Zenless Zone Zero: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Zenless Zone Zero in Version 3.2: combat fundamentals (dodges, assists, Daze and Chain Attacks, Anomaly), team building by Specialty including the new Armorer, gear, daily Battery Charge spending, endgame modes and Signal Search pity.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Version 3.2 "Their Secret Histories" (Phase 1 from September 9, Phase 2 from September 30, 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Learn to dodge first. A well-timed dodge (Perfect Dodge) slows time and opens a Dodge Counter. It is the single most important skill in the game.
Switch agents constantly. Assists (Quick Assist, Defensive Assist, Evasive Assist) are how you avoid damage and keep combos flowing.
Daze the enemy, then Chain Attack. Filling an enemy's Daze meter staggers it; heavy hits during stagger trigger Chain Attacks across your team.
Build around Specialties: at minimum a damage dealer (Attack/Anomaly/Rupture/Armorer) plus a Stun or Support agent.
Spend Battery Charge every day. It caps, and capped Battery is lost progress.
Do the daily errands in New Eridu (Scratch Cards, Coffee, Video Store, Dailies checklist) for Polychromes and Inter-Knot EXP.
Pity is 90 on the Exclusive Channel. Losing the 50/50 guarantees the featured S-Rank next time.
Shiyu Defense and Deadly Assault are your recurring Polychrome sources once your account can clear them.
Roxy's banner starts September 30 (Phase 2) alongside a Promeia rerun; Claret and a Nangong Yu rerun run until then.

What Is Current (Version 3.2)

Item	Details
Version	3.2 "Their Secret Histories," released September 9, 2026
Phase 1 (Sep 9 to Sep 30)	Claret debut (S-Rank Electric Armorer, Flint Workshop) + Nangong Yu rerun
Phase 2 (Sep 30 to Oct 20)	Roxy debut (S-Rank Wind Stun, Flint Workshop) + Promeia rerun
New signature W-Engines	Crimson Thirst (Claret), Crimson Moon Casket (Roxy)
W-Engine reruns	Neon Fantasies, Frostfall Sickle
New Specialty	Armorer — agents that build DEF to deal big damage and multiple CRITs; uses its own Armorer Certification Seals and Components for promotion/skills
Story	Season 3 Chapter 3 investigates the Porcelloy theft case in the new location Vyrium
Notable events	Vyrium Vacation Album (to Oct 10), Angels Support Operation (to Nov 30), Surprise Screening Plan (Sep 23 to Oct 20, free Angels of Delusion outfits), Clink, Clank, Pinball Knight! (to Oct 19), Shadow Chase Showdown (to Oct 5), Advanced Bounty - Area Patrol (Sep 23 to Oct 19), All-New Program (to Oct 20); more Phase 2 events arrive Sep 30
Next	Version 3.3 with Phoenix and Severian

Combat Fundamentals

The core actions

Action	What it does
Basic Attack	Chains into combos; some agents have charged/held versions
Dodge	Brief invulnerability; a Perfect Dodge triggers slow-motion and enables a Dodge Counter
Special Attack	Agent's signature move
EX Special Attack	Costs Energy; much stronger, often with invulnerability frames
Ultimate	Costs 3000 Decibels (the meter fills through combat); huge damage and usually invulnerable
Assist (switch)	Swapping agents at the right moment triggers Quick, Defensive or Evasive Assists

Assists and parries

When an enemy attack flashes (gold/yellow for most parries), switching agents triggers a Defensive Assist (parry) or Evasive Assist (dodge), depending on the incoming agent's assist type.
A successful Assist is followed by an Assist Follow-Up attack.
Quick Assist triggers when your on-field agent is launched or when you Chain Attack; tapping switch brings the next agent in with a free attack.

Daze and Chain Attacks

Every enemy has a Daze meter. Stun agents fill it fastest.
When Daze is full the enemy is Stunned and takes increased damage (Stun agents often add a bonus multiplier).
A heavy hit (EX Special, Heavy Attack) on a stunned enemy triggers a Chain Attack: choose the next agent, who unleashes a big attack and can chain again.

Attributes and Anomalies

Each attribute builds an Anomaly meter on enemies. When it fills, the Anomaly triggers:

Attribute	Anomaly	Effect
Physical	Assault	Big hit plus Daze interruption
Fire	Burn	Damage over time
Ice	Freeze then Shatter	Freezes, then deals damage when broken
Electric	Shock	Extra damage when the enemy is hit
Ether	Corruption	Damage over time

Triggering a different Anomaly on an enemy that already has one causes Disorder, which consumes the first Anomaly for burst damage. Anomaly teams are built around this. Roxy is a Wind agent, a newer attribute not covered by the table above — check her page for how Wind builds and triggers Anomaly.

Specialties (roles)

Specialty	Job	Examples
Attack	Direct damage	Ellen, Zhu Yuan, Harumasa
Stun	Fills Daze, sets up Chain Attacks	Lycaon, Qingyi, Koleda, Roxy
Anomaly	Builds Anomaly and Disorder	Grace, Jane Doe, Burnice, Yanagi, Miyabi
Support	Buffs and energy	Nicole, Rina, Astra Yao, Lucy
Defense	Shields and parry specialists	Caesar, Ben, Seth
Rupture	HP-scaling damage using Sheer Force	Yixuan
Armorer (3.2)	DEF-scaling damage with crit focus	Claret

Standard team shape: one damage dealer, one Stun or Defense, one Support — plus a Bangboo that complements them (faction or attribute match).

