Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) Beginner guide

Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) is an Action Combat RPG similar to Genshin Impact. The game is split into two modes: Story and Hollows.

• In the Story, you move through areas following along the main plot while defeating enemies and bosses.
• Hollows are the primary game mode of ZZZ and where you’ll be spending most of your time after you’re up to date on the current story. Hollows are a roguelike experience that sees you play through randomized dungeons with a team of your choice for rewards.

Overall, the game focuses on exploring Hollows using the HDD system which is very similar to a top down roguelike dungeon. The gameplay consists of navigating the HDD game board to interact with events and complete combat encounters handled by your team of Agents.

Agents are playable units in ZZZ. You are given 3 agents for free (Anby, Nicole and Billy) at the start of the game:

Anby

Nicole

Billy

And those Agents you can obtain for free from progressing through the game and from various events:

Ben

Corin

Soukaku

Sources:

• Ben - complete Chapter 2 Story 1,
• Corin - pre-register reward,
• Soukaku - complete Shiyu Defense 3-4

Rarities

Agents are split into two rarities: S-rank and A-rank, with S-rank Agents being more powerful and harder to get on average.

Agent Stats

Here are all the combat stats agents can gain and what they do:

• HP - How much damage an Agent can take before falling in combat.
• ATK - How much damage an Agent deals.
• DEF - Reduces the damage an Agent takes.
• Impact - Attacking enemies increases their Daze. A higher Impact stat allows more Daze to accumulate with each attack.
• Crit Rate - How likely it is for the Agent to land a critical hit.
• Crit DMG - Determines the damage multiplier when landing a critical hit.
• PEN - Ignores a set amount of the target’s DEF based on the PEN stat when attacking an enemy.
• Pen Ratio - Ignores a percentage of the target’s DEF based on the PEN Ratio stat when attacking an enemy.
• Anomaly Mastery - Affects the efficiency of Anomaly Buildup. Each point in Anomaly Mastery is equivalent to 1% of Anomaly Buildup Rate.
• Anomaly Proficiency - Enhances the damage inflicted by Attribute Anomalies. Each point in Anomaly Proficiency is equivalent to 1% of Attribute Anomaly DMG.
• Energy Regen - After entering combat, Agents passively generate Energy every second. The higher this value is, the more Energy gained per second.
• Energy Generation Rate - Energy Generation Rate will increase the Energy generated through Energy Regen, and attacking enemies.

Character Attributes

All agents are categorized into one of five Attributes:

• Fire
• Electric
• Ice
• Frost
• Physical
• Ether

Combining Agents with specific Elemental attributes and Factions in the same squad allows you to activate their additional passive skill.

Enemies come in different types and are vulnerable to different elemental damage:

• Organic and Corrupted are vulnerable to Fire-Type Attacks.
• Machines are vulnerable to Electric-Type Attacks.
• Mutants are vulnerable to Ice-Type Attacks.

Attribute Anomaly

When an agent deals attribute damage, they inflict a certain amount of Anomaly Buildup. Once a certain level of buildup is reached, the enemy will be afflicted with an attribute anomaly debuff of the corresponding attribute. Additionally, exploiting enemies weakness to certain Attributes to trigger Attribute Anomaly will intensify the Anomaly effect. As we mentioned in the stats section above, Anomaly Mastery stat will increase the buildup of the Anomaly, while Anomaly Proficiency will increase the damage dealt by it.

Combining 2 different attributes will override the original anomaly and trigger an additional effect Disorder which deals extra damage calculated based on original anomalies damage and accumulates Daze.

Here are all the Anomaly Debuffs that exist in the game:

To learn more about Anomaly Debuffs, check this great video:

Specialty

In addition Agents can specialize in five different Specialties that define their role in the team:

• Attack - Agents with the Attack specialty possess formidable damage output capabilities, excelling at rapidly racking up damage directly through attacks to defeat enemies and bring the combat to a swift end.
• Stun - Agents with Stun specialty possess powerful control abilities, excelling at building up Daze to cause enemies to be Stunned, thus creating opportunities for the squad to deal damage.
• Support - Agents with Support specialty are able to aid and enhance other Agents in battle, excelling at buffing friendly units to improve the combat effectiveness of the whole squad.
• Defense - Agents with Defense specialty have strong survivability, excelling at tanking attacks to counterattack, seizing the upper hand for their side in the heat of battle.
• Anomaly - Agents with Anomaly specialty are exceptional with applying debuffs, excelling at accumulating Anomaly Buildup to weaken enemies and deal damage by triggering Attribute Anomalies.

