilities that directly regenerate your health and shields. Having the two action skills also means that you aren’t going to be directly targeted at all times, and can take a breather. Similarly, your high speed means you won’t be cornered by enemies, and you can make good use of the digi-clone to basically transport you out of sticky situations.
COOP
Zane is a great character to bring along in co-op because he largely works independently. He brings two additional units with him, his clone and drone, so the overall team size can increase dramatically, especially with this build. Zane also has a few skills that regenerate his shield and health in this build, which makes him less of a burden, and someone that actively dishes out large amounts of damage. He’s not a tank, but a high-damage assault character who wouldn’t mind the occasional support.
GEARS
Slot 1: Clairvoyance
Slot 2: Skullmasher
Slot 3: Crit
Slot 4: Hail
Grenade: Recurring Hex
Shield: Transformer
MOD: Seein’ Dead
Artifact: Ice Breaker
SKILLS
Rise to the Ocassion provides Zane with health regeneration, while Salvation allows him to lifesteal enemies with gun damage. Ready for Action, and Quick Breather directly help Zane’s shield recharge and delay.
Violent Momentum boosts gun damage while you’re on the move, while Violent Speed increases movement speed if you score a kill. Each active action skill increases your movement speed by 12% with Supersonic Man. Zane can sacrifice the clone to gain full health thanks to Old-U.
Action Skill: SNTNL
Augment 1: Static Field
Augment 2: Boomsday
Action Skill: Digi-Clone
Augment 1: Which One’s Real?
Augment 2: Doppelbanger
BLAST
Level 72
DLC* • Speed
PLAYSTYLE
Zane is the fastest character in Borderlands 3, hands down. He can move around a combat faster than anyone, and the speed isn’t just a perk, but it can tie into his entire playstyle. If being on the go, and doing damage while you do so is your preference, then it’s hard to go wrong with this build where Zane can literally zap around the battlefield without a problem.
Zane isn’t a complicated character, so the approach is fairly straightforward. Don’t stop moving. Yes, Zane’s skills greatly benefit from his movement speed, and the ability to empty out magazines fast. So, deploy your SNTNL for damage, while the MNTIS cannon for some ridiculous damage, all while you’re moving around. It’s a simple build that doesn’t require much from the player, but you’ll want to make sure you’re actually finishing off enemies to activate kill skills, which isn’t much of a problem thanks to our weapon choice.
SOLO
This is a fantastic build for solo play, and if you’re like me, moving around and agility are very important for my play style. Zane’s movement speed is buffed insanely high, which makes the run-gunning experience all the more special. Zane isn’t alone either, because instead of his fake digi-clone, we’ve actually brought his trusty drone around, which does damage, and even restores your shield. As Zane, it’s really hard to go wrong with this build, especially if you prioritize a simple playstyle that’s built on speed, and gun damage.
COOP
Similarly, this build is perfectly viable in co-op as well. Zane doesn’t directly support the team in terms of healing, or shields, but he does great damage and can stand his ground. The team doesn’t need to work around him because he can do his own thing for the most part, but any potential healing opportunities can help improve his survivability. At this level though, Zane is extremely powerful, and if you stay on the move, he’s hard to catch.
GEARS
Slot 1: Free Radical
Slot 2: Plasma Coil
Slot 3: Crit
Slot 4: Unkempt Harold
Grenade: It’s Piss
Shield: Re-Volter
MOD: Infiltrator
Artifact: Toboggan
SKILLS
Violent Momentum boosts gun damage while you’re on the move, and Violent Speed increases movement speed if you score a kill.
Each active action skill increases your movement speed by 12% with Supersonic Man. Fugitive allows Zane to shoot and sprint at the same time, while Tunnel Vision improves his accuracy and handling while moving by over 30%.
There are over 10 kill skills in total here, which all get activated when you use your action skill thanks to Seein’ Red.
Action Skill: SNTNL
Augment 1: Static Field
Augment 2: Boomsday
Action Skill: MNTIS Shoulder Cannon
Augment 1: No Way Out
Augment 2: Proliferation
Other Borderlands 3 Character Builds
If you enjoy experimenting with different characters, you may also want to try these other Borderlands 3 builds:
Amara Siren Build
Elemental Siren powers combined with powerful melee and crowd control abilities.
FL4K Beastmaster Build
Critical-hit focused hunter fighting alongside loyal beasts.
Moze Gunner Build
Heavy gunner who summons the Iron Bear mech for devastating firepower.
