So wanna start off by saying hi to all the struggling zane players out here. I feel the pain of trying to get this character to the level of the other 3. I dont think this is that build however i have had the most fun with this so far.
So after countless hours only playin this build i feel like this may be the most optimized version.
SKILL TREES:
ACTION SKILLS:
Digi clone:
Dopplebanger, Which One’s Real
Barrier:
All rounder, Deturance Field
With clone and barrier while using the nova berner you get extra novas with 20k damage a piece. Clone spawns with a copy of your shield and novas on action skill use and once the shield is broken. Barrier is a little janky but still worth investing in distributed denial. You will get 1 nova on action skill use and another on action skill end.
As for the augments, the only onrs i feel is 100% neccessary is “Dopplebanger” and “Which Ones Real” . “Dopplebanger” augment lets you always have an action skill to use to break your shield. “Which ones real” is neccessary for the “trick of the light” skill and more protection to recharge your shield .The “All Rounder” augment isnt neccessary but i think it helps with shield recharge since you wont get shot.
GEAR:
Needed:
• Cryo Crossroad SMG (Can be any cryo weapon)
• Nova berner shield (Any nova shield can work here)
• Infiltrator class mod (+splash damage recommended)
Reccomended:
• Flakker (splash damage anointment)
• Cold Shoulder (sniper from story mission)
• High DPS weapon
• Cryo or Shock grenade
So after the 10/17 hotfix a lot of the top tier weapons got nerfed. The crossroad was one of these losing 1 pellet. It does indeed make the gun worse but the 3 pellets help with freezing by the “Brain Freeze” skill. Infiltrator is a must because it breaks your shield on action skill use
As for the reccomended gear, the flakker after the 10/17 hotfix got a huge buff for zane. Even though the gun got 33% less damage it still is high dps. Now that it has a 1 mag size the “Duct Tape Mod” skill synergizes well with this. We want the spash damage annointment also because we can end out colne skill for extra nova damage.
The Cold Shoulder sniper rifle is the hidden gen of this build. The underbarrel rockets have massive damage and deal cryo. This helps with freezing enemies in large groups. If timed correctly tou can even get the splash damage bonus from the flakker.
GAMEPLAN:
Our gamrplan is simple with this build. Run into the enemy’s face and blow everyone up. I think tina would approve… Ok it may be a bit more complicated than that.
So this build is actually pretty deep. Activation of the clone is our main source of damage. We need to make sure once the clone is used it needs to be blown up to always keep the skill on cooldown so “Calm Cool and Collected” can attempt to instantly cooldown. The bighest problem with this build is shields. But with “deturance field” it is less of a problem. We can shove it in the face of enemies to ril it off of them.
The main weapons of this build synergize with “Cold bore” very well. I like the cold shoulder in my 2nd slot and flakker in my 3rd. This way we can deal massive damage to a group of enemies quickly if needed.
The grenade is a hard decision to me personally. Yoi could use a shock hex or stormfront to help with mobs with shields or go with a good cryo grenade for build synergy. This is really up to the player.
Gameplay
I know the word around the street is cryo zane is just a gimmick, but with this version it is very much not. CCC isnt here to keep our skills up. Its mainly for the shield recharge and the occasional skill cooldown. Cryo zane can be very good and not so gimmicky when optimized.
After the 10/17 hotfix ive been seeing people talk about the “Zane nerf”. This is an utter joke to me. Cryo zane dosent change besides the fact we lose 1 pellet on the crossroad. Even with 1 less pellet you dont need 5 points in brain freeze. This character is not made for people who want to shred every enemy withought thought. Zane was made for people who enjoy tactical gameplay.
In closing, i love this build. Even when i tell myself its only a gimmick and need to spec for kill skills for dps i find myself repsecing back only a little while after. Something about it just makes me enjoy zane much more. The fact that you have to tactically manoeuvr around the battlefield to get the best position to blow your load is just fun to me. Im not claiming this build is the best zane build. It actually struggles with certian mayhem modifiers (but what build dosent get worse with mayhem mode). I am claiming this zane build is very good for mobbing, it could even be in contention for the best mobbing build in the game. Boss killing can be troublesome but bosses can always be cheesed.
Any suggestions for build optimization and/or criticism is welcome and suggested. I love seeing what people have to say about unique builds.