Despite only being in version 1.0, Zenless Zone Zero already has over 10 characters you can head into battle as – and as some are only available through banners. Our tier list breaks down the best of the best.
So if you’re unsure of whether to run free characters like Corin and Nicole, or to spend time saving up your Master Tapes to unlock Ellen or Anton in a Signal Search, here’s where they all fit into the current meta.
Zenless Zone Zero character tier list
Best character in Zenless Zone Zero
Zhu Yuan and Ellen are the S-Tier characters who we’d recommend running if you’re looking for a top-tier DPS — as they outclass others by a massive margin. However, if you’re looking for a brilliant Support, Rina is the best one to go for in the current meta.
Our tiers explained
Here’s a brief explanation of how the rankings for each of our tiers work:
- S: The top-rated characters currently in the game
- A: Top-tier characters who are also worth investing in
- B: Situational characters that work in very specific situations
- C: Characters you should avoid unless you are short on other units (or if you really like them!)
S-tier characters in Zenless Zone Zero
Jane Doe
Jane Doe is an S-rank Physical Anomaly unit and is one of the best DPS characters in the game. She is versatile, agile, and deals massive amounts of damage. She can fit into quite a few teams and can function as an on-field DPS despite being an Anomaly unit.
She isn’t very hard to use either, which makes her a must-have for anyone in the game.
Qingyi
Qingyi is an S-rank Stun Electric unit in Zenless Zone Zero and is one of the best units in the game. She can stun multiple characters and deals pretty good damage despite not being a DPS. She is also quite versatile and cannot be interrupted during her attack chains.
She is also easy to use, which makes her pretty good for new players.
Zhu Yuan
Zhu Yuan is currently the best DPS unit in the game alongside Ellen. She is an Ether Attack character who massively benefits from a kit catered around ranged attacks. She is also quite agile, making it easier for her to evade enemy attacks.
Additionally, Zhu Yuan is probably the most free-to-play 5-star unit in Zenless Zone Zero. You can run her with Anby and Nicole and have one of the best teams in the game. Her kit is also very simple, and any player can learn it after a few rounds in New Eridu’s most dangerous localities.
If you are interested, here is a detailed build guide for Zhu Yuan.
Ellen
Ellen Joe, or Ellen for short, is, as we’ve mentioned, currently the second best DPS unit in the game. She has a really powerful Ultimate that can crush through all forms of early-to-end-game content. Her Dash attack damage is also very high against the current set of enemies.
One of Ellen’s biggest advantages is her mobility, as she can swiftly dodge enemy attacks and close distances. Finally, if you put her in Ice-based teams, she becomes even more lethal, able to increase her own DMG through her Rising Storm Core Skill.
Here’s a detailed guide on the best build for Ellen.
Lycaon
Lycaon is a Stun-oriented Ice unit and is currently the best debuffer in the game. His Metallic Paws Core Skill can reduce the Ice DMG Res of enemies by 25%. This makes him a must-have unit to pair with Ellen, the best DPS in the game.
Besides his debuff capability, Lycaon’s personal damage is also quite high due to his Core Skill Elegant Predator. This ability allows him to deal 35% more damage to Stunned enemies which comes in handy to finish off low-health targets. Additionally, he can also deal massive Daze damage to enemies.
Here’s a detailed guide on the best build for Lycaon.
Rina
Rina is undoubtedly the best Support unit in Zenless Zone Zero and a must-have for almost any team. The biggest strength of this unit comes from her Core Skill- Mini Destruction Partner, which increases the PEN Ratio of every unit in the party.
This means all units will deal increased damage to enemies, which is massive in a game where bosses have a lot of health. Additionally, her Dodge ability is quite superior, allowing her to skip past enemies without taking any damage.
She is highly versatile and can function in all kinds of teams. However, if you are looking for specific teams, Electric units will work exceptionally well with Rina. Her Banquet of Perfection Core Skill increases the duration of Shock on enemies while also increasing Electric DMG dealt by a significant amount.
Here’s a detailed guide on the best build for Rina.
A-tier characters in Zenless Zone Zero
Seth Lowell
Seth is an A-rank Defense unit in Zenless Zone Zero and he is quite good as a support. His primary function is to reduce the Anomaly RES of enemies and works as the best support for Jane Doe in the game.
He can also work with almost any other Anomaly unit and is worth building in the current meta.
Grace
Grace is a mighty unit and currently the best Electric DPS in the game. The biggest reason why she is so good is because Grace can deal damage even when she’s not on-field. This makes her viable in rotational teams where you need to switch the characters constantly to keep up the damage.
Additionally, Grace has very little energy requirement, which makes getting a build ready for her a lot easier. Finally, she is one of the best units to pair with Rina, and this duo can melt through even the most challenging content in the game. The only downside to Grace is that her rotations can be a bit complicated and timing-dependent.
Here’s our detailed guide on the best build for Grace.
Nekomata
Nekomata is one of the most underrated units in Zenless Zone Zero. This is because she is someone who excels in AoE damage when others are more focused on single-target attacks. A major section of the game involves dealing with multiple smaller enemies, which makes Nekomata quite worthwhile.
Additionally, she is extremely fast and nimble and can dodge through enemy attacks seamlessly. She also gains increased damage output through her Quick Attacks and Dodge Counter. If you are struggling against mobs in the game, Nekomata is the character for you. However, she lacks dedicated Physical Support, which prevents her from reaching the S-tier.
Here’s our guide on the best build for Nekomata.
Nicole
Nicole is quite possibly, one of the best crowd-control units in Zenless Zone Zero. She can group up smaller enemies through her EX Special Attack and deal Ether damage to them in the process. She can also shred the enemy’s DEF by 20% through her passive Mechanical Case.
