What will Borderlands 3 Zane’s skill trees and perks be? Thanks to a Twitch overlay leak, we’re certainly closer to knowing the answer to that question. We recently learnt that the next instalment in the Borderlands series is going to have a Twitch extension called ECHOcast, which lets you inspect a streamer’s loadout as you watch. Thanks to that titbit, Redditor Nickoladze was able to datamine the Twitch extension to find out what Vault Hunter Zane’s skill tree will be. Not without being ‘memed’ first, though.
As is customary in Borderlands, you’ll have an array of Vault Hunters to choose from, and each of them will come with three skill trees for you to tinker with to perfect your build. Experience points can run out, however, so you’ll need to carve a particular path down a skill tree, choosing specific skills and leaving others out.
In this Borderlands 3 Zane skill tree guide, we’ll detail the Vault Hunter’s Hitman, Under Cover, and Double Agent skill-sets and break down what each perk does. As this is a leak, however, do keep in mind that this is subject to change. Now that’s out the way, here’s what you can expect from Zane in Borderlands 3.
Zane’s skill trees for Borderlands 3 are:
Hitman
Skill tree:
- SNTNL: this action skill sends a drone into battle that fires upon foes with its machine guns. Press the Action Skill button or Grenade button while this is active and SNTNL will attack whoever is in your cross-hairs
- Violent Speed: killing an enemy gives Zane’s increased movement speed. This can be upgraded five times
- Cold Bore: upgrading this skill increases Zane’s weapon swap speed. The shot fired after swapping weapons does bonus Cryo damage, and this skill can also be upgraded five times
- Violent Momentum: Zane’s gun damage increases if he moves. The faster he moves, the more damage he deals
- Cool Hand: increased reload speed. Killing an enemy will also gift Zane increased reload speed for a spell
- Drone Delivery: SNTNL will occasionally drop a free grenade, depending on the mod you have equipped
- Salvation: after killing an enemy Zane’s weapons will acquire Life Steal for a few seconds
- Seein’ Red: activating an action skill will activate all of Zane’s Kill Skills
- Violent Violence: killing an enemy gives Zane’s weapons an increased fire-rate for a few seconds
- Paying Dirty: after killing an enemy, Zane’s next five shots all have a chance to fire an additional projectile.
- Good Misfortune: killing an enemy increases Zane’s Action Skill duration. Be mindful, though, this skill has ‘diminishing returns’
- Death Follows Close: all of Zain’s kill skills gain increased affect and duration
Augments:
- Winter’s Drone: converts SNTNL’s damage to cryo damage
- Bad Dose: every now and then SNTNL will fire a beam that increases Zane’s movement speed and fire rate, while decreasing enemies movement and attack speed
- Boomsday: SNTNL adds a rocket pod to its primary weapons – allowing it to shoot rockets as well as machine guns
- Static Field: SNTNL emits a static field that sends a Shock beam to nearby enemies, draining their shields and replenishing Zain’s
- Almighty Ordinance: hold down the Action Skill button or the Grenade button while SNTNL is deployed to paint a target area. The drone will then fire a missile barrage at that area, and if the enemy is killed then Almighty Ordinance will be reset.
