Borderlands 3 Zane build guide: Best Operative builds

The best builds for Barrier, Digi-Clone, and SNTNL

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / 2K

Zane the Operative is the most flexible and versatile of the four Borderlands 3 characters, thanks to his unique ability to equip two Action Skills at once. But all that choice can also make things difficult as you try to decide how best to build him.

In this Borderlands 3 Zane build guide , we’ve laid out the top-tier builds that you can use in the base game to get the most out of this wise-cracking Operative: one for Barrier & Digi-Clone , one for Barrier & SNTNL , and one for Digi-Clone & SNTNL .

On this page:

• Digi-Clone & SNTNL (High Damage) build
• Barrier & Digi-Clone (Tanky) build
• Barrier & SNTNL (Versatile) build

Borderlands 3 Zane build guide

When it comes to creating a Zane build , the only aspect that stays permanent is his particular brand of Irish charm. Everything else is completely up in the air, because - more so than any other character - you can customise him however you want by mixing and matching the following skill trees:

• Hitman revolves around making use of lots of Kill Skills to make Zane more powerful and enhancing his damage with each life he or his SNTNL drone takes. If you want a high-damage Zane build , you’ll need to invest at least partially in the Hitman skill tree.
• Doubled Agent gives you a great many ways to improve the utility of Zane’s Digi-Clone Action Skill, and increases the benefits of having two Action Skills equipped. Synchronicity in particular is a must-have skill for almost any Zane build.
• Under Cover is the route to take if you want an incredibly tanky and survivable Zane build to play around with. Your Barrier Action Skill will only get more powerful (both defensively and offensively) as you progress down this tree.

As with other Borderlands 3 characters, there is also a fourth skill tree for Zane that can be accessed if you have the Ultimate Edition. For this guide though, we’re focusing on creating the best builds possible using the three main skill trees found in the base game.

Due to Zane’s nature, the below builds each focus on a pair of Action Skills ( Digi-Clone/SNTNL , Barrier/Digi-Clone , and Barrier/SNTNL ), each offering a different way to upgrade and play as the Operative. As well as providing a detailed walkthrough of each build, I’ve also included a cheat sheet of the skill trees and skills acquired, as well as stars to indicate which skills would be particularly good to augment with Class Mods.

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If you need a bit of a primer on the various Borderlands 3 characters and classes, look no further than our Borderlands 3 characters & skill trees guide. If not, let’s skip right ahead to the Zane builds !

Digi-Clone, SNTNL, High Damage (Borderlands 3 Zane build)

Borderlands 3 Zane build -Digi-Clone & SNTNL. Click to view at higher resolution!

• Primary Skill Tree: Doubled Agent
• Build Focus: Sustained High Gun Damage
• Best Skills for Class Mods: Synchronicity (Highly Recommended), Donnybrook, Trick of the Light, Violent Speed, Violent Momentum

For those who want to take Zane down the uber-high-damage route, you’ll probably want a build such as this one, which invests heavily in the Doubled Agent skill tree as well as the Hitman tree. With Digi-Clone and SNTNL as our Action Skills of choice, we’re missing out on the tankiness provided by Barrier and the Under Cover skill tree, but in return we’re getting two damage-based skills that can grow to become extremely powerful.

You’ve got some great early skill pickups across both skill trees for increasing your damage: namely the duo of Violent Speed and Violent Momentum , which begins the snowball of increasing damage based on movement speed; and particularly Synchronicity , which is definitely the skill that you’ll want to prioritise over-charging with a good class mod. After that you can push on through the Doubled Agent tree by maxing out Donnybrook . Your aim is to reach Supersonic Man , Trick of the Light , and finally the Capstone that is Double Barrel as quickly as you can, because your damage will be just way ahead of the curve as you follow this route.

Heading back to the Hitman skill tree, you’ll want to pickup both Drone Delivery and Death Follows Close (both of which are just indirect methods of further increasing your damage potential), and then investing your final points into Playing Dirty for the extra projectile chance. All this will have unlocked some excellent Skill Augments for both your Action Skills: Boomsday and Almighty Ordnance are the obvious choices for upping your SNTNL’s damage to pretty stonking levels, while for Digi-Clone I’ve elected to go for one defensive and one offensive augment. Schadenfreude , as well as being an excellent term that makes me smile whenever I hear it, is a great pickup for increasing your survivability a little bit; but the real star of the show is Doppelbanger , which deals absolutely insane damage if you detonate your Clone very shortly after summoning it.

Barrier, Digi-Clone, Tanky (Borderlands 3 Zane build)

Borderlands 3 Zane build -Barrier & Digi-Clone. Click to view at higher resolution!

