TVHM M3 Nova Berner Zane (100k+ dmg novas!)

Borderlands 3 Zane the Operative
#1

A little early for Halloween, but here are two completely unique Zane builds that not only function in the post-nerf environment but thrive in it.

The builds function by utilizing Zane’s insane tankiness, speed/mobility, crowd control ability, and trickiness to aggro, group, and mob enemies using the extremely powerful novas that both Zane and his clone can activate.

Here is a short video demonstrating the basic gameplay loop, with some terribly unoptimized gear

This version is similar to what I was running while testing out the build concept and what was filmed in the video above. Clone + Grenades allows you to throw basically infinite grenades with one hand and managing the clone with the other. Works well with other nova shields, but of course Nova Berner would still work fine (but with 1 less nova). Frozen Heart is the safest variety, offers tons of CC for build variants (like people who care about guns), and synergizes well with Ice Breaker artifacts.

https://bl3skills.com/operative#005535100111000000000000050551013130101

This is the build I’m currently running with a Nova Berner.

In this variety you use your barrier and clone to activate the nova on spawn, depletion, and death. Zane can wait for enemies to deplete his shield while repositioning, or use shock to manually deplete his shield as a walking bomb.
https://bl3skills.com/operative/#505035015100011000000000003551011130100

Shields I recommend:
1.) Nova Berner
2.) Frozen Heart
3.) Black Hole
4.) Any other nova shield

Trinkets I recommend:

Prefix
1.) Ice Breaker (if using frozen heart/CCC)
2.) Last Stand
3.) Snowdrift

Suffix
1.) Victory Rush
2.) Otto Idol

Weapons:
Any. This build is focused on action skill management and any gun can be slotted in and do fine. I recommend guns that make the gameplay loop easier for you to manage. For me, these were guns that shot from the hip accurately while holding the trigger for Dopplebanger.

[Important note on weapons]
The anointment “On Action Skill End, Splash Damage is increased by 125% for a short time” applies on Dopplebanger’s explosion and will make it, your novas, grenades, and all your splash weapons stronger.

Grenades:
Any. I prefer shock Hex for lowering shields as the primary novas are kinetic/fire and are reduced by shields. Have your grenades fill in the gaps your gun doesn’t.

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Killing 2 Anointed Militants and several adds simultaneously as Zane TVHM M3. How does this VH prove himself to you? [Discussion]
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#2

This is actually very similar to my “Hellborn” Zane build. The only diffrence is the downtime. Instead of waiting for the enemy to break your shield why not use the infiltrator mod?

Heres a link to my hellborn zane build

They say great minds think alike :wink:

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#3

I do not have an Infiltrator mod that has + %splash damage on it.

#4

Your losing out on dps either way. With infiltrator the game flow is better so moving from fight to fight is made quicker.

#5

I do like the concept of only 1 action skill for this build however. I rarely think about zane with only 1 action skill. Could be cool with a shock transfusion tracker to recharge the shield. May have to test it

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#6

30k nova vs. 150k nova cannot be compared imo, but an infiltrator with + splash damage would be optimal, yes.

#7

Is the bonus splash on class mods really 500% O.o never knew this

#8

Watch the second video.

The anointment for splash damage on weapons applies to Dopplebanger as it does kinetic splash damage. The splash damage from the class mod contributes. AoE damage on relic further contributes.

Not having that % bonus means losing thousands of damage, as Dopplebanger actually scales off of the time from cast to detonation and nothing having to do with + duration it seems. That or the scaling is REALLY low, as I only noticed changes with 1 point into Boom Enhance and with 1 grenade (2/3 didn’t seem to matter or less than a 1k difference). Borrowed Time had little/no effect with 1 or 2 action skills (<1k damage increase, didn’t show in testing).

If I had perfect gear, I’d be doing much more damage.

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#9

You would also be gaining an extra 23k damage every action skill use with infiltrator. Idk what % the splash damage boost is so it have to be tested. 1 action skill with infiltrator is 2 novas thats the part thats hard to calculate

#10

interesting build ideas, kudos :ok_hand:

#11

Weapon and gun damage don’t apply to splash damage, AFAIK. Where do I gain the 23k extra from?

If weapon damage DOES apply, that would be significant (I’d be hitting >200k with that + %splash damage stat), but I know for a fact gun damage doesn’t.

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#12

You get 2 novas as soon as you use action skill instead of just the one

#13

Love this build! Few questions that I cant seem to find answers to. Do talents that increase action skill duration increase the damage from dopplebanger? Or is it precent base. Also wondering if anyone else saw the 50% cryo damage annointment and thought of this build? Does it apply?

#14

It says Dopplebanger scales off of duration, but this is when you pull the trigger relative to when you summon it, and not how long the skill actually lasts for.

Damage from dopplebanger is increased by: splash damage on class mods, aoe damage on artifacts, splash damage on anointments

As I don’t have a 50% cryo damage anointed weapon, I don’t know, but it probably would apply making AoE freezing hilariously easy.

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#15

Today they revealed the Recharge Berner, might be the new best Shield for this setup

Screenshot_20191029-151751_YouTube
Screenshot_20191029-151751_YouTube.jpg1146×559 227 KB

We have to wait for the Maliwan Takedown event though.

#16

Good ■■■■. Been busy so I didn’t catch the updates, but this might become my main build.

You are still going to have to option/dilemma of choosing between the new spooky shield that’s an updated Frozen Heart and that shield which is an optional element Nova Burner.

#17

Yeah but I was thinking along the line of getting 3 explosions for the price of one. We’re gonna have to do some testing.

#18

Honesty it depends on how fast your shield recharge rate is. I’ve used a terror anointed recharger in one of my recent builds and it basically recharged instantly, without any points in ready for action.

Not sure if my rolls on the shield or guardian rank had a big influence on it.

If it does recharge instantly and the clone doesn’t get one-shot, it could continue to proc novas, like a nova-turret. To do this you’d have to have enough health/shields for the health gate to keep it alive and/or have time to heal.

Or you could just swap out with the clone after two novas.

When I die using Nova Burner, my shield nova goes off, but I think this counts “on fill” since I’m going to the New-U. I’m not sure if Dopplebanging would give both a fill and break nova, since it doesn’t typically (regular NB still goes off twice).

Zane Questions for Zane Lovers
#19

@GimmickBuilds does that splash anointment only appear on rocket launchers?

Also, let me show off this class mod I got to the class. Once like a ghost is better, I think it’d work great with this build. Can’t wait to farm the “raid” for that shield.

Infiltrator%20zane
Infiltrator zane.jpg1920×1080 399 KB

#20

That is a wacky class mod, literally perfect for this build.

You can get the splash damage anointment on any weapon. Right now I’m running an Alchemist with splash damage on ASE.

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