UNDER COVER
Skill tree:
- Barrier: Zane deploys a, well, y’know. This Action Skill not only blocks incoming fire for Zane and his allies but will amplify damage if shot through
- Adrenaline: putting more shields in play will reduce the cooldown on Zane’s Action Skills – can be upgraded five times
- Hearty Stock: maximum shield capacity can be increased up to three times
- Ready for Action: increased shield recharge rate and shield recharge delay – can be upgraded up to three times
- Brainfreeze: scoring a critical hit has the chance to slow the enemy hit with the bullet
- Stiff Upper Lip: Whenever Zane takes damage he gains resistance to the damage type that hits him
- Rise to the Occasion: Zane receives health generation – the lower his shields, the faster he heals
- Confident Competence: when Zane’s shields are active he gains increased gun damage and accuracy
- Really Expensive Jacket: elemental damage over time effects applied to Zane have reduced duration time
- Best Served Cold: killing enemies creates a ‘Cryo Nova’ which damages nearby foes
- Futility Belt: Zane gains resistance to non-elemental damage, which is handy as all elemental damage Zane takes converts to non-elemental damage
- Refreshment: whenever Zane damages frozen enemies he gets some of that damage back as health
- Calm, Cool, Collected: freezing an enemy will immediately start recharging Zane’s shield – if shields are full, a bit of health will regenerate. But if his health is already full, Action Skill cooldowns and durations are reset
- Nerves of Steel: Zane gains increased handling and accuracy – the longer his shield is full, the higher the bonus
- Distributed Denial: Zane’s barrier gains the effects of his currently equipped Shield Mod. Additionally, shield effects apply to all allies near the barrier, but bonuses to Zane reduce
Augments:
- Charged Relay: whenever Zane or an ally touches the barrier, they gain increased fire rate and movement speed for a few seconds
- Nanites or Some Shite: Zane and his allies gain health regeneration, increased reload speed, and significantly improved shield recharge delay while near his barrier
- Redistribution: Zane and his allies near the barrier gain increased gun damage for a few seconds after the barrier takes damage
- All-rounder: Zane’s barrier becomes a dome, covering all sides
- Deterrence Field: enemies who touch the barrier take electricity damage and become staggered
DOUBLED AGENT
Skill tree:
- Digi-Clone: spawns a clone of Zane that will take the attention of foes – press the Action Skill button or the Grenade button while this is active and Zane will swap places with the clone
- Synchronicity: whenever one or more of Zane’s action skills are active, he gains increased Gun Damage for each active action skill – you can upgrade this skill five times
- Praemunitus: Zane and his Digi-Clone gain increased magazine size, and you can upgrade this skill three times
- Borrowed Time: Zane gains increased Action Skill Duration for every active action skill
- Donnybrook: whenever Zane kills an enemy, he and his Digi-Clone receive increased gun damage and receive health generation for a few seconds
- Fractal Frags: the Digi-Clone throws a copy of Zane’s current grenade mod when it first activates. If the Digi-Clone dies, it drops a free grenade
- Duct Tape Mod: the first shot fired from Zane’s gun also has the chance to shoot a grenade
- Quick Breather: whenever Zane swaps places with his Digi-Clone his shields begin recharging
- Pocket Full of Grenades: after killing an enemy, Zane gains grenade generation for a few seconds
- Old-U: press the Action Skill button or the Grenade button during Fight for Your Life if your Digi-Clone is active to destroy it and gain a Second Wind
- Supersonic Man: whenever one or more of Zane’s action skills are active, he gains increased movement speed for each active action skill
- Like a Ghost: Zane and his Digi-Clone gain the chance to ignore bullets – the chances of this increase if an Action Skill is active
- Boom. Enhance: summoning the Digi-Clone can consume up to three grenades – for each projectile consumed, the Digi-Clone will have increased gun damage, max health, fire rate, and reload speed
- Trick of the Light: Zane deals bonus shock damage to enemies that aren’t targeting him
- Double Barrel: the Digi-Clone draws the same gun as Zane – swapping places with the clone causes both of them to gain increased gun damage
Augments:
- Binary System: whenever Zane swaps places with his clone as ‘Cyro Nova’ spawns around both of them
- Schadenfreude: Zane’s shield recovers a portion of the damage his Digi-Clone receives
- Doppelbanger: holding down the Action Skill button or the Grenade button causes the action skill to end early and will make the Digi-Clone explode – dealing fire damage
- Which One’s Real? Enemies are more likely to target to Digi-Clone when Zane swaps places with it
- Digital Distribution: if Zane takes health damage while the Digi-Clone is active, a portion of that damage is shared to his clone instead
And there you have it, Zane’s Hitman, Under Cover, and Doubled Agent skill trees detailed in full – from special perks to augments.
As we’ve mentioned, this info comes from a datamine leak – so everything is susceptible to change. That said, the Borderland 3’s Operative Class is looking like an exciting addition.