• Primary Skill Tree: Under Cover
• Build Focus: Very High Survivability
• Best Skills for Class Mods: Hearty Stock (Highly Recommended), Adrenaline, Synchronicity, Borrowed Time

If you’d prefer a tankier Zane build that makes you feel about as invulnerable as you can feel in Borderlands 3, this is the build for you. Investing heavily in Under Cover will ensure that you can take pretty much anything any enemy can throw at you (particularly useful for certain boss fights), while our remaining skills will be given to the Doubled Agent tree to keep our damage potential up to scratch.

Despite this being a tanky build, I’m of the opinion that damage is your priority in the early levels, so you should probably still start by picking up a good 3-5 Synchronicity . But after that, you should head back to Under Cover and build into Hearty Stock and Adrenaline ( Ready For Action is also useful, but you can pick it up later on). Confident Competence , halfway down the Under Cover tree, is sort of like a mini-Capstone for the tree because it’s so useful just from a single point assigned, so you should beeline towards that and try to reach it by Level 18 or so.

After this your aim is basically to go straight down the middle of the green tree, investing in Best Served Cold and Calm, Cool, Collected (both of which give you some lovely Cryo-based CC and utility), and finally the Distributed Denial Capstone. Meanwhile you should pick up the All-Rounder augment to turn your Barrier into a dome; and Nanites Or Some Shite , which we care about because of the fantastic shield recharge delay reduction (which combined with your points in Ready For Action will mean you regenerate shields at a ridiculous rate).

When that’s all done it’s time to head back to Doubled Agent to shore up your damage a bit. Fractal Frags and Duct Tape Mod are both great because they essentially just give you a reason for that grenade mod slot; and Quick Breather again acts as a mini-capstone of sorts which further improves your shield game by immediately starting to recharge the moment you switch with your Clone. Finally, the Skill Augments you’ll want to pick up for your Digi-Clone are Schadenfreude (for obvious reasons) and Binary System , which again gives us some extra Cryo damage - never a bad thing.

By this point, there’s basically nothing in the game that’ll be able to topple you. Just throw out both your Action Skills whenever you can, and enjoy watching your shield basically never go down below 50%.

Barrier, SNTNL, Versatile (Borderlands 3 Zane build)

Borderlands 3 Zane build -Barrier & SNTNL. Click to view at higher resolution!

• Primary Skill Tree: Hitman
• Build Focus: Versatility, Balance Between Damage & Survivability
• Best Skills for Class Mods: Violent Speed, Violent Momentum, Violent Violence, Synchronicity, Adrenaline, Hearty Stock

So we’ve had two builds so far which cover opposite ends of the spectrum between high damage and high survivability. But if you’re after a more flexible and versatile build, then this one lands you pretty much exactly in the middle of that spectrum. Combining the Hitman and Under Cover skill trees is probably the most unusual pairing we’ve seen so far, but you’ll find that it’ll allow Zane to have a great amount of agency in every fight, ducking in and out of danger, and causing mayhem with his high gun damage and many Kill Skills.

But before any of that, guess what! We’re going to invest in Synchronicity . That’s as far as we’ll be going down the Doubled Agent tree, but the extra gun damage is just so useful when you’re using two Action Skills as Zane (which you should always be doing - who needs grenades anyway?). After that I tend to build up Under Cover and our tankiness levels before heading over to the Hitman skill tree. So that means picking up Hearty Stock , Adrenaline , Stiff Upper Lip , and Confident Competence first and foremost. These four skills together have such fantastic synergy - high shield levels and damage resistance (tankiness) and then higher gun damage, accuracy, and Action Skill cooldown rate (damage).

You’ll also unlock your two Barrier Augments of choice by doing this: All-Rounder (we love the dome) and Nanites Or Some Shite (better shields, hurrah!). But now comes the fun part. From this point onwards, we’re putting every single point into Hitman. Of course, we’ll start with the whambo-combo of Violent Speed and Violent Momentum - and here we see why it’s useful to have a dome barrier: more space to remain highly mobile while still staying protected.

After that, with the exception of Cool Hand (reload speed we can do without) and Cold Bore (ditto with weapon swap speed), we’re going to max out every single skill in the tree. Violent Violence and Playing Dirty are fantastic damage-dealing skill pickups, and once you pick up the capstone of Seein’ Red , you’ll be able to benefit from them instantly at the start of every fight when you use your Action Skills. With each new skill point you assign using this build, Zane will grow so much stronger, while still remaining versatile and flexible enough to accommodate pretty much any playstyle.

Alright, that’s probably a good place to stop for the time being with our Borderlands 3 Zane build guide. Hopefully you’ve found a build or two that suits the way you want to play the Operative - and if not, why not go build your own using one of the above builds as a template?

If you need any extra help with Borderlands 3, then look no further - we have you covered. Check out our Borderlands 3 Shift Codes page to get hold of free Golden Keys and claim extra loot. We’ve also got guides for the Borderlands 3 weapons and Legendary weapons to help get you up to speed with the game’s arsenal. And, if you need any more help with crafting the best character for your playstyle, we’ve also got other build guides for FL4K , Amara and Moze .

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

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