This Borderlands 3 Zane Build is focused on the ricochet mechanic. The build is inspired by Youtube Creator Moxsy, and his Ricochet Wizard build. The simple rule is that the bigger target the better. We are using a ricochet mechanic with one of Zane's most powerful skills if used correctly. I draw inspiration from several Zane builds I made over the year that were using this mechanic, to create my own variants with some twists. More on them down below. You can find this Borderlands 3 Zane Build Save File at the bottom of the article.

Important! All the items are perfect rolls. If you do not want to download the file you can only gather inspiration for the build and try to replicate something similar in the game. The build contains gear from all the DLCs to Borderlands 3.

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Explanation

That Borderlands 3 Zane Build uses quite unique mechanic. There is a lot to unpack here. First of all, like with most Zane builds we are going to be using MNTIS Shoulder Cannon to activate our Kill Skills and anointments combining it with our Spy class mod. Then we are looking into using ricochet weapons. I have included three different variants of the build. You can change them as you wish. I will explain every single one a little bit down here.

The truth is that Zane can make any weapon seem overpowered. His skills can boost weapon damage to such ridiculous values that it becomes unfair for your enemies. The three variations of this Borderlands 3 Zane Build are just some of those I came up with. You can take any ricochet weapon, match the gear with proper shields, statistics on your class mod, artifacts, and anointments to make it powerful. You can turn this build into Jakobs Sniper Build for example. As long as you are good at hitting critical spots with your shits you are good to go.

Any Borderlands 3 Zane Build has a lot of stacking mechanics. I often mention Zane's mechanics of stacking his Kill Skill bonuses and anointments. I will try to expand here on that. You have multiple charges on your MNTIS Shoulder Cannon. Every single shot activates all of your Kill Skills, due to the Spy class mod's special ability. It makes that using your MNTIS Shoulder Cannon procs all of your Kill Skills, and there are a lot of them. Activating them gives you increased:

  • Gun Damage
  • Reload Speed
  • Fire Rate
  • Critical Damage
  • Movement Speed
  • Life Steal
  • Gives Additional Projectiles
  • Action Skill Cooldown Rate
  • Action Skill Duration

Also, Zane gains a lot of additional Gun damage the faster he moves, due to his Violent Momentum skill in the blue skill tree. Zane has a lot more Kill Skills. I just listed all those selected in this build attached to the picture below in the Skill Tree section.

Using Zane's MNTIS Shoulder Cannon also counts for both Action Skill Start and Action Skill End anointments. It is a very powerful tool that enables us to use a wide variety of anointments on our weapons, shields, and grenades.

Recursion Variant

In this variant we are using the Recursion shotgun, boosting all our Splash Damage with Atom Balm Victory Rush with specific stats listed below in the Artifacts section. We are also using either shield. It works well, a little different with both of them. It is the most consistent variant, requiring the least amount of precision. However, it is always better to score critical hits. You basically use Recursion shotgun only, however from time to time you can use a Critical Thug shotgun. It is also a very decent weapon for the build. Be careful with the latter shotgun, because there is a chance you will just down yourself into Fight for Your Life with too many explosions. I personally love this Borderlands 3 Zane Build variant. One of these builds that gives you an endless amount of fun.

Jakobs Pistol Variant

In this case, we are aiming into boosting pistol damage, we do not care about Splash Damage like before. We are using a different class mod with other statistics than before. Here you are rewarded for your aim and hitting the enemy's critical spots. We are also changing the artifact to Ice Breaker Victory Rush, because we will not be dealing radiation damage, and it is a very nice boost against frozen enemies. We can play around with the grenade's anointment in this Borderlands 3 Zane Build, We can use any grenade in any variant, just with proper Action Skill End Elemental anointment. The best way is to match the element to the enemies you are fighting.

