Greetings fellow Zane mains!
Since everyone seems to think Zane is the worst vault hunter by far, I have decided to do a build write-up in hopes of changing some minds.
I know most Zanes seem to be enjoying a speedy SNTNL build but I am here to offer an alternative that is just as good if not better in most situations.
Here is the build I currently use for reference. the action skill augments are not set in stone so feel free to change them if you wish but I highly recommend using binary system on the clone tree and all-rounder on the barrier tree. The whole build is about having 100% up time on your action skills so your kit has 0 downtime and you are always doing your maximum damage output at all times. Now for this to work you will be abusing a skill in the barrier tree called calm,cool,collected(CCC).
CCC has a chance to apply a slowing debuff that stacks until a target is frozen and if the target is frozen when you have both max health and shields then your action skill duration and cooldowns are reset. Please note the frozen CC does not need to be from the stacking slow for it to work and your clone can also apply the slow to enemies giving you tons of options for procing said skill. Worried about freeze immune bosses? Well if you crit them enough it will still give you the reset despite them not actually freezing.
Now for what gear I recommend, let’s start with the shield. This puppy has a guaranteed chance to freeze enemies when it pops (yes even bosses for procing CCC) and since you have a clone both of you have it equipped so his nova can trigger the reset, the freezing also helps by CCing everything near you. Now you can of course run other shields like the stop gap to increase survivability or the health re-router if you want a little extra damage from time to time. (please note CCC will be much harder to proc if you do run this) I have actually started using the Transformer a lot more and found that it helps keep the clone alive longer as well as keeping my ammo topped off.
I recommend using this class mod but I feel like none of his class mods are super impactful so you can run anything you want except for this one since it can potentially mess up resets if one of your action skills do wind up going on cooldown and you want to redeploy it. I’m not going to say it can’t work but it just doesn’t synergize well with this build. You could also run this one and you could spec out of binary system and put on the clone taunt or Dopplebanger if you ever wanted to end the clone skill early.
Next the grenade mod, you have lots of potential options (pretty much anything that is ice) but remember that the only way you’ll be using these is upon clone activation/end and that low chance for it to pop out of your gun upon first shot after a reload. (doesn’t happen often but I put 1 point into the skill just for that chance of some extra damage/freezing potential) I personally recommend the 6x mirv hex but it’s ice for that sweet reset and potential extra damage. I would recommend this one but since it’s your clone that will be throwing most of them it’s the clone getting all that healing… not you.
For the relic it can really be any one that boosts damage to frozen targets or an elemental stacking one that matches the element of your primary damage gun. (I personally use a sliding relic for the speed boost) I recommend the frozen target damage for mobbing and elemental damage stacking for bossing. If the freeze from CCC somehow counts as freezing the boss then I would only use a frozen damage increase mod. Update on this, I tested on several bosses multiple times and you can not get the frozen damage bonus from the relic on any boss.
Lastly let’s go over recommended weapons, I try to have at least 1 gun equipped that the clone is capable of shooting correctly as he has issues with most gun types. He seems to fire in bursts so the best weapons I’ve found he can shoot effectively are Jakobs shotguns, the Flakker and the AAA. The crossroad smg is a new favorite I started using for the clone. The Hive is also a great option for killing weaker enemies especially if you have a radiation version.
I will mention that he generally does not do well with burst fire weapons as he will just do single trigger pull/left click and then do his pause. (really hurts dps) I usually put a Hellwalker in his hands or a Flakker but I recently got a TK’s wave that shoots double the projectiles and he seems to put in some work with that one as well.
Now for the guns you will mostly be using, I run a Night Hawkin (really nutty gun) for freezing and general high damage on anything that doesn’t resist fire or ice. next a Flakker (this can be in any element or non-elemental just use whichever one gets the best bonus from the mayhem modifiers) which is really strong in this game and works on most bosses and is great for general mobbing. I only have a fire version and a non-elemental but I’m sure an ice version would be great in most circumstances.
for your third and last gun for personal use (unless you’re just sharing the Flakker for the clone) I recommend using either another ice gun (Night Hawkin has a tendency to kill things before it freezes them) or a gun with a high pellet count/fire rate to help with freezing. I use this gun since it increases slide speed and makes u super-fast when combined with a slide relic. For bosses with an easy to hit crit spot I use A kings/queens Call.
That’s all folks! please feel free to ask any questions or share viable guns that work with the clone below. Here are some videos showcasing the build. Please note that all runs are done with mayhem 3 modifiers that do not directly effect damage so all runs could potentially be done faster with the correct modifiers. Traunt, Jakobs Estate Run, Graveward, Tyreen and Katagawa Ball.