Finally, Nicole is a free character, so her accessibility, combined with her utility, makes her a powerful ally in almost any team. Her only downside is that the crowd-control ability does not work against bosses and bigger enemies.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Here’s our guide on the best build for Nicole.
Lucy
Lucy is a powerful Support unit that can function in quite a wide range of teams. She has a unique ability where Lucy can summon Guard Boars to deal off-field damage to enemies. Additionally, her EX Special Attack enhances the ATK stats of all party members.
Finally, after switching, she can regenerate 10 Energy for the entire party and 20 Energy for the next character. This ability helps with the Energy Regen of the team, which comes in handy when the party has high Energy costs. Her only weakness is that her summoned Boars cannot keep up with fast enemies.
Soldier 11
Soldier 11 is the best Fire DPS unit in the game, and is a straightforward character who excels at dealing a lot of damage to enemies. She’s easy to use and can deal additional damage to Stunned enemies, working with almost any team in the current setting — especially with characters like Lucy, Nicole, and Rina.
Unfortunately, Soldier 11 suffers from a lack of dedicated teammates as she’s the only character from the Obol Squad faction in Zenless Zone Zero. If this issue gets resolved in future updates, she could become an S-tier unit.
Soukaku
Soukaku is an Ice unit in Zenless Zone Zero and is another of the best Support characters in the entire roster. She’s a unique character who can consume her Vortex stacks and enhance her own attack by a massive amount.
This ATK buff can be transferred to the next character while switching through Quick Assists. She can also buff the damage output of Ice characters, making her a staple for teams with Ellen and Lycaon. She can also freeze enemies which is a handy skill in difficult fights. Her only downside is that consuming the Vortex stacks can take some time.
Here’s our detailed guide on the best build for Soukaku.
B-tier characters in Zenless Zone Zero
Piper
Piper is a mixed bag for utilities in Zenless Zone Zero. She can enhance her own Anomaly buildup while buffing the entire team’s damage output once enough stacks have been collected.
She can do this through her Ultimate and EX Special Attack. Piper can also reduce the damage she takes from enemies. While all this sounds good, she takes too much on-field time collecting the stacks.
She is a debuffer, and eating away precious field time from the DPS is detrimental when you have to complete encounters under the clock. As such, she is not very useful in practical scenarios.
Koleda
Koleda is a Stun-based unit in Zenless Zone Zero that primarily functions as a DPS in the game. While she can deal Daze damage and increase the Chain Attack DMG of the entire party, her being a DPS is Koleda’s biggest drawback.
This is because an Attack unit will perform the role of a DPS much better than a Stun unit. Apart from that, Koleda functions best when she has Ben in the team, which further reduces the overall damage output of the party.
This makes Koleda a pretty underwhelming unit and is not recommended unless you are lacking Attack units.
Anby
Anby has similar problems to Koleda regarding her viability in the meta. She is a Stun-based unit who can deal serious Daze damage and plays the role of sub-DPS due to decent scaling on her Ultimate. Additionally, she can also restore her own Energy.
The problem is she doesn’t offer anything else despite playing the role of a debuffer, reducing her utility massively. The only main advantage of Anby is that she is free and can be used right from the beginning of the game until you get better units.
Anton
Anton is a Lightning Attack unit that suffers from being overly reliant on one specific skill. All his damage is tied to his Burst Mode, which is detrimental to the entire party. Zenless Zone Zero is a game that relies on characters using their entire kit to deal with enemies.
However, in Anton’s case, the entire team must ensure that Anton’s Burst Mode is always active by replenishing Energy. Additionally, you need to build a lot of Crit stats on him to ensure that his Burst Mode does not go to waste.
This makes Anton very situational and falls massively in the overall meta.
C-tier characters in Zenless Zone Zero
Ben
Ben is a one-of-a-kind unit that can provide shields in the game. He is the only Defense-oriented character in the game and can be picked up for free. The problem with Ben is that Zenless Zone Zero doesn’t require shields in the current meta.
Almost every top-tier unit has a kit that either deals a lot of damage or provides multiple buffs and debuffs. Ben provides only shields, and his slow attacks are not worth using. Additionally, he functions best with Koleda, a pretty underwhelming unit as of now. As such, Ben is a detriment to your team in almost every situation.
Here’s our guide on the best build for Ben.
Billy
Billy is a Physical Attack unit that’s one of the worst in the game right now. The only reason to use Billy is that he can attack from a distance, but he has a defect where you must stand still while dealing damage. If you move, he’ll lose out on 25% additional damage.
Since most enemies are pretty aggressive in Zenless Zone Zero, it’s hard to deal damage without moving. Additionally, Billy’s scaling is not that good either, and his damage numbers are sub-par compared to other Attack units in the game.
Even though you get him for free, he’s not worth the investment.
Corin
Corin is a Physical Attack unit in Zenless Zone Zero that is also highly sub-par regarding damage potential. She’s a single-target unit, which means you are supposed to use her against bosses. Unfortunately, there are other way better Attack units that perform that task much more efficiently.
Corin’s scaling is quite sub-par and she feels clunky to use. Her only advantage is that you get her for free as a pre-registration reward. Apart from that, once you have better Attack units, you should switch away from Corin.
Finally, the lack of a Physical Support hurts Corin’s performance even more.
Now that you know how we’ve ranked Zenless Zone Zero’s characters in our tier list, check out our Polychromes guide and how many you can save for the best units. If you want to learn more, here’s a breakdown of the latest codes and Twitch drops on offer, as well as if controller support is available for the game.
