Borderlands 3: Zane’s Skills and Abilities Detailed

With new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 3 comes a whole new set of skills to be mastered. Zane’s one of those new characters people can play as, and he’s got some unique effects that are centered around overwhelming his enemy with attacks, keeping himself safe, and literally being in two places at once. He’s got three skill trees to work with – Under Cover, Hitman, and Doubled Agent – each of which expand on his three Action Skills.

What’s unique about Zane compared to other Vault Hunters is that he’s got the option of equipping two Action Skills at once while sacrificing the ability to throw grenades. This means that you’ll need to invest time in multiple skill trees to make the most out of Zane, but with how useful his skills are, the only difficult decision will be choosing which tree to tackle first.

We played Borderlands 3 for a while as Zane, so you can see more on how he actually handles here. To see an extensive list of his skills, you can find all those below.

Under Cover

TIER 1

Barrier (Action Skill)

• Drop a deployable Barrier that blocks incoming projectiles. Zane and his allies can shoot through the Barrier, dealing increased Gun Damage.
• Pressing LB or RB while Barrier is active picks up and holds Barrier, but the size and bonuses are decreased.

TIER 2

Adrenaline (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains increased Action Skill Cooldown Rate. This bonus is based on the amount of shields he has. The more percent full, the greater the bonus.

Hearty Stock (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains increased Maximum Shield Capacity.

Ready for Action (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains improved Shield Recharge Rate and Shield Recharge Delay

TIER 3

Charged Relay (Action Skill Augment)

• Whenever Zane or an ally touches the Barrier, they gain increased Movement Speed and Fire Rate for a few seconds.

Brainfreeze (Passive Ability)

• Whenever Zane scores a Critical Hit on an enemy, there’s a chance they will be Slowed.

Stiff Upper Lip (Passive Ability)

• Whenever Zane is damaged, he gains Damages Resistance against that damage type.

Rise to the Occasion (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains Health Regeneration. The lower his shield is, the higher the bonus. While Zane’s shields are full, he does not receive any health regeneration.

TIER 4

Nanites or some Shite (Action Skill Augment)

• Zane and his allies gain Health Regeneration, increased Reload Speed, and greatly improved Shield Recharge Delay when near his Barrier.
• The lower their health, the more health is regenerated.

Confident Competence (Passive Ability)

• While Zane’s shields are active, he gains increased Gun Damage and Accuracy. This bonus is based on the amount of shields he has. The more percent full, the greater the bonus.

All-rounder (Action Skill Augment)

• Zane’s Barrier becomes a dome, covering all sides.

TIER 5

Redistribution (Action Skill Augment)

• Zane and allies near the Barrier gain increased Gun Damage for a few seconds after the Barrier takes damage.

Really Expensive Jacket (Passive Ability)

• Elemental damage over time effects applied to Zane have reduced duration.

Best Served Cold (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. Whenever Zane kills an enemy they create a Cryo Nova, dealing damage to all nearby enemies. This skill has a short cooldown.

Futility Belt (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains resistance to non-elemental damage.
• Kill Skill. All elemental damage Zane takes is converted to non-elemental damage.

Deterrence Field (Action Skill Augment)

• Enemies that touch the Barrier take Shock Damage and are staggered.

TIER 6

Refreshment (Passive Ability)

• Whenever Zane Damages a frozen enemy with his weapon, he gains some of that damage back as health.

Calm, Cool, Collected (Passive Ability)

• Whenever Zane Freezes an enemy, his shield instantly begins recharging.
• If Zane’s shields are already full, he regenerates health for a few seconds.
• If Zane’s health is already full, his Action Skill Cooldowns and Durations are immediately reset.

Nerves of Steel (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains increasing Accuracy and Handling. The longer his shield is full, the greater the bonus.

TIER 7

Distributed Denial (Passive Ability)

• Zane’s barrier gains the effects of his currently equipped Shield Mod. Additionally, shield effects are applied to all allies near the barrier. Bonuses to Zane are reduced.

Hitman

TIER 1

SNTNL (Action Skill)

• Send into battle an automated SNTNL drone that continually flies through the environment and attacks enemies with its Machine Guns.
• Pressing LB or RB while SNTNL is active causes it to attack the enemy under Zane’s crosshairs, if any.

TIER 2

Violent Speed (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. After killing an enemy. Zane gains increased Movement Speed for a few seconds.

Cold Bore (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains increased Weapon Swap Speed. The next shot fired after swapping weapons deals Bonus Cryo Damage.

Violent Momentum (Passive Ability)

• Zane’s Gun Damage is increased while moving. The quicker he moves, the greater the Gun Damage bonus.

TIER 3

Winter’s Drone (Action Skill Augment)

• Converts SNTNL’s primary weapons to Cryo Damage.

Cool Hand (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains increased Reload Speed.
• Kill Skill. After killing an enemy, Zane’s Reload Speed is increased for a few seconds.

Drone Delivery (Passive Ability)

• SNTRY will occasionally drop a free grenade based on your current grenade mod while attacking enemies.