Agent Training

If you want to learn more about how to make your Agents stronger, check this guide:

Agents Progression

W-Engines are the Zenless Zone Zero equivalent of Weapons from Genshin Impact or Light Cones from Honkai: Star Rail. Here's some more information about the system:

• W-Engines come in 3 rarities: S-rank, A-rank and B-rank.
• W-Engines increase the Agent's Attack and another stat that changes based on the W-Engine,
• W-Engines also come with a passive effect that activates in the combat,
• W-Engines are restricted to the character's Specialty - so for example, only Attack characters can activate the special passive of an Attack W-Engine.
• You can level W-Engines in the same way as you level Agents,
• You can obtain W-Engines from the Signal Search, buy them in the Gadget Store or obtain them as random drops from some game modes.

You can find the list of currently available W-Engines in this guide:

W-Engines

Bangboo were originally created to assist New Eridu residents with evacuation in Hollow disasters. When a Hollow occurs in New Eridu's residential areas, Bangboo will immediately receive disaster information and evacuation guidance from the public network, and help people around them avoid the hazard-prone areas.

If you ever played Honkai Impact 3, then Bangboo are really similar to ELFs - they are the 4th team member who supports the currently active character with both active skills and buffs. Similar to Agents, Bangboo come in two ranks - S-rank and A-rank.

How to obtain Bangboo?

You can pull them from the Bangboo Oriented Signal Search. You can only use Boopons on this banner - Boopons can be obtained from missions, events and various modes in Hollow Deep Dive Zone and can't be bought using real-life currency.

If you want to check the list of currently available Bangboo and their skills, take a look at this guide:

Bangboo list

Zenless Zone Zero uses a gacha system as the primary way for a player to obtain new Characters, W-Engines and Bangboos and it is generally the only way to obtain the highest rarity Characters, W-Engines and Bangboos. There are 3 types of banners in Zenless Zone Zero:

• Character (Agents) Banner,
• W-Engines Banner.
• Bangboo Banner.

The rates are nearly the same as in other Hoyoverse games, so the rate to pulling a S-rank Character is set at 0.6% and the chance of pulling an A-rank Character from this banner is set at 9.4%.

You can learn more about the gacha system in another guide:

Gacha system

Before battle you must assemble a team of up to 3 Agents. You can only control one Agent at a time but you can freely swap between them to access each of their abilities and combine them.

Combat UI Elements

HP

• When all your Agents HP is depleted you will be evacuated from the current combat zone or hollow.

Energy

• Agents gain energy over time when they are on the field based on their Energy Regen stat.
• Basic attacks, dodge counters, and dash attacks also generate energy for agents.
• Breaking supply chests and picking up energy matter dropped by defeated enemies increases energy for the entire squad.
• Each Agent has their own energy bar, cycling between each of them to ensure you make use of each of their energy is advised.

Daze

• When enemies are hit, they accumulate Daze. When Daze reaches 100%, enemies become stunned, rendering them unable to move and more susceptible to damage.
• While enemies are dazed they can be inflicted with your team's powerful chain attacks you’ll learn about below.

Basic Attack

• Press, tap and hold the appropriate key or button to launch a basic attack consisting of a number of strikes (usually 3-5). Some agents unleash alternative moves by holding the basic attack during a basic attack combo.
• The Basic attack is your primary means of consistent damage on most characters and executing full basic attack chains will yield the most energy recharge and damage in most cases.

Special Attack

• Special attacks are normally the defining feature of an Agent and can be used at any time without any cooldown but can be used in a special enhanced state (EX Skill Variant) after accumulating enough energy. Special attacks have a heavy attack effect which when used on a fully dazed enemy will allow for a chain attack.
• Normal special attacks are very rarely worth using, they do low damage and do not regenerate energy and can mostly be ignored. The empowered EX Special attack is always worth using and should be prioritized as soon as it’s available but can be saved in preparation for stronger enemies or for specific character synergies.

Chain Attack

• If there are two or more Agents in your squad, hitting a stunned enemy after their daze reaches 100% with a heavy attack will trigger a chain attack.
• Pressing an Agent’s avatar on the left or right before the countdown at the bottom of the screen ends will trigger the Agent’s Chain Attack.
• These attacks do tremendous damage and can be used in quick succession while an enemy is stunned combining them is advised.

Ultimate

• Hitting enemies, using chain attacks, dodge Counters, and triggering Assist Follow-Ups builds up Decibel Rating gauge.
• When your Decibel Rating reaches 3,000, the Ultimate button will light up, signaling you may press the Ultimate key to clear the decibel rating and unleash an ultimate.
• You can check how close to the Ultimate using the tracker that has 3 stages, once it says “Maximum” it’s ready:

Your entire team seems to share the Decibel Rating Gauge so be sure to use the ultimate on the character that will have the most impact in combat!

