Literally the best way to make zombie "normal" would be to:
1) Make her gear level a choice when unlocked. If she reaches gear 9, she can be gear 0 to 9 at choice, with her stats changing based on that level.
2) Limit the number of times she can revive based on her gear level, like 2 revives per unlocked gear level, with no limit at g11 and above.
If those 2 changes were here, literally everyone would be happy. Zombie would require gear which is a win for CG, and players would get to choose paper or tanky without any penalty.