Salvation (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. After killing an enemy, Zane’s weapons gain Life Steal for a few seconds.

TIER 4

Bad Dose (Action Skill Augment)

• SNTNL occasionally shoots out a beam of Radiation that weakens enemies and buffs Zane.
• For every weakened enemy, Zane’s Movement Speed and Fire Rate are increased.
• Weakened enemies have decreased Movement Speed and Attack Speed.

Seein’ Red (Passive Ability)

Activating an Action Skill automatically activates all of Zane’s kill skills.

Static Field (Action Skill Augment)

• SNTNL emits a static field that sends a Shock beam to nearby enemies, draining their shields and replenishing Zane’s.

TIER 5

Boomsday (Action Skill Augment)

• SNTNL adds a rocket pod to its primary weapons, allowing it to shoot rockets as well as machine guns.

Violent Violence (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. After killing an enemy, Zane gains increased Fire Rate for a few seconds.

Playing Dirty (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. After killing an enemy, Zane’s next five shots all have a chance to fire an additional projectile.

Almighty Ordinance (Action Skill Augment)

• Hold down LB or RB while SNTNL is deployed to paint a target area.
• SNTNL fires a missile barrage at that area, and if an enemy s killed, Almighty Ordinance’s duration is reset.
• This can only be used once per Action Skill use.

TIER 6

Good Misfortune (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. Killing an enemy increases Zane’s Action Skill Duration. This skill has diminishing returns.

TIER 7

Hitman (Passive Ability)

• All of Zane’s kill skills gain increased effect and duration.

Doubled Agent

TIER 1

Digi-Clone (Action Skill

• Spawn a Digi-Clone of Zane. This clone stays in place, but distracts and fires at enemies.
• Pressing LB or RB while the Clone is active causes Zane and the Clone to swap places.

TIER 2

Synchronicity (Passive Ability)

• Whenever one or more of Zane’s action skills are active, he gains increased Gun Damage for each active action skill.

Praemunitus (Passive Ability)

• Zane and his Digi-Clone gain increased Magazine Size.

Borrowed Time (Passive Ability)

• Zane gains increased Action Skill Duration for every active action skill.

TIER 3

Binary System (Action Skill Augment)

• Whenever Zane swaps places with his Clone, a Cryo Nova is triggered around Zane and is Clone.

Dannybrook (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. Whenever Zane kills an enemy, he and his Digi-Clone receive increased Gun Damage and gain Health Regeneration for a few seconds.

Fractal Frags (Passive Ability)

• The Digi-Clone throws a copy of Zane’s current grenade mod when it is first activated. If the Digi-Clone is killed, it drops a free grenade.
• Kill Skill. Killing an enemy while the Digi-Clone is active gives the Clone a chance to throw a grenade.

Duct Tape Mod (Passive Ability)

• The first shot fired from Zane’s gun has a chance to also fire a grenade. The more grenades in his capacity, the higher the chance.

TIER 4

Schadenfreude (Action Skill Augment)

• Whenever the Clone takes damage, Zane’s shield is restored by a portion of that damage.

Quick Breather (Passive Ability)

• Whenever Zane swaps places with his Clone, his shield immediately begins recharging.

Which One’s Real? (Action Skill Augment)

• Enemies are more likely to target the Clone for a few seconds after it’s summoned and after swapping places.

TIER 5

Doppelbanger (Action Skill Augment)

• Hold down LB or RB to end the action skill early.
• When Zane’s Action Skill is ended, the Clone explodes, dealing Fire Damage to all nearby enemies.
• The more Action Skill time remaining, the greater the damage.

Pocket Full of Grenades (Passive Ability)

• Kill Skill. After killing an enemy, Zane gains Grenade Regeneration for a few seconds.

Did-U (Passive Ability)

• Press LB or RB during Fight for Your Life if Digi-Clone is active to destroy the clone and immediately gain a Second Wind with full health.

Supersonic Man (Passive Ability)

• Whenever one or more of Zane’s action skills are active, he gains increased Movement Speed for each active action skill.

Digital Distribution (Action Skill Augment)

• If Zane takes health damage while the Clone is active, a portion of that damage is shared to his Clone instead.

TIER 6

Like a Ghost (Passive Ability)

• Zane and his Digi-Clone gain a chance to ignore bullets. This chance is increased for a few seconds after activating an action skill. This effect stacks.

Boom. Enhance. (Passive Ability)

• Whenever Zane summons his Digi-Clone, it consumes up to 3 grenades. For every grenade consumed, the Digi-Clone gains increased Gun Damage, Max Health, Fire Rate, and Reload Speed.

Trick of the Light (Passive Ability)

• Zane deals Bonus Shock Damage to enemies that aren’t targeting him.

TIER 7

Double Barrel (Passive Ability)

• The Clone is equipped with a copy of Zane’s Current Weapon when activated.
• Swapping places with the Clone causes Zane and his clone to gain increased Gun Damage.