Non-splash Shotgun Variant

In this variant of Borderlands 3 Zane Build, we are using mostly Hyperion Shotguns. We can throw in Hellwalker if we feel like it. It has a different feeling than the others and can break up the monotony of the variant quite nicely. However, the focus of this variant is on making Conference Call as powerful as in Borderlands 2. In the previous game, it was a really powerful tool against any enemy. It just destroys bigger enemies due to their multiple critical spots and creating chains between them with Eraser Skill from Zane's purple skill tree. Against smaller enemies and mobbing it is best to use the Convergence shotgun. It just explodes little opponents like flies.

Element Matching in Borderlands 3

I included different elemental variations of these weapons. It is in your best interest to match the element to the enemy. A quick reminder for anyone wondering:

  • Fire vs Health
  • Corrosive or Cryo vs Armor
  • Shock or Radiation vs Shields

You gain different values of damage increase or reduction while using your elements. It depends on the element and difficulty level you are playing on. True Vault Hunter mode prioritizes matching elements more with even higher bonuses while matching elements, and penalties for incorrectly using your weapon's elements.

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Skill Tree

borderlands 3 zane build ricochet zane ping pong

Credit: Lootlemon

  • Action Skill 1: Barrier
  • Augment 1: Charged Relay
  • Augment 2: All-rounder
  • Action Skill 2: MNTIS Shoulder Cannon
  • Augment 1: Colder Shoulder
  • Augment 2: Proliferation

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Weapons

Weapon 1: Maggie [always drops in non-elemental form]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 2: Wagon Wheel [always drops in non-elemental form]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 3: Trickshot [always drops in non-elemental form]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 4: The Seventh Sense [always drops in Cryo form]

Anointment: [can not be anointed]

Weapon 5: Recursion [radiation]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Splash Damage is increased by 200% for a short time

Weapon 6: Critical Thug [always drops in non-elemental form]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Splash Damage is increased by 200% for a short time

Weapon 7: Hellwalker [always drops in Fire form]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 8: Convergence [fire]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 9: Convergence [shock]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 10: Convergence [corrosive]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 11: Conference Call [fire]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 12: Conference Call [shock]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Weapon 13: Conference Call [corrosive]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Gear

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Class Mods

Class Mod 1: Spy [non-splash shotguns variant]

Skills:

  • Commitment +4
  • Our Man Flynt +1

Stats:

  • Shotgun Damage
  • Weapon Damage
  • Critical Damage

Class Mod 2: Spy [Recursion variant]

Skills:

  • Commitment +4
  • Our Man Flynt +1

Stats:

  • Shotgun Damage
  • Splash Damage
  • Critical Damage

Class Mod 3: Spy [Jakobs pistol variant]

Skills:

  • Commitment +4
  • Our Man Flynt +1

Stats:

  • Critical Damage
  • Pistol Damage
  • Jakobs Critical Damage

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Shields

Shield 1: Version 0.m [for single pallet weapons]

Anointment: On Action Skill Start, activate any effects that trigger on shield break or fill

Shield 2: One Shotter Shield [for multi-pallet weapons]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus [Fire/Shock/Corrosive] Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Grenades

Grenade 1: Any Grenade [only anointment matters, you will not throw grenades anyway]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Radiation Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds

Grenade 2: Any Grenade [only anointment matters, you will not throw grenades anyway]

Anointment: On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Cryo Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds

Borderlands 3 Zane Build Artifacts

Artifact 1: Ice Breaker Victory Rush [mobility with shotgun damage]

Stats:

  • Magazine Size
  • Reload Speed
  • Shotgun Damage

Artifact 2: Ice Breaker Victory Rush [mobility with pistol damage]

Stats:

  • Magazine Size
  • Reload Speed
  • Pistol Damage

Artifact 3: Atom Balm Victory Rush [using radiation aura boosts]

Stats:

  • Radiation Damage
  • Area of Effect Damage
  • Shotgun Damage

Borderlands 3 Zane SAVE FILE

Download SAVE FILE Here


Borderlands 3 is out now on PC, PS4PS5, Xbox One X/S, and Xbox Series X/S.

For more Borderlands 3 builds, check out this article.

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