Gear and Progression

Battery Charge

Activity	Gives
Routine Cleanup	Agent EXP, W-Engine EXP, Dennies
Combat Simulation (Rally / Agent material)	Promotion materials
Expert Challenges	Core Skill materials
Notorious Hunt	Weekly boss materials
Drive Disc farming stages (Hollow Deep Dive)	Drive Discs

Battery Charge regenerates slowly and caps. Spend it daily; prefer Drive Disc farming once your team is at Level 50+.

Drive Discs

Six slots. Slots 1-3 have fixed main stats (HP, ATK, DEF); slots 4-6 have variable mains.

Slot	Attack/Rupture/Armorer	Stun	Anomaly	Support
4	CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG	CRIT or ATK%	Anomaly Proficiency	ATK% or HP%
5	Attribute DMG or ATK%	ATK%	Attribute DMG / ATK%	ATK% or PEN Ratio
6	ATK%	Impact	Anomaly Mastery	Energy Regen

Four-piece plus two-piece sets. Match the four-piece to the character's role (e.g. Woodpecker Electro for crit DPS, Shockstar Disco for Stun).
Armorer agents scale on DEF, so check Claret's recommended stats rather than defaulting to ATK%.
Roll discs to +3/+6 before committing heavily.

W-Engines

Specialty-locked weapons with a passive. A signature S-Rank is strong but not required — many A-Rank and battle pass (New Eridu City Fund) W-Engines are excellent. Refinements come from duplicates.

Account progression

Inter-Knot Level unlocks features and raises your agents' level cap through Promotion.
Story chapters unlock new areas: New Eridu (Sixth Street, Lumina Square, etc.), later Waifei Peninsula, and Season 3's Vyrium.

Signal Search (Gacha)

Channel	Hard pity	Featured odds	Notes
Exclusive Channel (Agents)	90	50/50; guaranteed after a loss	Pity and guarantee carry over
W-Engine Channel	80	75/25	Separate pity
Bangboo Channel	80	Target the featured S-Rank Bangboo	Uses Boopons, not premium currency
Stable Channel	90	—	Uses Master Tapes only

160 Polychromes = 1 Encrypted Master Tape.
Soft pity makes S-Ranks likelier in the high 70s — budget roughly 75-90 pulls per featured agent.
Residual Signals from duplicates buy tapes and A-Rank agents in the Signal Store.

Endgame Modes

Mode	Focus	Tip
Shiyu Defense	Stages with multiple teams, time scoring	Needs two or more built teams
Deadly Assault	Boss score attack	Single-target burst and Stun matter
Hollow Zero (Withered Domain)	Roguelike runs with weekly bounty rewards	Easy weekly Polychromes and rewards once cleared
Lost Void	Roguelike with build-crafting via resonia	Weekly rewards; good practice for team swaps
Notorious Hunt	Weekly bosses	Materials for core skills
Battle Tower, Threshold Simulation, Annihilation Simulacrum	Newer combat challenges listed alongside the modes above	Check the in-game Combat menu for current schedules and rewards

F2P Priorities

Stun and Support S-Ranks fit more teams than a single DPS. Pull them first if unsure.
Buy the Inter-Knot Membership if spending anything — best value.
Save Polychromes for characters you want; skip W-Engine Channel unless the signature is a big upgrade.
Clear Shiyu Defense and Deadly Assault each reset.
Use Boopons on the Bangboo Channel — it costs nothing premium.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mashing dodge. Perfect dodges come from timing, not spam.
Never switching. You lose assists, parries and Chain Attacks.
Mismatched teams. Two Attack agents with no Stun means slow Daze and no Chain Attacks.
Wrong Drive Disc stats. Anomaly agents want Anomaly Proficiency/Mastery; Armorer agents want DEF-focused stats; do not copy a crit DPS build onto them.
Letting Battery Charge cap.
Pulling W-Engines before agents.

Advanced Tips

Hold your EX Special for the stun window to maximize the multiplier.
Save Ultimates for Chain Attack windows or as i-frames against unavoidable attacks.
Parry chaining: Defense agents gain big value from parrying repeatedly; learn enemy attack flashes.
Disorder timing: trigger the second Anomaly after the first has done most of its damage.
Faction synergy: many agents buff others from the same faction (e.g. Flint Workshop with Claret and Roxy). Check kits before building teams.
Bangboo choice: a faction- or attribute-matched Bangboo often outperforms a higher-rarity mismatched one.

FAQ

Should I pull Claret or Roxy? Claret if you want a new damage dealer and are interested in the Armorer specialty. Roxy if you need a Stun agent — Stun units fit many teams and age well.

What is the Armorer Specialty? A new 3.2 Specialty focused on DEF-scaling damage and critical hits, debuting with Claret.

When does Version 3.3 release? It follows 3.2's Phase 2, which ends October 20, 2026. Phoenix and Severian are confirmed for 3.3.

Does pity carry over between banners? Yes, within the same channel type, including the 50/50 guarantee.

How do I get free Polychromes? Story, daily errands, Shiyu Defense, Deadly Assault, Withered Domain/Hollow Zero, events and redeem codes (redeem in-game through the menu or the official site).

What is the best starter team? Anby (Stun), Nicole (Support) and Billy or a pulled S-Rank DPS — the starter Cunning Hares cover every role and can clear early content.