Zane (Operative) Hitman Build Guide Gear

This Hitman Zane build guide is split in 3 different pages. The other 2 pages are the build overview and the skills, which you can access by clicking the buttons below.

The build focuses on shotguns with high damage per shot and low pellet amount, possibly with travel time to abuse damage increase traits that rely on your movement speed like Violent Momentum and Violent Speed.

While elemental damage on skill end makes the build quite versatile, it is advisable to have multiple copies of those weapons, with matching elements to use against different type of enemies, in particular:

• An Incendiary weapon to deal with flesh (red health bars)
• A Shock or Radiation weapon to deal with shields (blue health bars)
• A Corrosive or Cryo weapon to deal with armor (yellow health bars)

The strongest weapons for the build are blue/purple alien shotguns, which cannot be targeted directly and therefore obtaining them can be quite inconsistent, as you may get lucky/unlucky with vendors, Jabbermogwai, or Eridian Fabricator.

First option is the Protuberance, an alien Torgue shotgun lobbing an elemental projectile at a location, which will then split in 4 extra after impact, each dealing splash damage. Very powerful for focusing single targets, it can make short work of badasses and bosses when using the appropriate element. In Shock variant, it can also be used to replenish your shields if you have The Transformer equipped.

Second option is the Host, the Hyperion counterpart, another alien shotgun that lobs a projectile which will inflict a strong elemental damage over time and can bounce multiple times. It is a superior choice for mobbing, compared to Protuberance, however, it requires a precise playstyle and relies on kiting/funneling several enemies in a line to maximize the number of targets hit by each pellet.

The last key weapon is the Face-puncher, best in its Redundant variant, and it is primarily used to replenish shotgun ammo, in conjunction with a Cutpurse or a Bullet Vamp artifact, as both Host and Protuberance are relatively ammo hungry.

When dealing with bosses, a Lyuda or a Cutsman of the matching element are always a solid choice.

If you have yet to find an alien barrel shotgun, Projectile Recursion can be a substitute, but requires some aim while being on the move, and Zane has no means to keep targets immobile unlike Amara, thus some ricochets might end up missing their target.

For Class Mods, Executor gives just another kill skill which we amplify with Death Follows Close and can be activated with Action Skills thanks to Seein' Red. Ideally, we want 2 to 3 points in Playing Dirty to reach 95 or 100% chance for additional projectile.

Regarding Artifact choice, the Cutpurse affix is mandatory and without, it you will starve for shotgun ammo. The best legendary Artifacts are Victory Rush for even more damage, but Splatter Gun can be an alternative, albeit much rarer. Last but not least, Otto Idol can be a viable option, especially if you prefer a more defensive loadout.

Shield mods are mostly used as platform for Anointment effects after Skill ends, and the general strong defensive ones are preferred, such as The Transformer to absorb Shock damage or Stop-Gap.

While Grenades are mostly used for the Anointed After Skill End effect, both your Clone and the SNTNL will periodically drop one, tilting the choice towards utility grenades. It's Piss, Recurring Cryo Hex, and Tran-fusion are all excellent options, but ultimately the most important roll is a 50% extra elemental damage after Skill End Anointment, so do not sweat if you cannot find one, and check the Ammo vendors for the desired Anointment instead.

Anointed rolls are special additional effects that can appear on weapons and shields at higher levels. The special effects relate to the use of action skills and provide powerful temporary buffs.

For this build, you should look for anointments that give you a direct boost to your damage. On weapons the strongest affixes are:

• 'On Action Skill End, Splash Damage is increased by 125% for a short time' when using Protuberance or Host.
• 'On Action Skill End, Weapon Damage is increased by 100% for a short time'.
• 'While SNTNL is active, Gain 50% of damage as bonus Cryo damage'.
• 'After swapping places with your Digi-Clone, Weapon Damage is increased by 75% for a short time'.

For Shields and Grenade you want instead two of the following Anointments with different elements (two identical Anointments wont stack):

• 'On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Incendiary Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds.'
• 'On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Shock Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds.'
• 'On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Corrosive Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds.'
• 'On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Cryo Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds.'
• 'On Action Skill End, gain 50% bonus Radioactive Damage with Weapons for 10 seconds.'

It is extremely important to have as many elements as possible spread between your native weapon element, and anointment effects, as it will increase the versatility of your loadout without requiring multiple weapon swaps mid combat, and reduce the chances you are facing the type of enemies resistant to the weapon element you decided to stack.

This build utilises strong general weapons that can drop anywhere in the game. Therefore there are no specific mission drops to support this build.

Slot	Item	Special Effect	Secondary Stat/Effect Priority
Weapon 1	Protuberance	Does high splash elemental damage and spawn 3 additional projectiles on impact.	% Weapon Damage
Weapon 2	Host	Lobs a powerful elemental projectile that bounces on surfaces and through enemies, leaving a strong elemental damage over time effect on anything it touches.	% Weapon Damage Critical Hit Damage
Weapon 3	Any of the two types above for mobbing purposes		Weapon Charge Speed
Weapon 3 Alternative	Cutsman for bosses	Fires two projectiles connected by a powerful laser
Weapon 4	Face-puncher	Each pellet does damage as if it was a melee hit.	Redundant version for 14 pellets per shot.
Shield	The Transformer Stop-Gap	Absorbs all Shock damage and convert it into Shields. Provides 5 seconds of immunity after shield breaks.	Max Health
Class Mod	Executor	2 or 3 points in Playing Dirty	% Shotgun Damage % Magazine Size % Elemental Damage
Artifact	Victory Rush Otto Idol	Bonus damage and movement speed for 60 seconds after killing a badass. Recover 13% max health after killing an enemy.	% Shotgun Damage % Magazine Size % Elemental Damage
Grenade Mod	It's Piss Hex Tran-fusion	Clear status effect on allies and debuff enemies with 20% increase damage taken. Homing grenade that will fire beams at any nearby target. Heals for 120% of damage dealt, heal shields for 30% of damage dealt.	Recurring variant