Without question, Zero is one of the most fun playable characters in Borderlands 2, and there are two primary ways to build him. More specifically, players can build Zero with a heavy focus on melee, or they can instead give preference to sniping, and indeed both options can be extremely powerful. That said, fans that want their Zero to be as strong as possible should gear him with sniping in mind, and this guide will detail one of the very best Zero sniping builds in BL2, along with a good secondary option that's a bite more catered to speed and offense.
This best Borderlands 2 Zero build is a fairly standard sniping build, and it requires 33 Sniping, 27 Cunning, and 15 Bloodshed. While this Zero build is not extremely gear dependent, it does work best when paired with the Legendary Sniper Class Mod, and here is a full breakdown of where players should be putting their points:
Updated January 4th, 2023, by Stephen LaGioia: Whether it's the sharp-shooting assassin Zero or, more recently, the critical-heavy beastmaster Flak, many Borderlands players favor long-range combat and stealth. Despite the more frantic, run-and-gun nature of the game, BL2, in particular, makes sniping and headshots satisfying and rewarding.
And while BL2 is now over a decade old, Zero remains a fan-favorite. Thus, we decided to revisit and reload this blueprint regarding a couple of great builds for Zero players.
Best Zero Sniper Build
This build really works with the strengths of Zero by stressing criticals, accuracy, steady aim, and piercing. It also maximizes getting quick kills. As a secondary feature, it also boosts his melee capabilities somewhat, allowing for a more assassin-style of play as well.
Sniping (33)
Skill | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
HeadShot | 5/5 | Increases critical hit damage. |
Killer | 5/5 | Increases zoom with all gun types. Aim is not disrupted as much when taking damage. |
Precision | 5/5 | Improves accuracy with all gun types. |
One Shot One Kill | 5/5 | The first shot fired from a fully-loaded magazine deals increased damage. |
Bore | 1/1 | Shots pierce through enemies. Increased damage if shot hits enemy after piercing another. |
Velocity | 5/5 | Increases bullet speed, gun damage, and critical hit damage with all guns |
Kill Confirmed | 1/5 | Aiming down the sights with your gun grants you increased critical hit damage. More bonus for longer aiming. |
At One with the Gun | 5/5 | Greatly improves accuracy with sniper rifles when shooting from the hip. |
Critical Ascension | 1/1 | Scoring a critical hit with a sniper rifle increases your gun damage and critical hit damage with sniper rifles. |
Cunning (27)
Skill | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
Fast Hands | 5/5 | Increases reload speed and weapon swap speed. |
Ambush | 5/5 | Increases damage dealt when attacking from behind or when attacking an enemy who is targeting someone other than you. |
Rising Shot | 5/5 | Each successful ranged or melee attack grants a stacking damage bonus for a short time. Stacks up to 5 times. |
Death Mark | 1/1 | Melee attacks mark the target for death for a short duration. Marked targets take more damage from all sources. |
Unf0reseen | 5/5 | Your holographic decoy explodes when you become visible again, dealing Shock damage to nearby enemies. |
Innervate | 5/5 | While Deception is active, you gain increased gun damage and movement speed, as well as regenerate health. |
Death Blossom | 1/1 | Action Skill augment. Can throw a handful of kunai. Each will explode with a random elemental type. |
Bloodshed (15)
Skill | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
Killing Blow | 5/5 | Massively increases melee damage against enemies with low health. |
Grim | 5/5 | Kill skill. Killing an enemy causes shields to regenerate quickly and increases Action Skill cooldown rate for a few seconds. |
Followthrough | 5/5 | Kill skill. Killing an enemy increases your movement speed, melee damage, and gun damage for a few seconds. |
For fans that would like a more thorough breakdown of the skills selected for this BL2 Zero build, that can be found in the following video. This video also contains details on a second build where three points have been shifted into Iron Hand in the Bloodshed tree. The idea here is to combine that skill with a Survivor Class and Turtle shield, which can then be exploited to give Zero very high survivability.
Best Zero Gun-Style Build
While this one still stresses accuracy and swiftness, it leans more in the direction of close-range combat, power, and rapid-fire gunplay rather than long-distance and sniping.
Sniping (26)
Skill | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
HeadShot | 5/5 | Increases critical hit damage. |
Killer | 5/5 | Increases zoom with all gun types. Aim is not disrupted as much when taking damage. |
One Shot One Kill | 5/5 | The first shot fired from a fully-loaded magazine deals increased damage. |
Bore | 1/1 | Shots pierce through enemies. Increased damage if shot hits enemy after piercing another. |
Velocity | 5/5 | Increases bullet speed, gun damage, and critical hit damage with all guns |
Kill Confirmed | 5/5 | Aiming down the sights with your gun grants you increased critical hit damage. More bonus for longer aiming. |
Cunning (28)
Skill | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
Fast Hands | 5/5 | Increases reload speed and weapon swap speed. |
Counter Strike | 1/5 | After getting hit, the next melee attack has a chance to deal massively increased damage. |
Fearless | 5/5 | While shield is depleted, gain a bonus to gun damage and fire rate. |
Ambush | 5/5 | Increases damage dealt when attacking from behind or when attacking an enemy who is targeting someone other than you. |
Death Mark | 1/1 | Melee attacks mark the target for death for a short duration. Marked targets take additional damage from all sources. |
Innervate | 5/5 | While Deception is active, you gain increased gun damage and movement speed, as well as regenerate health. |
Two Fang | 5/5 | Every time you fire a gun, you have a chance to fire twice. |
Death Blossom | 1/1 | Action Skill augment. Can throw a handful of kunai. Each will explode with a random elemental type. |
Bloodshed (8)
Skill | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
Killing Blow | 5/5 | Massively increases melee damage against enemies with low health. |
Iron Hand | 1/5 | Increases your melee damage and maximum health. |
Grim | 2/5 | Kill skill. Killing an enemy causes your shields to regenerate quickly and increases your Action Skill cooldown rate for a few seconds. |
Best Zero Gear
With respect to the gear that should be used with these best BL2 Zero builds, there is a slew of options beyond the Legendary Sniper Class Mod that was mentioned previously. Here is a brief overview of some of the best Borderlands 2 weapons, shields, and relics for this build, and again more details can be found in the video featured above.
- Grenades: O-Negative, Transfusion, Turtle
- Shields: Antagonist, Blockade, Bee
- Relics: Bone of the Ancients, Heart of the Ancients, Blood of the Ancients (Depending on Weapon)
- Weapons: Snider, Droog, Muckamuck, Invader, Hot Mama, Chere-amie, Morningstar, Amigo Sincero, Pimpernel, Lyudmila, Double Penetrating Unkempt Harold
- Snipers, pistols, and SMGs are generally good options, as they're ideal for criticals and (the first two) for accuracy.
While most of these apply to the sniper build, many can still be beneficial to the more run-and-gun Zero build.
One final thing to say about gear for this Borderlands 2 Zero build is that it is advisable to equip potent snipers in all four weapon slots in order to not lose Critical Ascension stacks when switching guns. Indeed, this will allow players to continually increase their standard and Critical Hit damage, turning Zero into a real force to be reckoned with.
Borderlands 2 is out now for PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