Dodge

• Press the appropriate key or button to Dodge.
• Using a Basic Attack while dodging will launch a Dash Attack.
• Dodging when your Agent is about to be hit can trigger a “Perfect Dodge”.
• Quickly using a Basic Attack right after a Perfect Dodge will launch a Dodge Counter with a Heavy Attack effect.

Switching Agents

• When there are 2 or more Agents in the squad, pressing the agent switch key will replace the agent on the field with the next Agent to its right on the Agent bar in the top-left corner.

Assist Attack

• When the Agent on the field is knocked back, another Agent’s Assist Attack window will trigger. Switch Agents during this window trigger a reactive assist.
• Reactive Assists have a Heavy Attack effect and can quickly turn the tides of battle back in your favour.

Special: Perfect Assist

• If you switch Agents right before some enemy attacks (those that flash gold) hit, the Agent switching in will consume an Assist Point to active a Defensive Assist or Evasive Assist.
• You can activate up to 3 Perfect Assists in a row within a certain period.
• You can trigger Chain Attacks to regenerate Assist Points.
• When you do not have Assist Points, the Agent Switching in will automatically Perfect Dodge instead.
• Pressing the Basic Attack or Special Attack button when a Perfect Assist is triggered will launch an Assist Follow-Up.

Zenless Zone Zero features several game modes those who have played Honkai: Star Rail or Genshin Impact will be familiar with.

Resource/Boss Stages

In Zenless Zone Zero, you will have to clear instance based stages with either the bosses we met during story or just regular enemies, to obtain resources and materials needed to progress your account. However, Battery Charges (Stamina) must be used in order to enter the stages and claim your rewards.

Hollow Deep Dive Zone

This is the Main Menu of the gameplay section. From here you can access story, combat commissions, exploration commissions as well as Shiyu Defense, Hollow Zero and Rally Commission.

• Shiyu Defense - This mode is basically the Zenless Zone Zero equivalent of Memory of Chaos from Honkai: Star Rail. Shiyu Defense is a game mode where the objective is to defeat a group of enemies in limited amount of time. After completing a Shiyu Defense stage you will be awarded between 0 to 3 stars for that stage depending on how long it took you to defeat the enemies in that stage.
• Hollow Zero - This mode is basically the Zenless Zone Zero equivalent of Simulated Universe from Honkai: Star Rail. Hollow Zero is a roguelike game mode where the player will select a team of 3 Characters to venture inside a Hollow Zone to collect a random set of buffs that they can use to enhance their team and fight the enemies inside.
• Rally Commission - This mode doesn't have an equivalent in other Hoyoverse games. This is another weekly mode where you enter a stage thats filled with combat challenges. After clearing the initial 2 stages, you unlock a weekly stage.

For more details about the available game modes, visit our dedicated guide:

Game Modes

Drive Disks are a type of equipment in this game and serve the function of armor and accessories in a traditional RPG game - they're the equivalent of Relics from Honkai: Star Rail.

Here's a summary of information about the Drive Disks that we know so far:

• Equipping Drive Disks to your Agents will provide them with a variety of stat increases from HP to ATK to CRIT,
• Drive Disks will provide your Agents with the main bulk of their stat increases,
• Each Agent can equip up to six Drive Disks,
• Numbered in the game with the Roman numerals: I, II, III, IV, V, and VI (you can see it also on the image above),
• Each Drive Disk has one base stat and up to 4 random sub-stats,
• Equipping a required number (either 2 or 4) of Drive Disks belonging to the same set, will unlock Set Effects.

Main Stats

Each Drive Disk has one main stat and up to 4 sub-stats. Depending on the Drive Disk slot it fits in, the possible main stats are:

• I - Flat HP
• II - Flat ATK
• III - Flat DEF
• IV - HP%, ATK%, DEF%, CRIT Rate%, CRIT DMG%, Anomaly Proficiency
• V - HP%, ATK%, DEF%, PEN Ratio%, Element DMG%*
• *Element DMG is random and can roll any of the 5 elements available in the game,
• VI - HP%, ATK%, DEF%, Anomaly Mastery%, Energy Regen%, Impact%

Sub Stats

Drive Disks sub-stats are randomly generated. The list of possible substats are:

• Flat HP
• Flat ATK
• Flat DEF
• HP%
• ATK%
• DEF%
• Crit Rate%
• Crit DMG%
• PEN (flat)
• Anomaly Proficiency

To learn more about the Disk Sets, check our other guides:

Drive Disks Stats

Drive Disks Sets

If you want to learn more about the game, check the videos below: